NewsScan Daily, 19 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")
"NewsScan" <[email protected]> Mon, 19 Jul 2004 08:22:48 -0700
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NewsScan Daily, 19 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
Matrix Reloaded
Smarter Skimming Device Found
Ohio Questions Voting Machine Use
'Isolated Incident': Al-Qaeda Files on Arkansas
Computer
South Korean Government Sites Attacked
Amber Alert Comes to the Web
FEATURES
Flash Card
Honorary Subscriber: Minoru Yamasaki
Mailbag: The World As We Find It
MATRIX RELOADED
The crime and terrorism database known as Matrix
(the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) is
being changed in response to various privacy and legal
concerns -- yet not all of Matrix's critics are reassured by
the changes. Some of the changes are intended to
decentralize the database administration, but Barry
Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union says,
"Decentralized data which is just as easily accessed as
centralized data creates the same privacy problems."
Matrix organizers say that the system is entirely limited
to information they have always been able to obtain
without a warrant. (San Jose Mercury News 19 Jul
2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9180503.
htm
SMARTER SKIMMING DEVICE FOUND
A device designed to steal the personal details of
ATM users was found in Sydney, Australia, by a
customer who spotted the device and pulled it from the
ATM. It had been in operation for three days, and may
have recorded the confidential details of up to 1000
customers. The device, disguised to look like part of the
ATM, uses a pin-hole camera to record the personal
identification numbers of customers and a high-tech
magnetic strip reader to steal the details on the card.
Thieves can then use a decoder to burn the information
onto any magnetic strip -- even a bus or train ticket --
and access users' bank balances. Police have found
other machines used to rip off ATM users but the latest
is by far the most hi-tech and devious. (The Australian,
16 Jul 2004) Rec'd from John Lamp
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,1014977
5%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
OHIO QUESTIONS VOTING MACHINE USE
Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has
blocked three counties in that state from using Diebold
electronic voting machines in November because the
systems have shown security problems. Some of the
state's 88 counties already were using electronic voting
machines, and the decision does not affect them. A
Diebold executive says, "We are anxious to learn the
areas where the consultant believes additional work is
needed." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 19 Jul 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9174112.
htm
'ISOLATED INCIDENT': AL-QAEDA FILES ON
ARKANSAS COMPUTER
A state computer in Arkansas has been found to
contain texts and images that apparently originated with
the terrorist group al-Qaeda, but Gary Underwood, chief
security officer for the state computer network, says the
terrorist-related files were an isolated incident. He
received responses from 34 of the 80 agencies he
e-mailed Wednesday and said: "The vast majority of
those do not have FTP servers at all. Several others
responded they had basically private, internal FTP
servers used among staff and offices of the agency.
Those are secure, user-name and password protected.
There were a few that do have publicly accessible FTP
servers, but all of those, including now the highway
department, do not allow anonymous uploads. They
require a user identification or password to access...
Obviously, what happened the other day raised
everybody's awareness. If anybody had any questions,
they immediately went to find out whether or not it was
secure," (AP/USA Today 16 Jul 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2
004-07-16-arkansas-servers_x.htm
SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT SITES ATTACKED
South Korea's spy agency says important
government data may have been stolen during a spate
of recent cyber-attacks launched from China. The
attacks were considered a serious threat to South
Korea's national security and the Chinese government
has been urged to carry out its own investigation.
Hackers using information-stealing viruses had broken
into 211 computers at ten government agencies,
including the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses and
the Agency for Defense Development involved in
weapons development. In addition, 67 computers at
private companies, universities and media firms were
hacked. (The Age 14 Jul 2004) Rec'd from John Lamp
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/14/10896944131
84.html
AMBER ALERT COMES TO THE WEB
The nation's Amber Alert system will be connected to
the Web starting today, making it easier for that system
to thwart child abductions by transmitting messages
about child abductions. An executive of the company
that designed the Amber Alert portal says: "The tag line
on all this is, 'We'll all be looking for you.' This
unbelievable technology is going to make that
possible." Speed is considered vital in recovering an
abducted child. The Justice Department estimates that
three of every four victims are killed within three hours
of being taken. (USA Today 19 Jul 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-
07-19-amber-alert_x.htm
*****
FLASH CARD
"What's the difference between a simulation game
and education? Answer: How it's used. Many of the
games have powerful simulations of nonsensical
societies or something. But if they were real, you would
learn from them." (Don Norman)
YAMASAKI, MINORU
Today's Honorary Subscriber is the renowned
Japanese-American architect Minoru Yamasaki
(1912-1986), who designed the twin towers of the
World Trade Center that once dominated the New York
City skyline.
