The Project Gutenberg Weekly Newsletter For Wednesday, April 28, 2004 PT1
*****eBooks Readable By Both Humans and Computers Since July 4, 1971******
This Newsletter is being completed and sent from our backup locations
as beryl.ils.unc.edu is down. Thus the numbers are probably a little
lower than they should be, as the listings of the new eBooks are sent
through a beryl listserver. Before beryl went down, we were up to a
weekly total of 84 new eBooks, so I am going with 85, as below, and I
will do my best to make sure we properly reconcile next week's number
with this. Apologies for any confusion this causes. The rest of the
Newsletter should be up to date, as I retrieved Newsscan and Edupage
articles from our backup email sites.
*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*
eBook Milestones
Last Year We Had Done Exactly 1,000 eBooks By The 3rd Week In April
*This Year We Have Done 1,579, Just About Exactly Moore's Law Growth*
[More On Moore's Law Below]
We Are ~1/4 of the Way from 10,000 to 20,000
12486 eBooks As Of Today!!!
7514 to go to 20,000
It took 32 years from 1971 to 2003 to do our 1st 10,000
It took ~3 1/4 years from 2001 to 2004 for our last 10,000
[From 2,486 to 12,486 = January, 2001 to April, 2004]
***
[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.]
Today, and until we actually GET a new Newsletter editor who want to
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and the eBook listings in Part 2 [New Project Gutenberg Documents].
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This is Michael Hart's "Founder's Comments" section of the Newsletter
Over Our 32 16/52 Year History, We Have Now Averaged About 386 Ebooks/Yr
And This Year Averaged Over That Same New eBook Level. . .PER MONTH!!!!!
We Are Averaging About 421 eBooks Per Month This Year!!!
99 per week!!!
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In this issue of the Project Gutenberg Weekly newsletter:
- Intro (above)
- New Site (above)
- Hot Requests (above)
- Requests For Assistance
- Progress Report
- Flashback
- Continuing Requests For Assistance
- Making Donations
- Access To The Collection
- Information About Mirror Sites
- Have We Given Away A Trillion Yet?
- Weekly eBook update:
Updates/corrections in separate section
1 New From PG Australia [Australian, Canadian Copyright Etc.]
84 New Public Domain eBooks Under US Copyright
- Headline News from Newsscan and Edupage
- Information about mailing lists
*** Requests For Assistance
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*** Progress Report
In the first 3.75 months of this year, we produced 1579 new eBooks.
It took us from July 1971 to Jan 1999 to produce our first 1,579 eBooks!
That's 16 WEEKS as Compared to ~28 Years!
85 New eBooks This Week
75 New eBooks Last Week
164 New eBooks This Month [April]
421 Average Per Month in 2004
355 Average Per Month in 2003
203 Average Per Month in 2002
103 Average Per Month in 2001
1579 New eBooks in 2004
4164 New eBooks in 2003
2441 New eBooks in 2002
1240 New eBooks in 2001
====
9424 New eBooks Since Start Of 2001
That's Only 39.75 Months!
12,486 Total Project Gutenberg eBooks
7,743 eBooks This Week Last Year
====
4,743 New eBooks In Last 12 Months
350 eBooks From Project Gutenberg of Australia
We're still keeping up with Moore's Law!
I think the figures below are slightly high,
since we did EXACTLY 1,000 eBooks by the 3rd
week in April last year, and this year 1579.
This is just about exactly 100% Moore's Law.
Moore's Law 12 month percentage = 104%
Moore's Law 18 month percentage = 101%
[100% of Moore's Law = doubling every 18 months]
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***
FLASHBACK!!!
1579 New eBooks So Far in 2004
It took us ~28 years for the first 1579 !
That's the 3.5 MONTHS of 2004 as Compared to ~27 YEARS!!!
