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"NewsScan" <[email protected]> Mon, 22 Mar 2004 11:00:25 -0700
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Honorary Subscriber: Helen <a href=3D"http: //news.com.com/2100-7349-5176415.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://news.com.com/2100-7349-5176415.html</a><br><br> <a href=3D"http: //apnews.excite.com/article/20040322/D81FHFIG0.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040322/D81FHFIG0.html= </a><br><br> consumer "profiles": "Current use of telecommunications <a href=3D"http: //www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/1079199400334.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/10791994003= 34.html</a><br><br> <a href=3D"http: //online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107988471925261088,00.html" eu= dora=3D"autourl">http: //online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107988471925261088,00.ht= <a href=3D"http: //www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/magazine/21ESSAY.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/magazine/21ESSAY.html<= /a><br><br> ***** <br><br> <html> <body> <font size=3D3><br> NewsScan Daily, 22 March 2004 ("Above The Fold") <br> *********************************************************** <br> NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization <br> making significant and sustained contributions to the effective <br> management and appropriate use of information technology. NSD is <br> written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, [email protected].<br> ***********************************************************<br><br> "ABOVE THE FOLD" <br> ISPs Struggle to Find Fix for Spam<br> The Battle of the Desktop Heats Up<br> Sales of Customer Data Rile Australian Telecom Users<br> Electronic Arts Meets the Academy<br> The Online Honesty Paradox<br><br> FEATURES <br> Flash Card <br> Honorary Subscriber: Helen Free<br><br> ISPs STRUGGLE TO FIND FIX FOR SPAM<br> Unless you've been hibernating the last six months, you know that spam not only is a consumer headache -- it's turning into a corporate nightmare. U.S. companies spend an estimated $1 billion a year in extra security, human resources and lost productivity thanks to this cyber-plague, which comprises anywhere between 50-90% of all e-mail. Despite universal agreement on the problem, major ISPs have not been successful in devising a coordinated approach to fight it, relying instead on lawsuits that at best will be only marginally successful at stemming the flow. Yahoo reportedly is moving toward implementing a DomainKeys system that's used to verify the identity of an e-mail sender, while AOL has recently begun testing a DNS-based system called Sender Policy Framework (SPF). Meanwhile, Microsoft has developed its own system called Caller ID for E-mail and several other efforts, such as the Trusted E-Mail Open Standard, are also available. Experts agree that the balkanization of ISP efforts to deal with spam will delay any final solution, and they're looking to the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to come up with a solution that incorporates the best features of these disparate systems. "Sooner or later, we are going to see what is going to be a compromise proposal that includes elements from the more workable proposals being put forward -- DomainKeys and SPF, for example," says the CTO for Outblaze, an e-mail service provider. (CNet News.com 22 Mar 2004)<br> <a href=3D"http://news.com.com/2100-7349-5176415.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://news.com.com/2100-7349-5176415.html</a><br><br> THE BATTLE OF THE DESKTOP HEATS UP<br> For the first time since Netscape hit the market in the 1990s, Microsoft is facing stiff competition in the computer desktop arena, with Google and Yahoo eager to depose Microsoft by offering compelling alternatives designed to guide PC users through the Web. "The Web has created the equivalent of an operating system layered on top of the computer's operating system," says former tech magazine publisher John Battelle. "There is some question of how important that underlying operating system is going to be in the future." For now, search engines appear to be the most potent magnet for drawing users' eyeballs -- a phenomenon that has enabled Google to leapfrog from No. 26 in 2001 to third place behind Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN without spending anything on advertising. About 114.5 million Americans, or 39% of the U.S. population, now use search engines, and businesses spent an estimated $2 billion last year on search-related advertising. And while Google is currently the dark horse darling among analysts, Yahoo and Microsoft are pouring millions into upgrading their search technologies. The rival search engines "may not end up being as good as Google's, but they could be good enough for most people," says a Forrester Research analyst. That prospect has Google hard at work on ratcheting up its own technology, says director of technology Craig Silverstein. "If someone should come along and do a better job than us, we know people will switch in a heartbeat." (AP 22 Mar 2004) <br> <a href=3D"http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040322/D81FHFIG0.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040322/D81FHFIG0.html= </a><br><br> SALES OF CUSTOMER DATA RILE AUSTRALIAN TELECOM USERS<br> Australian telecommunications service providers are selling customer information to other companies for direct marketing and other commercial activities, according to the Australian Communications Authority. Acting ACA chairman Bob Horton cites evidence that customers' information is being collected by producers of public number directories and collated with data from other sources to create consumer "profiles": "Current use of telecommunications customer data appears to go beyond what is allowed under existing legislation. In fact, our investigations indicate that databases are being created and maintained based on information provided by customers to their telecommunications service providers. These databases are then sold to other companies for direct marketing and other commercial activities. In the ACA's opinion, this is not only a breach of existing law but also outside what customers providing personal information expect to happen." (The Age 19 Mar 2004, rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin University)<br> <a href=3D"http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/1079199400334.