GWeekly_July_02.txt
****The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, June 02, 2003***
*****eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers For Nearly 32 Years******
Project Gutenberg Is 32 Years Old On July 4th!!!
We Need 89 More In The Next Week To Reach 8500!!!
Founder's Comments On Project Gutenberg's 32nd Anniversary:
Here were are, at what should be our last anniversary before #10,000, and
if we average just 74 eBooks per week for this week and next week, we are
going to reach 8,500 eBooks on July 9th. . .that would be 266 per year!!!
This year we are averaging 278 per MONTH!!!
In another year or two, with your help, we will be averaging 100 per week
and will be talking about completing our SECOND 10,000 books!!!
This is SUCH a milestone as it took from 1971 to 1993 to get to the 100th
Project Gutenberg eBook, The Complete Works Of Shakespeare. . .22 years
after we posted our 1st eBook in 1971: The US Declaration of Independence.
In just 5 more months, on the 10th Anniversary of our 100th eBook, we hope
to present our 10,000th eBook: The Magna Carta in several languages.
Then I'm hoping only 2 more years to #20,000. . . .
***
Last year we did 2441
This year perhaps 3333
Next year perhaps 4444
Then, hopefully, 5555
***
8500 TONS of Books. . . !!!
Harry Potter's 500 million volumes in print would weigh 8500 tons, at
3 1/3 pounds each, plus a fraction for shipping containers. . . .
Only 2,000 people would have to download each of the Project Gutenberg
books and print them out for an equal weight!!!
***
"Whether electricity will ever rival steam, remains yet to be proved;
we may be on the threshold of great things. The premature enthusiasm
has subsided, and we enter upon the road of steady progress."
Scientific American Supplement March 29, 1884 [More Below On This]
Hmmm, sounds just like the current debate about eBooks versus paper.
Funny, the debate about computer versus typewriter didn't take long.
***
Well, enough dreaming. . .On With The Show!!!
My HUGE Thanks To All Our Supporters!!!!!!!
Michael
***
CONGRATULATIONS to John Mark Ockerbloom and The Online Books Page
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
who have just included their 20,000th eBook in their online catalogue!!!
4,000 of these are from the Celebration of Women Writers!!!!!!
We are hoping 1% of our first 10,000 eBooks will be from these sources!!!
***
Only 5 Months/23 Weeks Until eBook #10,000 I Hope!!!
8411 Books Done. . .1589 To Go. . .in 160 More Days!
That's ONE More Per Day Than We Have Been Averaging!
Thus We Need One More Editor Who Can Polish 1-A-Day!
[The Newsletter is now being sent in three sections, so you can directly
go to the portions you find most interesting: 1. Founder's Comments,
2. News, Notes & Queries, and 3. Weekly eBook Update Listing.]
This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
Over Our 32 Year History, We Have Now Averaged About 200 Ebooks/Year
And Last Year Averaged About That Same 200 eBook Level. . .PER MONTH!!!!!
1668 New eBooks So Far In The 6 Months Of 2003
We Are Averaging About 278 Per Month!!!
***
In this issue of the Project Gutenberg Weekly newsletter:
- Intro (above)
- Hot Requests For Assistance
- Progress Report
- Flashback
- Continuing Requests For Assistance
- Making Donations
- Access To The Collection
- Information About Mirror Sites
- Have We Give Away A Trillion Yet?
- Weekly eBook update:
Updates/corrections in separate section
1 New From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.]
58 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
- Headline News from Newsscan and Edupage
- Information about mailing lists
*** PG Headline News ***
From Juliet Sutherland:
Project Gutenberg has just posted its first issue of the Scientific
American Supplement (SAS), which is just the start of many yet to come.
In the time period 1870-1922 Scientific American (SA) was a weekly
periodical. It was joined in 1876 by the Supplement which was also
published weekly. They were, in their prime, the premiere American
science periodicals, covering a wide range of topics that included
the physical and social sciences, medicine, architecture and design,
agriculture, and all kinds of engineering and manufacturing. . . .
