pt1a4.106 pt1b4.106 Weekly_February_01.txt The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, February 01, 2006 PT1* *******eBooks Readable By Both Humans And Computers Since July 4, 1971******** PT1A * !!! I will be on the road next month, Newsletter Editor Needed !!! Editor's comments appear in [brackets]. Newsletter editors needed! Please email hart@pobox.com or gbnewby@pglaf.org Anyone who would care to get advance editions: please email hart@pobox.com * WANTED!

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* Wanted: People who are involved in conversations on Slashdot, Salon, etc. * TABLE OF CONTENTS [Search for "*eBook" or "*Intro". . .to jump to that section, etc.] *eBook Milestones *Introduction *Hot Requests, New Sites and Announcements *Continuing Requests and Announcements *Progress Report *Distributed Proofreaders Collection Report *Project Gutenberg Consortia Center Report *Permanent Requests For Assistance: *Donation Information *Access To The Project Gutenberg Collections *Mirror Site Information *Instant Access To Our Latest eBooks *Have We Given Away A Trillion Yet? *Flashback *Weekly eBook update: This is now in PT2 of the Weekly Newsletter Also collected in the Monthly Newsletter Corrections in separate section 2 New This Week From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.] 8 New This Week From PGEu [European Copyrights, Life + 50 and 70] 0 New This Week From PG PrePrints 50 New This Week To Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright 60 New This Week [Including PG Australia, PG Europe and PrePrints] [I'm sure there are a few bugs in the new accounting] *Headline News from Edupage, etc. *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists *** *eBook Milestones* 18,381 eBooks As Of Today!!! Including 527 Australian eBooks [+2] and 244 Project Gutenberg Europe [+8] And 1 From The New PrePrint Site [+0] We Are ~92% of the Way to 20,000!!! ***531 eBooks Averaged Per Year Since July 4, 1971*** 15,319 New eBooks Since The Start Of 2001 That's ~251 eBooks per Month for ~61 Months We Have Produced 239 eBooks in 2006 1,619 to go to 20,000!!! 30 New eBooks From Distributed Proofreaders 7,980 total from Distributed Proofreaders Since October, 2000 [Details in PT1B] [Currently over 36,000 DP volunteers] We Averaged ~339 eBooks Per Month In 2004 We Averaged ~248 eBooks Per Month In 2005 [Including PG Australia] We Are Averaging ~239 eBooks Per Month This Year [Including PGAu, PGEu and PrePrints] [This change is due to the opening of Project Gutenberg sites other than the original one at www.gutenberg.org] [Now including totals from both Australia and Europe and PrePrints] [Apologies, it will take a while to integrate everything not all statistics may be totally equalized yet] [PGEu Statistics Are Counted Monthly Not Weekly] All Four Sites Combined Are Averaging 60 eBooks Per Week In 2006 60 This Week It took ~32 years, from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000 eBooks It took ~32 months, from 2003 to 2006 for our last 10,000 eBooks It took ~10 years from 1993 to 2003 to grow from 100 eBooks to 10,100 It took ~2.00 years from Oct. 2003 to Nov. 2005 from 10,000 to 17,500 * ***Introduction [The Newsletter is now being sent in two sections, so you can directly go to the portions you find most interesting: 1. Founder's Comments, News, Notes & Queries, and 2. Weekly eBook Update Listing. Note bene that PT1 is now being sent as PT1A and PT1B. [Since we are between Newsletter editors, these 2 parts may undergo a few changes while we are finding a new Newsletter editor. Email us: hart@pobox.com and gbnewby@pglaf.org if you would like to volunteer.] This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter *Headline News from Edupage [PG Editor's Comments In Brackets] DEBATING THE BEST WAY TO SPREAD TECHNOLOGY Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Laboratory, has sparked an ongoing debate about how best to bring technology to the developing world. Negroponte has created a nonprofit organization called One Laptop Per Child to develop a $100 laptop to be marketed to countries with limited access to technology. His vision is reportedly taking shape, with a manufacturer lined up and project organizers close to signing deals for seven million of the units. Negroponte reportedly talked with both Microsoft and Apple about supplying operating systems for his $100 laptops, but he ultimately settled on Linux, a decision that is said to have riled Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. Speaking at the recent Consumer Electronics show, Gates suggested that instead of an inexpensive laptop, modified cell phones are a better way to spread technology. Gates showed a mockup of such a phone, which would connect to a TV and a keyboard. Negroponte said his group considered a similar approach but dismissed it as too impractical compared to the laptop idea. New York Times, 30 January 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/technology/30gates.html [and the best way to provide information, via your friendly censors] GOOGLE TO CENSOR SEARCH RESULTS IN CHINA Google will launch search and news sites in China this week that will block access to information the Chinese government considers objectionable. Chinese officials have a long track record of censoring speech and ideas, and, according to Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel for Google, the new sites "will comply with local Chinese laws and regulations." Search results from which content has been excluded will notify users that not all results are being displayed. Google said that the decision to offer its services even if they are censored reflects the belief that limited access to Internet resources is better than no access, which would be the alternative if Google did not comply