NewsScan Daily, 19 March 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 19 March 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Europeans to Sanction Microsoft
        Proposed Cybersecurity Network
        Crimes, Lies And Camera Phones
        China Shuts Down 'Forbidden Content' On Blogs
        Ieee Worried About Outsourcing


FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Joseph Lister


EUROPEANS TO SANCTION MICROSOFT
      The European Union (EU) is about to sanction U.S. software maker
Microsoft for violating EU's competition rules, leaving that company under
broad sanctions for two or three years while it pursues the appeals process.
EU Competition Commission Mario Monti said: "In the end, I had to decide
what was best for competition and consumers in Europe." Microsoft CEO Steve
Balmer reaction was: "We were unable to agree on principles for new issues
that could arise in the future. I hope that perhaps we can still settle this
case at a later stage." (Los Angeles Times 19 Mar 2004)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-micro19mar19,1,42556.story?coll=la-h
eadlines-technology


PROPOSED CYBERSECURITY NETWORK
      The National Cyber Security Partnership (which includes the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the Business Software Alliance and the TechNet lobbying
group) is asking Congress for money to create a cybersecurity information
clearinghouse for the business community. The group's recommendations
include development of a "Home User Cyber Security Tool Kit" and the
designation of a "cyber security month." The clearinghouse  would be known
as the "National Crisis Coordination Center." (Washington Post 18 Mar 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5653-2004Mar18.html


CRIMES, LIES AND CAMERA PHONES
      Police authorities believe that the proliferation of picture phones
will be very helpful for the apprehension of criminals. But will crime
victims remember to take snapshots as they're being attacked? Emily
Turrettini, editor for the site picturephoning.com, thinks the answer to
that question is yes: "I think it will become a reflex -- it is for me.
People will get used to that." But interesting legal issues about picture
phones have also begun to arise. In a recent case in Pennsylvania, several
basketball players were cleared of a rape accusation because the video tape
on one team member's phone showed that the accusation of rape was false, and
that the woman had accepted $1,000 from the players for her services;
however, because the woman hadn't given permission for the video to be
taken, there may have been a violation of Pennsylvania's wiretap laws. (San
Jose Mercury News 19 Mar 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8227182.htm


CHINA SHUTS DOWN 'FORBIDDEN CONTENT' ON BLOGS
      China has shut down the Web sites containing blogs (i.e., Web logs or
online diaries) "because individual postings contained forbidden content."
One site was closed simply for "allowing a letter to be posted that was
critical of the government." (AP/USA Today 19 Mar 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/world/2004-03-19-china-blogcensors_x.htm


IEEE WORRIED ABOUT OUTSOURCING
      The U.S. wing of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) is concerned about the "offshoring" trend, and John Steadman, the
group's president, says: "We must develop a coordinated national strategy to
maintain U.S. technological leadership and promote job growth in the United
States. But it's going to be difficult to remain technologically
competitive, if we continue offshoring the jobs of our innovators at rates
currently projected." The group is recommending that federal investments and
tax credits for research and development be limited to work performed in the
U.S.; it is also making the point that H-1B and L-1 visa programs are
frequently used to bring in cheaper labor that can lead to the displacement
of U.S. professionals, exploitation of foreign workers, and "accelerated
offshoring of engineering and other high-tech jobs."(CNET/New York Times 19
Mar 2004)
http://partners.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1011_3-5175699.html


*****


FLASH CARD
      "Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction
a sign of truth."  (Blaise Pascal)


HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: JOSEPH LISTER
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the English surgeon Joseph Lister
(1827-1912), who became famous for pioneering sterile surgical procedures to
prevent post-operative infection. His fellow surgeons who saw no reason for
even washing their hands before an operation ridiculed his first efforts at
antisepsis. Impressed by the work of Louis Pasteur on infectious
microorganisms, Lister became convinced that he could use germ-killing
solutions to reduce deaths from infections following otherwise successful
surgery. Because carbolic acid was then in use for deodorizing sewage,
Lister experimented with spraying a solution of it on instruments, surgical
incisions, and dressings. He also advocated that surgical teams wear clean
gloves and wash their hands before and after operations with 5% carbolic
acid solutions. Gradually the evidence accumulated to show that Lister's
carbolic acid solutions significantly reduced the incidence of
post-operative infection. The turning point came in 1867 when he published
the case for his ideas under the title, Antiseptic Principle of the Practice
of Surgery.
      Lister was the son of Joseph Jackson Lister, the English optician who
developed important advances in the lens used by both telescopes and
microscopes. The Listers were a well-to-do Quaker family from Yorkshire, and
were able to send young Lister to receive his general education at the
University of London. After graduation he studied medicine in London and
Edinburgh, becoming a lecturer in surgery at the University of Edinburgh. He
became first assistant surgeon to the eminent surgeon, James Syme, whose
daughter, Agnes, would become his wife. After six years he got a
professorship of surgery at Glasgow, where disturbed by the high incidence
of infection in wounds, he began his early experiments on fighting bacterial
infections with carbolic acid sprays, succeeding in reducing surgical
mortality to 15% by the year 1860.
      Lister left Glasgow in 1869 to succeed his father-in-law Dr. Syme in
Edinburgh, where he was a popular lecturer. His next career move was to
King's College in London. There he became the second man in England to
operate on a brain tumor. He also developed a method of repairing kneecaps
with metal wire and improved the technique of mastectomy. In 1897 his
contributions to medicine were recognized by his elevation to the peerage as
Baron Lister of Lyme Regis, making him the first physician to sit in the
House of Lords. He also became one of the twelve original members of the
Order of Merit. In 1899 the British Institution of Preventive Medicine,
previously named after Edward Jenner, was renamed in honor of Lister.
Another honor came to him long after his death in 1912 when two stamps were
issued in 1965 to recognize his contributions to antiseptic surgery. In 1928
the father of modern antisepsis was honored by Dr. Joseph Lawrence when he
brought out a new mouthwash he called "Listerine."


See
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812821564/newsscancom/ref=nos
im for a biography of Lister by Richard B. Fisher -- or look for it in your
favorite library. (We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to
adult literacy programs.)

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