Yamasaki's career got off to a poor start with the
Pruitt-Igoe housing project he designed in St. Louis,
Missouri. So unpopular was this stark, modernist
concrete structure that the city fathers had it
demolished in 1975, 20 years after its construction. His
reputation improved greatly when he designed several
stylish international airport buildings, and, of course,
the awe-inspiring World Trade Center.
As Yamasaki's artistry matured he favored designs
that combined aesthetic appeal with functional
efficiency. For his structures he preferred delicate,
refined material such as wood and polished steel to
the more conventional rough concrete and brick. He
opposed the then-prevailing architectural mind-set
favoring "strong" European style buildings (cathedrals,
palaces and monumental buildings). These, he said,
are "incongruous today, because the buildings we build
for our times are for a totally different purpose." For him
that purpose was "to create an atmosphere in which
man can live, work, and enjoy."
Yamasaki was born in Seattle, Washington. His
father was a purchasing agent and his mother an
accomplished pianist. As Nisei -- American-born
Japanese -- the family encountered poverty and social
injustices, yet Yamasaki succeeded in putting himself
through the University of Washington by working
summers in Alaskan canneries. The harsh
circumstances of that work fixed his determination not
to live an impoverished life.
He was inspired to pursue architecture by an uncle
who was a Japanese architect. After graduating from
college, he moved to New York, where he earned a
master's degree from New York University and went to
work for an architectural firm. In 1945, at age 33, he
joined the Detroit firm of Smith Hinchman & Grylls as
chief of design. He brought with him impressive
credentials from two top New York firms: Shreve, Lamb
and Harmon, designers of the Empire State Building,
and Harrison, Fouilhoux and Abramovitz, designers of
Rockefeller Center.
In 1949, Yamasaki and fellow architects George
Hellmuth and Joseph Leinweber left Smith Hinchman
& Grylls to form a partnership in Detroit and St. Louis.
Later he would establish his own firm, taking in many
promising young architects.
In 1954 he suffered a life-threatening attack of
bleeding ulcers, and while convalescing he traveled to
Japan as a U.S. State Department consultant for the
Kobe-Osaka area consulate. The journey afforded him
a first-hand exposure to the Japanese ideals of beauty
and grace that he would later incorporate in his
structures, as for example the McGregor Center he
designed for Detroit's Wayne State University campus --
which featured triangular motifs, skylights and a
Japanese style reflecting pool.
Besides the Japanese, Yamasaki also adopted
other ethnic traditional styles. His Dhahran Air Terminal
in Saudi Arabia contained concrete canopies with low
Arabic arches, and his Congregation Beth El design
resembled the imagery of the portable tents of the
ancient Hebrews.
Yamasaki lived until the age of 73, but did not live
long enough to witness the destruction of the World
Trade Center's twin towers.
[See
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/083480
1361/qid=1089994857/newsscancom/ref=nosim for
Yamasaki's "A Life in Architecture" -- or look for it in your
favorite library. Note: We donate all revenue from our
book recommendations to adult literacy programs.]
MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT
INDIANS FINDING NOTHING WRONG WITH
OUTSOURCING
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ne
wsletter&id=10975
Doesn't it seem odd to anybody that all the people in
this article who are saying the outrage is dying down
sound like they themselves are Indian???? A little
self-serving if you ask me. (Rick Poepping)
THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO BPL DISCUSSION
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ne
wsletter&id=10987
Your article entitled BROADBAND OVER POWER
LINES (BPL) in the July 15th issue prompts me to ask
for you to publish additional information and resources
about this promising technology. It is documented that
the current state of the technology causes quite a lot of
interference in the radio high frequency spectrum. See
the American Radio Relay League site at www.arrl.org
<http://www.arrl.org/> for related articles. Those
frequencies are used by Amateur Radio Operators
(hams). An initial reaction might be the interference is a
small price to pay to get the net to such a large
population. The counter point is those Amateur Radio
Operators also offer communications and during an
emergency. BPL interference may block a
communication network out of the affected area. More
than likely the BPL interference will block receiving the
communications where it needs to be received since
power will probably be out in the area affected by the
emergency. There are very heated arguments on both
sides of the issue, but I only see the technology
promoted without the problems. I really believe this
technology or something else will provide the
widespread exposure to the net required but we need
to be careful with what we may give up in the process.
Folks need to see both sides in order to make a fair
evaluation. (Richard Klingensmith)
AMATEUR RADIO IS NOT JUST FOR AMATEURS
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ne
wsletter&id=10987
Please tell the complete story on BPL. BPL
apparently significantly interferes with amateur radio
operations. I suggest you visit the American Amateur
Radio League at www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org> for
their position and perhaps the FCC at www.fcc.gov
<http://www.fcc.gov> for testimony by the ARRL on BPL.
Amateur radio is not just a hobby, it also has a
significant support role for civil authorities during
emergency situations such as weather related events.