with local legislation. "We must balance our commitments," said McLaughlin, "to satisfy the interest of users, expand access to information, and respond to local conditions." Reporters Without Borders, an organization that advocates for freedom of the press, was highly critical of the decision, saying, "The new Google version means that even if a human rights publication is not blocked by local firewalls, it has no chance of being read in China." CNET, 24 January 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6030784.html [and the best way to store articles out of the public's reach] KEEPING ONLINE ARTICLES AVAILABLE A group of libraries and publishers are cooperating on a pilot project to ensure access to online journals. Libraries at five universities, as well as the New York Public Library, will work with nine publishers on an archive that will consist of copies of journal articles from participating publishers stored on 10 servers at the universities. Those archived copies will be unavailable to the public, but the system will monitor the Web sites of the journals that published those articles. When the system detects that the publisher's online version of an article is unavailable for an extended period of time, the system's governing board will decide whether to make the archived copy available. The goal is to ensure long-term access to journal articles, even when publishers go out of business or computer systems suffer severe outages or losses of data. The effort is important because libraries and publishers are frequently at odds over how and when to provide online access to copyrighted material. Those involved hope the effort will help the groups work together toward a common goal. Chronicle of Higher Education, 25 January 2006 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/01/2006012502t.htm [and a not so legal way of keeping competitors out of the loop] MICROSOFT TO LICENSE SOURCE CODE In an effort to avoid a stiff fine issued by the European Commission, Microsoft has agreed to license some of its source code. European antitrust regulators have found Microsoft guilty of abusing its monopoly power and have insisted on changes to the company's practices to address the violations, including offering a version of its operating system without the Microsoft Media Player and providing access to its source code to rivals so they can develop software that will properly interoperate with Windows computers. Microsoft met the first condition, but commissioners last month said that if the company continued to deny access to competitors, it would face a fine of nearly $2.5 million per day, retroactive to December 15 of last year. Microsoft is appealing the rulings against it but has said that while those appeals are pending, it will license the source code for its Windows Server System. The European Commission will review Microsoft's proposal before deciding whether to fine the company. ZDNet, 25 January 2006 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6030879.html LAWSUITS TARGET MAKER OF BOGUS SYPWARE TOOLS The State of Washington and Microsoft have filed separate lawsuits against Secure Computer, a company they accuse of running a bogus antispyware racket. According to the complaints, Secure Computer used pop-up ads and other tools to tell computer users that their computers were infected with spyware and to offer a service, Spyware Cleaner, that would remove the unwanted software for $49.95. Microsoft and Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna said that the scan that supposedly revealed spyware was bogus and that the removal service in fact left computers more vulnerable to spyware. Moreover, the complaints contend that Secure Computer's messages implied that the service was in some way connected to or endorsed by Microsoft. The lawsuits allege that Secure Computer violated a recently enacted Washington Computer Spyware Act and three other laws. An attorney representing Secure Computer said the company was shocked at the legal action and would respond shortly. ZDNet, 25 January 2006 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6031108.html AMERIPRISE LAPTOP WITH PERSONAL DATA STOLEN A laptop containing information on 230,000 individuals was stolen from the car of an employee of Ameriprise Financial in December, according to the company. The computer included names and Social Security numbers for more than 70,000 financial advisors, and names and Ameriprise account numbers for 158,000 customers of the firm, which was spun off of American Express last year. Andy MacMillan, a spokesperson from the company, said that although access to the data is protected by a password, the data were not encrypted, which is a violation of written company policies. MacMillan said the company does not believe that the thief knew about the information contained on the laptop and thinks that it is unlikely any of the information will be accessed or used fraudulently. New York Times, 25 January 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/business/25cnd-data.html NEW SITE AIMS TO IDENTIFY MAKERS OF MALICIOUS PROGRAMS Researchers at Harvard Law School and Oxford University are launching a Web site that will identify organizations that distribute spyware, adware, and other unwanted computer programs, as well as the tactics they employ to intall their applications. StopBadware.org was financed initially by companies including Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. The site will also include an area where consumers can submit testimonials about their experiences with different software they have downloaded. John G. Palfrey Jr., executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, said, "We want to turn the spotlight on the bad actors, but also give ordinary users a place to go and get an