**The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, July 10, 2002** *eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers Since Before The Internet* *Main URL is promo.net Webmaster is Pietro di Miceli of Rome, Italy* Check out our Websites at promo.net/pg & gutenberg.net, and see below to learn how you can get INSTANT access to our eBooks via FTP servers even before the new eBooks listed below appear in our catalogue. The eBooks are posted throughout the week. You can even get daily lists. Mar 1998 Le Mort d'Arthur, by Thomas Malory Volume 1[TM#1][1martxxx.xxx]1251 Mar 1998 Anthem, by Ayn Rand [Alice Rosenblum][Ayn Rand #1][anthmxxx.xxx]1250 Mar 1998 Anthem, by Ayn Rand [Comparison of anthm10 & 10a] [anthmxxz.xxx]1249 Mar 1998 Last of the Great Scouts, by Helen Cody Wetmore [bbillxxx.xxx]1248 Mar 1998 Buffalo Bill [William F. 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Synge#2[potwwxxx.xxx]1240 Mar 1998 The Spirit of the Border, by Zane Grey [Grey #4] [sprtbxxx.xxx]1239 Today Is The 191th Day of 2002 174 Days/25 Weeks Left Until 2003 Ending our 27th Week Of The Year We did 1240 eBooks in 2001 We did 1245 So Far in 2002 The 13th Week Of Our SECOND 5,000 eBooks 18-24 Months From Today, Perhaps Our 10,000th eBook! 1,895 New eBooks In The Last Year 3,642 eBooks This Week Last Year 5,537 Tree-Friendly Titles Now Online 200 Monthly Average This Year 1245 New This Year!!! 415 New At This Time Last Year THREE TIMES AS MANY eBOOKS AS WERE DONE BY THIS TIME LAST YEAR!!! *** Question, should we take out some of the redundancy in the presentation of our various statistical reports incluced in the Newsletters??? *** Announcement: Update On Music Site Gutenberg Music Web Site Launch [NEW EMAIL ADDRESS] gpawlicki@earthlink.net Project Gutenberg is proud to inaugurate the Music Website http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/music/ as the principle outlet for the Chamber Music Archive. 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At 5537 eBooks in 31 Years We Averaged 179 Per Year At 1247 eBooks Done In 2002 We Averaged 200 eBooks Per Month!!! ***Headline News*** [My Comments In Brackets] Headlines From Newsscan INTERNET WILL SURVIVE WORLDCOM COLLAPSE With many analysts predicting that WorldCom is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has asked FCC Chairman Michael Powell to take steps to ensure that thousands of WorldCom customers in more than 100 countries will retain their access to e-mail accounts. According to WorldCom CEO John Sidgmore, the company's UUNet subsidiary handles more than 50% of the U.S. Internet traffic, including 70% of all e-mails sent within the U.S. and half of all the e-mails sent in the world. Sidgmore says UUNet will continue to operate, regardless of what happens to WorldCom. "There's just a recognition that you can't let that go down given how much traffic rolls over it," says a Yankee Group analyst. Analysts did express concern, however, that WorldCom layoffs could lead to fewer engineers available to maintain the network. (AP 3 Jul 2002) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020703/D7KHBCOG0.html NEC, IBM TO SELL SECOND-HAND PCs NEC and IBM Japan are planning to encourage corporate customers to return their used PCs so they can resell them in an effort to tap growing demand for cheaper second-hand models. IBM Japan plans to collect some 60,000 used PCs per year and resell about 5% of those, complete with a three-month warranty. It must first obtain a license from Japan's environment ministry to collect and recycle the machines. NEC says it intends to start reselling used PCs later this fiscal year through an affiliate, although it must still finalize plans for doing so. According to MultiMedia Research Institute, the second-hand PC market is forecast to expand about 20% a year, eventually cannibalizing up to 10% of new model sales. (Reuters 2 Jul 2002) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=7&u=/nm/20020 702/tc_nm/tech_japan_nec_dc_1 TERRORIST COMPUTER GAMES FOR THE NEW "ARMY OF ONE" The U.S. Army is releasing the first installment of a new computer game series called "America's Army," offering teenagers an opportunity to fight videogame terrorists and offering Army recruitment officers a chance to present those potential recruits with "a realistic, engaging view of today's modern Army." Game players will be able to undergo basic training and fight in ten multiplayer missions, including one to defend the Alaskan pipeline. Does the game show blood? Army official Paul Boyce says, "We're very careful on the blood thing. The team even debated about whether or not the military is a very carefully sanctioned and organized approach in a time of threat. You must use it as the last resort." (AP/USA Today 2 Jul 2002) http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/2002/7/03/americas-army.htm STARTUP SPINS TUNES ON GAMEBOYS Santa Monica, Calif. startup SongPro is launching a device this fall that plays digital music in various formats on GameBoy consoles. In addition to the standard MP3 and Windows Media Audio formats, the SongPro device will also accommodate a proprietary SongPro Audio, or SPA, format that will use the GameBoy's screen to display lyrics and pictures. The GameBoy screen