Here Is A Sample Of What Books Were Being Done Around #1579
Jan 1999 Symposium, by Plato, B. Jowett, Trans. [Plato #9][sympoxxx.xxx] 1600
Jan 1999 Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper, et. al. [cndrlxxx.xxx] 1599
Jan 1999 Euthydemus, by Plato, B. Jowett, Trans. [Plato #8][uthydxxx.xxx] 1598
Jan 1999 [Hans Christian] Andersen's Fairy Tales [HCA #1+][hcaftxxx.xxx] 1597
Jan 1999 Smoke Bellew, by Jack London [Jack London #50][smkblxxx.xxx] 1596
Jan 1999 Whirligigs, by O Henry [O Henry #3][whrlgxxx.xxx] 1595
Jan 1999 Essays in Little, by Andrew Lang [Andrew Lang #11][eslttxxx.xxx] 1594
Jan 1999 How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers, by Woods [httbfxxx.z-p] 1593
Jan 1999 Study of the King James Bible, Cleland Boyd McAfee[sokjvxxx.xxx] 1592
Jan 1999 Protagoras, by Plato, B. Jowett, Trans. [Plato #7][prtgsxxx.xxx] 1591
Jan 1999 The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart[#5][mzgntxxx.xxx] 1590
Jan 1999 Tamburlaine the Great PT 2, by Christopher Marlowe[tmbn2xxx.xxx] 1589
Jan 1999 A Rogue's Life, by Wilkie Collins [W. Collins #9][rgslfxxx.xxx] 1588
Jan 1999 The Black Robe, by Wilkie Collins [W. Collins #8][blkrbxxx.xxx] 1587
Jan 1999 Man and Wife, by Wilkie Collins [W. Collins #7][mandwxxx.xxx] 1586
Jan 1999 The Wrong Box, by Stevenson & Osbourne [RLS#40][wrngbxxx.xxx] 1585
Dec 1998 Laches, by Plato, B. Jowett, Tr. [Plato #6][lachsxxx.xxx] 1584
Dec 1998 Options, by O Henry [O Henry #2][optnsxxx.xxx] 1583
Dec 1998 Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, New Testament [3drvbxxx.xxx] 1582
Dec 1998 Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, Both Testaments [0drvbxxx.xxx] 1581
Dec 1998 Charmides, by Plato, B. Jowett, Tr. #5 [chmdsxxx.xxx] 1580
Dec 1998 Lysis, by Plato, Benjamin Jowett, Tr. #4 [lysisxxx.xxx] 1579
Dec 1998 Aucassin and Nicolete, Tr. by Andrew Lang[Lang#10][aucncxxx.xxx] 1578
Dec 1998 The Grey Room, by Eden Phillpotts [gryrmxxx.xxx] 1577
Dec 1998 The Life of Phineas T. Barnum, by Joel Benton [ptbnmxxx.xxx] 1576
Dec 1998 The Foundations of Personality, by Abraham Myerson[prstyxxx.xxx] 1575
Dec 1998 Historic Girls, by E. S. Brooks [hgrlsxxx.xxx] 1574
Dec 1998 Frank's Campaign/Farm & Camp, Horatio Alger Jr. #9[frcmpxxx.xxx] 1573
Dec 1998 Timaeus, by Plato, Benjamin Jowett, Tr. #3 [tmeusxxx.xxx] 1572
Dec 1998 Critias, by Plato, Benjamin Jowett, Tr. #2 [critixxx.xxx] 1571
Dec 1998 The Power of Concentration, By Theron Q. Dumont [prconxxx.xxx] 1570
Dec 1998 The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac[HdB#51][tlotvxxx.xxx] 1569
Dec 1998 Poems, by William Ernest Henley[William Henley #2][pmwehxxx.xxx] 1568
Dec 1998 Poems, by T. S. [Thomas Stearns] Eliot [Eliot #3][tsepmxxx.xxx] 1567
Dec 1998 The Evolution of Modern Medicine, by William Osler[teommxxx.xxx] 1566
Dec 1998 Last Days of Pompeii, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton [tldopxxx.xxx] 1565
Dec 1998 Life of Johnson by [James] Boswell [ljnsnxxx.xxx] 1564
Dec 1998 The Crystal Stopper, by Maurice LeBlanc [cstprxxx.xxx] 1563
Dec 1998 Little Rivers, by Henry van Dyke [van Dyke #4][ltrvsxxx.xxx] 1562
Dec 1998 Pagan & Christian Creeds, by Edward Carpenter [pchrcxxx.xxx] 1561
Dec 1998 The San Francisco Calamity, Charles Morris, Ed. [sfclmxxx.xxx] 1560
Dec 1998 A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, by Balzac #50[adpapxxx.xxx] 1559
Dec 1998 The Profits of Religion, by Upton Sinclair [prfrlxxx.xxx] 1558
Dec 1998 Men of Iron, by Ernie Howard Pyle [femenxxx.xxx] 1557
Dec 1998 The Marriage Contract, by de Honore de Balzac[#49][mrgctxxx.xxx] 1556
Dec 1998 A Passion in the Desert, by Honore de Balzac [#48][apitdxxx.xxx] 1555
Dec 1998 Adieu, by Honore de Balzac [Honore de Balzac #47][adieuxxx.xxx] 1554
Dec 1998 The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac[HdB#46][hmstpxxx.xxx] 1553
Dec 1998 Most Interesting Stories of All Nations, Hawthorne[misanxxx.xxx] 1552
Dec 1998 A Cathedral Courtship, by Kate Douglas Wiggin [#9][cthrcxxx.xxx] 1551
Dec 1998 A Lady of Quality, by Frances Hodgson Burnett [#8][ladyqxxx.xxx] 1550
Dec 1998 Commentary on Galatians, Martin Luther [Luther #5][mlgltxxx.xxx] 1549
***
Today Is Day #112 of 2004
This Completes Week #16 and Month #3.75
251 Days/37 Weeks To Go [We get 52 Wednesdays this year]
7514 Books To Go To #20,000
[Our production year begins/ends
1st Wednesday of the month/year]
99 Weekly Average in 2004
79 Weekly Average in 2003
47 Weekly Average in 2002
24 Weekly Average in 2001
41 Only 41 Numbers Left On Our Reserved Numbers list
[Used to be well over 100]
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*** Have We Given Away A Trillion Books/Dollars Yet???