early warning before they download something that might harm their computer." According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 59 million U.S. adults said their computers were infected with spyware last year. Data from Consumer Reports indicate that despite consumer spending of $2.6 billion over the past two years on antivirus and antispyware tools, users still spent $3.5 billion in damages over the same period due to unwanted software. New York Times, 25 January 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/technology/25spy.html To SUBSCRIBE to Edupage, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU and in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName or To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 *HEADLINE NEWS AVOIDED BY MOST OF THE MAJOR U.S. MEDIA [As requested adding sources, etc., when possible. Remember, the subject is not the article's subject, the subject is the manipulation of the world news.] (AP) "The White House is crippling a Senate inquiry into the government's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina by barring administration officials from answering questions and failing to hand over documents, senators leading the investigation said Tuesday." Thus read the opening statement in an article by the (AP) Associated Press, entitled: "Senators: White House Stalls Katrina Probe" 01/25/06 This article was referenced only by CBS, as per my sources, and some Google searches on various keywork combinations yielded few results, so few as to actually be zero for some of the searches, and only TWO per the search that yielded this hit, which included "Lieberman" as: "No one believes that the government responded adequately, and we can't put that story together if people feel they're under a gag order from the White House." Senator Joe Lieberman, of Connecticut Even the Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the committee's Republican chair, had some harsh words for the White House: "We are entitled to know if someone from the Department of Homeland Security calls someone at the White House during this whole crisis period, so I think the White House has gone too far in restricting basic information about who called whom on what day." She said the White House gag order is "completely inappropriate." Source: CBS, AP, Frankfort Times [IN] * Bill Gates Says It Will Take 10 Years To Stop Piracy In China/India "In India and China it will be a decade before we get that level," meaning the current protection level achieved in the United States, as is currently in progress in Taiwan and South Korea. Mr. Gates was addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. [However, what I think he really means is that it will take 10 years or so, for China and India to grow economically to the point where a person of their average means can really afford MicroSoft programs.] [By the way, I got the first clues to this story from the BBC, but a recent search shows the story is already missing after a short time, so the follow up was through The Express, of India.] [In my own personal experiences outside the Asia major urbana center locations, there is no place you can find legal copies of anything-- the manufacturers are just not interested in making them available.] If the product is not made available, how can we buy The Real Thing? Source: BBC Express India * James Hansen, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies Director is trying to tell the world about Global Warming, and says censoring of his comments, screening of his interviews. . .is being done by those officials of the Bush administration who are trying to cover up this ongoing issue on a permanent basis. Other Bush officials have been fired for even saying there is such a thing as Global Warming. Dean Acosta, Deputy Chief of Public Affairs at NASA, has denied such by saying "That's not the way we operate here." Hansen says NASA had ordered all of his speaking engagements, notes, papers, and web postings to undergo review before publication, after his attempts to call attention to greenhouse gas emissions. The New York Times quotes him as saying, "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public." This is in addition to similar efforts on 06/13/05 as Philip Cooney left his White House post as Chief of Staff of their new Council on Environmental Quality after documents revealed he had long been the White House's lead censor on Global Warming and had deleted warning after warning concering Global Warming written for this White House as part of commissioned reports. Hansen has said this in no uncertain terms to Congress: "It is time to stop waffling. . .the greenhouse effect is here." Later he added that because of the added effect of methane and chlorofluorocarbons it is "more practical to slow global warming than is sometimes assumed." In his report to National Academy of Sciences he said: Sciences: "We suggest that a strategy to slow global warming focus on reducing air pollution, especially tropospheric [ground level] ozone, methane and black carbon particles. "Human health and ecological costs of these pollutants are counted in billions of dollars in the United States, and impacts are reaching devastating levels in the developing world. A strategy focused on reducing these pollutants, which are not essential to energy. . . ." Source: New York Times, Telegraph News [UK] *DOUBLESPEAK OF THE WEEK "Freedom Of Speech" Limited By The Bush Administration This Week Supposedly the above NASA comments in the Global Warming study should be enough. However, the arrest of Cindy Sheehan some 20 hours ago at the President's State Of The Union speech challenges that. Mrs. Sheehan, mother Casey Sheehan, killed in Baghdad's Sadr City, on April 4, 2004, was the invited guest of Representative Lynn