NewsScan Daily, 10 January 2005 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 10 January 2005 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        What's Up Next for E-Learning?
        No Surprises Here -- A Bigger Role for the Internet Predicted
        Cell Phones Could Double as Credit Cards
        Porn Drives DVD Technology
        Comcast Move Ratchets Up Cable-Telco Competition

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: King James I

WHAT'S UP NEXT FOR E-LEARNING?
      "Colleges, universities and the military will outpace corporations in 
rolling out innovative and effective learning programs. Computer games will 
increasingly be viewed as a new type of scalable content that will raise 
the bar on engagement and enable new types of skills to be taught," 
predicts author Clark Aldrich, author of "Simulations and the Future of 
Learning," in a collection of expert prognostications assembled by eLearn 
Magazine editor Lisa Neal. Among the contributors are Don Norman, 
co-principle of the Nielsen Norman Group, who forecasts the rise of adult 
educational tools: "I expect language tutors for adults. Why not combine 
handheld dictionaries, phrase translators, and CD-ROM courses into a 
portable device?" And Indiana U. professor Curt Bonk sees a bright future 
for open-source courseware: "Jumping on the open-source bandwagon may mean 
supporting innovative pilot projects, funding code enhancements and joining 
the Sakai community." But as emerging technologies such as blogs, wikis and 
podcasts draw the attention of major commercial players like Microsoft, 
Yahoo and Google, look for a new bout of legal wrangling, says Canada's 
National Research Council's Stephen Downes: "But as grassroots technologies 
are appropriated for commercial objectives, conflicts over rights and use 
emerge, and competing standards extensions create genuine difficulties for 
users. Expect, for example, patent claims and threats of lawsuits over 
aspects of content syndication technology, lawsuits regarding unauthorized 
use of RSS feeds… Behind the scenes (and mostly unnoticed), the Web is 
beginning to fracture. Some time in the next three years the first case of 
URL-piracy (releasing the address of a resource without authorization) will 
be heard." (eLearn Magazine Jan 2005)
<http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?article_pk=13262&page_number_nb=1&title=COLUMN>

NO SURPRISES HERE -- A BIGGER ROLE FOR THE INTERNET PREDICTED
      A majority of the 1,286 experts polled by the Pew Internet & American 
Life Project and Elon University believe that at least one devastating 
attack on either the networked information infrastructure or the U.S. power 
grid will occur in the next 10 years. Other areas of general agreement: The 
Internet will become more deeply integrated in our physical environments 
and high-speed connections will become more commonplace. When examining the 
impact of these trends, 59% agreed that government and business 
surveillance activities likely will increase as computing devices become 
embedded in appliances, cars, phones and even clothes; 57% said virtual 
classes will play a greater role in formal education, with students 
occasionally grouped by skill level or interest, rather than by age; 56% 
predicted a continued blurring of the line between work and leisure thanks 
to the expansion of telecommuting, and resulting in a changing family 
dynamic; and 50% thought P2P music file-sharing would still be available a 
decade from now. Schools came in for sharp criticism, with many of the 
experts noting how little educational institutions had changed, despite all 
the hype over "school wiring" during the past decade. And it was generally 
agreed that the "digital divide" was alive and well, with low income, rural 
and poorly educated people having significantly less access to the Internet 
than their wealthier, better educated and more metropolitan counterparts. 
(Pew Internet & American Life Project 10 Jan 2005)
<http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/145/report_display.asp>

CELL PHONES COULD DOUBLE AS CREDIT CARDS
      In Asia, cell phone handset makers are already marketing phones with 
embedded memory devices (a chip or magnetic strip) that can be swiped 
against credit or debit card readers in much the same way consumers now use 
plastic, and trials are underway to bring the technology to the U.S. 
Details are still being worked on important issues such as security -- 
consumers may be required to punch in an authorization code each time they 
charge something -- and in two trials users experienced difficulty in 
aiming their cell phones at the right angle for the card reader to pick up 
the data. "People got very upset. Pointing your cell phone at a target is 
very difficult," says Jorge Fernandes, CEO of cellphone software firm 
Vivotech. That issue will probably be resolved by switching from infrared 
to low-level radio signals, but the biggest obstacle is likely to be a 
dearth of card readers able to interact with the phones. "The phones are 
exciting, but it's going to be a long time" before a widespread base of 
U.S. merchants and consumers are equipped to use them, says Visa 
International VP Sue Gordon-Lathrop. (New York Times 10 Jan 2005)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/technology/10cellphone.html>

