NewsScan Daily, 17 December 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 17 December 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        'Tis the Season to Be Shopping…
        …And Shopping!
        The Tivo-Ing of XM Radio
        California Dreamin' of Greener Gadgets
        State Troopers Issuing Electronic Tickets

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Dixy Lee Ray
        Mailbag: The World As We Find It (When We're Looking at a Statue)

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE SHOPPING…
      Security software firm Symantec is buying storage specialist Veritas 
Software in a deal worth about $13.5 billion. The combined powerhouse is 
expected to bring in about $5 billion a year and marks the second major 
consolidation in the enterprise software market this week, following 
Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft for about $10 billion. Analysts are 
predicting further consolidation as companies attempt to increase their 
range of products to provide one-stop solutions for tight IT budgets. "This 
acquisition… is about remaining competitive in a consolidating market 
filled with giants like Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun," says a 
Forrester Research report issued this week. (CNet News.com 16 Dec 2004)
<http://news.com.com/Symantec+to+buy+Veritas+for+13.5+billion/2100-7350_3-5493289.html>

.. AND SHOPPING!
      EBay is snapping up Rent.com, a closely held apartment-rental Web 
site, for roughly $415 million in a move that further diversifies the 
online auctioneer from a purveyor of goods into a service provider. 
Rent.com matches landlords with tenants online, charging property owners a 
$375 fee for each successful transaction. This past year eBay purchased two 
international classified Web sites and took a minority stake in Craigslist, 
a U.S.-based classified Web site. "This was also a pretty complementary 
business model for us," says eBay North America president Bill Cobb of the 
Rent.com acquisition. "Their revenues come from a success fee which is 
like" eBay's sales commissions. (Wall Street Journal 17 Dec 2004)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110324713823002980,00.html> (sub req'd)

THE TIVO-ING OF XM RADIO
      TimeTrax Technologies, based in suburban Washington, DC, offers XM 
Radio subscribers a technology that allows them to actually make use of all 
those 100 channels. Its TimeTrax Connect system includes hardware that 
enables an owner of a XM Direct receiver to save the satellite broadcasts 
as MP3 or WAV files for later playback. For those who've missed the 
TimeTrax saga, the company came out with a similar product last summer that 
worked in conjunction with XM's PCR device. Founder Scott MacLean posted 
the software on an XM Forum, which raised the hackles of XM's lawyers, who 
pointed out that that the XM customer service agreement prohibited 
subscribers from making unauthorized recordings of its content. Shortly 
afterward, XM pulled its PCR device off the shelves, saying it was being 
replaced by its Web radio service, which doesn't require any other hardware 
than a PC. This latest iteration of TimeTrax includes a small adapter for 
the XM Direct, a universal tuner, which enables it to connect to a PC. The 
TimeTrax software then enables the computer to control the tuner and 
capture the broadcast. Although the two companies appear to have worked out 
some sort of rapprochement, XM VP for corporate affairs Chance Patterson 
says his firm has no plans for a business arrangement with TimeTrax. That's 
fine with MacLean, who adds, "We're doing quite well without XM endorsing 
us." (New York Times 16 Dec 2004)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/16/technology/circuits/16reco.html>

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' OF GREENER GADGETS
      The California Energy Commission Wednesday unanimously approved 
standards to be phased in beginning in 2006 that would require household 
appliances sold in the state, including televisions, VCRs, DVD players and 
cell phone chargers, to run on one to three watts. Even when idle, such 
appliances now typically gobble up two to 10 watts. Commissioners estimate 
that compliance with the new guidelines will save commercial and 
residential power customers more than $3 billion over 15 years. (Los 
Angeles Times 17 Dec 2004)
<http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-energy17dec17,1,5732717.story?coll=la-headlines-technology>

STATE TROOPERS ISSUING ELECTRONIC TICKETS
      Well, it certainly cuts down on paperwork -- 50 Alabama state trooper 
vehicles are already equipped with laptops, scanners and printers that 
enable them to issue traffic tickets electronically and zap them directly 
to county courthouses rather than deliver them in person. Within two years, 
the state hopes to have the equipment in all 325 patrol cars, says state 
Public Safety Director Mike Coppage. Once e-citations are in use statewide, 
the next goal is to allow state troopers file accident investigation 
reports electronically and to enable them to access criminal records from 
their vehicles. (AP 16 Dec 2004)
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20041217/D8713ISO0.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
      " A nuclear power plant is infinitely safer than eating, because 300 
people choke to death on food every year." (Dixy Lee Ray)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: DIXY LEE RAY
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the zoologist and marine biologist 
Dixy Lee Ray (1914-1994), who became the first woman governor of the state 
of Washington in 1976. She was propelled into the governor's chair mainly 
because of her prominence as an environmental activist.
      Ray took a common-sense approach to the preservation of the 
environment and her writings supported the importance of gathering facts 
and understanding the science behind environmental questions before 
launching expensive and unsuccessful environmental campaigns. She wrote 
scathingly of those who promoted causes without a factual base, and was a 
strong supporter of a cost-benefit approach to environmental protection 
programs. Fervent as she was in pursuing environmental issues, she warned 
her fellow activists about the dangers of "government by regulation."
      Born in Tacoma, Washington, Ray graduated from Mills College with a 
degree in zoology in 1937, followed the next year by a Master's degree. She 
taught in public schools in Oakland, California, until 1942, when she 
entered Stanford University, earning a Ph.D. in 1945. She then joined the 
faculty of the University of Washington as an instructor in zoology, and 
was appointed associate professor ten years later. Her research in those 
years centered on studies of marine crustaceans and the organisms that 
attack submerged wood.
      Beginning in the 1960s Ray became a leading advocate of ecological 
research as a prerequisite to understanding the dangers inherent in the 
unregulated growth of such technologies as chemical manufacture, energy 
production, and waste disposal. During 1960-62 she was a special consultant 
in biological oceanography to the National Science Foundation.
      In 1963 she was appointed director of the newly established Pacific 
Science Center in Seattle. Under her direction the center quickly developed 
into an important institution for encouraging public interest in and 
understanding of science. She served also as special assistant to the 
director of the National Science Foundation in 1963, and in 1969 she was 
made a member of the President's Task Force on Oceanography. In 1972 
President Nixon nominated her to a seat on the Atomic Energy Commission.
      Ray left the University of Washington and the Science Center upon 
Senate confirmation of the nomination the next month and became the first 
woman to undertake a full term on the commission.  In February 1973 she 
became chairman of the commission, a post that made her perhaps the most 
powerful woman in the federal government. She improved employment 
opportunities for minority group applicants and expanded research on the 
safety of nuclear reactors. Her characteristic blunt, outspoken manner and 
somewhat nonconformist style made her a figure of national interest.
      Following a reorganization of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1974 
she moved to the Department of State as assistant secretary for oceans and 
international environmental scientific affairs. In 1976 she ran as a 
Democrat for the governorship of Washington and became the second woman, 
after Ella Grasso of Connecticut, to win a state governorship without being 
preceded in office by a husband.

