PG Monthly Newsletter (2000-04-16)

by Michael Cook on April 16, 2000
Newsletters

========
Subject: Requests & Revised Gutenberg Newsletter
From: "Michael S. Hart" <hart@prairienet.org>
To: "Project Gutenberg mailing list" <gutnberg@listserv.unc.edu>
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 14:18:58 -0500 (CDT)

***This is The Final Version of Last Week's Preliminary Newsletter***]

There are many requests in this one:  we hope you can offer some help.

[For those of you who already received the listings see Bret Harte 18]
***An EXTRA Project Gutenberg Newsletter of Wednesday, April 5, 2001**
[We already posted an April Newsletter just before I left, on March 7]
Etexts Readable By Both Humans and Computers Since Before The Internet
[Usually sent the first Wednesday of each month, delayed if by relay.]
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*Check out our Websites at promo.net, and ask me for our FTP servers.*



Table of Contents:

Headline News

Requests For Assistance

Comments About Our New Files

Index Listings for the New Files

Notes from Edupage and News Scan


*****

Headline News


Just a note from me about hard drives being down to under:

$10 per Gigabyte = $.01 per Megabyte

There are several in the 20-30G range for about $200-$300.

Since I wrote this, several of our Geek Lunchers mentioned
having recently purchased drives for as low as $7 per Gig.

My first 5M drive cost $3,000 new. . .I still have it. . .

Also, 128M of RAM is now down to under $100.

***

Requests For Assistance

Please contact me if you know about the following:
I would like to hear from Simone Fluter about Quo Vadis,
from Grant Macandrew, and a few others I emailed about
copyright clearances, but whose mail bounced, or I have
been otherwise unable to contact, including, but not
limited to:  Lan Wang [Marco Polo]; someone who was
interested in Ben Hur; Redgauntlet.

We have had several volunteers to design Web Pages,
and I need someone to help set up one that will
contain poems and stories from Romania.  No, you
won't have to know any Romanian, just created the
places where we can insert the poems and stories,
help with the fonts, layout, etc.  Thanks!  Michael

We need someone to assemble a single file of a
Zane Grey story from 23 chapter files.  There
are a few other files that you may or may not
want to include. . .all are in one zip file.
Just let me know.


*******Beta testers wanted for Text::Reflow, a Perl module for
reflowing paragraphs of text using Knuth's paragraphing algorithm.
The program looks for "optimal" places to insert line breaks in
order to avoid breaking up phrases. This results in more ragged,
but more readable paragraphs. Email Martin.Ward@durham.ac.uk
or download from: http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dcs0mpw/martin/software/


Jim Meadows, a reporter with public radio station WILL-AM in Urbana, IL,
is working on a feature story on Project Gutenberg and e-books in general.
He's interested in interviewing one or two Gutenberg volunteers, to find
out why they work for the project. If you're interested, contact him at
meadows@uiuc.edu <mailto:meadows@uiuc.edu> , or by phone at 217-333-0850.

Can anyone find us a pre-1923 copy of Machiavelli's
La Mandrangola. . .in Italian, published pre-1923?

I have now completed all the copyright research that
everyone sent in, so if you haven't heard from me on
any of these, please let me know; or if you emailed,
and have not yet received an answer, as I have done
all the email I have seen, and all the snail mail.

If you have sent me a book I have not posted yet,
please give me another week, and then remind me
next Friday or Saturday. . . .  I plan on posting
about 20 of them this week.

***

Comments About Our New Files

Congratulaions to Derek Thompson, from the Antipodes,
for the completion of Carlyle's 21 volume history of
Frederick The Great.

The final volumes are:

Mar 2000 Carlyle's "History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 21[21frdxxx.xxx]2121
Mar 2000 Carlyle's "History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 20[20frdxxx.xxx]2120
Mar 2000 Carlyle's "History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 19[19frdxxx.xxx]2119

and

#2122 is an appendix of the entire collection. . .this file is currenty
appended at the end of #2121, and I will divide the two files shortly.
This was NOT Derek's fault. . .he sent two separate files. . . .  :-)


Index Listings for the New Files

This part has not changed, but parts below it have been added.

