NewsScan Daily, 3 May 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 3 May 2004 ("Above The Fold")
***********************************************************
NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization
making significant and sustained contributions to the effective
management and appropriate use of information technology. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, [email protected].
***********************************************************

"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Microsoft Unveils 'Janus' DRM Software
        Student File-Swappers Go Into Overdrive on Internet2
        Sasser Worm Is Latest Threat
        U.S. Taps Aussie Spammer
        German Group Releases Album Via Ringtones

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Katherine Burr Blodgett
        Mailbag: The World As We Find It

MICROSOFT UNVEILS 'JANUS' DRM SOFTWARE
      Microsoft has taken the wraps off its new digital rights management 
software, code-named Janus, which is designed to impose an expiration date 
on digital music and videos purchased through subscription services, that 
works even if the digital content is transferred from the original PC to 
another device, such as a portable player or a cell phone. "At the moment, 
the current subscription models that are out there are so hobbled by the 
fact that they cannot be taken away from the computer," says a Microsoft 
spokesman. Companies such as Walt Disney have expressed interest in the new 
DRM technology for their content. (AP 3 May 2004)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040503/D82B2R1O0.html

STUDENT FILE-SWAPPERS GO INTO OVERDRIVE ON INTERNET2
      Internet2, the high-speed network designed to facilitate scholarly 
collaboration among university researchers, has spawned a new turbo-charged 
file-trading network dubbed i2hub. The network has drawn rave reviews from 
students dazzled by its blazing speed, but some Internet2 denizens see 
trouble brewing ahead. And while students maintain they're only making use 
of bandwidth that otherwise would go begging, some also see it as a way to 
circumvent the limitations that some universities have imposed on 
peer-to-peer networking. "Some universities put a restriction on commodity 
Internet line speeds but don't put any restriction on Internet2," says one 
i2hub manager, who estimates students at about 100 universities are making 
use of the network. Officials at Internet2 say theoretically they have no 
objection to the students' use of the network, providing no copyright 
violations are occurring, but some university network administrators have 
expressed concern that that's exactly what is happening. "Internet2 is for 
research. It's not for downloading music. The fact is, (the network) cost a 
lot of money and downloading games and music should be the last priority on 
any campus network. I think it's borderline taking advantage of the 
system," says a computer support specialist at Florida State University. 
(CNet News.com 29 Apr 2004)
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5202107.html

SASSER WORM IS LATEST THREAT
      A fast spreading worm known as "Sasser" surfaced over the weekend and 
is making its way around the globe, warn computer security experts at 
Finland's F-Secure. The worm shares many characteristics with the Blaster 
worm that infected hundreds of thousands of PCs last year, says F-Secure 
antivirus research director Mikko Hypponen, who notes that both worms 
exploit relatively new holes in the Windows operating system and frequently 
cause computers to repeatedly reboot. However, this time more companies 
appear to be ready to take preventative action, which may mitigate Sasser's 
damage potential. "With Sasser it seems that companies are (using software) 
patches better and more quickly than last year (with Blaster), but for 
those that are hit, they are hit hard," says Hypponen, who adds that he 
believes Sasser originated in Russia. The worm does not need to be 
activated by double-clicking on an attachment and can strike even if no one 
is using the PC at the time. (Reuters/Washington Post 3 May 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62063-2004May3.html

U.S. TAPS AUSSIE SPAMMER
      The U.S. government has launched its first criminal case against 
spammers, and taken civil action against an Australian spammer with the 
help of local authorities. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says that the 
first charges have been brought against several U.S. companies under 
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing 
(CAN-SPAM) Act, which took effect in January. It also has served legal 
notices on Australian company Global Web Promotions Pty Ltd, which 
investigators said pitched fraudulent weight-loss and growth-hormone 
products. The FTC says it brought its case with help by the Australian 
Competition and Consumer Commission and the New Zealand Commerce 
Commission. ACCC spokeswoman Lin Enright confirmed the ACCC assisted the 
FTC in tracking down Global Web Promotions, but would not say whether it 
would have a continuing role in the matter. (The Australian 30 Apr 2004, 
rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin University)
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,9430331%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

