NewsScan Daily, 13 September 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 13 September 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"  
       E-Voting in Nevada
       Not Good News for Traditional Telecoms
       S. Korea to Provide Iran With Broadband Lines
       New Rules for Internet Résumés
       Sears Expansion in Cyberspace

FEATURES           
       Flash Card
       Worth Thinking About: Skull & Bones

E-VOTING IN NEVADA
     Nevada $9.3 million voting system worked well in last week's primary.
California official Marc Carrel, who observed the election, says, "They were
incredibly organized. I think California could pull off a similar election
if we had adequate training and education programs for poll workers and
voters." Printers attached to the systems offer assurances that elections
can be fully audited, and a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein says, "The
Nevada election demonstrates that you can have efficient electronic voting
machines yet at the same time have a paper trail so voters can be assured
they've voted accurately and their vote is being recorded accurately." But
Georgia elections director Kathy Rogers warns that the printers could have
unintended consequences, allowing unethical poll workers to determine how
individuals voted: "We seem to have traded a secret ballot for this piece of
paper." (AP/USA Today 13 Sep 2004)
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9647591.htm>

NOT GOOD NEWS FOR TRADITIONAL TELECOMS
     One of the star attractions at this year's DEMOMobile trade show in San
Diego was a demonstration of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) technology
by Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies. Skype software allows Pocket
PC-based handheld computers with Wi-Fi access to make a free Internet voice
call to other Skype users. (A Palm OS version is promised for next month.)
The handheld software also supports the paid SkypeOut service (2 cents per
minute for U.S. calls) for connecting with traditional phones worldwide.
(AP/Washington Post 12 Sep 2004)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16782-2004Sep12.html>

S. KOREA TO PROVIDE IRAN WITH BROADBAND LINES
     Iran and South Korea have signed a $40 million deal for the provision
of 100,000 broadband Internet lines to Iran. The accord involves Korea
Telecom and the Iranian companies Asia-Tak and Arsh. (The Age 10 Sep 2004)
Rec'd from J. Lamp
<http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/10/1094530802612.html>

NEW RULES FOR INTERNET Résumés
     Marcel Legrand of the career-management company Monster.com has the
following advice for job-seekers using the Internet to find employment:
"Number one, people should consider creating a skill-based and quantitative
résumé. The wrong way is to say you were a sales manager in charge of 10
people in a company's eastern region. The more proper, interesting way is to
say you were a sales manager who led 10 individuals resulting in a 15%
quarter-over-quarter growth and 20% increased annualized sales." Résumés
should also be written with key words in mind, because many large companies
have software that searches through the scores of résumés they receive in
order to find likely candidates. Legrand says, "If I do a lot of project
work, it might not say on my résumé that I am team-oriented. I want to put
that in." (Christian Science Monitor/USA Today 13 Sep 2004)
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-09-13-resume-rules_
x.htm>

SEARS EXPANSION IN CYBERSPACE
     Making more use of the expertise gained by its acquisition two years
ago of Lands' End, Sears.com is planning an expansion of its Internet-based
sales efforts, and Sears executive Bill Bass vows: "We are going to leapfrog
further than anybody else right now online. We're starting where Lands' End
is and pushing it further." Although Lands' End pioneered such features as
the "virtual model" (allowing customers to enter body measurements to get an
idea of how the outfit will look), Sears will be adding a zooming technology
that focuses on fabric and texture of the merchandise and allow customers to
switch colors for all product illustrations, not just on the virtual model.
And a Sears "virtual decorator" tool will allow customers to click on such
choices as bedding, floor finishes and paint to create a bedroom in
cyberspace. (AP 13 Sep 2004)
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040913/D852P3000.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
     "A plot, if there is to be one, must be a secret. A secret that, if we
only knew it, would dispel our frustration, lead us to salvation; or else
the knowing of it in itself would be salvation. Does such a luminous secret
exist? Yes, provided it is never known. Known, it will only disappoint us."
(Umberto Eco)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: SKULL AND BONES
     One sidelight on the current presidential race is that both President
Bush and Senator Kerry were Yale undergraduate and members of the secret
college fraternity Skull & Bones, which has long been part of America's
establishment. Authors Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas have this to say
about an earlier period of Skull & Bones:
     "Membership in a senior society was the capstone of a successful Yale
career. The oldest and greatest, indeed the most legendary of all college
clubs, was Skull and Bones. To be tapped by Bones in that era was akin to
canonization and its prestige was enhanced by its secrecy. Members --
fifteen seniors, typically two or three of the major Sports captains, the
editor of the Lit, the chairman of the News, and other such big men -- did
not even mention the society's name in public. When nonmembers dared to
breathe the words, self-serious Bonesmen would leave the room. Underclassmen
were afraid to be caught even looking at Bones's 'tomb,' the windowless
Egyptian-style mausoleum on High Street guarded by a massive oak door with
over-sized padlocks.
     "Skull and Bones had a wealth of hocus-pocus ritual, but it was hardly
a frivolous fraternity; no liquor was consumed inside the building, and the
clocks were set five minutes fast to symbolize that Bonesmen started life a
leg up. In the inner sanctum, known as '322,' members would gather two
nights a week to explore the character and being of their fellow Bonesmen.
With the room dimly lit, a member would sit and talk about himself -- his
fears, his sexual experiences, his ambitions, his inner self. Other members
would press him closely, forcing seIf-criticism and revelation. (One reason
secret societies endured at Yale through the turbulent 1960s was because
they were, as one undergraduate of the era put it, 'therapy-groups with
million- dollar buildings.') The purpose was to develop members for later
life, to strip them down and make them whole again with the inner strength
necessary to lead. It was assumed that Bonesmen would be leaders, and the
assumption was not unfounded: Henry Stimson, William Howard Taft, Henry
Luce, Justice Potter Stewart, William and McGeorge Bundy were among the many
prominent citizens who as undergraduates revealed themselves in the
sanctum."
                            ***
     [How about this for a movie script: Bush and Kerry are working together
on a secret plot to take over the world -- or destroy it -- or sell it.
Whatever. Details aren't important in a thriller. We'll cast Ron Silver as
Bush and maybe Tim Robbins or Chevy Chase as Kerry. Arnold and Teddy can
play themselves. See you at the Oscars, baby!!!]
                            ***
See 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671504657/newsscancom/ref=no
sim> for "The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made," by Walter
Isaacson and EvanThomas -- or look for it in your favorite library. Note: We
donate all revenue from our book and media recommendations to adult literacy
programs. 

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