NewsScan Daily, 6 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 6 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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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].
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"  
       When a Feature Becomes a Bug
       A Kick of Adrenaline for Public Radio
       Obstacles to Net Phone Service
       ISPs Win Music Download Case
       Gates Unfazed by Possible Chinese Anti-Trust Laws
       Winemakers Turn to Wi-Fi Technology

FEATURES           
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Elihu Root
       Who Reads NewsScan? (Muhammad Abd al-Hameed, for One)

WHEN A FEATURE BECOMES A BUG
     A report by Secunia, a computer security company, says that an Internet
Explorer feature is being used by network vandals to convert Web sites into
virus transmitters. (It's not a bug but a feature intended to make browsing
more convenient.)  Two other flaws in Microsoft products allowed hackers to
direct Internet Explorer browsers to automatically run the virus when
visiting an infected site. Microsoft says that updated code will be
automatically installed on computers set to receive it. The update is also
available at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. (AP/USA Today 3 Jul 2004)
http://tinyurl.com/yrgpq

A KICK OF ADRENALINE FOR PUBLIC RADIO
     The nonprofit Public Radio Exchange (PRX) in Cambridge, Mass., is a
radio distribution service that, for a minimum $50 annual fee, lets a
producer post audio material for audition and licensing. Other members can
then listen free and possibly choose to acquire a feature or news piece for
broadcast. Executive Director Jake Shapiro says the goal is to give public
radio "a kick of adrenaline." PRX currently has more than 2,700 members,
most of whom have chosen its free "Vox Pop" membership. "Of course, we'd
prefer more paying members," says Shapiro. "We aim to become
self-sustainable in three to five years." (Washington Post 5 Jul 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29919-2004Jul5.html

OBSTACLES TO NET PHONE SERVICE
     AT&T says it expects to have 1 million customers for its
voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) phone service by the end of next year,
and cable-TV company Comcast expects to offer VoIP all its customers by the
end of 2006; however, Mark Main of the British consulting firm Ovum warns
that -- although everyone will be using VoIP 10 or 15 years from now -- the
road to that point "will be quite varied, quite torturous and not at all
clean." Some obstacles in the way: only 27% of U.S. online users have even
heard of it; a VoIP subscriber needs a broadband connection, and phone
service will be only as good as that broadband connection; prices may go up
in the future due to increased regulation and taxes; and VoIP service, which
depends on the regular power grid, will fail if grid should fail. (AP/San
Jose Mercury News 6 Jul 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9089156.htm

ISPs WIN MUSIC DOWNLOAD CASE
     Canada's Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 that Internet service providers do
not have to pay royalties to composers and artists for music downloaded by
Web customers, since companies providing wide access to the Web are merely
"intermediaries" who aren't bound by Canadian copyright legislation. At
issue was an effort by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music
Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) to force Internet service providers to pay a
tariff. SOCAN also wanted to extend Canadian copyright law beyond the
country's borders and apply it to offshore Web sites that serve Canadians.
Opposing the effort was the Canadian Association of Internet Service
Providers. (The Australian 1 Jul 2004) Rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.
http://tinyurl.com/28ouv

GATES UNFAZED BY POSSIBLE CHINESE ANTI-TRUST LAWS
     Microsoft chief Bill Gates says he's not concerned about the
possibility of China introducing anti-trust laws even as his company faces
further accusations of anti-competitive behavior. "We already do business in
over 50 countries that have laws like that and we are in full compliance
with those laws. I don't expect any problems, nor did it come up [during
meetings with Premier Wen Jiabao]." Last month the official Xinhua news
agency reported that the central government was considering a draft
anti-monopoly law aimed at curbing anti-competitive behavior by
multinational companies after a report found firms such as Microsoft have
been allegedly "abusing their advantageous positions to curb competition."
In March the European Union accused the software giant of abusing its "near
monopoly" with its Windows software. (The Age 2 Jul 2004) Rec'd from John
Lamp
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/02/1088488129619.html

