NewsScan Daily, 12 March 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 12 March 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization making 
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appropriate use of information technology. NSD is written by John Gehl and 
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Personalized Advertising Gets a Boost
        Wi-Fi Links Up With Cellphone Networks
        Wanted: Internet Domain for Mobile Services
        Telstra Lands a Big One for BigPond Music-Download Service
        Toyota Robot Toots Its Own Horn

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Lewis Mumford
        Mailbag: The World As We Find It

PERSONALIZED ADVERTISING GETS A BOOST
      News Web sites FT.com and Reuters.com, and sports-focused ESPN.com 
are getting personal -- in their online advertising, that is. They've 
signed up with Revenue Science Inc. to use its behavior-targeting 
technology to deliver advertising based on users' Web-surfing habits and 
personal information gleaned from online registration forms. According to 
an example given by the Wall Street Journal, "a car dealership in Chicago 
can show ads to surfers who are in Chicago and have visited articles and 
tools related to automobiles, even when those users are accessing content 
unrelated to cars." The technique allows publishers to charge premiums 
ranging from 10% to 100% higher for ads targeted by behavior. "It's much 
more powerful for the advertiser to say, 'Here's the audience I want,' and 
for the publisher to come back and say, Here's the audience you can get," 
says the marketing VP for Revenue Science. Predictably, the practice has 
raised concerns among privacy advocates, but the companies providing the 
personalized service say they are only tracking data across individual 
sites or groups of sites owned by one company, not across all the sites a 
surfer visits in a day. Also, they say their personal information is mostly 
limited to anonymous information like ZIP codes, age and gender. (Wall 
Street Journal 11 Mar 2004)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107901691306352597,00.html (sub req'd)

WI-FI LINKS UP WITH CELLPHONE NETWORKS
      In the coming year, emerging Wi-Fi technology will enable wireless 
phone calls to work in nearly every setting -- even inside buildings and 
other "dead zones" where signals are often dropped. The new technology will 
tie Wi-Fi networks to existing cell phone networks for seamless switching 
between the two for optimal connections. The percentage of cell phones with 
built-in Wi-Fi capability is expected to mushroom to 85% by 2007, according 
to wireless research firm On World. "I'm very optimistic that within 10 
years, most people will be carrying a single phone and making and receiving 
most of their personal and business calls on that one device," says an 
analyst for Mobiletrax, another wireless research operation. The trend 
could accelerate use of Internet telephony as well: by adding Wi-Fi calling 
to the mix, VoIP users will be able to enjoy the mobility of cell phone 
subscribers rather than being tethered to their PCs. Motorola is planning 
to start selling a dual Wi-Fi/cellular phone later this year and one 
marketing firm estimates that wireless carriers will add an extra $5 to $20 
charge per month for subscribers to use their Wi-Fi hotspots. (Technology 
Review Mar 2004)
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/innovation10304.asp

WANTED: INTERNET DOMAIN FOR MOBILE SERVICES
     Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and Sun 
Microsystems are proposing a new Internet domain name such as ".mobile" 
that would be dedicated to online services available to cell phone users. 
The companies have submitted their request to ICANN, which is soliciting 
suggestions for new domains before its March 16 deadline. Decisions could 
be made as early as this year on adding new domain names to the 250 already 
in existence. (AP 11 Mar 2004)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040311/D818CL281.html

TELSTRA LANDS BIG LABELS FOR BIGPOND MUSIC-DOWNLOAD SERVICE
      Telstra's BigPond has signed Universal Music to its song-download 
service and plans to soon ink a similar deal with BMG -- the last major 
label not on its books. Telstra's BigPond music service was due to be 
launched before Christmas but was held over until January. Since then, 
music sales have been "ahead of plan," says Telstra spokesman Craig 
Middleton. However, Telstra is refusing to say how many tracks have been 
sold through the service. The addition of Universal would add some 300,000 
songs to the BigPond catalog, more than doubling its size, Middleton says. 
At present, 25% of songs sold through BigPond are Top-100, while the 
remainder were listed in what Telstra calls the "deep catalog." The BigPond 
service also sells tracks provided by Sony Music, Warner Music, EMI and 
Festival Mushroom. A deal with remaining major BMG was under negotiation 
and was "well progressed," according to Middleton. (The Australian 10 March 
2004, rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin University)
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8925776%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

TOYOTA ROBOT TOOTS ITS OWN HORN
      Toyota has taken the wraps off its latest venture in humanoid 
robotics -- a 4-foot (120cm) tall machine that plays "When You Wish Upon a 
Star" on a trumpet. The automobile company says it hopes to form a robot 
band to play at the 2005 World Exposition in Japan next year. The musical 
bot is the latest entry in an increasingly competitive rivalry with Honda, 
whose Asimo robot walks around, and Sony, whose Qrio sings, dances, and 
jogs. (BBC News 11 Mar 2004)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3501336.stm

*****

FLASH CARD
      "New York, New York, a helluva town. The Bronx is up, but the 
Battery's down. The people ride in a hole in the groun'. New York, New 
York, it's a helluva town!" (Song lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolf Green 
for musical "Wonderful Town.")