will also be used to display advertising, which will enable some of the content to be offered free through an ad-supported model. "Certainly the record companies, the artists and their management have responded very favorably to this," says SongPro CEO Jon Richmond. Future SongPro plans call for branching out into other kinds of digital media, such as slide shows, and other technology platforms, including PDAs and cell phones. (Reuters/CNet 1 Jul 2002) http://news.com.com/2100-1023-941105.html [For Those Who Keep Telling Me Exobyte Drive Systems Won't Happen] SPINTRONICS SHRINKS DATA STORAGE TO NANOSCALE Researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York have developed a nickel-based, magnetic sensor, measuring only a few atoms in diameter, that could increase data storage capacity 1,000 times through the use of spintronics -- a field that takes advantage of electron spin as well as charge. Current technology used in data-reading sensors is based on giant magnetoresistance (GMR), where sensor resistance changes in a magnetic field. The new sensor developed at UB creates an effect called ballistic magnetoresistance (BMR), which uses an electrical conductor only a few atoms in size. Researchers say the technology could ultimately make it possible to store 50 or more DVDs on a hard drive the size of a credit card, or enable military personnel to carry supercomputers the size of a wristwatch into the field. (NewsFactor 1 Jul 2002) http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18446.html FTC WARNS SEARCH ENGINE SITES TO IDENTIFY PAYING CUSTOMERS The Federal Trade Commission is sending letters to various Web search engine operators (such as AltaVista, AOL Time Warner, iWon.com, Looksmart, Microsoft, Terra Lycos, and Direct Hit) warning them to make it clear to consumers when search results yield sites that have paid for inclusion in those results. Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert, an organization that had engines disclose when ads are ads, then search engine users will flee those engines that have no editorial integrity." One corporate executive who is believe that the paid listings that we display on our site are delineated from our search results, and that the disclosure is not misleading." (New York Times 2 Jul 2002) http://partners.nytimes.com/2002/07/02/technology/02SEAR.html [The Return Of "Time Share" Computing???] IBM PUTS A METER ON SOFTWARE USE IBM is introducing a new service called Linux Virtual Services that enables customers to run a wide variety of software applications on IBM mainframes located in company data centers, and pay rates based largely on the amount of computing power they use. This metered payment system marks a major shift from the more conventional outsourcing and Web hosting arrangements typical today. IBM executive James Corgel touted the new service, saying "we see a huge opportunity going forward. Our best estimate is that in five years, 10% to 15% of the $1 trillion IT market will be in the form of on-demand computing," with utility computing a significant part. Industry analysts remain a little more cautious about the prospects for metered computing. "We know customers are interested in doing this, but we don't know how many will," says one market researcher. Another added that "the pricing is still very complicated. It's not like electricity or even phone service." (Wall Street Journal 1 Jul 2002) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1025472035492706880.djm,00.html (sub req'd) MUSIC INDUSTRY WAGES GUERRILLA WARFARE AGAINST P2P SERVICES In a practice called "spoofing," the music industry has been swamping online music-swapping services like Morpheus, Kazaa, and Grokster with thousands of phony or mangled music files rather than the sought-after any of this with any kind of promotion or marketing in mind. We're doing this simply because we believe people are stealing our stuff and we want to stymie the stealing." And Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry one of the only ways -- as a practical matter -- to deal with the peer-to-peer problem is by means of technological measures. There are certainly mechanisms that are available -- that are completely lawful, such as spoofing.'' (San Jose Mercury-News 27 Jun 2002) http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3560365.htm ERGONOMICS FOR THE VERY YOUNG An elementary school in Washington state is one of the few to offer an ergonomics program for children that teaches them how to avoid repetitive stress injuries while working on the computer. The "Get TechFit!" program touts the benefits of taking frequent breaks, using correct posture, and exercising fatigued muscles. Ergonomics experts say that just as women are injured in the workplace more often than men because they must extend their wrists and arms unnaturally to type and use the mouse, children are also undersized for most workstation setups. "If you're a small-wristed child, you will be in greater extension," says Peter Johnson, a professor at the University of Washington who's studied workplace injury. Johnson says computers generally are better designed for men, who have broader shoulders and thicker wrists. (AP 28 Jun 2002) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020628/D7KE5T280.html