As far as I know, these publications, from this time frame (1870-1922),
are not available in any digital form so PG will be providing a very unique
resource. The issues are being proofed through DP, with the basic unit of
proofing being one column. Come help us make these available to everyone!
*** Hot Requests For Assistance
Latin Is A Dying Language???
Latin Library (www.thelatinlibrary.com) died,
and was resurrected recently, bring attention
to the fact that we need to save these files,
find matching paper editions, and be sure the
files don't disappear.
If you would like to help with Latin eBooks,
please let me know.
**
Can we do the Book of Kings in Farsi?
***
Project Gutenberg DVD Needs Burners
So far we have access to only ONE DVD burner, on a laptop
belonging to a personal friend. If you have a DVD burner
or plan to get one in the next 6 months, please email me,
so we can plan how many DVD's we can make with all 10,000
Project Gutenberg eBooks on them when they are ready. We
can likely send you a box of CDs containing most of these
files early, and then a final update CD in November while
you would download the last month's/weeks' releases.
*** PROJECT GUTENBERG IS SEEKING LEGAL BEAGLES
We are seeking pro bono or very cheap legal assistance to pursue
Project Gutenberg trademark infringers and similar issues. Please
email Michael Hart <hart@pobox.com>.
[We received 3 replies from the US, 1 from Australia, but
may need more around December 10.]
*** NEW ADDRESS FOR "PUNCH" MAGAZINE TEAM
If you have, and are willing to scan bound volumes of Punch
pre-1923 please contanct as below. No single issues, please,
unless you have a complete year of them.
Please contact: jonathan_ingram@yahoo.com
*** Progress Report
In the first 6 months of this year, we produced 1668 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1998 to produce our first 1,668 eBooks!
That's 26 WEEKS as Compared to 28 Years!
59 New eBooks This Week
52 New eBooks Last Week
263 New eBooks This Month [June]
278 Average Per Month in 2003 <<<
203 Average Per Month in 2002 <<<
103 Average Per Month in 2001 <<<
1668 New eBooks in 2003 <<<
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
8,411 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
5,508 eBooks This Week Last Year
2,874 New eBooks In The Last 12 Months
4,076 New eBooks in the last 18 months <<<
242 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
***Week 52 Of The 32nd Year Of Project Gutenberg eBooks***
*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.
***
FLASHBACK!!!
1668 New eBooks So Far in 2003
It took us 28 years for the first 1668!
That's the 26 WEEKS of 2003 as Compared to 28 YEARS!!!
Here Is A Sample Of What Books Were Being Done Around #1668
Apr 1999 Story Of Waitstill Baxter, by Kate D. Wiggin [#10][tsowbxxx.xxx]1701
Apr 1999 Life of Charlotte Bronte, V2, by E. C. Gaskell[#2][2locbxxx.xxx]1700
Apr 1999 The Vanished Messenger by E. Phillips Oppenheim #4[vmsgrxxx.xxx]1699
Apr 1999 The Survivors of the Chancellor, by Jules Verne #9[tsotcxxa.xxx]1698
(Note: This is from a different source than our previous edition.)
Apr 1999 Madam How and Lady Why, by Charles Kingsley[CK #7][hwwhyxxx.xxx]1697
Apr 1999 The Club of Queer Trades, by G. K. Chesterton/GKC8[tcoqtxxx.xxx]1696
Apr 1999 The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton/GKC7[tmwhtxxx.xxx]1695
Apr 1999 Our Legal Heritage, by S. A. Reilly [rlglhxxx.xxx]1694C
Apr 1999 Dangerous Days, by Mary Roberts Rinehart [MRR #8] [ddaysxxx.xxx]1693
Mar 1999 1492, by Mary Johnston [For Columbus Day, 1998] [c1492xxx.xxx]1692
(This eBook was being posted on October 12, 1998, Columbus Day, US
(We were several months ahead of schedule, so it appeared as March.)