***


Mon Year    Title and Author                               [filename.ext]####
*****A "C" Following a Project Gutenberg Etext Number Indicates Copyright****

Feb 2001 The Malay Archipelago, by Alfred Russel Wallace   [1malayxx.xxx]2530
Feb 2001 The Analysis of Mind, by Bertrand Russell         [anlmdxxx.xxx]2529
Feb 2001 The Women of the French Salons, Amelia Gere Mason [frsalxxx.xxx]2528
Feb 2001 The Sorrows of Young Werther, by J.W. Goethe [#31][sywerxxx.xxx]2527

Feb 2001 The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Charles Johnston  [patanxxx.xxx]2526
Feb 2001 John Ingerfield etc by Jerome K. Jerome      [#25][jhnngxxx.xxx]2525
Feb 2001 My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell   [Gaskell #7][ldyldxxx.xxx]2524
Feb 2001 The Memoirs of Victor Hugo, by Victor Hugo[Hugo#2][vhugoxxx.xxx]2523

Feb 2001 A Dark Night's Work, by Elizabeth Gaskell  [EG #6][drknwxxx.xxx]2522
Feb 2001 Lizzie Leigh, by Elizabeth Gaskell         [#EG 5][lzlghxxx.xxx]2521
Feb 2001 The Man, by Bram Stoker           [Bram Stoker #3][thmanxxx.xxx]2520
Feb 2001 Zambesi Expedition, by David Livingstone      [#2][zambsxxx.xxx]2519

Feb 2001 History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, Ross[impjnxxx.xxx]2518
Feb 2001 Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, Alexander McClure    [lioysxxx.xxx]2517
Feb 2001 Redgauntlet, by Sir Walter Scott       [Scott #11][ redgxxx.xxx]2516
Feb 2001 Stepping Heavenward, by Mrs. E. Prentiss          [stphwxxx.xxx]2515

Feb 2001 God the Known and God the Unknown, Samuel Butler  [godkuxxx.xxx]2513
Feb 2001 The Cruise of the Snark, Jack London  [London #97][crsnkxxx.xxx]2512
Feb 2001 The History of Henry Esmond, by Thackeray[WMT #12][hnryexxx.xxx]2511
[This may be updated when further proofreading is completed:]
Feb 2001 The Invention of a New Religion, B.H. Chamberlain [invnrxxx.xxx]2510


Feb 2001 The Lani People, by J. F. Bone                    [ lanixxx.xxx]2509
[Also available as lani10.htm, an HTML version:. . .will revise name, I hope]
[Possibly other changes. . .in these Lani files]
Feb 2001 Stories in Light and Shadow, by Bret Harte   [#20][slgtsxxx.xxx]2508
Feb 2001 Complete Poetical Works, by Bret Harte [Harte #19][cpwbhxxx.xxx]2507
Feb 2001 The Sleeping-Car by William D. Howells[Howells #6][slpcrxxx.xxx]2506

Feb 2001 The Heir of Redclyffe, by Charlotte M. Younge     [redclxxx.xxx]2505
Feb 2001 Some Cities & San Fran. & Resurgam, H. H. Bancroft[sfresxxx.xxx]2504
Feb 2001 Myths and Legends of Calif. and the Old Southwest [mlcalxxx.xxx]2503
Feb 2001 Chitra, a Play in One Act, by Rabindranath Tagore [chitrxxx.xxx]2502

Feb 2001 A Face Illumined, by E. P. Roe                    [afacexxx.xxx]2501
Feb 2001 Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse [Our English Edition] [8siddxxx.xxx]2500
[[And I hope to have at least the opening section posted soon. . . . Michael]
Feb 2001 Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse [In 8-bit German]     [8siddxxx.xxx]2499
Feb 2001 Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse [In 7-bit German]     [7siddxxx.xxx]2499

Feb 2001 Addresses, by Henry Drummond                      [addrexxx.xxx]2498
Feb 2001 Put Yourself in His Place, by Charles Reade   [#4][phyipxxx.xxx]2497
Feb 2001 Our Village, by Mary Russell Mitford              [ vllgxxx.xxx]2496
Feb 2001 Susy, A Story of the Plains, by Bret Harte   [#12][ susyxxx.xxx]2495

Feb 2001 The story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka, by W.T. Kane[stanixxx.xxx]2494
Feb 2001 Adventures of Paddy the Beaver, Thornton W.Burgess[paddyxxx.xxx]2493
Feb 2001 Orpheus in Mayfair & Other Stories, Maurice Baring[orphexxx.xxx]2492
Feb 2001 Love or Fame; et. al., by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick[lvrfmxxx.xxx]2491

and:

These were posted for March 2001:

Mar 2001 Eugene Pickering, by Henry James       [James #29][eugpkxxx.xxx]2534
Mar 2001 Round the Sofa, by Elizabeth Gaskell          [#8][rndsfxxx.xxx]2533
Mar 2001 The Half-Brothers, by Elizabeth Gaskell       [#7][hlfbrxxx.xxx]2532
Mar 2001 An Accursed Race, by Elizabeth Gaskell        [#6][accrcxxx.xxx]2531



The following files were updated:

in /etext00:
21frd10.txt
21frd10.zip
7malt12.txt
7malt12.zip
8malt12.txt
8malt12.zip
cbtls11.txt
cbtls11.zip

in /etext99:
zdbsn11.txt
zdbsn11.zip

in /etext94:
persu11.txt
persu11.zip


Feb 2001 Susy, A Story of the Plains, by Bret Harte[BH #18][ susyxxx.xxx]2495
[This was listed as BH #16 previously, changed to BH #18:]


***


Notes from Edupage and News Scan  [over a longer period than usual,
sorry, I forgot to include them in last month's Newsletter.  mh


From Newsscan

NSA DENIES BEING INFO VACUUM CLEANER
The head of the National Security Agency (NSA), the secretive agency that
has been accused by some civil liberties groups and some foreign countries
of using a satellite communications system code-named "Echelon" to spy on
huge numbers of private phone calls, e-mail messages, and faxes, says that
all such accusations are unfounded. In an appearance before a House
subcommittee NSA director Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden testified: "There is a
rich body of oversight that ensures that we stay within the law. Can you
imagine the capacity that would be required if we in any way approached the
allegations we're sweeping up everything in the universe? This ability to
vacuum up -- that's badly misstated in the popular press. We don't have that
capability and we don't want that capability. For both legal and operational
reasons there is a requirement that we focus on the highest priority foreign
intelligence targets that we have." (Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 12 Apr 2000)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/420275l.htm


"LORD OF THE RINGS" DOWNLOADS TOP 1.5 MILLION
A Net-only preview of "The Lord of the Rings" was downloaded almost 1.7
million times in the first 24 hours it was available, says Apple Computer,
one of the companies providing downloads. The number exceeds the record set
by the trailer for "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," which
claimed 1 million downloads in its first day. The two-minute preview (found
at http://www.lordoftherings.net ) features battle scenes, special effects
footage and interviews wih some of the stars. Enthusiastic viewers will
have to wait a while for the rest of the show, however: the first movie in
the "Rings" trilogy -- "The Fellowship of the Ring" -- isn't due out until
Christmas 2001, with the other two movies to follow later. (Variety 11 Apr
2000)  http://www.variety.com/article.asp?articleID=1117780448

Does anyone know the size of these two files???  mh


IRIDIUM FLAMES OUT (LITERALLY)
Iridium, the bankrupt global satellite telephone corporation that spent $5
billion on the creation of a communications system for "anyone, anytime,
virtually anywhere in the world," will soon start sending 88 giant
satellites hurtling from the skies and burning up before they reach Earth.
Noting that the expensive Iridium phones could not even be used indoors,
industry-watcher and financial analyst James Grant says, "It was a
technology that didn't live up to its hype or its billing. People chose to
overlook the risks because they were bedazzled by the technology and the
promoters or sponsors." (New York Times 11 Apr 2000)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/11iridium.html


GIRLS PUT OFF BY "TEDIOUS AND DULL" COMPUTER COURSES
A study from an educational foundation affiliated with the American
Association of University Women suggests that the reason that only one-fifth
of high tech jobs are held by women is not that girls in middle school and
high school are afraid of technology but that they're bored by it
www.aauw.org/2000/techsavvy.html/. The report proposes making computer
science courses less "tedious and dull," redesigning computer games for
girls, and reshaping the image of computer workers: "When asked, girls and
women describe a prevailing concern that computer science will stunt their
diverse range of intellectual pursuits and interests. Girls tend to imagine
that computer professionals live in a solitary, anti-social and sedentary
world." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11 Apr 2000)
http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/today/news_832f1c4
df11080f60043.htm