Statistical Review
In the 16 weeks of this year, we have produced 1579 new eBooks.
It took us from 1971 to 1997 to produce our FIRST 1579 eBooks!!!
That's 16 WEEKS as Compared to ~28 YEARS!!!
With 12,486 eBooks online as of April 28, 2004 it now takes an average
of 100,000,000 readers gaining a nominal value of $0.80 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 1.5% of the world's population!
This "cost" is down from about $1.29 when we had 7666 eBooks A Year Ago
Can you imagine ~12,500 books each costing ~$.49 less a year later???
Or. . .would this say it better?
Can you imagine ~12,500 books each costing 1/3 less a year later???
At 12,486 eBooks in 32 Years and 9.75 Months We Averaged
380 Per Year [We do more per than that month these days!]
31.7 Per Month
1.04 Per Day
At 1579 eBooks Done In The 112 Days Of 2004 We Averaged
14 Per Day
99 Per Week
421 Per Month
The production statistics are calculated based on full weeks'
production; each production-week starts/ends Wednesday noon,
starts with the first Wednesday of January. January 7th was
the first Wednesday of 2004, and thus ended PG's production
year of 2003 and began the production year of 2004 at noon.
This year there will be 52 Wednesdays, thus no extra week.
***Headline News***
[PG Editor's Comments In Brackets]
>From Newsscan:
[As With Previous eBook Hardware, It Will Cost A Fortune To Download Public
Domain eBooks, As There Appears To Be No Provision For Free eBook Entry AND
it also appears that users will only be RENTING the $5 eBooks, as they seem
to be only be readable for 8 weeks or so after downloading. More later.]
[I'm going on second and third hand information here. . .I've read all I
could find, and it would appear these products haven't been released yet.]
SONY E-BOOK GETS RAVE REVIEWS
Sony's Librii electronic reader is as easy on the eyes as the paper version,
says New York Times reviewer Todd Zaun. The Librii screen is a collaborative
effort between Philips Electronics and E Ink, and the letters appear
"as sharp and clear as those on a printed page. The screen can be
read from almost any angle, and it does not fade in bright light,"
says Zaun. Sony plans to begin selling the Librii in Japan next month
for about $380, and buyers will be able to download e-books for less than
$5 each from a Web site set up by Sony and a group of Japanese publishers.
Sony plans to see how its Japanese market develops before it decides whether
to expand to the U.S. and Europe. (New York Times 22 Apr 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/technology/circuits/22read.html
LINDOWS SET FOR IPO
Lindows Inc. has filed for a so-called Dutch-auction-style initial
public offering in an effort to raise up to $57.5 million. In a
Dutch-auction IPO, investors bid on shares and help set the offering price.
Lindows, which markets a version of Linux software for personal computers,
was founded by Michael L. Robertson, the entrepreneur who also founded
MP3.com. Lindows has locked horns with Microsoft, which has filed lawsuits
alleging that the Lindows name violates Microsoft trademarks on the Windows
operating system. In response, Lindows changed the name of its software to
Linspire last week. (Wall Street Journal 21 Apr 2004)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108150238193388647,00.html (sub req'd)
[And in a related story]
AUSTRALIAN BANKS LOOK AT LINUX SWITCH
Linux and open-source software have a big future - at Microsoft's
expense - in at least two of Australia's four big banks. Westpac and the
National Australia Bank are seriously considering open source, and the ANZ
Bank has yet to show its cards. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Bank has
decided to stick with Microsoft products. Westpac and NAB are evaluating
Linux on the desktop, as well as open-source alternatives for their
back-end IT operations. That could lead to pockets of desktops running
open-source software, perhaps in ATM or teller environments and many
back-end systems, including internet-banking platforms running on Linux.