(Robert R Jake Jakoubek)
PROBLEMS WITH BPL TECHNOLOGY ARE HUGE
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ne
wsletter&id=10987
This broadband over power lines is undergoing a
huge fight because of the interference it causes.
Several cities have tried, but the trials have not been
successful. You may want to check out the American
Radio Relay League: www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org>
The ARRL is the trade association so to speak for the
some 700,000 radio amateurs here in the United
States. It recently celebrated its 90th birthday. On their
home page is a story of one power company that
dropped the trial. You can click here and see all of the
articles that have been published todate:
http://www.arrl.org/htdig/?method=and&words=broadba
nd&x=12&y=2
<http://www.arrl.org/htdig/?method=and&words=br
oadband&x=12&y=2> .For further information
on this issue you can start with: Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY,
[email protected]. Jennifer is the Media Relations
manager for the ARRL. The problems with this
technology are huge. (Earl J. Niemoth, W9GCH)
LINK TO ME ONLY WITH THINE SERVER
SOFTWARE?
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ne
wsletter&id=10984
In regard to "Linked: The AOL, MSN, & Yahoo
Messaging Systems," in your I can already link the AOL,
MSN and Yahoo messaging systems (and more) for
free with Gaim and Trillian. Why would anyone need or
want expensive server software from Microsoft to do
this? (Chris Shaffer)
SAFE PLACE
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ho
norary_subscriber&id=809
Talk about co-incidence. Just 2 days before you sent
out the Honorary Subscriber piece on Jeremy Bentham,
I was at UCL giving a talk, and ran into the glass case
containing your Honorary Subscriber. The placard says
that his real head is in the university safe. (Clifford
Lynch)
BENTHAM AND SPOCK
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ho
norary_subscriber&id=809
I wonder if other readers have noted the similarly
between Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism and the
views espoused by Spock throughout the Star Trek
series and movies and particular in Star Trek II, in
which he said, "the needs of the many outweighs the
needs of the few". (Mike Bennett)
BENTHAM'S HEAD
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ho
norary_subscriber&id=809
As an alumnus of University College, London, I
thought I would add to the Jeremy Bentham story. In
case readers were wondering why there is a wax effigy
of his head, and not the real one, on display it is
because the real (pickled) head is locked away in the
university's vaults. This is due to the head being
repeatedly stolen as a trophy by students of rival
London universities! (Mark Bennison, UK)
ENLIGHTENED HUMORIST
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ho
norary_subscriber&id=809
Imagine my surprise, when as a new postdoctoral
fellow at University College, London in 1982, I found the
cupboard in the main hallway -- one that I had been
passing without notice -- now open for the new fall term
to show the stuffed Jeremy Bentham, in full 19th century
regalia. I was told that he wrote in his will that he was
to attend all board meetings (hence the cupboard was
on wheels). However, a certain stench led to the
discovery that his head was rotting, leading to
replacement with a wax effigy. From that point on, the
real head, in a hermetically sealed container, is now
taken to the board meeting. I always dwelled in
wonderment at this dying wish of an otherwise totally
enlightened man. (Phyllis Gardner)
HEADS-UP ON VIDEOCONFERENCING
TECHNIQUES
An update on Jeremy. One of my students reported
in 2000 that the economists who specialize in collective
choice had Bentham's mummy attend their annual
meeting at the University of Texas via video
conferencing. I think he'd have been so pleased. (Glynn
Woods)
Pack up your Troubles (1915)
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ho
norary_subscriber&id=809
Words by George Asaf (pseudonym of George Henry
Powell), Music by Felix Powell. Refrain:
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and
smile! Smile! Smile!
While you've a Lucifer to light your fag
Smile boys -- that's the style!
What's the use of worrying - it never was
worthwhile - So!
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and
smile! Smile! Smile!
I knew this song while in grade school in the 1940's. It
actually dates from World War I. A Lucifer is an old-style
phosphorus match (though currently it seems to
translate as any match) and a fag is a cigarette. I tried a
Google search in hopes of sending you the tune, which
I still remember well. You can find the entire lyrics and
two MP3 recordings of the song at
http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/packupyourtroubles
htm It turns out that the song which I remember so
well is only the refrain of the larger piece.
The entire site http://www.firstworldwar.com is a
treasure trove of WWI information, including a large
number of MP3's of original recordings of songs of that
era. I've just spent 1/2 hour listening to a number of very
familiar old songs. One of my favorites is the Caruso
recording of "Over There."
(Paul Kramer, Ph.D.)
WHAT'S THE "USE" OF WORRYING ABOUT
UTILITARIANISM?
Re:
http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=ho
norary_subscriber&id=809
Thanks for the good laugh you gave me by coupling
the old song "What's the use of worrying?" with your
profile of Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism." The song is
correct: worrying has no utility, except as a line in a
song. (Rick Foley)
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