TUVALU HITS THE INTERNET JACKPOT
An IdeaLab startup called DotTV has agreed to pay the tiny Pacific island
nation of Tuvalu $50 million in royalties -- or about three times the
country's gross domestic product -- for the right to sell Internet domain
names ending in ".tv." IdeaLab figures DotTV can make millions selling such
URLs as www.Law&Order.tv and www.ABC.tv. The company anticipates selling .tv
names for several thousands of dollars each, although some may go for much
more. "It's the most recognizable two-letter symbol on the planet," says
DotTV CEO Lou Kerner. "When you marry 'dot' with 'TV,' you become something
very meaningful [on] the Internet." Besides, "everybody knows the problems
with dot-com -- it's cluttered, it has no cachet, and it's difficult or
impossible to get the name you want." More than 8 million ".com" names have
been registered, compared with 1 million ending in ".net" and ".org." (Los
Angeles Times 7 Apr 2000)
http://www.latimes.com/business/20000407/t000032588.html


NYC SCHOOL SYSTEM PLANS TO SWAP ADS FOR LAPTOPS
New York City school officials, working with executives of companies such as
IBM, Cisco and Toshiba, have come up with a plan under which computer
companies would distribute laptop computers to city school children and in
return receive advertising space on a Web site developed for school use. One
task member who devised the plan called it "a major shift in the ways we
think about teaching and learning and how we fund these activities," and
another described it as "a means of bridging the digital divide." But an
executive of the National PTA was skeptical of the plan: "We have a great
deal of concern about the negative potential of using children to promote
commercial concerns and using class time for things that could be considered
as advertisements." (New York Times 7 Apr 2000)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/07portal.html

ENCRYPTION CODE PROTECTED BY FIRST AMENDMENT
A federal appeals court in Ohio has ruled that encryption software code is
protected by the First Amendment because such code is a means of
communication between computer programmers. The ruling represents the first
time that a federal appellate court has decided software code is protected
as free speech, says Raymond Vasvari, legal director of the American Civil
Liberties Union: "This is a great day for programmers, computer scientists,
and all Americans who believe that privacy and intellectual freedom should
be free from government control." The court's decision means a lawsuit filed
by Cleveland law professor Peter Junger will be reconsidered. Junger had
claimed that the government violated his free-speech rights by requiring
export licenses for encryption programs. (Wall Street Journal 5 Apr 2000)
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB954899134353800815.htm

YET ANOTHER "MONOPOLY"? AOL SUED BY SMALL ISP
Galaxy Internet Services Inc., a small Internet service provider in
Massachusetts, is suing America Online, charging that it "attempted to
eliminate competition in the Internet service market" when it introduced new
software (AOL 5.0) that blocks AOL subscribers from using other Internet
service providers. About 8% of America Online subscribers also use some
other ISP, and Galaxy is hoping to be joined it its suit by other
competitors of AOL. (Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 4 Apr 2000)
http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/391482l.htm


You have been reading excerpts from NewsScan Daily
Underwritten by Arthur Andersen & IEEE Computer Society
If you have questions or comments about NewsScan
send e-mail to     Editors@newsscan.com
To subscribe or unsubscribe to NewsScan Daily,
send an e-mail message to     NewsScan@NewsScan.com
with 'subscribe' or  'unsubscribe' in the subject line.


From Edupage:

FCC ALLOTS $2.25 BILLION TO WIRE LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS
The FCC announced that it will provide full funding--$2.25
billion--to the e-rate program this year.  The e-rate program,
now in its third year, wires U.S. schools, libraries, and
communities for Internet access.  The new funding means that
about 1 million U.S. classrooms will be connected to the
Internet, said Vice President Al Gore.  The e-rate program
generated more than 36,000 requests for funding this year, and
FCC Chairman William Kennard says that although not all these
requests will be met, the new funding will further the goal of
eventually providing Internet access to every classroom in the
nation. (Associated Press, 13 April 2000)

