NewsScan Daily, 2 December 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 2 December 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
       FCC Chair Powell Urges Regulators: Be Gentle
       Social Networking
       Job-Hopping Continues
       Diebold Backs Off -- At Least for Awhile
       Segway Soldiers Prepare for War

FEATURES
       Flash Card
       Worth Thinking About: Disputes

FCC CHAIR POWELL URGES REGULATORS: BE GENTLE
In a warning to state regulators who want to assert their authority over
Internet telephone technology, FCC chairman Michael K. Powell says that
government should refrain from indulging itself in heavy-handed regulation
of emerging technologies: "No regulator, either federal or state, should
tread into this area without an absolutely compelling justification for
doing so." He acknowledged that there are several issues that the FCC must
still resolve, such as the possibility that the growth of Internet telephone
service could reduce revenue for the Universal Service Fund, a $6 billion
annual program that subsidizes the cost of telephone service in poor and
rural areas. (Washington Post 1 Dec 2003)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26729-2003Dec1.html

SOCIAL NETWORKING
An intellectual property war may be in store for "social networking"
Internet services designed to help people do such things as find dates or
jobs. These include such sites as Friendster, Tickle, Zero Degrees, Spoke,
Ryze, Tribe, and LinkedIn. The owners of Tribe and LinkedIn have paid
$700,000 to YouthStream Media Networks for a U.S. patent known as the "Six
Degrees Patent," which covers an online software platform that allows users
to build relationship networks. But one industry skeptic says: "This
industry is going to go in a thousand different directions. I think we're
going to find that many of the things being protected today are completely
irrelevant a year from now." (New York Times 1 Dec 2003)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2003/12/01/technology/01patt.html

JOB-HOPPING CONTINUES
A national survey by Sibson Consulting found that employees are just as
willing to change jobs now as they were a few years ago, and that
"employees' propensity to quit is virtually unchanged" since 2000. About
half of the workers surveyed say they would jump to another company for an
extra $1,000 in stock or a better chance to earn a $5,000 bonus, and a
Sibson consultant says that "the status quo isn't good enough. What
employees expect is progress." But maybe "progress" isn't all that's
involved: one engineer (who jumped ship after his company was sold to new
owners who treated him as though he should be grateful just to have job)
explains: "You've got to know your employees. If you don't have a personal
relationship with them, somebody else will." (San Jose Mercury News 2 Dec
2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7386104.htm

DIEBOLD BACKS OFF -- AT LEAST FOR AWHILE
After considerable controversy, the Diebold company, which makes electronic
voting machines, has agreed not to sue voting rights advocates who published
leaked documents about alleged security breaches on their machines. Dozens
of students, computer scientists and Internet service providers were sent
cease-and-desist letters and threatened with law suits Electronic Frontier
Foundation attorney Wendy Seltzer says, "This is a huge victory that shows
we have weapons on our side to protect free speech from overbearing
copyright laws so that the Internet remains a forum for public discussion.
We're trying to hammer home that you can't go around making idle threats
that aren't backed up by the law." But a Diebold executive says the company
will continue to monitor the online proliferation of the leaked documents,
and may file lawsuits against others who publish the data.(AP/USA Today 1
Dec 2003)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-12-01-diebold-drops-it_x.h
tm

SEGWAY SOLDIERS PREPARE FOR WAR
The U.S. Department of Defense is making plans to adopt the Segway Human
Transporter systems as battlefield robots that think on their own and
communicate with troops. Segway robots have already been programmed to open
doors, avoid obstacles, and chase soccer balls. A spokesperson for the
Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) says: "One of
the focuses of this program is to develop software that would allow the
robotic system to learn, so it can better perceive its outside environment."
And Jim Keller, a project manager, explains: "The human operator can
basically interrogate the robots. If a robot has seen something it thinks is
interesting, it will send an alert back. The human operator will get more
images by bringing in other robots to look at the same location from
whatever their perspective is." (AP/Los Angeles Times 2 Dec 2003)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/ats-ap_technology10dec01,1,7302358.story?c
oll=sns-ap-toptechnology

*****

FLASH CARD
     "Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute." (Josh Billings

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: DISPUTES
     During baseball's off-season, it may be worth reconsidering George Jean
Nathan's explanation of why fans react to bad calls with knee-jerk shouts of
"Kill the Umpire":
     "Baseball is the national side-show. The baiting of umpires is the real
big-tent entertainment. In Spain, by way of passing the time, they bait
innocent bulls on holidays. In America, by way of the same thing, they bait
inoffensive men in blue suits every day in the week during the warm season,
and twice on Saturdays. What the Latins call 'fêtes' the Americans call
'double-headers.' Also, what the Latins call 'matadores' the Americans call
'bleachers.' Some years ago, the Spanish sport-loving public was satisfied
with one bull in the ring, just as the American public was satisfied with
one umpire. But, as taste became more hysterical and bloodthirsty, the
Spaniards demanded at least two bulls for killing purposes, and the
Americans, following suit, demanded two umpires. That is the real reason the
Solons of baseball added the extra referee to the game. They told the second
umpire he was supposed to 'watch the bases.' It was a snare. He was put
there simply to gratify the public's augmented longing for 'sport.'
     "In comparing the national sports of Spain and the United States, it
may be readily seen that the bull has a marked advantage over the umpire.
The bull has two horns that he is allowed to use in self-defence. He is
given a fair chance for his life. The umpire is not. The bull, furthermore,
is not compelled to abide by any printed rules in the process of having his
mortal coil unwound for him. The umpire is. He is not allowed to protect
himself. Clause No. 65 of the rules governing baseball says that 'under no
circumstance shall a player dispute the accuracy of the umpire's judgment
and decision on a play.' When he applies for a job, the umpire is beguiled
by that clause. But no sooner has he donned his blue serge suit and placed a
lozenge in his mouth, than he perceives the trick that has been played on
him. There is an unwritten law among the players that Clause No. 65 is in
violation of their rights, and they feel justified in doing away with it,
accordingly, whenever they see fit. There are twenty-five clauses telling
the umpire what he must do, but only the solitary No. 65 telling what the
players must not. And, as has been indicated, No. 65 does not count."
                           ***
See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/193108209X/newsscancom/ref=nos
im for "Baseball: A Literary Anthology," edited by Nicholas Dawidoff -- or
look for it in your favorite library. (We donate all revenue from our book
suggestions to adult literacy programs.)

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