WINEMAKERS TURN TO WI-FI TECHNOLOGY
     Innovative viticulturists in Sonoma County, California, are using a
Wi-Fi network to gather data from sensors in the field that monitor key
conditions such as temperature, humidity and soil temperature. The
information helps grape growers pinpoint the best times for watering crops
and reduces the need for chemical spraying to reduce mildew. "It's
prohibitive to run cables through the growing fields," says Bill Westerman,
an associate partner at Accenture, which is deploying the technology for the
project at Pickberry vineyard. Through a system that transfers data by
hopping from one Wi-Fi access point to the next, "We are able to get data
from 30 acres back to home base without having to run cables and without
having to have radio transmitters that are powerful enough to make the leap
from one end of the field to the other," says Westerman. Pickberry's terrain
stretches over a hill, and growing conditions are very different at the top
and bottom of the slope. The data received through the network gives the
owners insight into how vines in different parts of the vineyard differ in
their need for water and other factors. (BBC News 6 Jul 2004)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3860863.stm

*****  

FLASH CARD
     "The worst, the hardest, the most disagreeable thing that you may have
to do may be the thing that counts most, because it is the hard discipline,
and it alone, that makes possible the highest efficiency." (Elihu Root)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: ELIHU ROOT
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the distinguished American lawyer,
statesman and winner of the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize Elihu Root (1845-1937),
who served the United States as Secretary of War in the William
McKinley-Theodore Roosevelt cabinet and Secretary of State in the second
Roosevelt administration.
     After his cabinet service, Root was elected Republican senator from New
York, serving from 1909 to 1915. In 1910 Root became the first president of
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, continuing the work for
world peace that had marked his entire public career and shortly earned him
the 1912 Nobel Prize for Peace.
     In 1915 he declined to run again for the Senate, choosing instead the
role of elder statesman. Woodrow Wilson appointed him ambassador
extraordinary to head a special diplomatic mission to Russia in 1917, and
later under President Harding Root became a delegate to the Washington Naval
Conference of 1921-1922, where he helped draft the Five-Power Treaty
limiting naval armament.
     Root was born in Clinton, New York, the son of a professor of
mathematics at Hamilton College. He attended Hamilton and in 1864 was
graduated first in his class, and then taught school for one year before
earning a law degree from the New York University Law School. He next
practiced law and by age thirty had established himself as a prominent
lawyer specializing in corporate affairs. In a thirty-year legal career he
became a wealthy man, acting as counsel to banks, railroads, and some of the
leading financiers of the day.
     While he had dabbled in local Republican politics in New York, Root was
relatively unknown as a political figure when he was invited into the
McKinley cabinet as secretary of war. McKinley wanted a lawyer and not a
military man because the war department was in serious need of
administrative reorganization. In short order, Root established new
procedures for promotion, founded the War College, enlarged West Point,
opened schools for special branches of the service, created a general staff,
strengthened control over the National Guard, and restored discipline within
the department. 
     Root's record as Secretary of State was equally impressive. He removed
the consular service from the "spoils system," putting it under Civil
Service. He also demonstrated a superior diplomatic touch in dealing with a
series of important foreign policy matters requiring attention in the Far
East, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Historians generally define
Root's most important legacy to be his conviction that American leadership
in world affairs demands the existence of a strong military and a highly
professional diplomatic service.