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: LEWIS MUMFORD
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the American architectural critic, 
urban planner and social historian Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), who started 
out as a respected authority on American architecture and later established 
himself as a highly influential commentator on the social consequences of 
technology and urbanization in human history.
      Mumford was born in Flushing, New York, and attended the City College 
of New York and the New School for Social Research, but never earned a 
degree. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War I, he spent a year 
as an associate editor of Dial magazine, after which he went to London as 
acting editor of the Sociological Review. Returning to New York in 1921 he 
began writing for such journals as the American Mercury, New Republic, and 
Harper's. He made architecture and urban life the focus of his writing 
career and in a few short years was regarded as an expert critic in those 
fields. He became a charter member of the Regional Planning Association of 
America and a special investigator for the New York City Housing and 
Planning Commission. In 1924 he published "Sticks and Stones," a book in 
which he related American architecture to social conditions, followed in 
1926 with "The Golden Day," a broad overview of American culture.
      From 1931 to 1963 Mumford wrote architectural criticism and urban 
commentary for The New Yorker magazine. During the 1930s he also developed 
a keen interest of the dehumanizing conditions he found present in modern 
technological societies. In a four-volume series, "Renewal of Life," he 
called for harmonizing technological development with humanistic social 
needs. Later in 1961, he produced a far-reaching study of the role cities 
have played in human civilization, "The City in History," for which he was 
awarded the 1962 National Book Award. Among his other important critiques 
of modern technology was his two volume work, "The Myth of the Machine" 
(1967-70), in which he was also forced to conclude that we seemed unable to 
deal with the problems of nuclear weapons, environmental degradation, 
unhealthy urbanization, and the other ills plaguing modern life everywhere.
      Some have accused Mumford of being a pessimistic naysayer, but it is 
probably more fair to say he only wanted to alarm us into making the 
changes that would convert technology from a destructive blight into a 
powerful force for good. "The future of our civilization," he wrote early 
in his career, "depends upon our ability to select and control our heritage 
from the past, to alter our present attitudes and habits, and to project 
fresh forms into which our energies may be freely poured."

See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0156180359/newsscancom/ref=nosim 
for "The City in History" -- or look for it in your favorite library. (We 
donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy programs.)

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

THE WRONG TROUSERS
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10181
      Concerning Robot Servants and the example of "... a motorized, 
battery-operated pair of pants..." to help the elderly -- Didn't these 
designers ever see the Wallace and Gromit movie, "The Wrong Trousers"? 
(Victor Rutherford)

MICROSOFT AS SPIRITUAL ADVISOR
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10182
      "Microsoft will not provide you with moral guidance -- at least not 
yet."  Umm, golly, there's got to be a really humorous and pithy response 
to that. I'm thinking, I'm thinking! (John Beck)

I KNOW, THEREFORE I DESPISE
Re: 
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=honorary_subscriber&id=758
      Your glowing Honorary Subscriber feature on Descartes failed to 
mention his horrific treatment of animals. In an attempt to "prove" that 
animals have no conscious thought, and that their crying in pain was merely 
the workings of some sort of "machine," Descartes somehow justified his 
sick torture. I have seen historical drawings of experiments performed by 
Descartes, including the crucifixion of dogs. I despise the guy myself, 
regardless of any supposed contributions he may have made. (Myra)

FEELINGS, NO NO NO FEELINGS
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10171
      Regarding your Worth Thinking About item on the obscurity of feelings 
-- Sorry guys, we know far too much now about "feelings." (John Faughnan)

UNUSUAL SOLUTION SPACE
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10213
      An unusual solution space explored by ESA (European Space Agency) is 
science fiction:  Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space 
Application  ESA BR-176  http://esapub.esrin.esa.it/br/br176/BR176.pdf 
(Paolo Amoroso)

INTERNET DEMOCRACY
      Regarding Telstra and SpamCop: Is it that normal "democracy" is 
starting to arrive at the Internet? Seems that Squeaky Wheels get oiled 
huh?? Is this good or bad, or irrelevant? Food for thought perhaps. There's 
nothing new here... mails from Lineone.Net (one of the top three European 
ISPs) appeared to be globally blocked by AOL (who you may have heard of) 
for some while in January. In the Telstra case a few people -- "about 110" 
-- out of how many tens or hundreds of thousands receiving proper mails -- 
complained and masses of other users were thus inconvenienced. Looks like 
the so-far democratic Internet may be about to be subsumed by the whingers. 
"Democratic" -- yes, of course, I can trash my own spam, and my inbox rules 
do so each day. I would be happy to have my ISP do that for me... but of 
course most of them are far too incompetent to do that properly... but 
that's another story. For normal mortals however, I suggest shades of a 
rather disturbing "democracy" are starting to appear... wherein it may be 
that "if you make a noise then someone who knows little but sees an 
advantage does something no matter how it may affect others." Not that I 
suggest that this is the case in the current circumstance, but one day it 
will happen... in which case "Ouch !!" If I may paraphrase Edmund Burke 
from back in the Sixteenth Century... "if you want the Internet to survive, 
warts and all, then NOW is the time to speak up" Or else stand back, make 
no comment, and let it be chained, regulated, distilled, sanitised and 
eventually become as anodyne as any other mass communication system we 
have. (Scott Pollard)

RFID TAGS IN LIBRARIES
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10180
      As a librarian, let me tell you about the benefits of RFID tags in 
library books. All collections of library books suffer from entropy. The 
books are in order, but slowly they get out of order. The larger the 
collection, the larger the problem. It's a silly and minor problem until 
the library can't find the book YOU need. What do librarians do to keep the 
books in order? They hire humans to stare intently at each book's spine 
label to see whether it belongs after the book before it. It is boring 
after 10 minutes. It's excruciating after an hour. It is expensive in labor 
costs, and is not terribly accurate. RFID allows a person to pass a wand 
over the shelves, and the wand will beep when it finds a book out of place. 
Of course, RFID would allow one to wand a dormitory to find out which rooms 
contain library books. Or, maybe, we want to know which dorm rooms do NOT 
contain library books. For the really paranoid, we could equip a helicopter 
to fly over the city, to look for library call numbers relating to WMD. 
(Leslie R. Morris)

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