NewsScan Daily, 7 June 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 7 June 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"  
       You Talkin' to Me?
       North Korea Recalls Mobile Phones
       Software Strategies for Developing Countries
       Cameras on the Net
       Nigeria May Use Software to Nab Scammers
       This Is Your Life -- One Message at a Time

FEATURES        
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Francisco de Goya

YOU TALKIN' TO ME?
     As they develop systems with "emotionally intelligent" capabilities,
researchers are exploring two basically different approaches. The first uses
special sensors to read a person's emotions (for example, by using sensors
that infer from a person's posture whether he or she is interested or
bored); the second essentially encourages people to believe that the machine
is a person -- as when a voice gives information or instructions to users of
automated reservation systems. The problem with the second approach is that
if an automated voice claiming to be "Julie" cannot respond to a simple
question, people get even more frustrated than they would be with a machine
that makes no pretense at being human. Stanford University communications
professor Clifford Nass explains: "It turns out if 'Julie' speaks in that
machine-like speech, people hate it when it says, 'I.' They think it's clear
you are not an 'I.' When it is recorded speech, people are more comfortable
with the 'I' -- up to the point it fails them." (Washington Post 6 Jun 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20688-2004Jun6.html

NORTH KOREA RECALLS MOBILE PHONES
     North Korea has recalled mobile phones from its citizens, nearly a year
and a half after the service was introduced in the communist country. A
North Korean official attending an inter-Korean economic meeting in
Pyongyang confirmed that mobile phones have been banned since May 25. (The
Age 4 Jun 2004) Rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203598828.html

SPECIAL SOFTWARE STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
     Departing from a one-size-fits-all global pricing strategy, Microsoft
has tailored special government-promoted PC sales for Thailand and Malaysia
in a new marketing approach for emerging markets. Localized versions of
Microsoft Windows XP are offered without English-language support, and the
company is apparently developing leaner Windows with features more
appropriate to developing countries. Microsoft executive Barry Goff says,
"This is a new market with very different needs, from an economic
perspective, from a social perspective, from a technical perspective." In
addition Microsoft, companies such as Symantec and Sun Microsystems have
also introduced special government pricing strategies for developing
countries. Jupiter Research industry analyst Joe Wilcox says, "What we're
seeing is the beginning of a trend. The more companies test the waters, the
more of a trend there is because of the competitive threat." (AP/San Jose
Mercury News 7 Jun 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8860894.htm

CAMERAS ON THE NET
     Digital cameras with Internet protocol capabilities are functioning as
standalone servers that stream video over the Web. IMS Research predicts
that IP cameras will account for about 20% of a surveillance market in
Europe forecast to be worth $460 million in annual sales by 2008. Industry
analyst Simon Harris of IMS says, "It's going to be one of the biggest
trends in the surveillance market over the next few years without a doubt.
The companies that don't have good product offerings for network
surveillance are going to lose market share." (Reuters/USA Today 7 Jun 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-07-surveilcams_x.htm

NIGERIA MAY USE SOFTWARE TO NAB SCAMMERS
     Nigeria plans to launch software that will search for certain keywords
to help catch fraud perpetrators who send scam letters via e-mail. Nigerian
official Mustafa Bello explains: "The introduction of new software,
currently under discussion within the Nigerian parliament, will scan e-mails
originating in Nigeria to look for keywords commonly found, especially
relating to banking and the country's petroleum industry. This will then be
removed from the system and even traced back to where it originated." (The
Age 4 Jun 2004) Rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203598788.html

THIS IS YOUR LIFE, ONE MESSAGE AT A TIME
     Many users of text messaging are unaware of the fact that their
messages are likely to be saved on servers. Telecom analyst Jeff Kagan says,
"One of the false assumptions that people make is that when they hit the
delete button, messages are gone forever, but nothing can be further from
the truth... It's just a common practice. I don't know an instance where
[messaging companies] delete them." Cell phone text messages seem likely to
be admitted as evidence in the current high-profile trial of basketball
player Kobe Bryant, in that the woman who made charges against him sent
several messages within hours of the alleged incident. Kagan warns
text-messaging enthusiasts: "I think in these days of corporate fraud and in
these days of terrorism we're seeing more and more reason to store forever.
Don't ever say anything on e-mail or text messaging that you don't want to
come back and bite you." (AP/Los Angeles Times 7 Jun 2004)
http://tinyurl.com/2wvse

*****  

FLASH CARD
       "Things equal out pretty well. Our dreams seldom come true, but then
neither do our nightmares." (Charles Kennedy)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: FRANCISCO DE GOYA
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the Spanish painter and graphic artist
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), considered by most critics
the greatest painter of his age and one of the first masters of modern art.
See http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/goya/ for a sample of his work.
     Goya was born near Saragossa and studied painting in Madrid. In 1774,
he was appointed painter to the Royal Tapestry Factory, where he produced
tapestry designs typical of the late rococo style in their elegance of line
and color. In 1780 he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and
his paintings from that period reveal a spirit of gaiety and charm, enhanced
by an earthy optimism that would not be characteristic of his later, mature
work. In 1792, Goya became ill and gradually lost his hearing. His art
became more personal and more imaginative. In the 1790's, he produced
religious paintings, plus a series of satirical his etchings, The Caprices,
in which he attacked political, social, and religious abuses.
     When Goya became court painter to Charles III And Charles IV, his royal
portraits were painted with exceptional realism, most notably his large
portrait The Family of Charles IV. Among Goya's celebrated paintings from
this period are the Maja Nude and Maja Clothed, as was his chief religious
work, Frescoes for Madrid's Church of San Antonio de la Florida. Napoleon's
invasion and occupation of Spain from 1808 to 1813 inspired two of Goya's
most powerful paintings--The Uprising of 2nd May and The Executions of 3rd
May 1808. Between 1810 and 1814 he recorded the horrors of the Napoleonic
invasion with a series of etchings entitled The Disasters of War, which
constituted a devastating indictment of human evil and corruption.
     In 1820, isolated by his deafness, Goya retired to his country house
near Madrid, which he decorated with nightmarish paintings of macabre
subjects, such as, Satan Devouring His Children, Witches' Sabbath, and The
Three Fates. Unlike his war paintings, the fantastic horrors of these
pictures are relieved by touches of morbid humor, delicate beauty, and
realistic observation. In 1824, Goya moved to France to escape the harsh
rule of King Ferdinand VII. After visiting Paris he settled in voluntary
exile in Bordeaux, where he remained, apart from a brief trip to Madrid,
until his death. There, in spite of old age and infirmity, he continued to
record his impressions of the world around him in paintings, drawings, and
the new technique of lithography.

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394580281/newsscancom/ref=nosim
for "Goya," by Robert Hughes -- or look for it in your favorite library. We
donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy
programs.]


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