NewsScan Daily, 15 October 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 15 October 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        FCC Okays Plan to Boost Fiber Network Growth…
        … And Clears the Way for Utilities to Offer Internet Access
        Amazon Plans to Challenge Netflix on DVD Rentals
        Wiki Wars
        Sending E-Mail Via Mindpower

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: W. Somerset Maugham

FCC OKAYS PLAN TO BOOST FIBER NETWORK GROWTH…
      The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved new rules 
that allow regional phone companies to install fiber optic networks to 
within 500 feet of a customer's home without being forced to share those 
networks with competitors. Currently, the telcos do not have to lease 
networks that provide fiber to the home, and the rule change extends this 
exemption to the 500-foot mark. The change had been sought by BellSouth so 
that it could install fiber networks in neighborhoods and reap the benefits 
of its investment without having to share those lines. SBC said the new 
rule would accelerate its plan to extend fiber networks, shortening its 
timeframe for broadband deployment from five years to just two or three. 
(AP 14 Oct 2004)
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20041015/D85NHJVO0.html>

.. AND CLEARS THE WAY FOR UTILITIES TO OFFER INTERNET ACCESS
      The FCC also ruled that utility companies may offer broadband over 
power lines (BPL) service, which uses a special modem that plugs into 
electrical outlets to provide high-speed Internet access. BPL technology 
thus far has been offered at 1 to 3 megabits per second, which is 
comparable to broadband services offered through cable and DSL, but less 
than the 5 megabits per second achievable through the residential fiber 
optic lines now being deployed by the Bell companies. One obstacle that has 
stymied BPL rollout is the electromagnetic interference it can cause that 
sometimes affects various types of radio signals, but the commission ruled 
that it would accept a small amount of interference in exchange for a more 
competitive broadband market. The agency says it will monitor the 
interference caused by BPL and will restrict service in areas where it 
might jeopardize public safety, like around airports and Coast Guard 
stations. (New York Times 15 Oct 2004)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/15/technology/15power.html>

AMAZON PLANS TO CHALLENGE NETFLIX ON DVD RENTALS
      Rumors are rife that Amazon is planning to enter the DVD rental 
business, taking on the likes of Netflix, which rents DVDs through the 
Internet and delivers them via mail, as well as on-site rental businesses 
like Blockbuster and Wal-Mart. "We started hearing rumors about two weeks 
ago, and we were able to confirm them," says Netflix founder and CEO Reed 
Hastings. "We think we will compete successfully with them because we have 
great scale, we ship 3 million DVDs a week, and we have five years of 
experience in this market." Netflix plans to introduce a movie download 
service in 2005 in partnership with TiVo. (CNet News.com 14 Oct 2004)
<http://news.com.com/Netflix+sees+Amazon+entering+DVD+rentals/2100-1026_3-5410639.html>

WIKI WARS
      Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia Web site that allows community 
members to edit entries, has turned into the latest battleground between 
political parties. Disputes over content related to President Bush and 
Senator Kerry have been growing since August, prompting site administrators 
to warn users that election-related entries may be the focus of "contention 
and debate -- possibly diminishing their neutrality." Indeed, the continual 
tweaking of content on the Bush and Kerry entries has forced administrators 
to periodically "freeze" the pages, locking out would-be tweakers. Even so, 
Bush's entry has been edited 3,953 times and Kerry's has been modified 
3,230 times. In comparison, the entry on Jesus has been edited only 1,855 
times since the site's inception in 2001. Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales 
says next year he will begin using editors to review content for accuracy 
and will allow users to rate the entries for quality. "It's complex because 
it's a social community and feelings can be hurt," says Wales. (Red Herring 
14 Oct 2004)
<http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=10909&hed=Wiki+wars>

SENDING E-MAIL VIA MINDPOWER
      Cyberkinetics, based in Massachusetts, has developed a device called 
BrainGate that in tests has enabled a quadriplegic patient to control a 
computer or television using his mind, even while doing other things, like 
talking, at the same time. A number of research efforts have sought to tap 
into the brainpower of paralyzed people, but the BrainGate device is judged 
to be the most sophisticated effort thus far. The device contains 100 
electrodes that are implanted into the motor cortex, enabling it to 
"theoretically tap into 100 neurons," says an investigator on the research 
team. However, Oxford University engineer Stephen Roberts says it's too 
soon yet to declare victory: "We have to make something that works robustly 
and without a lot of patient training. Most of these devices work well on a 
small subset of patients, but there's a long way to go before getting them 
to work for the general population." (Nature 13 Oct 2004)
<http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041011/full/041011-9.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
      "I decline utterly to be impartial between the fire brigade and the 
fire." (Winston Churchill)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the British fiction and drama writer 
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), whose writing was popular with readers but 
not always praised by critics. Maugham's early literary life was spent 
mostly as a playwright for the London stage, for which he wrote a steady 
stream of sophisticated comedies, beginning with "Lady Frederick" in 1907, 
and later including the popular comedies, "The Circle" and "The Constant 
Wife." Well received in their time, his plays are dated today, and 
Maugham's lasting reputation must rest on his novels and short stories. His 
first novel, the semi-autobiographical "Of Human Bondage," was published in 
1914 and established him as a serious writer. Still considered his finest 
work, the novel tells the story of a medical student's bondage to his 
lameness and his love for an unappreciative woman. "Cakes and Ale," 
published in 1930, is a comic satire about an English author and is 
generally thought to be Maugham's second best novel. His other novels 
include "The Moon and Sixpence" (1919) based on the life of the painter 
Paul Gauguin, and "The Razor's Edge" (1944), about a young American's 
mystical quest for fulfillment.
      Over the years Maugham published some 100 short stories for popular 
magazines, and these stories were collected and published posthumously in 
four volumes in 1977 and 1978. Two other noteworthy publications were his 
urbane memoir, "The Summing Up" (1938), and "A Writer's Notebook" (1949), 
in which he shared his direct, personal observations on the writing profession.
      Maugham was born in Paris, where his father was a British embassy 
official. Orphaned at the age of 10; he was brought up by an uncle and 
educated at King's School, Canterbury. After a year at Heidelberg, he 
entered St. Thomas' medical school, London, and qualified as a surgeon in 
1897. That same year, drawing upon his medical service in London's slums, 
he brought out a first novel that enjoyed sales that were modest, but 
sufficient to make him abandon medicine for writing.
      A medical career had been more his family's ambition than his own, 
and Maugham gladly traded his scalpel for a pen. He soon became a success 
in writing plays, so much so that in the 1908 London play season four of 
his comedies ran concurrently. Playwriting brought him financial security 
and, in 1928, he was able to buy the villa on Cape Ferrat in the south of 
France, which became his permanent home.
      Maugham's worth as a novelist and short story writer was probably 
best expressed when he said of himself that he was "in the very first row 
of the second raters."

[Visit to RLG's RedLightGreen to find a library copy a biography of Maugham 
called "A Life" by Jeffrey Meyers: 
<http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACT 
ION=EDITION&WORKID=40750356> -- or you might want to visit Amazon to find a 
copy to buy: <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375414754/>. Note: We 
donate all revenue from our recommendations to adult literacy programs.]

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