ICANN PROPOSES RULES TO FIGHT CYBERSQUATTING The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) says it's close to adopting new procedures that would make it easier for individuals and businesses to avoid extortion by cybersquatters, and would establish a waiting list for coveted domains that become newly available to the public. The first measure would establish a 30-day grace period for domain name owners to renew their contracts -- a move intended to prevent speculators from swooping in and registering an expiring domain name before the owner has time to renew. "ICANN receives a large number of complaints for inadvertently deleted domains. It affects churches, schools, businesses," says an ICANN spokesman. "We get a lot of complaints from people who wake up to find their domain has expired and now has porn on it, or it's linked to a casino site. Then, they'll ask for a ransom to get it back." The waiting-list proposal would allow a bidder to pay a fee to get first dibs on any newly available domain names. That proposal has run into opposition from registrars who say the $28 that VeriSign has proposed charging them for the service is too high. (Reuters/Wired 27 Jun 2002) http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,53518,00.html LEGISLATION WOULD SANCTION STUDIO HACK ATTACKS Proposed legislation crafted by California congressman Howard Berman, whose district includes Hollywood, would provide a shield against legal liability for copyright owners, such as record labels and movie studios, that used high-tech attacks against peer-to-peer Web sites to stop them from enabling illegal file-sharing. "While P2P technology is free to innovate new and more efficient methods of distribution that further exacerbate the piracy problem, copyright owners are not equally free to craft technological responses," says Berman. "This is not fair." Included in the actions a copyright holder swamps a P2P file server with false requests so that downloads can't get through; redirection, in which would-be file swappers are pointed to a site that doesn't contain the files they're seeking; and spoofing, in which a corrupt or otherwise undesirable file masquerades as the song or movie file being sought by a file swapper. File-swapping companies criticized the bill, saying it opens the door for copyright holders to conduct "cyber warfare" against consumers. (CNet News.com 25 Jun 2002) http://news.com.com/2100-1023-939333.html?tag=fd_top HOME WIRELESS NETWORKS GO MAINSTREAM The price of wireless networks has dropped so dramatically -- they're now in the $200 range -- that homeowners are snapping them up as a less messy alternative to traditional wiring. The number of home network devices shipped is expected to nearly double this year, as wireless gear based on newer, faster technologies such as the AirPlus products introduced earlier this month by D-Link, hit the market. Although some consumers report hassles in installing the networks, the technology is well suited to the networking needs of the increasing number of broadband-equipped households with multiple computers. (Wall Street Journal 26 Jun 2002) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1025039743158381200.djm,00.html (sub req'd) WEB SITES USED BY AMERICANS TO GET CHEAPER DRUGS FROM CANADA A number of Web sites (including canadianmedsusa.com, canadadrugs.com, canadameds.com, and pharmacy-online.ca) are now offering a way for U.S. citizens to buy prescription drugs more cheaply through Canadian sources. U.S. law actually prohibits the practice, but the Federal Drug Administration has, for reasons of compassion, refrained from actively enforcing the law. To order from Canada, customers must have a prescription signed by an American physician, submit a detailed medical questionnaire, and have undergone a physical exam within the past year. However, the Canadian Medical Association is questioning the ethics of Canadian doctors writing Canadian prescriptions based solely on a written questionnaire and medications, you have a professional responsibility to do a history, a physical and then discuss with the patient the risks and benefits of the medication. This is something Canadian physicians should not be doing." (AP/San Jose Mercury-News 26 Jun 2002) http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3546354.htm *** Headlines From Edupage: SOME LIBRARIES MOVING AWAY FROM BOOKS Many libraries, particularly those on college campuses, increasingly face the question of whether technology will replace books as their primary means of distributing information. Some institutions such as the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities have thoroughly renovated their libraries, moving stacks to the basement and installing computer labs and other technology resources in the main areas of the building. Many colleges and universities similarly are updating their libraries with network access, multimedia facilities, and wireless technology. Critics of this trend worry that a focus on technology and tools will replace genuine learning. Many defend books as being as useful and relevant as computers and information technology. Some institutions try to address the concerns of both groups, preserving a focus on books while adding technology to their facilities. Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 July 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i44/44a03101.htm MICROSOFT TO INVEST IN SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN CHINA On Thursday, at the end of a two-day visit to China, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer announced that his company would invest roughly $750 million over the next three years in the Chinese software industry. The money will support education, manufacturing, and a number of local Chinese software companies. The move is seen as partly a response to widespread software piracy in China. According to that argument, if there is a strong Chinese software industry that has a stake in protecting its intellectual property, the incidence of software piracy will significantly diminish. Ballmer's announcement also included plans to establish a software college in Shanghai. Wall Street Journal, 27 June 2002 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1025200584265700160,00.html FTC SAYS PAID ADS NOT CLEARLY IDENTIFIED The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent letters to operators of some search engines requesting clearer distinctions between results that are not paid for and those that are. The action is in response to a complaint filed last July by Ralph Nader's Commercial Alert organization. The FTC hopes that the letter will urge search engines to address the issue voluntarily and quickly, so the commission will not have to take action to force compliance. Letters were sent to AOL Time Warner Inc., Microsoft Corp., Ask Jeeves Inc.'s Direct Hit Technologies, iWon Inc., AltaVista Co., LookSmart Ltd., and Terra Lycos. Wall Street Journal, 28 June 2002 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1025301112186101960,00.html TIME WARNER UPSET AT PROVIDERS OF FREE NETWORKS Groups promoting free wireless networks argue that if enough users establish Wi-Fi networks, the resulting overlap of wireless coverage can provide a free, high-speed network covering, for example, a metropolitan area. Subscribers to Time Warner Cable, however, are reportedly in violation of the company's subscription agreement if they set up such a network, and Time Warner last week sent letters to some of its customers pointing out this violation. According to an official at Time Warner, "We're trying to keep people from redistributing the service we sell them." Some other broadband Internet providers do allow such wireless networks using their service. An official from New York-based ISP Acecape said the extra customers they earned by allowing such usage of its service offset the revenues lost through the free networks. New York Times, 1 July 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/01/technology/01WIFI.html WEB PUBLISHERS SUE OVER POP-UP ADS Operators of several Web sites, including Washington Post Company, Dow Jones & Company, and The New York Times Company, have sued Gator, a company that makes software that helps users enter passwords and other information online. The password software, however, includes features that deliver pop-up advertisements. Those ads, according to the group of publishers, violate trademark because there is an implication that the operator of the Web site being viewed has authorized the ad that pops up. Officials at Gator have called the suit ridiculous, saying that many other applications that display information in separate windows, such as instant messaging programs, would have to be considered illegal if the publishers' argument is valid. A survey of users conducted by the plaintiffs showed that 16 percent of people who use Gator's password software do not know that it puts pop-up ads on their computers. New York Times, 28 June 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/28/business/28GATO.html ICANN VOTES TO LIMIT BOARD MEMBERSHIP The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted on Friday at its meeting in Romania not to allow its Board of Directors to include members elected from the pool of Internet users at large. Instead, Board membership will be limited to representatives of technical, business, government, and nonprofit organizations, according to the unanimous vote. Critics said the move amounts to a lack of representation for many of the 425 million global Internet users. ICANN chief executive Stuart Lynn said the new system will still allow users to be represented by various constituencies on the Board, including government and other groups. ICANN has also been criticized for having a U.S. bias, and Friday's vote did little to mollify those complaints. CNET, 28 June 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-940291.html NEW CHIP-MAKING PROCESS MAY OUTPACE MOORE'S LAW Stephen Chou, a researcher at Princeton University, said he has developed a procedure for making computer chips that could increase their capacity 100-fold. The process, called laser assisted direct input (LADI), involves pressing a quartz mold onto a piece of silicon and shooting it with a laser for a very short time. The silicon melts and quickly rehardens into the new shape. The result is imprinting silicon with features as small as 10 nanometers, significantly