NewsScan Daily, 1 September 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 1 September 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Linux Making Major Inroads in Business
        Logitech's Built a Better Mouse
        Retailers Test Biometric Checkout
        Who's Really Behind That Caller Id Number?
        Australian Broadband Two Years Behind

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Banjo Paterson

LINUX MAKING MAJOR INROADS IN BUSINESS
      A new Yankee Group survey shows that 36% of businesses plan to have 
at least a few Linux PCs within the next two years and 5% expect to switch 
over completely. Twenty-one percent propose adding Linux servers to their 
predominantly Windows environment and 11% plan to move to a Linux-only 
server setup. "All of the firms would like to reduce the amount of upfront 
capital expenditure dollars they spend on expensive Windows and Unix 
software licenses," according to the report. "However, they also recognize 
that in certain instances, a wholesale or significant switch to Linux might 
reduce upfront costs but result in higher overall costs." One potential 
deterrent is the scarcity of Linux personnel, says the report: "The 
establishments that have or are seriously considering Linux bemoaned the 
present dearth and high cost of skilled Linux administrators, even as they 
praised the open-source operating system's ease of use." (San Francisco 
Chronicle 31 Aug 2004)
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/31/BUGL88H0161.DTL&type=tech>

LOGITECH'S BUILT A BETTER MOUSE
      Logitech International is taking the wraps off its Logitech MX1000, 
the first mouse to use a sensor based on a laser. The company says its new 
device works on more surfaces and is 20 times more sensitive than LED-based 
optical mice. "It's the pinnacle of performance. This product will make 
optical mice obsolete," says Logitech global product marketing manager 
Justin Boitano. Both laser and optical mice follow the user's hand movement 
by taking thousands of photographs per second, but experts say the steady, 
narrow laser takes a more microscopic measurement than the LED light 
source. Logitech notes that the cordless laser mouse is safe for the eyes 
and includes a scroll wheel that tilts side-to-side for skimming through 
spreadsheets or Web pages. It's priced at $80 and comes with a lithium-ion 
battery that recharges when it's docked in its cradle. (AP 1 Sep 2004)
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040901/D84QQEOO0.html>

RETAILERS TEST BIOMETRIC CHECKOUT
      Retailers, including Blockbuster, Kroger and PigglyWiggly 
supermarkets, are testing a finger-identification system that enables 
customers to pay for their goods just by placing their finger on a scanner 
and typing in a seven- to 10-digit code. "It's doing surprisingly well," 
says a PigglyWiggly spokeswoman. "The [customers] were a bit hesitant at 
first, but more and more of them have been able to grasp the concept each 
week." The supermarket chain plans to make the technology available in all 
120 stores in the next few years. As finger-identification technology 
becomes increasingly common, companies are hastening to assure customers 
that they don't plan to share the information with others. Also, they point 
out that the system differs from government fingerprinting systems because 
finger ID records only unique data points -- instead of an entire print. 
(Wall Street Journal 1 Sep 2004)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109399856599206468,00.html> (sub req'd)

WHO'S REALLY BEHIND THAT CALLER ID NUMBER?
      This week a company called Star38 is launching a product that will 
enable callers to choose what appears on the call recipient's caller ID 
screen. It could be a different phone number, or even a phrase, says Star38 
founder Jason Jepson. The technology behind the service has been around for 
several years, discovered by hackers, but Jepson says his goal is to 
provide a legitimate service to clients such as licensed private 
investigators and collection agencies. "Unfortunately, what's happened is 
some hackers have got to it first and gave it a bad name. If they step back 
and see the forest through the trees, they'd realize what they are doing is 
hard and illegal. What we are doing is neither," says Jepson. The company 
is exploring other services as well, and Jepson says he's talked with 
Musicphone, a service that allows people to send songs along with 
personalized messages, to any kind of phone. (CNet News.com 30 Aug 2004)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1039-5330682.html>

AUSTRALIAN BROADBAND TWO YEARS BEHIND
      Australia is two years behind comparable developed countries in 
broadband services despite an accelerated uptake that doubled subscribers 
in the past year. The advent of less expensive entry-level products drove 
demand, says the annual broadband survey of consulting giant AT Kearney. 
However, the uptake of broadband services still lags countries such as the 
U.S., Canada and Sweden by a wide margin, it says. The report says about 
10% of Australian households and 30% of small to medium enterprises have 
broadband access. (The Australian 31 Aug 2004) rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.
<http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10617400%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda, You'll come a waltzing matilda 
with me, And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong, You'll come a 
waltzing matilda with me." (Banjo Paterson) See and hear (and imagine): 
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/matilda.htm

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: BANJO PATERSON
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the Australian icon Andrew Barton 
"Banjo" Paterson (1864-1941), who composed the internationally famous 
ballad, "Waltzing Matilda," which by popular acclaim became Australia's 
informal anthem.
      Paterson first achieved popular success as a writer in 1895 when he 
published "The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses," which sold out its 
first edition within a week and went through four editions in six months, 
making Paterson second only to Rudyard Kipling in popularity among living 
poets writing in English.
      Paterson became the premier folk poet of Australia, having produced a 
body of work that included seven volumes of poetry and prose, a children's 
book about animals, in addition to his journalistic writings. His poetry 
continues to sell well today and the recent popular film, "The Man from 
Snowy River," has rekindled interest in his many engaging ballads about 
Australia and its people.
      Banjo Paterson was born in Narrambla, near Orange, New South Wales, 
Australia. He was called Barty by his family, but acquired the nickname 
Banjo (the name of his favorite horse) because he used that pseudonym to 
conceal his identity as a solicitor when he published his early verse in 
Sydney's newspapers.
      Paterson's parents were graziers in the Yass district of the 
Australian bush. He received his early education at home and at the Sydney 
Grammar School. When he turned 16, he was apprenticed as a clerk to a 
Sydney legal firm for training as a solicitor. Admitted to the bar in 1886, 
he formed the legal partnership, Street and Paterson. While working as a 
solicitor, Paterson also made time to write verse, and in 1895 with the 
publication of "The Man from Snowy River" his unexpected literary celebrity 
caused him to lose interest in continuing his legal career.
      In 1899 Paterson accepted an assignment as a special war 
correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald to cover the Boer War in South 
Africa, later traveling on assignment to China and the Philippines. Before 
returning to Sydney in 1902, Paterson also visited London at the invitation 
of Rudyard Kipling. Back in Australia, he finally abandoned the law and 
took an editorial job with the Sydney Evening News, remaining in newspaper 
work until 1908 when he left to take up ranching.
      In 1903 he traveled to Tenterfield, New South Wales, where he met and 
later married Alice Walker. They had two children, Grace born in 1904 and 
Hugh in 1906. When World War I broke out, Paterson returned to newspaper 
work, traveling to Europe for the Sydney Morning Herald. Frustrated at not 
being able to reach the front, he volunteered to drive an ambulance for the 
Australian Voluntary Hospital in France. Later, returning to Australia he 
was commissioned a major in the Australian army's remount division to 
procure horses. After the war he returned to journalism and the writing of 
verse and prose. He retired from newspaper work in 1930, but continued his 
other writing until he died just short of his 77th birthday.

[See 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000062XG0/newsscancom/ref=nosim> 
for the DVD version of "The Man From Snowy River" -- or look for it in the 
multimedia section of your favorite library. Note: We donate all revenue 
from our book and media recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

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