Mar 1999 I Have A Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr. [dreamxxx.xxx]1691
(We originally did this on Martin Luther King Day, a few years ago, but
(waited until all the court cases were completed before posting. [Note
inside eBook.] Since then, the courts have reversed themselves, this is
the ONLY work that has been withdrawn from Project Gutenberg in 32 years]
Mar 1999 Marie, by H. Rider Haggard [H. Rider Haggard #4][mariexxx.xxx]1690
.(Note: the filename mariexxx.xxx is also used for a totally different
.(eBook, #3451 in etext02)
Mar 1999 The Pivot of Civilization, By Margaret Sanger [pvcvlxxx.xxx]1689
Mar 1999 The People of the Abyss, by Jack London[London#70][tpotaxxx.xxx]1688
Mar 1999 Parmenides, by Plato [More Socrates] Plato #24][prmdsxxx.xxx]1687
Mar 1999 The Secret of the Night, by Gaston Leroux [GL #3][tsotnxxx.xxx]1686
Mar 1999 Mystery of the Yellow Room, by Gaston Leroux[GL#2][ylormxxx.xxx]1685
(Contains ASCII diagrams, best with non-proportional fonts.)
Mar 1999 The Egoist, by George Meredith[George Meredith #6][egostxxx.xxx]1684
Mar 1999 Honorine, by Honore de Balzac[Honore de Balzac#59][hnrnexxx.xxx]1683
Mar 1999 Menexenus, by Plato [Yet More Socrates] [Plato#23][mnxnsxxx.xxx]1682
Mar 1999 Eryxias, not by Plato [More Socrates] [Plato#22][ryxisxxx.xxx]1681
Mar 1999 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket, by Balzac[Hdb#58][ctrktxxx.xxx]1680
Mar 1999 Hiram The Young Farmer, by Burbank L. Todd [hrmyfxxx.xxx]1679
Mar 1999 An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac[HdB#57][hmystxxx.xxx]1678
Mar 1999 Alcibiades II, not Plato [More Socrates][Plato#21][2lcbdxxx.xxx]1677
Mar 1999 Alcibiades I, by Plato? [More Socrates] [Plato#20][1lcbdxxx.xxx]1676
Mar 1999 New Forces in Old China, by Arthur Judson Brown [ldchnxxx.xxx]1675
.(Note: the filename ldchnxxx.xxx is also used for a totally different
.(eBook, #3313 in etext02)
Mar 1999 The Narrative of Sojourner Truth [Slavery] [sjrnrxxx.xxx]1674
Mar 1999 Lesser Hippias, by [?]Plato[More Socrates]Plato19][lhppsxxx.xxx]1673
Mar 1999 Gorgias, by Plato [A Socratic Dialog] [Plato #18][grgisxxx.xxx]1672
Mar 1999 When a Man Marries, by Mary Roberts Rinehart [#7][whammxxx.xxx]1671
Mar 1999 Martin Luther's Small Catechism, Trns. by R. Smith[smlctxxx.xxx]1670
Mar 1999 The Human Drift, by Jack London[Jack London#62-69][hmndrxxx.xxx]1669
Mar 1999 Death of the Laird's Jock, by Walter Scott [WS #8][tpschxxx.xxx]1668
Also Contains: The Tapestried Chamber, by Walter Scott [WS #7]
(Note: two tales from The Keepsake Stories]
Mar 1999 My Aunt Margaret's Mirror, by Walter Scott [WS #6][mamsmxxx.xxx]1667
(Note: from The Keepsake Stories)
Mar 1999 The Golden Asse, by Lucius Apuleius "Africanus" [gldnsxxx.xxx]1666
Mar 1999 Derrick Vaughan--Novelist, by Edna Lyall [dvnvlxxx.xxx]1665
Mar 1999 Songs for Parents, by John Farrar [sfparxxx.xxx]1664
Mar 1999 Webster's March 7th Speech/Secession, by HD Foster[wsm7sxxx.xxx]1663
Mar 1999 The 1997 CIA World Factbook[CIA Factbook #7][No#6][world97x.xxx]1662
Mar 1999 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Doyle [#15][advshxxx.xxx]1661
[Contains A Variety Of Stories]
Mar 1999 Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, by Balzac[HdB #56][sfaclxxx.xxx]1660
Mar 1999 The Girl with the Golden Eyes, by Balzac [HdB #55][gwtgixxx.xxx]1659
Mar 1999 Phaedo, by Plato [AKA"The Death of Socrates 3"]#17[phadoxxx.xxx]1658
Mar 1999 Crito, by Plato [AKA"The Death of Socrates 2"]#16[critoxxx.xxx]1657
Feb 1999 Apology, by Plato[AKA"The Death of Socrates 1"]#15[pplgyxxx.xxx]1656
