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

NewsScan Daily, 1 October 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"  
       European Union Calls Microsoft "Paternalistic"
       End of Bad Dream: PeopleSoft Board Fires Top Exec
       Matsushita's Smart Card
       Microsoft Loses Patent Battle
       Child Internet Porn Ring Smashed

FEATURES           
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Claude Bernard

EUROPEAN UNION CALLS MICROSOFT "PATERNALISTIC"
     The European Union is calling Microsoft "paternalistic" for saying that
small companies and their customers would suffer most if Microsoft is forced
to remove its digital media software from the Windows operating system. The
charged was made during hearings at the European Court of First Instance, in
which Microsoft is trying to get the EU's antitrust ruling against it
suspended pending appeal. Microsoft attorney Jean-Francois Bellis says:
"Fragmentation of the Windows platform is bad for third-party developers.
There is a public interest in preserving the unity of the Windows platform."
(AP/Washington Post 1 Oct 2004)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64573-2004Oct1.html

END OF BAD DREAM: PEOPLESOFT BOARD FIRES TOP EXEC
     In the middle of a fierce fight in resistance to a takeover bid by
Oracle, PeopleSoft has fired chief executive officer Craig Conway because of
a "loss of confidence in Mr. Conway's ability to continue to lead the
Company." Referring to the 15-month battle against Oracle, Conway said at
PeopleSoft's annual customer convention last month: "Have you ever had a bad
dream that just didn't end?" Conway had been CEO since September 1999. He is
being replaced now by PeopleSoft founder Dave Duffield. (CNET/New York Times
1 Oct 2004) 
<http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1012_3-5391840.html?oref=login>

MATSUSHITA'S SMART CARDS
     Japanese electronics company Matsushita Electric Industrial is adding
smart-card capabilities to its memory cards, in which an integrated-circuit
(IC) chip inside the card connects wirelessly with a special reader-machine
to enable cashless payments, open locks, and read personal IDs. In a demo of
the card's capabilities, Matsushita showed how a soccer-game ticket could be
downloaded to a memory card on a personal computer, transferred to a cell
phone, and then used at the stadium gate to get in instantly. (AP/San Jose
Mercury News 1 Oct 2004)
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9809932.htm>

MICROSOFT LOSES PATENT BATTLE
     In a victory for "open source" advocates, the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office has rejected a Microsoft application for a patent on a system called
File Allocation Table (FAT), which lets people create and find files on a
computer using easy-to-remember names. The reason for the rejection is that
the technology in question is already widely used throughout the industry.
Independent patent expert Greg Aharonian comments: "It's like getting a
patent on cheesecake." Microsoft plans to file an appeal. (AP/USA Today 1
Oct 2004) 
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-10-01-fat-patent-rejected
_x.htm>

CHILD INTERNET PORN RING SMASHED
     Australian police and U.S. FBI agents have smashed a global Internet
child pornography ring, with hundreds of search warrants issued on
properties throughout Australia. Though it's often difficult to catch
Internet child porn users, some of the perpetrators used their own credit
cards to gain access to illegal images. (The Australian 30 Sep 2004) Rec'd
from John Lamp
<http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/29/1096401645228.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
     "Mediocre men often have the most acquired knowledge." (Claude Bernard)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: CLAUDE BERNARD
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the French physiologist Claude Bernard
(1813-1878), who is considered the founder of experimental physiology and
experimental pharmacology.
     Bernard believed that the body has mechanisms by which it seeks to
maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in the external
environment. In 1851, Bernard discovered that the nervous system, in
response to internal cold, sends messages to the blood vessels to constrict
in order to conserve body heat. Bernard found that most absorption and some
digestion take place in the small intestine, that secretions of the pancreas
play a role in fat digestion, and that the liver has an important glycogenic
function. He also showed how the drug curare works in the body to produce
its effect. He is the author of the science classic, Introduction to the
Study of Experimental Medicine published in 1865.
     Bernard was the son of poor vineyard workers and he never lost his
fondness for country life, returning home every fall to participate in the
grape harvest in the Beaujolais vineyards. His early schooling took place in
church schools, and at 19 he apprenticed himself to an apothecary, expecting
to spend his spare time writing for the stage. When a friendly critic of his
early plays suggested he abandon writing for another professional career, he
decided to study medicine. He struggled through medical school, just barely
meeting the requirements for a medical degree in 1843. Instead of becoming a
practicing physician, he went to work as assistant to the famous
physiologist Dr. Francois Magendie from whom he learned the rudiments of
experimental medicine. Bernard proved himself to be an apt pupil, skilled in
the vivisection of small animals and carrying out systematic experimental
investigations of physiological processes, beginning with the study of
digestion.
     Bernard discovered that the liver converts sugar to glycogen, the
animal starch substance used to maintain blood sugar levels. He also found
that juices of the pancreas help digest and absorb fats. He discovered how
the nervous system controls blood circulation, and he carried out research
on how drugs and poisons affect the body. His approach to research was
essentially modern; he combined experimental skill with theory and had a
valuable talent for noting experimental results that were not in accord with
existing ideas, which led to fruitful new concepts. Perhaps his greatest
contribution to physiology was the idea that life is dependent on a constant
internal environment (homeostasis), noting that cells function best within a
narrow range of osmotic pressure and temperature and bathed in a fairly
constant concentration of chemical constituents such as sugars and metallic
ions. Later in his career, Bernard focused on methods of research, becoming
something of a philosopher of medical science, promoting the critical
importance of medical research based on experimental investigations.
     By the time of his death in 1870 from kidney disease, Bernard had risen
to such eminence that the French government gave him a state sponsored
public funeral, the first ever scientist accorded this honor.

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