[See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374179395/newsscancom/ref=nos
im -- or look for it in your favorite library. Note: We donate all revenue
from our book recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

#WHO READS NEWSSCAN? (MUHAMMAD ABD AL-HAMEED, FOR ONE)
    NewsScan subscriber Muhammad Abd al-Hameed writes from Lahore, Pakistan:
    Information technology has been my passion ever since the personal
computer appeared in 1975. I was convinced that it would be the single most
important invention to improve life in poor countries. I am proud to have
campaigned successfully for its duty-free import into my country. Over the
years, Pakistan became the leader in making IT available to the masses. Now,
80% of the population can access Internet for a few cents per hour and with
a local phone call of unlimited duration. Wired and wireless phones are
within the reach of even the villagers. One can buy a good desktop PC, with
17-in. monitor, for less than $400 or lease it for $15 per month.
    NewsScan has been of great help in my mission to promote IT. I do know
what it takes day after day to ³put a river in a pitcher,² as the saying
goes in my country. So, hats off to the editors!
    I wish there were a similar newsletter for another of my missions:
newspaper publishing. Using decades of study and experience, I have worked
out a plan for a newspaper that will be a model in both production and
content. It will cover in brief all the news that is fit to print. Under an
ingenious plan, it will sell only for a few cents, irrespective of pages.
Using appropriate technologies and methods, it will break even in about six
months. The newspaper will need only $50,000. I am looking for a sponsor.
    A few words about myself. Life for me means living for others. In my
culture, the society comes first. My own needs are very basic. I own nothing
more expensive than my $400 PC (except my library). I seek simple and
inexpensive solutions to all problems. I am curious about everything under
the sun (well, almost). I have written many studies, papers, and articles,
and have edited several books. (For a list and to know more about me, write
to [email protected]. Also visit my web site http://mahameed.4mg.com/)
    I did M.A. in economics in 1961 from Government College, Lahore (now a
university), one of the most prestigious institutions in South Asia. My
father studied only up to 10th grade and worked for the state-run railroad
all his life. So, I had to satisfy my curiosity about the world around me
entirely on my own. (The six languages that I learnt early helped me much.)
With no technical background, I learnt all about IT and related fields the
hard way ­ self study. I visited the U.S. twice in early 1980s and was
surprised that I knew more about the country than many Americans, born or
naturalized. 
    It highlights the difference between the dominant values of our
cultures. In my part of the world, we do not care much about privacy. We
love to talk to even total strangers, share our ideas with them and often
end up with life-long friendships. Only recently, I called a wrong number
and ended up becoming a friend of the person on the other end as well as his
organization! No wonder, I responded to every single e-letter that I've
received from NewsScan readers, more out of love than courtesy.
    In my culture, the society comes first. We care for others, even at the
cost of our own interest. Our religion plays a great role in it.
    As for your question about what I do for a living: I retired as the head
of research in a government department a few years ago. Since then I have
been working as a consultant. I have not one but many specialties. Following
are some of my main interests:
   a)  I became interested in computing and telecommunications about 30
years ago, and since then I have been following the developments with
special attention to their applications for countries like mine. I cannot
tell you what is under the hood, so to speak, but I know instantly how
certain development can make life easier and better for my people.
   b)  I have a very deep and long interest in all aspects of paper media,
and to a lesser extent of electronic media. (Would you believe that, after
just a few years in journalism, I gave an idea that transformed the
international editions of Time magazine?) I have a plan for a model daily
that will cost a pittance, by any standards, to bring about and will break
even only in a few months. I shall publish it if and when I get a sponsor.
And also live long enough!
   c)  Everything under the sun about my country, such as political,
economic, social, cultural, etc.
   d)  Editing and writing, in English as well as Urdu. I have written many
papers, articles, studies and have edited several books. As the previous
arrangement broke down, I am now looking for a free web hosting service for
my 50MB of writings. Any suggestions?
   e)  Reading. I have personal library of several thousand books. I
subscribe to many magazines and check out others on the Internet. As a
friend observed, the printed word "fascinates" me.
   My biggest specialty is to solve problems. I love to do that, whatever
the problem. I have been doing it even before I knew this was what
consulting was all about!
   How do I manage all this?
    a)  I love whatever I do.
    b)  I switch from one subject to another for the sake of variety. (No
wonder, I never had a moment of boredom all my life.)
    c)  I hate to be a person who knows all about something that is
practically nothing.
    Let me say again that I would be happy to hear from any NewsScan
subscriber. My address is [email protected]

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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
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