PORN DRIVES DVD TECHNOLOGY
      Just as it has with other home entertainment technologies, 
pornography is proving a driving force in the future of high-definition 
DVDs. The multi-billion-dollar industry releases about 11,000 DVD titles a 
year, giving it a strong position in the debate over which technical 
standard -- Blu-ray or HD-DVD -- will dominate in next-generation DVDs. 
Analysts say currently, the smaller outfits are leaning toward HD-DVD 
because of its lower cost, while larger operations like Blu-ray's bigger 
storage capacity, which could be used for "creative expression" -- like 
giving viewers a choice of camera angles. Hollywood is also lining up on 
both sides of the battle, with Fox and Disney declaring their preference 
for Blu-ray and Warner Home Video siding with HD-DVD. But for now, 
everyone's kind of waiting around to see which format takes the lead. 
"We're kind of riding it out a little further to see where the trend goes," 
says an executive with leading porn producer Wicked Pictures. 
(Reuters/Washington Post 10 Jan 2004)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62546-2005Jan10.html?nav=headlines>

COMCAST MOVE RATCHETS UP CABLE-TELCO COMPETITION
      Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable-TV operator, is launching an 
aggressive push into the phone business with plans to market a VoIP phone 
service to 15 million homes by the 2005 and to practically all 40 million 
potential customers in its service area within 18 months. The move 
underscores Comcast's strategy to expand its core business to include 
Internet access and voice communications while at the same time increase 
the company's position in content ownership. The announcement of yet 
another cable assault on telephone companies' traditional turf likely will 
fuel more discounted offerings by the telcos, including television through 
alliances with satellite-TV operators and bundles that include wireless 
service -- something most big cable companies don't yet offer. Meanwhile, 
Comcast says its initial package will enable subscribers to check voice 
mail on the Web, and plans call for testing a videophone service and 
developing a call-waiting service that whispers the identity of the second 
caller. It is also looking into phones that act like traditional landline 
phones in the house but turn into cell phones outdoors. (Wall Street 
Journal 10 Jan 2005)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110531356429521132,00.html> (sub req'd)

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of 
impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements." (Queen 
Elizabeth II)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: KING JAMES I
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is James I, the first king to rule both 
England and Scotland.
      King James is probably best remembered today for the English 
translation of the Bible that bears his name. Still treasured for its 
Shakespearean language, the King James Version of the Bible was the work of 
scholars assembled by James, and his own contribution to the translation 
was minimal, consisting of minor editorial revisions. But the final 
product, published in 1611 after 9 years of work, rightly bears his name 
because it would never have been undertaken without his sponsorship and not 
completed except for his constant support.
      James I was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was only 15 
months old when his mother was expelled from the Scottish throne and he was 
crowned James VI. Placed in the care of several regents, he was given a 
good education, including studies of Greek, French, and Latin. Assembled 
for his use was a respectable library of classical and religious writings, 
which might explain his later literary ambitions. James began his personal 
rule of Scotland in 1583. As head of church and state, he displayed his 
talent to hold in check any of the nobles who dared to oppose his royal 
authority. Wanting to succeed the childless Elizabeth I to the English 
throne, James muted his displeasure when his mother was executed in 1587 
for treason against the queen. In 1589 James married Anne of Denmark, who 
would bear him several children, but cause him some distress by becoming a 
Roman Catholic.
      In 1603, James succeeded Elizabeth and became the first Stuart king 
of England. As the monarch of both Scotland and England, he took to calling 
himself the King of Great Britain, but he would concern himself almost 
entirely with English affairs. At first he was well received by the English 
nobles, but in time he surrounded himself with his favorites, making 
himself unpopular with the others. James was suspected by the Protestants 
of being pro-Catholic, and even the notorious Catholic-inspired Guy Fawkes 
plot to blow up both king and Parliament did not erase the suspicion caused 
by his 1604 peace treaty with Catholic Spain. His relations with Parliament 
were constantly in turmoil over his financial excesses and his overbearing 
sense of royal privilege. By the time he died in 1627 he had built up a 
legacy of conflict with an increasingly self-assertive Parliament that 
would lead to the rebellion that ended in the execution of his son and 
heir, Charles I.

[To find a library copy of Antonia Fraser's biographer of James I, visit 
RLG's RedLightGreen service at: 
<http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACTION=EDITION&WORKID=12854512&LANGUAGE=ENG&> 
-- or to purchase a copy go to: 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394494768/newsscancom/ref=nosim> 
Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy 
programs.]

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