NewsScan Daily, 12 January 2005 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 12 January 2005 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        New Mac Targets Low-End Market
        Disk Drives Meet the Law of Diminishing Returns
        FTC Shuts Down X-Rated Spammers
        Identity Thief Draws 14-Year Prison Term
        New Software Finds Video in a Snap

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Thomas Moore
        Mailbag: The World As We Find It

NEW MAC TARGETS LOW-END MARKET
      Apple Computer's new, stripped-down Mac Mini is priced as low as 
$499, reflecting Apple's strategy to position the Mac as an entertainment 
and communication device designed for today's digital household, which 
views the PC as simply another appliance. The move is fueled in part by the 
company's success with its iPod digital music players, which has reached 
mass market proportions with 10 million sold over the last three years. "I 
wish I had a nickel for every time people have suggested that we do this," 
says Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "We want to price this Mac so that people who 
are thinking of switching will have no excuse." Piper Jaffray analyst Gene 
Munster says most consumers won't give up their Microsoft PCs, but may 
consider buying a Mac as an additional computer for entertainment. "It's 
not about switching but adding. People may still need a PC because of work 
activities, but this is for doing multimedia activities and searching the 
Internet." In addition to the low-cost Mac Mini, Apple also debuted a $99 
iPod Shuffle, which comes without a screen and can hold about 120 songs, 
compared with 5,000 on a standard iPod. (New York Times 12 Jan 2005)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/12/technology/12apple.html>

DISK DRIVES MEET THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS
      "The disk drive is not going to get much smaller," says Disk/Trend 
analyst Jim Porter, noting that the diminished storage capacity of smaller 
drives opens up a market opportunity flash memory chips. The problem goes 
back to basic science: Reducing the area of a drive platter greatly reduces 
the surface area for storing data, and at some point it no longer makes 
sense. "Any time you shrink the disk, you halve the capacity," says IDC 
analyst Dave Reinsel. This doesn't mean that mini drives have reached a 
dead end, however. Design modifications such as perpendicular recording 
will enable drive makers to double capacities on small drives to 8GB to 
10GB within a year, while maintaining a significant price advantage over 
flash memory competitors. Porter speculates that when "Mikey," the code 
name for a Hitachi mini drive due out next holiday season, hits 10GB, 
similar-capacity flash memory chips might cost 10 times as much. (CNet 
News.com 12 Jan 2005)
<http://news.com.com/Disk+drives+to+stop+shrinking/2100-1004_3-5532612.html>

FTC SHUTS DOWN X-RATED SPAMMERS
      The Federal Trade Commission has won a preliminary injunction against 
six companies accused of profiting from sexually explicit junk e-mail. The 
injunction, granted by U.S. District Court Judge Philip M. Pro, will last 
the duration of the FTC's civil suit against the companies. The case marks 
the first time the FTC has taken action under a rule included in the last 
years "Can Spam" Act that requires a label identifying sexually explicit 
e-mail in the subject line. The law also holds liable Web site operators 
who benefit from fraudulent pornographic spam. "It's not just the people 
who push the buttons to send spam" who are liable," notes FTC marketing 
practices division director Eileen Harrington. Named in the FTC complaint 
are Global Net Solutions, Open Space Enterprises, Southlake Group and WTFRC 
Inc., all of Nevada; Global Net Ventures of London; and Wedlake Ltd., which 
is based in Riga, Latvia. (AP 12 Jan 2005)
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050112/D87II6A80.html>

IDENTITY THIEF DRAWS 14-YEAR PRISON TERM
      A former help-desk worker at Teledata Communications, which provides 
banks with access to credit information, was sentenced to 14 years in 
prison for his role in the largest identity theft in U.S. history. U.S. 
District Court Judge George B. Daniels called the damage to victims caused 
by Philip A. Cummings "almost unimaginable," involving tens of thousands of 
individuals and caused losses of between $50 million and $100 million. 
Daniels noted the case "emphasized how easy it is to wreak havoc on 
people's financial and personal lives." (AP/Los Angeles Times 12 Jan 2005)
<http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-idtheft12jan12,1,75957.story?coll=la-headlines-technology>