***
Today Is Day #188 of 2003
This Completes Week #26
181 Days/27 Weeks To Go
1589 Books To Go To #10,000
160 Days To December 10, 2003
[Our Goal For eBook #10,000]
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
Week #61 Of Our SECOND 5,000 eBooks
64 Weekly Average in 2003
47 Weekly Average in 2002
24 Weekly Average in 2001
39 Only 39 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list
[Used to be well over 100]
*** Continuing Requests For Assistance:
Project Gutenberg--Canada will be starting up soon,
please let us know if you would like to volunteer!
Copyright in Canada is "Life +50" as in Australia,
and we have volunteers working on both of these.
We will also be seeking volunteers from others of
the "life +50" countries.
email: Diane Gratton <diane_xml@hotmail.com>
***
Thesis User Study:
How do you use Project Gutenberg?
Be part of our research!!!
"Visit http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg
for a link to the study.
It only takes a few minutes."
or
Contact Debbie Dvorniks directly:
dvorniks@pacbell.net
San Jose State University
***
People interested in TeX/LaTeX documents on Project Gutenberg
please contact: tex@spacerad.com <<<We're Doing Einstein!!!
***
DISTRIBUTED PROOFREADERS NEEDS CONTENT, PROOFERS AND SCANNER TYPES
Please contact us at:
dphelp@pgdp.net
if you would like to know more about the Distributed Proofreaders.
Thanks to very good recent publicity, the Distributed Proofreading
project has greatly accelerated its pace. Please visit the site:
http://texts01.archive.org/dp for more information about how you can
help, by proofreading just a few pages per day.
If you have a book that has been scanned, but not yet run
through OCR (optical character recognition) or proofed,
and you would like the Distributed Proofreaders to work on it,
please email dphelp@pgdp.net and we will get things started.
Also, DP is seeking public domain books not already in the
Project Gutenberg collection. To see what is already online,
visit http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/GUTINDEX.ALL (a text file),
since the online database doesn't reflect recent additions.
Do you have Public Domain books your would like to see in the archive?
Can they be destructively scanned? If so send them to the Distributed
Proofreading Team! Please email dphelp@pgdp.net with your geographic
location. You will be given the address of the nearest high-speed scanner
(note that the high-speed scanner requires destruction of the book(s) which
will not be returned)." Alternatively, you can send your books directly to:
Charles Franks
9030 W. Sahara Ave. #195
Las Vegas, NV 89117
Please make sure that any books you send are _not_ already in the archive
and please check them against David's In Progress list at
http://www.dprice48.freeserve.co.uk/GutIP.html
to ensure no one is currently working on them. It would also be helpful if
you obtain copyright clearance before mailing the books, and send the 'OK'
lines to
dphelp@pgdp.net
Do you like to work on an entire book at once but don't have the time
or technology to do the scanning, OCR, and initial proofing yourself?
Distributed Proofreaders has the perfect solution! Just send us email
telling us that you are interested in post-processing and we will help
find a you project you would like to work on.
***
We Have Included Quick and Easy Ways to Donate. . .As Per Your Requests!
We Are Looking For Volunteers To Add eBooks In More Languages,
and in more formats, including music, artwork, movies, etc.
