NewsScan Daily, 14 June 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 14 June 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        E-Mail Security Firms Focus on Early Warning
        New Web Ads Have Their Eye on You
        Online Movies Ready to Roll
        Matsushita Debuts High-Tech 'Sleep Room'
        See-Through Walls Create Room With a View

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Sir Henry Bessemer

E-MAIL SECURITY FIRMS FOCUS ON EARLY WARNING
      E-mail security companies are using a new technique to monitor 
Internet traffic that will allow them to identify virus outbreaks earlier 
and take a more proactive role in preventing hacker damage. The technology 
surveys traffic across a large number of organizations and searches for 
anomalies that might indicate malicious code activity. It then takes 
immediate action to slow down or block delivery, providing a head-start 
over conventional methods that analyze viruses and then rely on antivirus 
firms to identify and stop them. "We've seen we can gain four or five hours 
on the virus," says Scott Weiss, CEO of IronPort, which uses the 
early-warning technology. "Four to five hours is life for the network 
administrator." Suspicious traffic patterns that might signal viral 
outbreak include an increased volume in messages from specific senders and 
messages with similar subject lines or containing a particular type of 
attachment file. The computers can then tip off e-mail software to destroy 
or quarantine the suspect messages. "It's the start of a big trend," 
predicts Matt Cain, an analyst with Meta Group. (Wall Street Journal 14 Jun 
2004)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108716515495035823,00.html (sub req'd)

NEW WEB ADS HAVE THEIR EYE ON YOU
      Lured by the success of "keyword" advertising used by Google, Yahoo 
and other groups that deliver targeted advertising based on users' search 
terms, ESPN and others are exploring a similar method of delivering ads 
based on Web site visitors' online habits. Though some privacy experts 
denounce the practice as creepy, Web sites say the technique enables them 
to deliver ads that readers find relevant. "If someone spends an awful lot 
of time on mutual fund pages, clearly they are interested in mutual funds," 
says Scot McLernon, executive VP at MarketWatch.com "Why not have… mutual 
fund advertising follow them?" The motivation is clear -- after a two-year 
slump, Web advertising is rebounding, with more than a third of the growth 
generated by keyword ads. "The noise made from billions of dollars flowing 
out of their hands and into somebody else's hands made everyone sit up and 
take notice," says Omar Tawakol, senior marketing VP for Revenue Science, 
which offers behavioral targeting services. Advertisers pay a premium for 
the service -- amounts range from 25% extra to up to 10 times the normal 
rates -- but they get a better response, because they can in many cases 
identify a Web surfer's location, demographic data (if provided as part of 
a registration process), and numeric Internet address, which may carry 
clues about the visitor's employer or line of work. In fact, companies like 
Revenue Science could do much more with the data available, but will hold 
off until consumers become more comfortable with the concept. "We can't 
afford to rush... and then have the privacy backlash," says Tawakol. (AP 13 
Jun 2004)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040613/D836BP700.html

ONLINE MOVIES READY TO ROLL
      RealNetworks and Starz Encore Group have launched an online movie 
subscription service called Starz! Ticket on Real Movies. The companies had 
planned an earlier unveiling, but said they decided to delay about a year 
until the market appeared more receptive. The biggest hurdle was waiting 
for a broader adoption of high-speed Internet connections, over which the 
movies can be downloaded in 30 minutes or less. The service costs $12.95 a 
month, giving viewers access to about 100 movies, which can be viewed an 
unlimited number of times as long as they're part of Starz's roster. Once 
the movie is deleted from the list, it's no longer accessible. Starz faces 
competition from Movielink, which charges on a per-download basis, and 
CinemaNow, which offers subscriptions or pay-per-movie options. 
(AP/Washington Post 14 Jun 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39646-2004Jun14.html