Woolsey of California, but was ejected from the proceedings when she revealed a t-shirt that did not support the Iraq war. Source: CBS News * It would also appear that government employees are attempting some kind of "1984" rewrite of history as per the Wikipedia. Apparently the Wikipedia biographies of over 1,000 government officials have been altered by government employees in events tagged variously as "Wikigate" or "Meehangate." http://digg.com/technology/More_than_1000_wikipedia_alterations_by_US_Repres entative_Staffers *PREDICTIONS OF THE WEEK The icecaps will continue to melt. The glaciers will continue to shrink. Icebergs will continue at record numbers and sizes. Mosquitos will continue moving into the arctic tundra, and caribou herds etc., will continue dying as a result. Etc. *STRANGE QUOTES OF THE WEEK "I participated in a hoax. . . ." "Now" on PBS, with David Brancaccio. [This was part of a preview, and I didn't get the whole quote or who said it. . .does anyone have it? Thanks! Michael] *ODD STATISTICS OF THE WEEK 65% of all new US job searches are due to "inadequate compensation" at the previous job. [All those "new jobs" that required workers to say things such as, "Would you like fries with that?"] * The used car market is being "flooded" with thousands of used cars that have gont through "title washing" to remove evidence of flood damage from last year's hurricanes. * By the way, for those interested, the official U.S. population estimates just passed 298 million, though many say estimations of this nature leave out as much as 5% of the population. Still hoping for more statistical updates and additional entries. "If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following. There would be: 57 Asians 21 Europeans 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America 8 Africans 52 would be female 48 would be male 70 would be non-white 30 would be white 70 would be non-Christian 30 would be Christian 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States 80 would live in substandard housing 70 would be unable to read 50 would suffer from malnutrition 1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education 1 would own a computer [I think this is now much greater] 1 would be 79 years old or more. Of those born today, the life expectancy is only 63 years, but no country any longer issues copyrights that are sure to expire within that 63 year period. I would like to bring some of these figures more up to date, as obviously if only 1% of 6 billion people owned a computer then there would be only 60 million people in the world who owned a computer, yet we hear that 3/4 + of the United States households have computers, out of over 100 million households. Thus obviously that is over 1% of the world population, just in the United States. I just called our local reference librarian and got the number of US households from the 2004-5 U.S. Statistical Abstract at: 111,278,000 as per data from 2003 U.S Census Bureau reports. If we presume the saturation level of U.S. computer households is now around 6/7, or 86%, that is a total of 95.4 million, and that's counting just one computer per household, and not counting households with more than one, schools, businesses, etc. I also found some figures that might challenge the literacy rate given above, and would like some help researching these and other such figures, if anyone is interested. BTW, while I was doing this research, I came across a statistic that said only 10% of the world's population is 60+ years old. This means that basically 90% of the world's population would never benefit from Social Security, even if the wealthy nations offered it to them free of charge. Then I realized that the US population has the same kind of age disparity, in which the rich live so much longer than the poor, the whites live so much longer than the non-whites. Thus Social Security is paid by all, but is distributed more to the upper class whites, not just because they can receive more per year, but because they will live more years to receive Social Security. The average poor non-white may never receive a dime of Social Security, no matter how much they pay in. * POEM OF THE WEEK Relight My reality is that of domesticated people on their well masticated lunches who have every right to remain silent in between morsels heated up in the microwave oven and yet they don't they keep on thinking their minds talk with the speed of their fingers abusing the keyboards while doing reports Today we've been good. We behaved and we obeyed. We cheated and we lied. We reached our targets. Every pedestrian agent has a way of convincing they are doing a great job every day of their lives. You can tell by the way they cross the street their briefcases swaying gently in their wedding ring adorned hands with whom their open up the mail and touch the shoulder of a freshly cooked meal small kids smelling housewife. The boulevard is broad every corner is an option We cross the street when they say Walk, my briefcase swinging gently in my hand. Copyright 2006 by Simona Sumanaru and Michael S. Hart Please send comments to: simona_s75 AT yahoo.com & hart AT pobox.com * *Information About the Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists For more information about the Project Gutenberg's mailing lists, including the Project Gutenberg Weekly and Monthly Newsletters: and the other Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists: The weekly is sent on Wednesdays, and the monthly is sent on the first Wednesday of the month. To subscribe to any (or to unsubscribe or adjust your subscription preferences), visit the Project Gutenberg mailing list server: http://lists.pglaf.org If you are having trouble with your subscription, please email the list's human administrators at: help@pglaf.org