[To find a library copy of Ray's "Environmental Overkill: Whatever Happened 
to Common Sense," go to RLG's RedLightGreen.com: 
<http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACTION=EDITION&WORKID=21918983&> 
or to purchase go to 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060975989/newsscancom/ref=nosim> 
Note: We donate all revenue from our recommendations to adult literacy 
programs.]

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

[Note: All of the comments in today's mailbag are in response to the 
question raised by Mark Zollinhoffer about the Cellini Flash Card 
suggesting that there are eight views from which to view a statue): 
<http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=11846>.]

LET US COUNT THE WAYS
      When I read the comment about how many views a sculpture has, I had 
the opposite reaction than Mark Zollinhofer.  He thought the case was 
overstated and that there are only six views, while I think it was 
understated, and there is an infinite number of views.  Stand in front of a 
sculpture.  Now move any distance in any direction other than directly 
towards or away from the sculpture.  You now have a different view.  This 
can be repeated an arbitrary number of times without ever repeating the 
same view twice. (Nate Scherer)

WHAT WAS CELLINI THINKING?
      I believe Cellini was probably thinking:
Front
Left front
Left
Left rear
Rear
Right rear
Right
Right front
As top and bottom are two views that you do not see often in a statue. 
(Jack Hewitt)

EIGHT POINTS OF A COMPASS
      The eight views that Cellini was referring to were the four views of 
the main axes and the four views of diagonal axes, sometimes referred to as 
three-quarter views. These views correspond to the eight points of a 
compass, each separated by 45 degrees of rotation. (Steve Polatas, North 
Canton, Ohio)

DIAGONALS
      Normally, you don't look at a statue from the top or the bottom. 
Besides the front, back, left, right, there are also the diagonals -- like 
on the points of a compass (NW, SW, etc.). A statue is going to give a 
different impression when viewed diagonally. So that would give you eight 
views. (Dr. Rod Kirby, Marietta, GA)

WALKING AROUND A STATUE, AND STOPPING, AND STOPPING, AND ...
      I had to think about this for a moment also. The top and bottom of 
statue is almost as hard to see as the inside. However, if you consider 
walking around one, then taking a look every 45 deg. would give you the 8 
views.  The views would start to run together if you stopped more often 
than that...  See http://www.sculpturegallery.com/sculpture/la_danaide.html 
for an example. (Karl D. Schnelle, Ph.D.)

THE DIMENSIONS OF NIGHT AND DAY, NEAR AND FAR
      If a sculpture is essentially a cube in 3-dimensional space, then six 
sides are the most it can have. But a sculpture is both tactile and 
perceptual. I nominate two additional views -- near and far.  And perhaps 
still two more -- daylight and darkness. And what about while the viewer is 
standing still or in motion?  All of these change how a sculpture is seen 
and how it is perceived. (Martin Raisch, BYU Idaho)

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES, MULTIPLE OPINIONS
      I'd say there are infinite views of a statue, just as there are of 
live humans.  A joy of life is the multiple perspectives available to each 
of us AND the diverse opinions each view elicits. (Graham Lewis, Ashland, 
Oregon)

ROUND AND ROUND
      It seems reasonable to me that in addition to the square-on views 
given as:
         front
         back
         left
         right
the additional views Cellini had in mind were
         right front
         left front
         right rear, and
         left rear.
These are the named views that one would see while walking around the 
statue. I feel that the top view -- though important -- would unlikely have 
made his list.
      Interesting question, though. (Clay C. Ross, Mathematics & Computer 
Science, emeritus, The University of the South)

VIEWS FROM THE HEART
      What came to mind was to add "mine" and "yours" to the six that Mark 
H. Zollinhofer included in his mailbag item in NewsScan Daily. Reminds me 
of the old adage, (something like) "There are three positions in every 
argument:  yours, mine, and the truth."  Keep up the good work.  (Dick 
Blackburn, Associate Professor, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

VIEWS FROM INSIDE
      Besides the six normal views (top, bottom, left, right, front, back) 
I would suggest the other two are the sculptor's view in creating the 
artwork and the viewer's view in looking at it. There certainly must be an 
inner or spiritual perception that the artist sees in his mind while 
creating it, and a viewer sees in his mind or spirit while looking at it. 
(Andrew Rafalski)

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