NewsScan Daily, 16 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 16 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"  
       Bush Signs Identity Theft Bill
       Double-Digit Growth in Worldwide PC Sales
       System for Spotting Suicide Bombers
       I, Robot; How About You?
       Cell Phone Silence

FEATURES           
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Jeremy Bentham

BUSH SIGNS IDENTITY THEFT BILL
     President Bush has signed into law an identity theft bill that will add
two years to the prison sentences of criminals convicted of using stolen
credit card numbers or other personal data to commit crimes. On top of that,
the sentences of identity-theft violators who then commit acts of terrorism
will be extended by an additional five years. The Federal Trade Commission
estimates that 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in
the last five years. (Washington Post 15 Jul 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51595-2004Jul15.html

DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH IN WORLDWIDE PC SALES
     Market research firm IDC in Framingham, Mass. reports double-digit
growth in worldwide sales of personal computers for the fifth consecutive
quarter. IDC executive Loren Loverde explained that "demand in Europe,
supported by the strong euro and aggressive promotions, was the biggest
driver of the quarter." The top five worldwide vendors were (in this order):
Dell, HP, IBM, Fujitsu, and Acer. Acer showed the greatest growth (about
30%) from the year-ago quarter. (San Jose Mercury News 15 Jul 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9165515.htm

SYSTEM FOR SPOTTING SUICIDE BOMERS
     A subsidiary of the Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems has been
developing a system to detect from a safe distance any concealed weapons or
explosives under the clothes of a suicide bomber. In a demonstration of the
system, an x-ray image shows a scanned individual without clothes but
wearing a firearm and suicide belt. The system could be installed in
airports, border crossings or major bus and train stations, and a network of
sensors would be able to obtain data regarding any individual detected in an
urban area. A remaining technological challenge for the project is to ensure
friend/foe identification and to prevent false alarms caused by the presence
of weapons belonging to Israeli soldiers or police officers. (World Tribune
15 Jul 2004) http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/front_1.html

I, ROBOT; HOW ABOUT YOU?
     "I, Robot," a new movie inspired by Isaac Asimov's classic story
collection of the same name, "might be a useful insight into our own future,
and into other societies' past," writes Seth Shostak of Space.com. "If you
think you can beat Nature, you're not merely afflicted with hubris; your
affliction could prove terminal. That's the message of cautionary cinema
sci-fi. This popular movie genre proclaims that man's quest to control his
environment with technology is no stroll along a yellow-brick road to
wondrous things, but a green-mile march to self-destruction... Ideas about
how we treat, or will be treated by, synthetic cerebrals, is more than just
grist for a film. It's speculation for our own future. And keep this in
mind, too: what happens on our world is likely to have analogs on others. If
we find intelligence elsewhere in the Galaxy, I wouldn't be surprised if it
turns out to be their robots; beings whose interests and activities may go
well beyond walking pets or collecting the garbage. 'I, Robot' is gripping
entertainment. But it might also be a useful insight into our own future,
and into other societies' past. (USA Today 15 Jul 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techreviews/2004-07-15-i-robot-ai_x.htm

CELL PHONE SILENCE
     About one of every two of Lebanon's 850,000 cell phone owners
participated Thursday in a 24-hour boycott of their phones to protest high
cell phone rates. Boycott organizers called on the government to cancel a
$27.50 line fee and lower the cost of calls by 30 percent. The average
cellular phone bill in Lebanon comes to $80 per month. Sixteen consumer
protection groups, trade and labor unions and other organizations supported
the boycott called by the General Labor Confederation and Consumer Lebanon.
(AP/Los Angeles Times 16 Jul 2004)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/ats-ap_technology11jul16,1,84234.story?col
l=sns-ap-toptechnology

*****

FLASH CARD
     "What's the use of worrying, it never was worthwhile. So pack up your
troubles in your old kit bag -- and smile, smile, smile." (George Henry
Powell)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: JEREMY BENTHAM
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the English philosopher, economist and
theoretical jurist Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), who founded Utilitarianism,
the philosophy that ideas, institutions, and actions should be judged on the
basis of their usefulness.
     Picking up on Joseph Priestley's expression "The Greatest Happiness for
the Greatest Number," Bentham made it a catchword for his Utilitarian
conviction that all human actions must be judged by their usefulness in
promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number of persons.
Bentham, as leader of The Philosophical Radicals, a group devoted to
reforming the basic institutions of England, eagerly expanded his
Utilitarian ideas as a reasoned basis and guide for legal, social and moral
reform. Associated with Bentham in his reformist schemes were such notable
figures as James Mill, his son John Stuart Mill, and the politician Lord
Shelburne. While not all of Bentham's reformist ideas were found acceptable,
he is credited with being a pioneer voice in such matters as court and
prison reform, parliamentary debate procedures, expanding voter suffrage,
the codification of laws, and less government interference in business. One
of his more noted successes was the use of the ballot box to permit secret
voting. He wrote prolifically and his ideas spread to Europe and America,
leading to an active correspondence with important men in several countries.
     Bentham was born the son of an attorney in London. A prodigy, he is
reputed to have read serious literature by age three, to play the violin at
age five, and to begin studying Latin and French at age six. He entered the
University of Oxford at 12, studied law, and joined the King's Bench
division of the High Court.
     Having no real interest in practicing law, he busied himself instead
looking into what he believed were abuses in the legal system. This was, of
course, the beginning of the career he would follow as a reformer and moral
philosopher. In 1789 he became well-known for his "Introduction to the
Principles of Morals and Legislation." He also helped found and edit the
Westminster Review to serve as an outlet for the reformist ideas of the
Philosophical Radicals.
     Despite Bentham's disappointment over the failure of some of his
specific reforms, his ideas did influence many of the reforms undertaken by
the British government in both criminal and civil law. And in truth, some of
his ideas were not practical, such as his "felicific calculus" for measuring
personal happiness.
     Bentham died in London in 1832. In accordance with his wishes, his body
was dissected before friends. Today his skeleton, covered with his own
clothes and provided with a wax effigy of his head, is set upright in a
glass-fronted case at University College, London, a school he helped found.

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879754346/newsscancom/ref=nosim
for Bentham's "The Principles of Morals and Legislation" -- or look for it
in your favorite library. Note: We donate all revenue from our book
recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

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