NewsScan Daily, 29 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 29 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"  
       Outsourcing Is a Fact of Life for Microsoft
       Convention Bloggers Learning the Ropes
       Blogging for Dollars
       The Wiki Way to Communicate
       Russian Internet Extortions Didn't Think of Selves as Criminals

FEATURES           
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Eva Le Gallienne

OUTSOURCING IS A FACT OF LIFE FOR MICROSOFT
     The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers says it possesses
Microsoft documents showing that dozens of Microsoft projects are now being
handled by companies in India. Microsoft's response: "These accusations do
not reflect an understanding of the global nature of our business. It's part
of our business model to work with thousands of companies around the world."
Although the company operates a software development center in Hyderabad,
India, and employs 1,000 people throughout that country, Microsoft's core
development work is being done solely by Microsoft employees. But Rob Helm
of Directions on Microsoft explains that outsourcing by Microsoft is "going
to happen more and more just because Microsoft products are more mature and
so they require less intense design work. So it becomes feasible to do it
thousands of miles away." (San Jose Mercury News 29 Jul 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9269796.htm

CONVENTION BLOGGERS LEARNING THE ROPES
     Associated Press reporter Nick Desjanun, who covers the Internet,
thinks that the three dozen bloggers credentialed at the Democratic National
Convention are not quite ready for prime time. The Boston bloggers are still
trying to figure out who they are and what they're doing: "Reading the early
postings, I found more about bloggers than about the delegates, speakers or
protesters. One posted a photo of the media pass, while several showed their
'Bloggers Boulevard' workspace. A few discussed the identity of a fellow
blogger who had been anonymous until then." Desjanun quotes blogging pioneer
Dave Winer as saying defensively: "It's just the second day, and the first
convention. Of course the first comments are going to be 'It works!'"
Desjanun's column ends with the observation that "as a member of the
traditional media, I don't believe I need to look for a new job yet."
(AP/USA Today 29 Jul 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techreviews/products/2004-07-29-dnc-blogs_x.htm

BLOGGING FOR DOLLARS
      Technology companies including Microsoft and IBM have been reviewing
the profit potential of the blogs and seeing how they could be used to
improve corporate communications with employees, partners and customers.
James Spohrer, director of IBM's Almaden Research Center, says that blogging
in corporations is all about "decreasing social space between employees, and
increasing the amount of knowledge shared between people." As an example, he
suggested that an employee blog might contain elements of a resume, some of
the individual's educational background and work experience, along with
information on product development strategies. Charlene Li of Forrester
Research says, "Blogs are a way to put a human face on the company."
(Reuters/USA Today 28 Jul 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2004-07-28-blog-biz_x.htm

THE WIKI WAY TO COMMUNICATE
     A wiki (the Hawaiian word for 'quick') is a type of Web site that many
people can revise, update and append with new information. Whereas blogs are
essentially designed for personal expression, wikis are designed for
collaboration. The concept was pioneered in the mid-1990s by programmer Ward
Cunningham, who called it the WikiWikiWeb and intended it to serve as a
platform for freewheeling collaboration in software and engineering
projects. Ross Mayfield of the Silicon Valley startup called Socialtext
says: "People have tried very hard to take fragmented knowledge within
corporations and put it somewhere that it can be used, but it's been an
uphill effort. Our focus is literally to get everyone on the same page." And
New York University communications professor Clay Shirky explains that
"people are realizing that perhaps the most human value actually occurs in
smaller groups." (Wall Street Journal 29 Jul 2004)
http://online.wsj.com (sub. req'd)

RUSSIAN EXTORTIONISTS: EACH DID HIS BIT OF WORK
     Police authorities in Russia have broken up a hacker ring that extorted
money from British bookmakers by flooding online betting sites with false
requests for information in "denial-of-service" attacks and then sending
e-mail demanding money for stopping the attacks. Investigators said that
bookmaker companies were the most convenient prey because the attacks could
be timed to major sport events. The ring consisted of well-educated people
in their early 20s who had found each other on the Internet and agreed to
work together in the extortion. A Russian police official said: "There was
no chief organizer in plain terms, each of them did his bit of work. And
they didn't consider themselves criminals." (AP 29 Jul 2004)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040728/D843R7EG1.html

*****

FLASH CARD
     "The information age offers something for anybody: 'Survivor' for
simpletons, 'The Sopranos' for sophisticates. The problem is that it offers
nothing for everybody." (Terry Teachout)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: EVA LE GALLIENNE
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the actress, director, and producer Eva
Le Gallienne (1899-1991), who was an outstanding figure of the 20th-century
American stage. 
     Le Gallienne's first big success came in 1920 on the stage of New
York's Booth Theatre. Today she is probably best remembered for her work
with The Civic Repertory Theatre that began in October 1926 at New York
City's 14th Street Theatre and continued until the Great Depression forced
the project to close. She directed 32 of the Civic's productions and
frequently played the leading  roles.
     Le Gallienne was born in London, the daughter of the poet Richard Le
Gallienne. She was brought up there and in Paris, where she was educated at
the Collège Sévigné until World War I when she had to return to London to
finish her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, then known as
Tree's Academy. She made her stage debut at  London's Prince of Wales
Theatre in May 1915, but despite good notices, she  had to wait a number of
years before she could gain any but small parts in plays, either in Britain
or the United States.
     After her long  run with the Civic Repertory Theatre, she appeared in
numerous plays on  Broadway and in summer stock until 1946. In November 1946
she again experimented with repertory theater, starting the  American
Repertory Theatre, which disappointingly lasted for only one season. But Le
Gallienne continued to be a force in the American  theater. She continued to
act, produce, and direct well into her later years.
     In 1953 she added a second volume of memoirs, "With a Quiet Heart," to
her 1934 memoir, "At 33." She also wrote a children's book and a biography
of the actress Eleonora Duse, and she translated a number of Ibsen's plays
(for which she wrote prefaces from an actor's point of view). From time to
time she appeared in television dramas, winning an Emmy in 1978 for Best
Supporting Actress in "The Royal Family." In 1980 she played a supporting
role in the film "Resurrection." Her last stage appearance was as the White
Queen in the 1982  Broadway production of "Alice in Wonderland," which she
also directed and co-wrote.
     Among her many honors and awards was a special Tony award in 1964 for
distinguished contributions to the theatre, and the Medal of Arts in 1986
for her lifetime achievement as an actress. She died in 1991 at her home in
Weston, Connecticut.

See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0809318202/newsscancom/ref=nos
im for a biography of Le Gallienne by Robert A. Schanke -- 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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