The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter 2nd July 2003
eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers For Since 1971
Part 2
We have now completed 8411 ebooks!!!
In this part of the Project Gutenberg Weekly newsletter:
1) Editorial
2) News
Radio Gutenberg Update
3) Notes and Queries
4) Mailing list information
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Gutenberg is available at http://www.gutenberg.net
Webmaster is Pietro di Miceli of Rome, Italy
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Editorial
Hello,
A happy anniversay to us all. A big thank you also to all of this
weeks contributors, life as a newsletter is never easy*, but it is nice
to see the newsletter really beginning to develop. So please feel free
to send in a contribution, comment or query.
Happy reading,
Alice
(newsletter at schiffwood dot co dot uk - If you hit reply, the mail you
send does not reach me and disappears into the ether.)
We welcome feedback and awkward questions at the address above. Please
feel free to send our general ramblings to a friend.
* This was originally a slip of the keyboard, however, as it
accurately sums me up this week I have decided to leave it in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
============= [ SUBMIT A NEW EBOOK FOR COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE ]==============
If you have a book you would like to confirm is in the public domain in
the US, and therefore suitable for Project Gutenberg, please do the
following:
1. Check whether we have the eBook already. Look in
http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/GUTINDEX.ALL
which is updated weekly. (The searchable catalog at
http://www.gutenberg.net lags behind by several months)
2. Check the "in progress" list to see whether someone is already
working on the eBook. Sometimes, books are listed as in progress for
years - if so, email David Price (his address is on the list) to ask
for contact information for the person working on the book. The "in
progress" list:
http://www.dprice48.freeserve.co.uk/GutIP.html
3. If the book seems to be a good candidate (pre-1923 publication
date, or 1923-1988 published in the US without a copyright notice),
submit scans of the title page and verso page (even if the verso is
blank) to:
http://beryl.ils.unc.edu/copy.html
You'll hear back within a few days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2) News
Scientific American Supplement
by Juliet Sutherland
"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
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.
I've avoided using the word "magazine" because it is quite
deceptive. Physically, the SAS and SA from this time frame are 28 cm x
40 cm (~11"x16"), with each issue being (usually) 16 pages long. Each
page is divided into 3 columns. The text alone of the issue that has
been posted is ~275K or about 80 pages in 10 point fixed-width
type. Each issue is also heavily illustrated with both line drawings
and steel engravings. The illustrations range from relatively small,
in-column diagrams to amazingly detailed full page pictures. The large
engravings use fine lines and dots to simulate, very effectively, what
we now think of grayscale. Due to the importance of these
illustrations, we are also posting html versions of each issue. But be
warned: the file sizes for the illustrated versions are quite large
(typically 4-6Mb).
Thanks to the friendliness of a local used book dealer, I have access
to a very large number of issues of both publications from the 1860's
through the 1920's. Because he will be reselling them, for the most
part these are individual issues, not bound volumes. So there is a
certain randomness to which issues will appear when. Eventually we
hope to make the entire series of both publications available through
PG. 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!
Juliet Sutherland
-------------------
Request for sponsorship
From Ted Garvin
There are some books of historical/literary significance that I would
like to get through ILL (Inter Library Loans). Only one problem (aside
from finding time to scan them, but I seem to manage in that area),
and that is lack of funds.
So this is a plea for sponsorship. Email Ted at garvint at yahoo.com
- Ted
-------------------
Tabloid Scanning Now Available.
Project Gutenberg has purchased a tabloid-sized flatbed scanner,
capable of scanning pages up to 12" by 17" (30cm x 42.5cm). Do you
have a book, magazine, sheet music, or broadside that requires an
oversized scanner?
E-mail Suzanne Shell at shells at pglaf dot org to discuss the
details.
It would be helpful to include the following in your message:
Title/author, Copyright clearance, Time constraints, Format and/or
image resolution needed (and any other special requirements). The
scanner (and Suzanne) are located in North Carolina; get in
touch--we'll figure out how best to handle your project.
-------------------
New and Improved service
In a bid to make the newsletter more helpful to readers who may be
blind or visually impaired and using screen reading software, we are
now able to offer the booklisting normally contained in part 3 in a
different format to make your life a little easier. An example of the
new style listing is given below. If you would like either a daily or
weekly version of this list please email me at newsletter at
schiffwood dot co dot uk, and state which version you require.
{Note to the unwary: this is an example, the real booklist is in part 3.}
34 NEW ETEXTS FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG US
A Complete Grammar of Esperanto, by Ivy Kellerman Mar 2005[esperxxx.xxx]7787
The Female Gamester, by Gorges Edmond Howard Apr 2005[fmgstxxx.xxx]7840
[Subtitle: A Tragedy]
A Primary Reader, by E. Louise Smythe Apr 2005[preadxxx.xxx]7841
[Also posted: illustrated HTML, zipped only - pread10h.zip]
The Rise of Iskander, by Benjamin Disraeli Apr 2005[?riskxxx.xxx]7842
[7-bit version with non-accented characters in 7risk10.txt and 7risk10.zip]
[8-bit version with accented characters in 8risk10.txt and 8risk10.zip]
[rtf version with accented characters in 8risk10r.rtf and 8risk10r.zip]
[rtf version has numbered paragraphs; txt version has no paragraph numbers]
The Happy End, by Joseph Hergesheimer Apr 2005[?hpndxxx.xxx]7843
[7-bit version with non-accented characters in 7hpnd10.txt and 7hpnd10.zip]
[8-bit version with accented characters in 8hpnd10.txt and 8hpnd10.zip]
-------------------
Radio Gutenberg Update
http://www.etc-edu.com
The runoffs for DJs have been completed and it looks like "The Fishburne
Files" and "Bugsy" are here to stay. The Fishburne Files will continue to
explore the treasures of the Gutenberg Collection, and to expand Dr. Kula's
ability to give satisfying readings of the broadest possible diversity of
material.