GERMAN GROUP RELEASES ALBUM VIA RINGTONES
      A German musical group called Super Smart has decided to release its 
latest album, Panda Babies, exclusively as polyphonic ringtones for cell 
phones. The band says they decided to go with ringtones in order to 
sidestep the traditional music publishing industry. "Music has to be 
re-thought," says Antonio Vince Staybl, founder of the Go Fresh Mobile 
Music label. Go Fresh is offering Super Smart's mix of disco pop and 
electro punk tunes for an introductory price of €1.99. The company has 
already signed up 20 artists and says it's sold a million ringtones in its 
first year of operation. "We release songs within a few hours across Europe 
without interfaces to the traditional music industry. Our prices for a 
ringtone album or a compilation of 10 to 12 tracks including a mobile phone 
video will settle down at four to five euros and the price for a single 
ringtone at €1.49 in the medium term," says a GoFresh Europe spokesman. 
(BBC News 30 Apr 2004)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3671061.stm

*****

FLASH CARD
      "The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the 
reflection of his own face." (William M. Thackeray)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: KATHERINE BURR BLODGETT
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the celebrated inventor and scientist 
Katherine Burr Blodgett (1898-1979), who was the first woman scientist with 
a doctorate hired at the General Electric Research Laboratory in 
Schenectady, New York. She was also the first woman to earn a Ph.D. degree 
in Physics from England's Cambridge University, where in 1924 she studied 
with Sir Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratories.
      Later in her career she became the first woman to receive the 
Photographic Society of America Award. Among her other honors was the 
Francis P. Garvin Medal awarded by the American Chemical Society.
      Blodgett made her mark in the scientific world by her work in thin 
film technology. In 1938 she succeeded in developing nonreflective 
("invisible") glass by coating the surface with multiple layers of 
reflection-eliminating film reduced to the thickness of a single molecule. 
Her thin film procedures were a byproduct of the research on monomolecular 
coatings that she conducted as an assistant to Dr. Irving Langmuir, the 
1932 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
      The applications of thin film coating were numerous: automobile 
windshields, shop windows, showcases, cameras, spectacles, telescopes, 
picture frames, and other applications where it is desirable that images 
pass through glass without any distortion. In World War II, Blodgett's 
glass was used in periscopes, range finders, and aerial cameras. Since 
then, Blodgett's coatings have found many diverse applications, including 
ice-resistant airplane wings and even artificial rainmaking. Today, thin 
films are important in the fabrication of microelectronic components, solar 
cells, and solid state lasers and microchips that process information 
optically.
      Blodgett was born in Schenectady, New York, which was where she would 
live out her life. After attending Bryn Mawr and receiving a B.A. degree in 
physics, she earned an M.S. degree at the University of Chicago. In 
addition to her patented procedure for applying thin film coatings, 
Blodgett also invented a color gauge method for measuring the thickness of 
thin film coatings, whose thickness were such that 35,000 layers were no 
thicker than a sheet of paper.

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471023345/ 
newsscancom/ref=nosim for "Patently Female" -- 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 SOUND OF STUPID
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10503
      Regarding the story "Technology Marches Ahead, Grammar Gets Worse": 
While this is true for many people, for others it has become a way of 
identifying people that you don't necessarily associate with. Being a young 
(<30) technology professional, the first thing that I think when seeing 
someone typing something inane like "Hi how r u today?" is that the person 
I'm dealing with is an idiot. It is one of my pet peeves, because it really 
does make the person typing like that appear uneducated, or at least a poor 
typist, and I point out how stupid they sound at every opportunity. I don't 
think I've broken any of the habit so far, but hope springs eternal. 
(William S. Duncanson)

CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10449
      I believe Kagan is correct. America and Europe are drifting apart. 
However, I also believe the rate is under 1mm per year, and therefore not 
of immediate concern. (Larry Breyer)

FANTASISTS
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10471
      Re-read the excerpt with the viewpoint of America as the ideological 
fantasist. The accuracy of how well it fits will scare the daylights out of 
anyone with a mind sufficiently open to accept the truth and reality of it. 
(Charles R. Demers)

STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT
Re: 
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=honorary_subscriber&id=780
      There's a famous anecdote about Eddington: an interviewer (or 
possibly a colleague) said to him once, "Is it true, Sir Arthur, that you 
are one of only 3 people in the world who fully understands Einstein's 
General Theory of Relativity?" Eddington was silent for a while and then 
said, "I'm sorry -- I was trying to think who the third person could be." 
BTW I'm sure that Eddington's 1919 experiment wasn't to show that "the 
sun's starlight" was bent in the sun's gravitational field but rather that 
the light from a distant star passing close to the sun was bent by the 
sun's gravitational field: this was why the experiment had to be done 
during an eclipse, since otherwise the star's light was obscured by the 
light of the sun itself. (Allan Todd, UK)

WE PLEAD 'NO CONTEST'!
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10476
      I realize this is a nitpick, but I was surprised to see the phrase 
"pleaded innocent" in your NewsScan, since you guys are generally really 
good about this kind of stuff. A defendant cannot plead innocent; the only 
two pleas possible are "guilty" and "not guilty" (well, the third would be 
a no-contest plea). Thanks for your great work. NewsScan helps keep me in 
the loop. (Lani Teshima)

LOG OFF THIS VERY SECOND!
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10505
      I agree with Mr. Theroux that being unavailable is quite nice. I 
disagree with him that one must travel to deepest, darkest Africa to be out 
from under the tyranny of modern communication devices. He assumes that he 
has no choice when the phone rings/email beeps/pager vibrates, etc. I say, 
"You have a choice!" Don't pick up the phone if you're not willing to talk. 
(That's what answering machines are for!) Don't check your email until 
you're ready to respond. Turn off your cell phone when you're unavailable. 
Get a post office box, and don't pick up the mail until you're ready for 
it. Use the tools of modern communications, don't let them rule over you. 
(John Haffner)

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=10511
       "Love is metaphysical gravity," says R. Buckminster Fuller in your 
Flash Card. Which explains why couples tend to roll toward one another in 
bed. (Greg Farman)

SUBSCRIPTION INFO FOR NEWSSCAN DAILY:
       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:
       Text version: Send message to [email protected]
       HTML version: Send mail to [email protected]
       NewsScan-To-Go: http://www.newsscan.com/handheld/current.html

TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT NEWSSCAN DAILY! Send them our little frog: 
http://www.newsscan.com/newsscan/newscup.html

***********************************************************
Please visit the site of RLG, the great organization that makes NewsScan 
Daily possible. (RLG has no influence over, nor any responsibility for, our 
editorial content.) Created in 1974 as the Research Libraries Group, RLG is 
a not-for-profit membership corporation of more than 160 universities, 
national libraries, archives, museums -- and other institutions with 
remarkable collections for research and learning. Its major initiatives are 
long-term retention of digital materials, resource sharing among member 
institutions, and improvement of researcher access to primary source 
material. RLG supplies online research resources worldwide. Visit RLG at 
http://www.rlg.org.

*********

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the TEXT version of NewsScan Daily, send an 
e-mail message to [email protected] with 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' 
in the subject line. To subscribe to our HTML version of NewsScan Daily, 
send mail to [email protected], with the word 'subscribe' as the 
subject. (Subscribing to the HTML version won't automatically unsubscribe 
you from the text version; please unsubscribe yourself as explained above.) 
Please note: To unsubscribe from an account to which you no longer have 
access, send mail to at [email protected].

*********

We call our news section "Above The Fold" to honor the tradition of the 
great "broadsheet" newspapers in which editors must decide which news 
stories are of such importance that they should be placed "above the fold" 
on the front page. The NewsScan Credo: Be informative, have fun, and get to 
the point! See http://www.newsscan.com/, and send us mail: John Gehl 
<[email protected]> and Suzanne Douglas <[email protected]>, or call 
770-704-7517.

*********

Get a free 6-week trial subscription to Innovation Weekly, an executive 
summary of trends, strategies and innovations in business and technology. 
Send mail to [email protected] with the word 'subscribe' in the 
subject line.

What customized news and information services do you need for your company? 
Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call 770-704-7517 to talk 
over the possibilities.

Copyright 2004. NewsScan Daily (R) is a publication of NewsScan Inc.
***********************************************************