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Books Index update from #1,477 to #1,589.

This is the Project Gutenberg Newsletter for Wednesday, September 2, 1998

[Usually sent the first Wednesday of each month, delayed if by relay.]

[Main URL is promo.net
Webmaster is Pietro di Miceli, of Rome, Italy.

September 8 is International Literacy Day, give someone the gift of an assortment of Etexts on floppy disk; encourage them to pass on copies!

In honor of this we are posting more files this month than ever before . . .from several different official release months, and when, finally I get a chance to take a deep breath, I will post the new Shakespeare!

We are scheduled to be listed in the "WIRED 25" in November's issue.

***Requests for Assistance***

We need a non- translated copy of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, something published before 1924. . . . Please contact me and also cc:
Thomas Broch-Nielsen <histbn@stud.hum.aau.dk>

*

Looking for a lecture Henry James delivered, and which was issued in a magazine named Pall Mall Gazette (or something like that).

Paulo Costa Galvco
prgalvao@rio.com.br
Revista Brasil de Literatura
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Now, in a totally confusing order of months, here are ALL the December Etexts, 23 of the October Etexts, and 5 of the January, 1999 Etexts.

You may have to remind yourself when getting them to use /etext99

[This is totally my [Michael Hart] fault, as I tend to get ahead of myself on occasion, while not yet getting the new Shakespeare posted.]

Please note that we have reserved 1500-1548 for Shakepeare, new editions.
This reserves the rest of the October Etexts and all the November Etexts.
Thus the current releases are being labeled as being from December, 1998, and January, 1999.

YAnd now from Edupage:

PC PRICES PLUMMET
The price for a home PC, which broke the $1,000 mark just 18 months ago, is now tumbling below $400 -- well within the reach of the average U.S. family.
Micro Center, an Ohio-based chain of 13 stores, began selling a $399 PC under the Power Spec label earlier this month, and PrecisionTec LLC, a PC maker based in California, has introduced its Gazelle machine for the same price.  The low prices don't include computer monitors, which usually start
at about $150.  Analysts at ZD Market Intelligence are saying the low prices will spark a surge of PC-buying among households with incomes of less than $30,000 -- a segment that so far has been difficult to reach -- and that PC
penetration should reach close to 50% of U.S. households by the end of the year.  (AP 21 Aug 98)

SEC SCOLDS COMPANIES ON Y2K DISCLOSURE
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement last week chiding companies for their lack of candor in disclosing Year 2000 problems to their stockholders.  "While the number of companies disclosing year 2000 issues
has increased dramatically, many companies are not providing the quality of disclosure that we believe investors expect."  The SEC has posted a document on its Web site, <http://www.sec.gov>, that compares "meaningful Y2K
disclosure" with "boilerplate Y2K disclosure," but an agency task force recently found that most companies have opted for the latter, just inserting some meaningless legalese into their financial reports.  (Los Angeles Times 3 Aug 98)

THE BLOATWARE DEBATE
A 100-company survey by Standish Group International found that 45% of a software application's features are never used, 19% rarely used, 16 % sometime used, 13% often used, and 7% always used;  yet, in spite of the fact that most of an application is seldom  used, software gets bigger all the time.  For example, Windows went from 3M lines of code (Windows 3.1) to 14M lines (Windows 95) to 18M (Windows 98).  Booze, Allen & Hamilton chief information officer Roger Walters is one of the people complaining now about this "bloatware" phenomenon:  "My problem is, I'm forced to upgrade all the time -- not for functionality I want, but for features someone wanted for m>e."  But industry analyst Jeffrey Tarter defends the software makers by
noting:  "I can't think of a single lite version of any product that has ever succeeded.  It may be inelegant and sluglike, but bloatware sells." (Computerworld 10 Aug 98)

INTEL CATCHES FLAK FOR WEB ADVERTISING TACTICS
In an effort to sell higher-power computer chips, Intel is sponsoring an "Intel Inside Optimized Content" program that encourages Web sites to use dense, complicated graphics that slow down a computer's processor when the
pages are downloading from the Internet.  An accompanying message tells the user that a Pentium II microprocessor would speed up the process.  Intel normally reimburses PC makers 50% of their Web-based advertising costs if
the ad sports an "Intel Inside" logo, but ups its contribution to 75% if the site uses complicated graphics and includes wording that says the page could be better viewed using a Pentium II processor.  "It's a hell of an incentive," says one Web editor.  "PC companies are going to advertise on
sites where they pay only 25% of the costs, as opposed to sites where they have to pay for half of the ad."  But the innovative tactic has raised the ire of some Web site owners:  "What they're asking us to do is turn our
sites into a demonstration of their products," says a senior VP at IDG, publisher of Computerworld magazine.  "We're going to optimize our content for our readers, not for Intel."  (Tampa Tribune 17 Aug 98)

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About the Project Gutenberg Newsletter:
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Thank you so much!!

Michael Stern Hart