MICROSOFT ACKNOWLEDGES ITS ENGINEERS PLACED SECURITY FLAW IN SOME SOFTWARE
Microsoft engineers deliberately placed a file in some of the
company's Internet-server software that could allow hackers to
obtain Web site management files from thousands of sites, the
software giant admitted yesterday after two security experts
reported the flaw.  The secret password violates Microsoft's
policy and is a firing offense for the still unidentified
programmers who wrote the code, said Microsoft security response
center manager Steve Lipner.  Microsoft will warn users through
e-mail and on its Web site to delete the file named "dvwssr.dll"
that is installed on the company's Internet server software with
Frontpage 98 extensions.  Many Web sites use the software, and
hackers could use the password to access site management files,
which could lead to the discovery of information such as credit
card numbers.  The three-year-old software was written at the
height of the browser wars between Microsoft and Netscape, and
the illicit code includes a slur referring to Netscape engineers
as "weenies."  Security experts say the file is a major security
threat, especially to commercial Internet-hosting providers.
(Wall Street Journal, 14 April 2000)

REPORT URGES CHANGE IN MALE-DOMINATED CULTURE OF COMPUTING
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) planned to
release a study on Monday urging changes in high-tech culture to
make the field more appealing to girls and women.  Female high
school students now represent just 17 percent of those taking the
Advanced Placement test for college credit, the report says.
Furthermore, the study says women account for only 28 percent of
the bachelor's degrees in computer science, and just 20 percent
of IT workers.  Female students are not interested in the
computer culture they associate with violent software games and
adolescent males, says Sherry Turkle, MIT sociology professor and
cochair of the commission that wrote the report.  The commission
suggests that girls should be encouraged to use technology at an
early age through computer clubs and other activities.  The study
says boys are more likely than girls to have their own computers
and to attend computer camps, and even the time boys spend
playing computer games makes them more comfortable with
technology.  Increasing female interest in technology could help
ease the shortage of high-tech workers and close the wage gap
between men and women, the study says.
(Knight Ridder, 10 April 2000)

CROSSING AMAZON
Fiercely independent bookseller Powell's Books has won a
following by retaining its intimate feel while dealing online
with a national audience.  The company, which sells mainly used
books, has managed to hold its own in the face of competition
from slick corporate rivals such as Amazon.com.  Powell's credits
its success to an independent-minded, intellectual customer base
and a bare-bones approach to business.  While Amazon.com targets
the general public with a range of best-sellers, Powell's caters
to academic types with intellectual tomes such as Milan Kundera's
"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and books by small
publishers.  Powell's keeps its Web operations at a minimum: 35
people fill orders, four develop site features, and four handle
computer programming.  Powell's low overhead has enabled it to
make a profit--an accomplishment that even Amazon.com has yet to
achieve.  Powell's is currently expanding its business by selling
textbooks online directly to students.  While Powell's previously
sold textbooks to university bookstores, it switched to direct
sales when the model became popular. (Forbes, 17 April 2000)

NORTEL HIRES READY-MADE TEAM OF 34 SCU STUDENTS
Nortel Networks shocked many in business and academia when it
offered jobs to each of the 38 Santa Clara University
undergraduate engineering students who attended its November
recruiting banquet.  Thirty-four students accepted the
job offers, which were made following dinner by Nortel Vice
President Mario Bruketa. Each student received a Federal Express
packet the next day containing the employment offer letters.
Starting salaries reportedly ranged from $53,000 to $72,000.
Students who accepted within the first week received a signing
bonus and those who accepted during the second week received half
of the bonus. Some students are believed to have received stock
options as well. Some critics, including university officials and
executives from other companies, believe such "blanket hiring" is
not necessarily beneficial because it prevents students from
examining options with other companies and limits their focus and
subsequent experience. (SiliconValley.com, 5 April 2000)

CLINTON ANNOUNCES PROGRAMS TO GIVE INTERNET ACCESS TO THE POOR
Warning that the digital divide is a threat that will grow,
President Clinton announced Tuesday he would discuss potential
solutions to the problem during a two-day tour of several states
this month. Clinton's third "New Market" tour, taking place April
17-18, will take him from Palo Alto, Calif., to Chicago, which is
hosting the Comdex computer conference. A week later Clinton will
be in North Carolina to focus attention on the broadband needs of
rural areas.  With effort, the Internet's explosive potential can
be leveraged to combat the digital divide, Clinton said, as he
announced several initiatives including $12.5 million in funding
from the Corporation of National Service for the development of a
750-person volunteer force to provide technical assistance in
schools and community centers; $1 million in advertising from
Yahoo! to recruit these volunteers; a $3 million partnership
between 3Com and the YWCA to train teenage girls about
technology; and an "information literacy" program from the
American Library Association. (Associated Press, 4 April 2000)


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