***
QUICK WAYS TO MAKE A DONATION TO PROJECT GUTENBERG
A. Send a check or money order to:
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
809 North 1500 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
USA
B. Donate by credit card online
NetworkForGood:
http://www.guidestar.org/partners/networkforgood/donate.jsp?ein=64-6221541
or
PayPal to "donate@gutenberg.net":
https://www.paypal.com
/xclick/business=donate%40gutenberg.net&item_name=Donate+to+Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg's success is due to the hard work of thousands of
volunteers over more than 30 years. Your donations make it possible
to support these volunteers, and pay our few employees to continue the
creation of free electronic texts. We accept credit cards, checks and
money transfers from any country, in any currency.
Donations are made to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
(PGLAF). PGLAF is approved as a charitable 501(c)(3) organization by
the US Internal Revenue Service, and has the Federal Employee Information
Number (EIN) 64-6221541.
For more information, including several other ways to donate, go to
http://promo.net/pg/donation.html or email donate@gutenberg.net
*** HOW TO GET EBOOKS FROM OUR MIRROR SITES
http://promo.net/pg (aka http://www.gutenberg.net) allows searching by
title, author, language and subject. Mirrors (copies) of the complete
collection are available around the world.
http://gutenberg.net/list.html can get you to the nearest one.
These sites and indices are not instant, as the cataloguing needs to be
done by our professional Chief Cataloguer.
--"INSTANT" ACCESS TO OUR LATEST eBOOKS
Use your Web browser or FTP program to visit our master download
site (or a mirror) if you know the filename you want. Try:
http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04
or
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04
and look for the first five letters of the filesname. Note that updated
eBooks usually go in their original directory (e.g., etext99, etext00, etc.)
*** Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
Statistical Review
In the 26 weeks of this year, we have produced 1668 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1998 to produce our FIRST 1668 eBooks!!!
That's 26 WEEKS as Compared to 28 YEARS!!!
With 8,411 eBooks online as of July 02, 2003 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $1.19 from each book,
for Project Gutenberg to have currently given away $1,000,000,000,000
[One Trillion Dollars] in books.
100,000,000 readers is only about 1.59 percent of the world's population!
This "cost" is down from about $1.82 when we had 5508 eBooks A Year Ago
Can you imagine 8,000+ books each costing $.63 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine 8,000+ books each costing 1/3 less a year later???
At 8411 eBooks in ~32 Years and 00.00 Months We Averaged
263 Per Year [About how many we do per month these days!]
22 Per Month
.7 Per Day
At 1668 eBooks Done In 2003 We Averaged
9 Per Day
62 Per Week
278 Per Month
The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks of
production, each production-week starting/ending Wednesday noon,
starting with the first Wednesday in January. January 1st was
was the first Wednesday of 2003, and thus ended the production
year of 2002 and began the production year of 2003 at noon.
***Headline News***
[Editor's Comments In Brackets]
From Newsscan
CONSUMER-LINUX
Does the Linux operating system have a future? Eight major consumer
electronics companies think so: Hitachi, Mitsubishi, NEC, Philips, Samsung,
Sharp, Sony and Toshiba have forged a new alliance called CE Linux Forum,
or CLEF, and IBM has expressed interest in joining the group as well. The
goals of the alliance include numerous extensions for Linux to make it a
more effective platform for consumer devices. (Information Week 1 Jul 2003)
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10817852
LISTEN.COM REPORTS 100% INCREASE IN CD BURNING
Listen.com says the number of CDs burned by subscribers to its Rhapsody
online music service has nearly doubled since it dropped its price from 99
cents to 79 cents per song. RealNetworks acquired Listen.com in April for
$36 million and reduced the per-track fee in late May, sparking a
significant increase in the number of subscribers and corresponding growth
in music downloads. Rhapsody is considered to be one of the easiest-to-use
music subscription services. (Reuters 1 Jul 2003)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=5&u=/nm/20030701
/tc_nm/media_rhapsody_dc
PENTAGON EYES URBAN SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is developing an urban
surveillance system dubbed "Combat Zones That See" (CTS), which is designed
to track and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a city. The
centerpiece of the system is proposed software that would be capable of
identifying vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, and would issue
instant alerts when a vehicle on a watchlist was detected. The CTS
technology could also be used to comb through months of data to locate and
compare vehicles spotted near terrorist attack sites. Although the military
has emphasized that it plans to use CTS in hostile foreign cities, critics
are concerned that such technology could be deployed domestically for
nonmilitary use. "One can easily foresee pressure to adopt a similar
approach to crime-ridden areas of American cities or to the Bowl or any
other site where crowds gather," says Steven Aftergood of the Federation of
American Scientists. (AP 2 Jul 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030702/D7S173M00.html
INTEL LOSES IN COURT CASE: SPAMMING ISN'T TRESPASS
In a case that rose to the California Supreme Court for review, Intel
argued that Kenneth Hamidi, a disgruntled ex-employee who had sent large
numbers of e-mail messages to current Intel employees was misappropriating
Intel's computer resources and thereby guilty of "trespass to chattels,"
which allows someone to sue for the inappropriate use of personal property.