MATSUSHITA DEBUTS HIGH-TECH 'SLEEP ROOM'
      Matsushita Electric Works is taking the wraps off its "Sleep Room" 
next week in Tokyo, giving the sleep-deprived a chance to analyze their 
sleep patterns and catch 40 winks while they're at it. The company says its 
new product is geared toward the growing market of insomniacs in a country 
where students start burning the midnight oil in elementary school -- a 
pattern that's then replicated in the typical workday. A Health Ministry 
survey indicated in 2000 that 31% of Japanese don't get enough sleep 
because of work, school or long commuting times. Another 29% cited stress 
as a prime source of wakefulness. At Matsushita's "Vitality Diagnostic 
Corner," visitors are greeted by a "sleep counselor" who leads them through 
a 30-minute software program designed to pinpoint sleep problems and 
develop a "sleep profile." Customers can then try out a 30-minute session 
in the sleep room, where they're greeted by a wall-sized TV displaying a 
soothing river scene surrounded by forest and augmented by gentle guitar 
and piano music blended with gurgling water and bird sounds. After a few 
minutes, the lights dim, the TV screen goes blank, and the bed's mattress 
kicks into gear, vibrating and kneading strategically to administer a 
massage and ease the customer into sleep. After 30 minutes, the lights 
slowly come on and the TV displays a crystal lake, while the bed gradually 
cranks up to a sitting position. The company plans to market the device to 
homeowners for $30,000, and says even though the price is high, there will 
be takers. "Nobody who's come in here for 30 minutes hasn't fallen asleep," 
says a Matsushita official. (AP/USA Today 14 Jun 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2004-06-14-sleeproom_x.htm

SEE-THROUGH WALLS CREATE ROOM WITH A VIEW
      Susumu Tachi, the inventor of an "invisibility" cloak that seems to 
disappear by projecting onto its surface an image of what's behind it, says 
his next project will be see-through walls that can provide interior office 
dwellers a room with a view. "This technology can be used in all kinds of 
ways, but I wanted to create a vision of invisibility. My short-term goal 
would be, for example, to make a room that has no outside windows appear to 
have a view to the outside, then the wall would appear to be invisible," 
says Tachi. He uses a computer-generated image projected onto a surface of 
"retro-reflectum" material that provides the illusion of a 
three-dimensional vision. "The material is the key to our technology," says 
Tachi, who adds that he's been working on the concept for the last 25 
years. "It didn't work at all when we just projected the image onto a 
normal screen. We tried hard, but it took awhile before we came up with 
this retro-reflective material." (BBC News 14 Jun 2004)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3791795.stm

*****

FLASH CARD
      "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." (Thomas 
Edison)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: SIR HENRY BESSEMER
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the English inventor and industrialist 
Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898), who developed the steel-making process that 
bears his name.
      The Bessemer process blows air through molten pig iron, burning out 
most of its impurities, to produce the superior structural qualities of 
steel. Patented in 1855, it made steel inexpensive to produce and was 
rapidly adopted by the iron industry, first in Britain and later worldwide. 
The process remained in use until the end of World War II, even though the 
improved open-hearth procedures were introduced to the steel-making 
industry as early as 1910.
      Bessemer was born in Charlton, Hertfordshire, England. Early on, he 
displayed a talent for mechanical inventiveness. He designed an improved 
typesetting machine and a new method for stamping deeds and other 
government documents. Next he created a process to manufacture "gold" 
powder from brass for use in paints. Because such paint materials were in 
great demand by Victorian age decorators, Bessemer soon acquired a 
considerable business fortune. He also developed other inventions, notably 
sugarcane-crushing machinery of advanced design.
      His most famous invention, the Bessemer converter, grew out of his 
interest during the Crimean War years in improving the iron used for 
casting cannon. He had developed a projectile that would spin in flight, 
but the existing iron cannons were not sturdy enough to fire it. What was 
needed was a cannon barrel made of steel. At that time, however, steel was 
prohibitively expensive, making it impracticable for use in cannons. 
Bessemer came up with a process that dramatically reduced the cost of 
steel, and by doing so he may be credited with introducing the era of ocean 
liners, great suspension bridges, and steel-girded skyscrapers.
      In 1856 Bessemer presented his steel-making process in a paper read 
to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Many ironmasters 
signed up for licenses to use the Bessemer process. Unfortunately, a large 
number of them did not achieve the results promised by Bessemer, because, 
unbeknownst to Bessemer, he'd used phosphorus-free ore in developing his 
process (which as it turned out did not work for the ironmasters using ore 
containing phosphorus and sulfur). Bessemer had to buy back their licenses 
and open his own steel mill in Sheffield, where he used phosphorus-free ore 
from northwestern England.
      In time the phosphorus problem was solved and Bessemer licenses were 
once again in demand, adding to Bessemer's business empire. In the United 
States Andrew Carnegie made a fortune using the Bessemer process in his 
steel mills.
      Bessemer continued to invent and make discoveries into his later 
years. He built a solar furnace, designed and built an astronomical 
telescope for his personal use, and developed a commercially successful 
machine for polishing diamonds. Bessemer died in London on March 14, 1898.

[See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0901462497/ 
newsscancom/ref=nosim for Bessemer's autobiography -- or look for it in 
your favorite library. We donate all revenue from our book recommendations 
to adult literacy programs.]

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