smaller than current methods allow. The process is also claimed to produce chips much more cheaply, more quickly, and without the environmentally unfriendly chemicals required of traditional chip-making methods. Some observers noted that the process is in the very early stages of development and is probably not "inherently useful in the near term." NewsFactor Network, 28 June 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18432.html MUSIC INDUSTRY TRIES SPOOFING FILE SWAPPERS In the latest effort to try to discourage the illegal trading of files, some in the music industry have begun a campaign of "spoofing," or sending decoy files to file-swapping networks. The decoys seem to be legitimate songs, for example, but might only be a small portion that loops or may have long stretches of silence. Industry officials hope that by making it more difficult to find and trade functional copies of their copyrighted material, some users will be persuaded to buy the CD they want. Industry experts pointed out that seasoned file traders and those with higher levels of technical expertise are not likely to be fooled by the spoofs, but many more novice users potentially will be. The practice of spoofing is not illegal, but some say it will do little to stem the tide of piracy. San Jose Mercury News, 27 June 2002 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3560365.htm STUDY PUTS A NUMBER TO LOSSES FROM BUGGY SOFTWARE A new study from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) says that the U.S. economy loses almost $60 billion annually as a result of buggy software. According to the study, better testing could eliminate about one third of that loss, but much of the rest will remain. The study addressed the problem as it affects three major industries, automotive, aerospace, and financial services, and extrapolated those results to the nation as a whole. Authors of the study did not present specific actions to resolve the problem, but they did suggest that current methods for testing software are "fairly primitive" and that significant improvements could be made in that area. ComputerWorld, 25 June 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_878966_1794_9-10000.html LINDOWS CLAIMS LOW-COST ALTERNATIVE TO WINDOWS Lindows, maker of a Linux-based operating system that is claimed to allow users to run Windows applications, has announced a new program that could potentially save significant amounts of money for software on new computer systems. The program offers computer makers a subscription service, including technical support, testing tools, certification eligibility, and a software library, that allows them to install the operating system on an unlimited number of machines for the same monthly fee. The program is targeted at computer makers who sell unbranded PCs and lower-end systems such as those available from Wal-Mart. Critics noted that the Lindows operating system does not run many Windows programs and that the way the system works opens users up to potentially serious security risks. CNET, 25 June 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-939149.html [As if Windows doesn't have those same problems. . . .] AUSTRALIA LEGALIZES MUSIC PIRACY The Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) has agreed to allow CD-copying kiosks in exchange for a royalty payment. The deal, the first of its kind, will allow consumers to go to one of the kiosks, to be located in stores or in public places, and pay $5 each to copy a music CD. AMCOS, which represents songwriters and music publishers, agreed to the deal with Little Ripper, a CD-copying company, reportedly for a flat royalty of about six percent. Observers said that this deal, which seems to indicate acceptance among copyright owners that piracy is here to stay, will force the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) into a similar arrangement. Officially ARIA still says that the kiosks are illegal. News Interactive, 24 June 2002 http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4567037%255E421,00.html RUSSIA TO SET LIMITS ON WEB In a vote last week, the Russian Duma supported new restrictions on anti-government and extremist uses of the Internet. The measure still needs final approval, which could come this week. The terms of the legislation forbid using computer networks for "extremism" and allow the government to shut down without a court order any organization it deems "extremist." Civil liberties groups in Russia complained that the law would restrict rights of citizens and would threaten the "constitutional order in Russia." Victor Naumov, a lecturer at St. Petersburg State University's law school, said the language of the measure is vague in many places, leaving some questions about how exactly it could be applied. CNET, 24 June 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-938810.html You have been reading excerpts from Edupage: If you have questions or comments about Edupage, To SUBSCRIBE to Edupage, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU and in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName *** About the Project Gutenberg Monthly Newsletter: [Goes out approximately first Wednesday of each month. 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