But the court rejected Intel's position, and ruled in a 4-3 decision that
the doctrine of trespass to chattels did not apply, because the
ex-employee's e-mail messages did not damage the company's computers and
did not impose a significant cost on the company. The decision is seen as a
set-back in the fight against unsolicited commercial e-mail, or "spam,"
which Internet service providers have said was a burden on their computers.
William M. McSwain, one of Hamidi's attorneys, said of the ruling: "Spam
needs a legislative approach. And Congress and half the state legislatures
are hard at work finding one. What spam doesn't need is to have the courts
create a new tort doctrine in a way that has unintended consequences." The
court, said McSwain, reaffirmed the principle "that an unsolicited message,
sent by a business or an individual, is not presumptively a trespass simply
because the recipient doesn't want to receive the message."
(New York Times 1 Jul 2003)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2003/07/01/technology/01SPAM.html
JAPANESE MAGAZINE GROUP TARGETS 'DIGITAL SHOPLIFTING'
Japanese bookstores are readying a public relations assault on so-called
"digital shoplifting" by cell phone users who snap photos of magazine ads
showing a new hairstyle or flashy clothing and send them to their friends
for instant feedback. The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association has
branded the practice "information theft" and says its members are being
cheated out of valuable sales. In response, the group has teamed up with
Japan's phone companies to launch a national campaign warning shoppers to
mind their "magazine manners." (BBC 30 Jun 2003)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3031716.stm
BILL WOULD MANDATE NOTIFICATION OF PERSONAL DATA HACKS
Legislation introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) would require
businesses and government agencies to notify consumers when hackers break
into corporate computer systems and steal their personal data, such as
social security numbers and credit card information. The stipulations of
the bill are in direct conflict with efforts by the Bush administration to
keep such details hidden from the public, in the hope that hacking victims
will notify the FBI and other government agencies when such incidents
occur. The FBI director and some top U.S. prosecutors told technology
executives recently that they will increasingly work to keep the secret the
names of companies that fall victim to major hacking attacks. Consumer
groups praised Feinstein's proposed legislation: "It's a really important
step forward," said Chris Hoofnagle, deputy counsel at the Electronic Privacy
Information Center. "Individuals do not have this right to notice now."
(AP/CNN.com 30 Jun 2003)
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/06/30/hacker.bill.ap/index.html
IS YOUR PRIVACY INVADED BY THE 'BLACK BOX' IN YOUR CAR?
A recent survey found that most people are unaware that many later-model
automobiles are equipped with "black box" recording devices (called "data
event recorders") which are capable not only of triggering the release of
accident airbags but also of recording driving data (such as speed of the
car) in the last few seconds before a crash. Such information is
increasingly being used as evidence in criminal and civil cases related to
the accident, as part of "normal reconstruction" of what happened. But
civil libertarians are balking. Defense attorney Bob Weiner calls the black
boxes "a tremendous invasion of privacy," and David Sobel, general counsel
for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, say: "The real issue is one
of notice, and the problem arises from the fact that information is being
collected about people's driving behavior without them knowing. If drivers
knew about the device, they could at least then begin asking questions."