(The Australian 20 Apr 2004)
http://
australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,9329324%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
INDIA IMPLEMENTS E-VOTING
For decades, millions of illiterate Indians voted by pressing their
thumbprints on ballot cards. This year, they'll just press a button --
and so will everyone else. India's general elections, which began Tuesday,
are set to make the world's largest democracy also the world's largest user
of computerized voting machines. This year, in a staggered vote that runs
through May 10, India's 660 million registered voters will be able to
exercise their franchise on one of approximately 1 million computerized
voting machines in an electronic, ballot-less election. The change in India
is having a deep impact on politics. Supporters say it's also good for the
environment in a country trying to save its vanishing forests. More than
8,000 tons of paper, made from approximately 16 million trees, has been used
to print ballots for past federal elections. (The Australian 22 Apr 2004)
http://tinyurl.com/366ly (Rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U)
[And in a related story]
MD. GROUP DEMANDS PAPER BACKUP FOR E-VOTES
A voter advocacy group in Maryland is suing that state's Board of
Elections to prevent the use of touch-screen voting machines until a paper
record is installed as auditable backup for the system. At present, the
state's Diebold voting machines are not set up to produce a paper record of
each individual vote. Linda H. Lamone, the state elections administrator,
says that paper records are unnecessary because the Diebold system is
equipped to preserve votes in its memory: "It's stored in two different
locations. If we have battery failure, it still doesn't lose votes." She
also said: "It's going to be next to impossible for anyone to gain access to
manipulate the election. If anyone tries it, we're going to put them in
jail." (Washington Post 22 Apr 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35149-2004Apr22.html
[And in yet another related story]
CALIFORNIA PANEL NIXES DIEBOLD VOTING MACHINES
California's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel has recommended
discontinuing the use of 15,000 its Diebold touch-screen voting machines,
saying that the systems had malfunctioned in the state's March primary
election in March and caused many voters in San Diego County to be
turned away. (AP/USA Today 22 Apr 2004)
http://
www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-04-22-panel-dings-diebold_x.htm
SEX.COM SAGA CONCLUDES
The lengthy legal battle over the rightful ownership of the "sex.com"
domain name has come to a conclusion with VeriSign's agreement to settle
for terms that are rumored to be around $10 million. "This shows that the
small guy can eventually beat a huge company. Hopefully, this leads to
better care, custody and control over people's intellectual property," says
Gary Kremen, who originally registered the name but found in 1995 that
Network Solutions had turned the rights over to convicted forger Stephen
Michael Cohen, who duped the Internet registrar into believing he had
purchased it from Kremen. A federal court in 2001 ordered Cohen to pay
Kremen $65 million, but Cohen skipped the country and is rumored to be
living in Monte Carlo. Kremen then set his sights on VeriSign, which had
purchased Network Solutions in 2000 and refused to admit any mistake had
been made. The company is embroiled in nine other lawsuits over problems
with domain-name registrations, according to the company's most recent
annual filing with the SEC. (Los Angeles Times 21 Apr 2004)
http://
www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-sex21apr21,1,5242805.story?coll=la-headl
ines-technology
FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY IN OHIO SCHOOLS
The Akron, Ohio school district has begun using a $700,000 "iMeal"
program that identifies students in school lunch lines using their
fingerprints. Students whose parents don't want them fingerprinted can
instead be issued a PIN number to participate in the school lunch program.
The coordinator of Akron's Child Nutrition Services says, "It's a parental
and student choice what to do. We don't encourage or discourage either
option." Whether students use fingerprints or PIN numbers, they'll be able
to pay as they go through the lunch line or draw from a prepaid account.
(AP/San Jose Mercury 27 Apr 2004) News
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8531202.htm
WANT ATTENTION? DRIVE THROUGH MANALAPAN, FLORIDA
Manalapan, Florida, where two out of every three homes are worth more
than $500,000, will soon be running background checks on every car and
driver that passes through town. Cameras will take infrared photos recording
a car's tag number, and computer software will automatically run the numbers
through law enforcement databases; police will also have a picture of the
driver, taken with another set of cameras. A Manalapan police official says,
"Courts have ruled that in a public area, you have no expectation of
privacy." In any event, the official makes a point of saying that the data
collected this way will be destroyed every three months.