NEW SOFTWARE FINDS VIDEO IN A SNAP
      A 20-year-old student at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, has 
developed a software application that combines P2P file sharing software 
BitTorrent with RSS (Really Simple Syndication) software used for blogging. 
While other software that does the same thing exists, Sajeeth Cherian notes 
that his Videora application is less complicated and doesn't "demand 
computer enthusiasts' knowledge." Once a user downloads Videora, the 
program automatically installs BitTorrent and downloads the RSS feeds. 
Users just type in a title or keyword, such as "amateur tsunami videos," 
and the program will automatically create a list of possibilities, any of 
which can be downloaded by double-clicking on the file. "We extract the 
BitTorrent link from the RSS feed, and if the title matches what you are 
looking for, we start downloading the BitTorrent file from the RSS link," 
says Cherian. The Videora software is available free or users can pay $23 
for a version with additional features. (Wired.com 11 Jan 2005)
<http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,66231,00.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
      "You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will,  But the scent 
of the roses will hang round it still." (Thomas Moore)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: THOMAS MOORE
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the Irish poet and songwriter Thomas 
Moore (1779-1852), who enjoyed great popularity in his day, especially for 
his many lyrics set to music, such as "The Last Rose of Summer" and "Oft in 
the Stilly Night."
      Moore's close friendships with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley 
made him a well-known figure in literary circles. His major poetic work, 
"Irish Melodies," a group of 130 poetic melodies, was performed over the 
years 1807 to 1834 for London's aristocracy. This work earned him an annual 
income of £500 for a quarter of a century and aroused sympathy and support 
for the Irish nationalists, among whom Moore was a popular hero.
      His narrative poem "Lalla Rookh," set on Byron's advice in an 
atmosphere of Oriental splendor, was perhaps the most translated poem of 
its time, earning an astounding £3,000, till then the highest price paid by 
an English publisher for a poem. It helped raise Moore's reputation to a 
level rivaling that of Byron and Sir Walter Scott.
      Many of Moore's compositions, such as "The Fudge Family in Paris," 
were satirical in nature, portraying the politics and manners of the 
Regency period. In 1824 Moore became the recipient of Byron's memoirs, 
which he promptly burned, presumably to protect Byron's reputation. Later 
in 1830 he brought out "The Letters and Journals of Lord Byron," in which 
he included a life of the poet.
      Moore was born the son of a wine merchant in Dublin, Ireland. He 
graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, and then studied law at the Middle 
Temple in London. His interest in the law was desultory at best, and he 
turned instead to exploit his literary gifts to support himself. As a young 
child Moore, encouraged by his mother, showed a talent for recitation and 
singing. By age fourteen he was composing verses that were published in a 
Dublin literary periodical. While a student at Trinity, he devoted himself 
to the verse translation of the odes of the Greek poet Anacreon. He 
completed the work in London and received permission to dedicate it to the 
Prince of Wales, ensuring its wide reception by the English gentry.
      Moore secured a minor post in the British bureaucracy, but after an 
uninteresting assignment in Bermuda he abandoned his post and returned to 
England, visiting the United States and Canada en route. He then turned to 
writing full time, becoming a prolific author of much light, serious and 
satirical verse and prose. He also charmed his way onto the London social 
scene, and became accepted as Ireland's national lyric poet. Financial 
problems stemming from his post in Bermuda forced him to spend three years 
in Italy to avoid debtor's prison. There he renewed his friendship with 
Byron who made him his literary heir.
      In 1822 Moore was able to return to his home in Wiltshire, England, 
where he spent his remaining years until his death in 1852. Moore was a 
born singer and some of his best-loved songs still earn Byron's praise as 
being "worth all the epics ever written."

      [To find a library copy of "The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore," 
visit RLG's RedLightGreen service at: 
<http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACTION=EDITION&WORKID=19542861> 
-- or to purchase a copy go to: 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0404146880/newsscancom/ref=nosim> 
Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy 
programs.]

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

EDUCATION IS NOT A BUSINESS
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=11907>
      You write: "Secretary of Education Rod Paige says in the National 
Education Technology Plan: 'Education is the only business still debating 
the usefulness of technology...' Pleased to hear it. IT is for business, 
for processes, for production. Education is not a business, despite the 
relentless, gargantuan efforts of politicians and their accountants at 
every level (including those within education) to turn it into one, so that 
it better suits their budget-culture. Education is human interaction at its 
highest level. Interaction via e-mail, chat, and even video link is a poor, 
pale, false imitation of the real thing. Politicians (I repeat: especially 
those within education itself) seem unable to recognize this. (John Law, 
Information Officer, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.)

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GREAT LIBRARY
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=11808>
      In your piece on the Library of Alexandria you don't go into the 
story of the destruction of the library. Here is what Preston Chesser says: 
"The final individual to get blamed for the destruction is the Moslem 
Caliph Omar. In 640 AD the Moslems took the city of Alexandria. Upon 
learning of 'a great library containing all the knowledge of the world' the 
conquering general supposedly asked Caliph Omar for instructions. The 
Caliph has been quoted as saying of the Library's holdings, 'they will 
either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will 
agree with it, so they are superfluous.' So, allegedly, all the texts were 
destroyed by using them as tinder for the bathhouses of the city. Even then 
it was said to have taken six months to burn all the documents. But these 
details, from the Caliph's quote to the incredulous six months it 
supposedly took to burn all the books, weren't written down until 300 years 
after the fact. These facts condemning Omar were written by Bishop Gregory 
Bar Hebræus, a Christian who spent a great deal of time writing about 
Moslem atrocities without much historical documentation." Although some 
claim that the fire was of unknown origin, that it was the work of the Arab 
conquerors is generally accepted. This takes us back to the subject we have 
often discussed: the role of the Arabs in transmitting Greek knowledge to 
the medieval West. (Ronald Hilton)

THE RETURN OF THE PRIGGER-NAPPERS
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=11892>
      I enjoyed (more than usual) your "Worth Thinking About" feature on 
slang ("Prigger-Nappers"). Thanks! (Tom Kinsel)

A TIME LONG AGO, WHEN BAD WAS GOOD
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=11925>
      What a nice reminder! Some of my most cherished memories are of trips 
long ago with our family when cars didn't automatically come with radios, 
or CD players or DVD entertainment systems and headphones. My folks were 
always musical, though not professionally. So what we did in the car, over 
the long days of our trips, was to sing. Actually, what we did was LEARN to 
sing. My folks, somehow were able to teach me, for instance, how to 
harmonize a tenor part to almost anything I ever heard. My brother and 
sister also learned to harmonize, and we sang three or four parts all the 
time. We never had written music, but could take almost anything and sound 
pretty competent, at least in my memories. Later, we kids joined glee clubs 
and choirs, some continuing to this day. Music is a constant in our lives.
      My dad, an insurance executive, and my mom would occasionally (and to 
the eternal embarrassment of the kids) sing, in company, a song called 'I 
Want to Be Bad.' I'm not sure whether it ever turned up on the hit parade, 
but it included verses like --
              'If it's naughty to rouge your lips,
               Shake your shoulders and shake your hips,
               Let a lady confess, I want to be bad!'
      I'd love to have them here to sing it today.
      Thanks, NewsScan guys. You're always great. But some days you're perfect.
        (Skip Eastman, Los Alamitos, CA)

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