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/10791994003= 34.html</a><br><br> ELECTRONIC ARTS MEETS THE ACADEMY<br> Videogame maker Electronic Arts is donating $8 million to the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, which will be used to fund the creation of a three-year master's degree program in videogame design and fund an endowed faculty chair. Electronic Arts' move follows similar deals by other game makers including Nintendo, which funds a professorship at the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Wash. The trend reflects game makers' desire to attract qualified job candidates and professionalize the industry. "We're looking at universities as the next-generation of talent," says Electronic Arts' executive VP Rusty Rueff. Videogame software saw $17 billion in sales worldwide last year -- up 3.7% from $16.4 billion the year before. (Wall Street Journal 22 Mar 2004)<br> <a href=3D"http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107988471925261088,00.html" eu= dora=3D"autourl">http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107988471925261088,00.ht= ml</a> (sub req'd)<br><br> THE ONLINE HONESTY PARADOX<br> Cornell University professor Jeffrey Hancock= conducted an experiment recently that concluded people are less likely to= fib online than when talking in person or on the phone. While this= proposition flies in the face of warnings over psycho-weirdos lurking in= chat rooms and on cyber-dating sites, New York Times columnist Clive= Thompson says actually it makes sense, considering the relative durability= of the e-mail message. While a lie spoken in person or over the phone can= later be denied, on the Internet, your words may come back to haunt you.= "Today's titans of industry are laid low not by ruthless competitors= but by prosecutors gleefully waving transcripts of old e-mail, filled with= suggestions of subterfuge=85 We all read the headlines; we know that in= cyberspace our words don't die, because machines don't forget." A= second contributing factor, says Thompson, is that there's "something= about the Internet that encourages us to spill our guts, often in rather= outrageous ways. Psychologists have noticed for years that going online= seems to have catalytic effect on people's personalities." Indeed, an= experiment conducted by Open University psychologist Adam Johnson found= that strangers chatting online were much more likely to offer up personal= details about themselves than when conversing face-to-face. "Our= impulse to confess via cyberspace inverts much of what we think about= honesty," says Thompson, citing the current corporate convention of= flying cross-country for that all-important five-minute face-to-face= meeting before signing off on a deal. Instead, Thompson suggests that= "as more and more of our daily life moves online, we could find= ourselves living in an increasingly honest world, or at least one in which= lies have ever more serious consequences." (New York Times 21 Mar= 2004)<br> <a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/magazine/21ESSAY.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/magazine/21ESSAY.html<= /a><br><br> ***** <br><br> FLASH CARD <br> "People always talk to me about my drinking;= they never ask me about my thirst." (Oscar Levant)<br><br> HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: HELEN FREE<br> Today's Honorary Subscriber is the American chemist= Helen Murray Free (b.1923), who together with her husband and fellow= chemist, Alfred Free, invented the home test used by diabetics to monitor= their blood sugar levels. Free first developed laboratory urinalysis= testing procedures, from which she later designed the= "dip-and-read" test that could be self-administered at home. In a= long and productive career Free earned patents on seven of her medical and= clinical urinalysis testing procedures.<br> Born Helen Mae Murray in Pittsburgh in 1923, Free= majored in chemistry at the College of Wooster in Ohio. In 1944 she= graduated with honors and accepted a research position at Miles= Laboratories in Elkhart, Indiana, where she would work for the next 50= years. In 1947 she married Albert Free. Working as a team, the couple= eventually became expert in the field of urinalysis, a clinical procedure= with a number of important medical applications. The Frees first developed= methods and materials that became standard for urinalysis testing in the= laboratory setting. Later, they modified their procedures for direct= testing by consumers. Most important, of course, was Helen Free's invention= of the home diabetes test, giving diabetics an essential tool in monitoring= their glucose levels.<br> Miles Laboratories recognized Free's abilities and= promoted her over time to positions as New Products Manager and Director of= Clinical Laboratory Reagents. When Miles was bought out by Bayer, Inc.,= Free became a Professional Relations Consultant in their Diagnostics= Division. She also earned an M.A. in Management (Health Care= Administration) from Central Michigan University and was an Adjunct= Professor of Management at Indiana University, South Bend, for almost 20= years. In addition, she held leadership roles in professional associations= such as the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and the American= Chemical Society, and she has been an active voice in promoting science= education, seeking to recruit female and underprivileged students.<br><br> See <a= href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076455154X/newsscanco= m/ref=3Dnosim"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076455154X= /newsscancom/ref=3Dnosim</a> for "Diabetes for Dummies" -- or look= for it in your favorite library. (We donate all revenue from our book= recommendations to adult literacy programs.) <br> <br> SUBSCRIPTION INFO FOR NEWSSCAN DAILY:<br> To subscribe or unsubscribe to the text,= html, or handheld versions of NewsScan Daily, send the appropriate= subscribe or unsubscribe messages (i.e., with the word 'subscribe' or= 'unsubscribe' in the subject line) to the addresses shown below:<br> Text version: Send message to= [email protected]<br> HTML version: Send mail to= [email protected]<br> NewsScan-To-Go: <a= href=3D"http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html"= eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html</a><br><br= > TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT NEWSSCAN DAILY! 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