NewsScan Daily, 16 January 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 16 January 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Scientists Envision Next-Gen Supercomputers
        The End of Desktop Dominance
        Changes Ahead for Microsoft Browser
        Blogging Away on the Campaign Trail
        Masculine or Feminine? You Decide

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Sarah Josepha Hale

SCIENTISTS ENVISION NEXT-GEN SUPERCOMPUTERS
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have received a three-year, 
$4.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop the 
optimal design for the next generation of supercomputers, which will 
operate at a speed of more than 1 quadrillion operations per second, or one 
petaflop. "We're excited about the enormous potential of performance 
modeling and the opportunity to apply a variety of methodologies that we 
developed to help in the design of these future supercomputers," says 
Adolfy Hoisie, who heads the computer division's performance and 
architecture lab. (AP 15 Jan 2004)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040115/D803DGQO0.html

THE END OF DESKTOP DOMINANCE
By 2007, more than half of corporate workers will use something other than 
a desktop PC for their primary information device, according to a study by 
the Meta Group. Laptops and tablet PCs will become the computer of choice 
for 40% of workers, with another 15% opting for a thin-client or 
alternative "information appliance." Driving the trend toward more mobile 
computing is a growing cadre of "corridor warriors," who roam from meeting 
to meeting and require "access to basic information (for example, e-mail, 
instant messaging or Web browsing) and note-taking capabilities while 
attending meetings on premises," says Steve Kleynhans, VP of Meta's 
technology research services. Kleynhans also predicts a resurgence of smart 
displays, which could be shared among workers or take up residence in 
meeting rooms. "Any costs should be outweighed by the increase in meeting 
productivity for most knowledge workers," says Kleynhans, who adds, "By 
2007, the average user will interact regularly with at least four distinct 
computing devices -- a personal home PC, smart digital entertainment 
system, corporate computer, and mobile information device." (CNet News.com 
15 Jan 2004)
http://news.com.com/2100-7355-5141717.html?tag=nefd_hed

CHANGES AHEAD FOR MICROSOFT BROWSER
The Justice Department says Microsoft has violated the terms of its 2002 
antitrust settlement and the software giant has agreed to make a change in 
the next version of Windows XP to remedy the situation. In the settlement 
agreement, Microsoft said it would allow users to disable its Internet 
Explorer browser and install a rival program, but the current version of XP 
overrides that choice when users click on the "Shop for Music Online" 
button. Microsoft now says it will remove that override in an upcoming 
version of Windows XP and will post a "Windows Update" fix that users of 
the current version can download. Microsoft said it was making the change 
for "business reasons" and denied that it had violated the settlement. 
Separately, a federal appellate judge in Chicago has ordered Microsoft to 
pay $520 million in damages to the University of California and Eolas 
Technologies, which had charged Microsoft with infringing their patent 
covering delivery of interactive applications to users' desktops by linking 
to a Web page. (Wall Street Journal 16 Jan 2004)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107419207585741600,00.html (sub req'd)

BLOGGING AWAY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
A new study shows that the best way for political candidates to attract the 
interest of younger, Net-savvy voters is through interactive media like 
chats and "blogs." Using one-way communications, such as pop-up or banner 
ads, was a definite turnoff, according to the study sponsored by the Center 
for Democracy & Citizenship and the University of Maryland's Center for 
Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. "The Internet is 
a terrific tool to use with those you already have reason to believe are 
with you and who are willing to do more on their terms, but by all means 
avoid like hell the shotgun scatter of banner ads and blanket e-mail," says 
David Skaggs, head of the Center for & Citizenship. The findings mirror 
those of previous studies about the way younger people participate in the 
political process, says Michael Cornfield, research director for George 
Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet: 
"There's no question that young people, probably more than any other subset 
of voters, want to be listened to, not talked to. They want to have someone 
connect their perception of the issues on a local scale to those on a 
national or global scale." (Washington Post 15 Jan 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20835-2004Jan15.html

MASCULINE OR FEMININE? YOU DECIDE
Paul Grzymkowski, a 23-year-old computer engineer in Burlington, Vt., has 
always been fascinated by the way nouns are assigned a gender in many 
languages, and has set up a Web site that allows visitors to vote on 
whether an object is masculine or feminine (sorry, no neuter) -- 
www.beautyinchaos.com/sex.html. So far, 471,000 votes have been cast on 102 
objects, with the majority opting for a masculine designation. (Of course, 
that could be because more men have voted than women.) Some of the results? 
Not surprisingly, a hammer, a remote control and poker chips have been 
voted masculine, while yogurt and an iron are considered feminine. 
Meanwhile, processed cheese received approximately the same number of votes 
on both sides. The results, while often gender-stereotypical, may prompt 
some soul-searching says Grzymkowski: "If you decide that paper towels are 
male but then see that 70% chose female, you may wonder, what's different 
about me?" (New York Times 15 Jan 2004)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/technology/circuits/15diar.html

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." 
(Abraham Lincoln)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: SARAH JOSEPHA HALE
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the 19th century American journalist 
Sarah Josepha (Buell) Hale (1788-1879), who for more than 40 years 
(1836-77) coedited the fashion and literary magazine Godey's Lady's Book, 
one of the most influential periodicals of the era. A prolific writer, she 
also wrote novels and poetry, and was the author of the charming children's 
poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
       Hale was born Sarah Josepha Buell in Newport, New Hampshire. She was 
educated at home and as a young woman conducted her own private school. She 
married in 1813, but her husband died less than a decade later in 1822, so 
to support herself as a widow she opened a millinery shop and ventured into 
publishing. In 1828 she became editor of "Ladies' Magazine" and used its 
columns to campaign for women's education, arguing that educated women made 
better mates rather than directly challenging the prevailing prejudice that 
women were intellectually inferior to men.
      In 1837 Louis Godey bought the "Ladies' Magazine", incorporated it 
into his "Lady's Book" and hired Hale as literary editor of the magazine he 
renamed, "Godey's Lady's Book." With Hale as co-editor, the magazine 
published more American and less British literature (e.g., featuring Poe, 
Longfellow, Holmes and Hawthorne) and encouraged women to favor American 
over European fashions.
      Besides her numerous magazine articles, Hale also found time to write 
"Woman's Record: Sketches of All Distinguished Women from the Beginning 
till A.D. 1850," a collection of 2,500 entries containing biographical 
information about famous women. She supported Emma Willard's school in 
Troy, New York, and urged Vassar College to hire women instructors and 
administrators. She defended Elizabeth Blackwell's right to become a doctor 
and argued for expanded training opportunities for women physicians. 
However, she was not a woman suffragist, and preferred to work within the 
established social framework.

See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0531087255/newsscancom/ref=nosim 
for Hale's "Mary Had a Little Lamb" -- or look for it in your favorite 
library. (We donate all revenue from our book or other recommendations to 
literacy action programs.)

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