(USA Today 29 Jun 2003)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-06-27-black-boxes_x.htm
GOOGLE TOOLBAR EXTENDS FEATURES
Search engine Google is extending the features of its tool bar to include
automatic blocking of pop-up ads, automatic filling out of Internet forms,
and help for users wanting to maintain personal diaries or "blogs" (Web
logs). The toolbars may be used for online searching without requiring the
user to go to the Google Web site. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 27 Jun 2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6184497.htm
IRAQI INTERNET USERS 'WANT EVERYING FAST'
During the three decades of Saddam Hussein's rule, Iraqis were denied the
use of free e-mail and live chat, but now things are quite different. Iraqi
citizen Firas Behnam explains: "This is a new sense of freedom for us. We
are not in a very secure society yet, but at least we can say whatever we
like." And Web site administrator Yaser Hassan says: "Some Web sites are
still closed, but if you let us know, we will reopen them. The users here
want everything fast. They complain loudly when they see 'access denied,'
even though they did not complain for 30 years."
(San Jose Mercury News 26 Jun 2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6166288.htm
SOME LIBRARIES OPT FOR NO FILTERS, NO FEDERAL FUNDING
Many San Francisco Bay Area libraries remain opposed to installing
Internet filters, despite Monday's Supreme Court ruling that ties some
federal funding to installing filters. Some librarians questions the
efficacy of filters, noting that often they do not successfully block
X-rated content but can block access to age-appropriate medical and
sexual information. The portion of funding that some libraries receive
from the federal government is relatively small, and many libraries
wish to avoid the cost and hassle of installing filters and to continue
to offer patrons access to all information. Susan Gallinger, director
of the Livermore Public Library, said, "We just don't feel we as
librarians need to be in the position of telling people what they
should read, see, or hear." Bay Area libraries are pursuing different
approaches to protecting children from inappropriate content, from
installing filters that block pornographic Web sites in the children's
reading section but not in the adult area to issuing "smart cards" to
children with Internet access authorized by their parents.
San Jose Mercury News, 24 June 2003
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/6158188.htm
FILTER REQUIREMENT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT BLOCKED-SITE LISTS
Now that public libraries must install Internet filters or risk losing
federal funds, companies that make filters may be forced to soften
their position of not revealing what sites they block, according to
Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's (ALA)
Office for Intellectual Freedom. Krug said the ALA will encourage its
members to choose only those filters whose makers agree to disclose
their lists of blocked sites. Net Nanny, which does allow users to view
and update its list of blocked sites, hopes to take advantage of the
situation Krug described and have its software installed in many
libraries. David Burt of N2H2, which keeps its list secret, said his
company has invested millions of dollars in developing its list and
believes keeping it private will not be a consideration for libraries
newly installing filters. Of the institutions that have already
installed N2H2 filters, Burt said, none has requested to see the list.
Wall Street Journal, 24 June 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105649238011074300,00.html
You have been reading excerpts from NewsScan
NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class
organization making significant and sustained contributions to the
effective management and appropriate use of information technology.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the text, html, or handheld versions
of NewsScan Daily, send the appropriate subscribe or unsubscribe messages
(i.e., with the word 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' in the subject line) to:
Text version: Send message to NewsScan@NewsScan.com
Html version: Send mail to NewsScan-html@NewsScan.com
NewsScan-To-Go: http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html
***
From Edupage
CHIP SALES CONTINUE TO RISE
A new report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) shows
continued growth in the sales of computer chips. Sales in May of this
year were two percent higher than in April and 10 percent higher than
in May of last year. Chip sales rose in most parts of the world,
including Japan (26 percent year over year), the Asia-Pacific region
(11.7 percent), and Europe (9.3 percent). Sales in the Americas,
however, declined 6.7 percent, a drop blamed on continued outsourcing
of electronic equipment production to Asia. The SIA recently predicted
growth in chip sales of 10.1 percent for 2003, followed by increases of
16.8 percent, 5.8 percent, and 7 percent for the next three years. Strength
in the chip market is attributed to factors including increased stability
after the war in Iraq ended and the apparent end of the outbreak of SARS.