(AP/USA Today 27 Apr 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-04-27-rich-people-shun-privacy_x.htm
COMCAST WALKS AWAY FROM THE TABLE
Withdrawing his company's unsolicited bid to take over the Walt Disney
Company, Comcast president and CEO Brian L. Roberts explains: "We have always
been disciplined in our approach to acquisitions. Being disciplined means
knowing when it is time to walk away. That time is now. It has become clear
that there is no interest on the part of Disney's management and Board in
putting Comcast and Disney together. As a result, we have withdrawn our offer."
(Washington Post 28 Apr 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48755-2004Apr28.html
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***
>From Edupage
MICROSOFT EXTENDS CONCESSIONS
In a surprise announcement, Microsoft said it will allow competing
software companies to license its technology beyond the term required
by Microsoft's antitrust settlement with the government. One of the
major requirements of the settlement was that Microsoft allow
competitors access to its technology so that those other firms could
develop software that would work properly with the Windows operating
system, thereby spurring competition in the software market. Only 14
companies, however, have bought licenses to use Microsoft technology in
developing their own applications. Responding to comments from the
judge in the case that the settlement has not shown the results
anticipated, Microsoft said it will continue the licensing program
until November 2009, two years longer than the settlement requires.
Microsoft also said it will allow access to some portions of its
next-generation operating system, known as Longhorn.
Washington Post, 21 April 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30713-2004Apr21.html
You have been reading excerpts from Edupage:
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***
More Headline News Mostly Avoided By The Major U.S. Media
COLLEGE TUITION OUTSTRIPPING INFLATION 10 TIMES OVER
As per a radio news program this morning, one of our regional colleges
is raising tuition today by 16% for incoming students, and 7.5% for
continuing students.
At 16%, this is 10 times the U.S. Inflation rate of 1.6% (2002)
Source: 2003 CIA World Factbook
It will only take 5 more 16% tuition hikes to double tuition.
We've already had several such tuition hikes reported.
***
CHINESE PUSHING FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS GRID
The Chinese government has decided to postpone indefinitely a plan
that would have imposed its own standard for wireless technology.
[This allows for the export of U.S. wireless technologies.]
Evans said of the Chinese decision: "It is certainly a landmark day --
a fruitful day in the relationship between the United States and China.
Our exports to China are growing faster than exports to any other country
in the world."
The headlines were misleading in the original:
CHINA POSTPONES WIRELESS PLAN (New York Times 22 Apr 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/business/worldbusiness/22trade.html
***
WIPO Proposes Further Intellectual Property Extensions
A group of Oxford graduate students in law (including UPD volunteer
Tina Piper) have written an excellent academic analysis of the
Broadcast Treaty and the effect it will have on access to the public
domain. You can find it on the UPD site at:
http://www.public-domain.org/node/view/25
Union for the Public Domain
Oxford report analyses the Broadcast Treaty
Submitted by updadmin on Monday, April 19, 2004 - 11:37 Broadcasting
[This story is being continually updated]
***
[I'm still working on more information for you on this subject]
[Yes, there is more this week]
I've been researching and reporting on "Stereolithography" or 3-D
printing for about 10 years, and still have very little in the way
of press coverage of a pretty exciting computer application. . .
"printing" actual 3-D objects from your computer.
[Here'e The Latest On The 3-D Computer Age, And, Again, Note They
Don't Mention How These 3-D Parts Actually Get Into The Real World]
3D SEARCHING
Researchers have developed new search engines that can mine catalogs of
three-dimensional objects such as airplane parts or architectural features.
For example, Purdue University professor Karthik Ramani created a system
that can find computer-designed industrial parts, and Caterpillar Inc.
engineer Rick Jeff says of Ramani's technology: "If you've got to design a
new elbow for an oil line, more often than not, we have a plethora of
elbows"; Jeff says the problem has been that each has to be examined
separately -- a tedious task "that isn't even performed that often, because
it isn't feasible or practical... It seems like there's ever-greater demands
for speed in product development, and it's those kinds of breakthroughs that
are needed to keep up. This would really just add to the efficiency."
Professor Ramani says happily: "I think this is the beginning of the
information age." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 16 Apr 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8441476.htm
[From Newsscan, details above]
***
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pgweekly_2004_04_28_part_1.txt
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