In line with that objective, "The Files" is opening the late June - early July
broadcast series with a new reading of Shakespear's "A Midsummer's Night
Dream". This reading features 22 unique computer voices, continuing
improvement of inflection, a revised Shakespeare Pronounciation guide, and
stereo staging (left-center-right only).
"The Real Dope" will continue to unfold as a live reading, and Bugsy, Radio
Gutenberg's Programmer, is working on a means to provide daily shows of new
books that add 30 minutes or so of material every 3 to 7 days, and provide
multiple means to listen to missed episodes.
A new reading of Robert Sheckley's science fiction short "Bad Medicine" is
coming online soon. Give it a listen, you'll be suprised how far we've come
in the last 6 months! The follow up "replay" to "Bad Medicine" is "The Fall
of the House of Usher.". That's in the way of fixing a mistake ....
Brett was concerned that Shakespeare might not give us programmers enough new
ground to cover, so he's got Plato's Republic scheduled. And "The Iceberg
Express" "Diary of a U-Boat Captain" "When the Earth Shook" and Captain
Cook's Diary's are coming soon.
mike eschman for radio gutenberg ...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
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 Employer Identification
Number (EIN) 64-6221541.
For more information, including several other ways to donate, go to
http://www.gutenberg.net or email gbnewby@ils.unc.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3) Notes and Queries
Just who is...?
Following a query earlier this week, we present the first in an
occasional series. Starting with
David Widger
"Dr. David Widger retired many years ago after forty years of medical
practice and teaching; he now spends his days at scanner, desk and
keyboard working for Project Gutenberg producing eBooks of his own and
posting those of others."
-------------------
Moore's Law
This is attributed to Gordon Moore, then working at Fairchild
Semiconductor as head of R & D, later chairman of Intel. In an article
written for 'Electronics' magazine in 1965, when he was working in the
research entitled 'Cramming more components onto integrated circuits',
Moore states 'The complexity for minimum component costs has increased
at a factor of roughly two per year. Certainly over the short term this
rate can be expected to continue, if not to increase'. This was dubbed
'Moore's Law' by the press. Over time the idea was refined with
various different versions to describe different parts of the computer
industry. The timing was also changed, rather than doubling in a year,
the power of the integrated circuit was seen to double in eighteen
months. This is the rule we aim have had as our goal at PG.
Moore's Law states that the Computer Revolution is occuring at a rate
at which performance per dollar doubles every 18 months. . .doubling
performance or halving prices every year and a half. . . . This is a
rate of growth of ~4.2% per month, yielding an annual growth rate of:
56.x% per year.
Here is the Moore's Law prediction from Dec. 10, 1993 to Dec. 10, 2002:
9 years, doubling once every 18 months would be a total of 6 doublings:
Total Date Doublings
100 Dec 10, 1993 0
200 Jun 10, 1995 1
400 Dec 10, 1996 2
800 Jun 10, 1998 3
1600 Dec 10, 1999 4
3200 Jun 10, 2001 5
6400 Dec 10, 2002 6 We have just beaten this goal!
10078 Dec 10, 2003 7 We might hit #10,000 by end of 2003!
12800 Jun 10, 2004 8
In fact, we have kept up with Moore's Law even longer than that,
back to 22 eBooks in Dec., 1991 and 10 in Dec., 1990
Alice
With thanks to Michael Hart
Notes from:
www.intel.com - You can find the original paper from Electronics
magazine here.
Inside Intel - Tim Jackson, published by Harper Collins
Accidental Empires - Robert X. Cringely, published by Penguin
-------------------
An Introduction
by Brett Fishburn
To tie in with his selections on Radio Gutenberg, Brett has sent along
some introductions, we begin with
When the World Shook, by H. Rider Haggard
What would you do if you had to trek through an everchanging land with
constantly changing customs, constantly changing companions, and
constantly changing governments? What if you stumbled upon an ancient
God in suspended animation? This is the very adventure proposed by
this book.
H. Rider Haggard was born in 1856 and died in 1925 completing numerous
books that would today be in the category of science fiction or
historical fiction. A friend of Rudyard Kipling, Haggard started his
writing career on a bet that he could write a book as compelling as
Treasure Island. The result was King Solomon's Mines and Haggard was
off and running. Haggard was remarkably well traveled and even tried
political office. In 1912 he was knighted, most notably for his work
on farming in England and was made a Commander of the British Empire
in 1919. At the time of his death, he left four completed novels that
were published posthumously.
This tale of an Atlantean who wants to rule the world is probably not
the best example of Haggard's work, but it is unquestionably his
strongest leap into science fiction. As testament to this, Kipling's
review of this work is, "a remarkable work of imagination--really new thing."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--WHERE TO GET EBOOKS
http://www.gutenberg.net allows searching by
title, author, language and subject. Mirrors (copies) of the complete
collection are available around the world.
These sites and indices are not updated instantly, as additional research may need to be done by our professional Chief Cataloguer, so for those who wish to obtain these new ebooks, please refer to the following section.
--"INSTANT" ACCESS TO 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.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Please visit the site:
http://www.pgdp.net 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! Send email to
dphelp@pgdp.net saying that you are interested in post-processing and we
will help you find a project to work on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mailing list information
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Credits
Thanks this time go to Brett and George for the numbers and
the booklists. Mike Eschman for the RG updates (we couldn't do it
without you), Mark for the beer, me for the malt loaf, Greg, Michael,
and Larry Wall. Entertainment for the workers provided by Andrew
Collins. Sister Lee please come back to me.
pgweekly_2003_07_02_part_2.txt
If you liked this post, say thanks by sharing it.