CNET, 30 June 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1006_3-1022134.html
FEDERAL DO-NOT-CALL LIST OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The federal do-not-call list went into operation this week, taking
phone numbers from citizens who want not to be called by telemarketers.
Similar to do-not-call lists in many states, the federal list will be
made available to telemarketers, for a fee. Companies found to have
called numbers on the list face fines of up to $11,000 per call.
Exceptions are made for politicians, nonprofit groups, those conducting
surveys, and companies with whom the person being called has an
existing business relationship. The phone numbers on some of the state
do-not-call lists automatically transferred to the federal list. People
in states whose lists do not transfer will have to add their numbers
separately to the federal list. The list is administered by both the
Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, a
combination that covers some wide loopholes in early plans for the list.
Wall Street Journal, 27 June 2003 (sub. req'd)
MICHIGAN PURSUES DO-NOT-SPAM LIST
The Michigan Senate has passed an antispam bill that would create a
do-not-e-mail list, similar to do-not-call lists and lists--maintained
by some marketing organizations--of individuals who do not want to
receive promotional mailings. Marketers would be required to consult
the list and remove the names that appear on the list from any mass
e-mailing. Under the proposed Michigan law, violators could face
criminal penalties, including imprisonment, as well as civil penalties
of as much as $250,000 per day that spam is sent. Observers noted that
an opt-out list of e-mail addresses would be an extremely tempting
target for spammers outside the jurisdiction of Michigan. To address
that concern, one company said it has developed a one-way encryption
system that allows marketers to check their lists against the opt-out
list but not to discern the addresses in an unencrypted form.
CNET, 25 June 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-1021169.html
BILL WOULD DISALLOW COPYRIGHT FOR FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH
A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would prevent
researchers from claiming copyright protections for published work that
received "substantial" federal funding. No definition is given for
"substantial" in the bill. Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn.) introduced the
bill in an effort to guarantee public access to research for "all who
may benefit from it--especially when they've already paid for it with
their tax dollars." The Public Library of Science, an organization that
is planning to introduce two free, online scientific journals, supports
the proposed legislation. Opponents said the law is unnecessary because
a large portion of academic work is already available online. Peter D.
Farnham of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
said Sabo's bill would conflict with the Bayh-Dole Act, passed in
1980, which allows researchers to claim intellectual property rights on
their work, even if funded by federal money.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 27 June 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/06/2003062702n.htm
You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
If you have questions or comments about Edupage,
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958352.html
or send e-mail to: edupage@educause.edu
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. But
different relays will get it to you at different times; you
can subscribe directly, just send me email to find out how,
or surf to promo.net/pg to subscribe directly by yourself.]
and now
About the Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter:
[Goes out approximately at noon each Wednesday, but various
different relays will get it to you at different times; you
can subscribe directly, just send me email to find out how,
or surf to promo.net/pg to subscribe directly by yourself.]
***
Project Gutenberg Mailing Lists:
For more information about the Project Gutenberg's mailing lists
please visit the following webpage:
http://gutenberg.net/subs.html
Archives and personal settings:
The Lyris Web interface has an easy way to browse past mailing list
contents, and change some personal settings. Visit
http://listserv.unc.edu and select one of the Project Gutenberg lists.
Trouble?
If you are having trouble subscribing, unsubscribing or with
anything else related to the mailing lists, please email
"owner-gutenberg@listserv.unc.edu" to contact the lists'
(human) administrator.
If you would just like a little more information about Lyris
features, you can find their help information at http://www.lyris.com/help
pgweekly_2003_07_02_part_1.txt
If you liked this post, say thanks by sharing it.