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

NewsScan Daily, 10 February 2005 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
       After Fiorina's Fall: What's Next for Hewlett-Packard?
       Microsoft and Pfizer Campaign Against Spam
       Professor of Games
       Auctioning 'Promotional' Rights to Unborn Baby
       Video Voyeurs
       What Is Google Thinking?
  
FEATURES
       Flash Card
       Honorary Subscriber: Audre Lord
       Mailbag: The World As We Find It

AFTER FIORINA'S FALL: WHAT'S NEXT FOR HEWLETT-PACKARD?
     Technology journalist Mike Langberg says "it's hard to imagine
Hewlett-Packard shareholders could suffer more under new management than
they did during the 5 1/2 years of Carly Fiorina's reign at Silicon Valley's
largest company," and adds: "What is clear, given the wisdom of hindsight,
is the magnitude of Fiorina's failure to perform for investors." So what's
next for HP? Langber offers three scenarios. Scenario One: More of the same,
only better-executed, since there is "reason to believe that HP could
flourish under new leadership." Scenario Two: More of the same, only not
better -- because HP is trying to do too much in too many businesses in the
midst of faster-moving competitors. Scenario Three: The big breakup, in
which HP sells or spins off its non-printing businesses. "Which scenario
will prove true? I don't know, and neither does anyone else. I can only say
for sure that HP won't be a safe widows-and-orphans stock anytime soon."
(San Jose Mercury News 10 Feb 2005)
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10865325.htm>

MICROSOFT AND PFIZER CAMPAIGN AGAINST SPAM
     Microsoft and drug manufacturer Pfizer yesterday filed 17 lawsuits
against various alleged spammers and Web-site operators that push fraudulent
versions of drugs (especially Viagra). This is the first time an Internet
service provider (Microsoft's MSN) has joined a major retailer to attack the
entire supply chain of online scams. Pfizer attorney Marc Brotman says that
one-fourth of all spam is related to pharmaceuticals, and that Pfizer
suggested that it and Microsoft pool the two firms' investigative resources.
(Washington Post 9 Feb 2005)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12618-2005Feb9.html>

PROFESSOR OF GAMES
     Electronics Arts, the world's largest game publisher, has joined with
the University of Southern California to establish the nation's first
endowed university chair for the study of electronic gaming. Bing Gordon,
the chief creative officer and a founder of Electronic Arts, has been named
the inaugural holder of the faculty chair at the USC School of
Cinema-Television. Accepting the appointment, Gordon said that "today's
students, who are already the world's leading experts in new technology, are
the best bet to have the vision and energy to invent sweeping change" in
digital entertainment. (AP/USA Today 9 Feb 2005)
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-02-09-ea-founder-usc-chair_x.htm>

AUCTIONING 'PROMOTIONAL' RIGHTS TO UNBORN BABY
     A couple in Perth, Australia has attempted to sell the "naming,
advertising and promotional" rights to their unborn daughter for at least
$AU1 million via Internet auction site eBay. In an advertisement on eBay
Australia under the item title Truman Baby, individuals and companies are
invited to make bids on the right to name the baby girl, due to be born
March 1st. "Offers are invited for your opportunity to be part of HISTORY in
the making. We are taking bids on the naming, advertising and promotional
rights to my unborn BABY GIRL!! For a period of FIVE YEARS from the date of
birth, we are offering the exclusive naming rights (first name only) to my
unborn baby due March 1, 2005." (The Australian 9 Feb 2005)
<http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,12196177%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html> rec'd from John Lamp Deakin U.

VIDEO VOYEURS
     Prosecutors across the country have been finding that loopholes in
state laws make it difficult to convict individuals who shoot voyeuristic
"upskirting" or "downblousing" videos of teenagers at public places like the
local mall. Most states with video voyeurism laws prohibit unauthorized
videotaping or photographing of people who are in private areas, such as
dressing rooms, or in situations where they have "a reasonable expectation
of privacy" -- but public places pose a different problem. One Virginia
state delegate says, "It's certainly immoral, it's certainly wrong, but
under the code, it's just not a written offense. We're trying to tighten the
code so some pervert isn't able to do that." But attorney Lawrence Walters
counters: "Certainly it's a good idea to stop perverts from filming down
women's blouses or up little girls' skirts. But we have to step back as a
society once we get past that visceral reaction and think this through."
Mary Lou Leary of the National Center for Victims of Crime suggests that the
problem is the public's diminished expectation of a right to privacy: "We're
used to the notion that if you're in a public place, you can take pictures
and you can be photographed." (AP/USA Today 8 Feb 2005)
<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-02-08-video-voyeur_x.htm>

WHAT IS GOOGLE THINKING?
     Six months since its public stock offering, Google yesterday gave a
four-hour presentation to financial analysts yet talked about everything but
money. Analsyt Mark S. Mahaney of American Technology Research quips: "They
had a formal presentation by their chef but not their chief financial
officer. I have never been to an investor day where the CFO didn't speak."
Indeed, Google's top chef spoke to the analysts and investors about the
lunch he'd prepared, but the company's chief financial officer moderated the
presentation and answered a few questions but didn't give a formal talk --
nor did Google executives answer questions about their product plans.
Incidentally, the lunch included grilled pork tenderloin, and was quite
tasty.  (New York Times 10 Feb 2005)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/technology/10google.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
     "I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important
to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it
bruised or misunderstood." (Audre Lord)
 
HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: AUDRE LORDE
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the American poet, novelist, essayist
and memoirist Audre Geraldine Lorde (1934-1992). Even as a child she wrote
poetry and published her first poem in the magazine, Seventeen, while still
in high school. Almost two decades would pass, however, before she would
receive the National Endowment of the Arts grant that made it possible for
her to publish her first book of poetry. A second collection of her poems
followed her short stay as poet-in-residence at Mississippi's Tougaloo
College. She wrote with passion about issues of gay rights, racial justice,
and sex discrimination.
     Lorde was born in New York City to an immigrant couple from the West
Indies, and she grew up in Harlem. In 1954, she attended the National
University of Mexico for a year, after which she attended Hunter College in
New York, worked at a variety of low-paying jobs, and kept up her
poetry-writing. She received a bachelor's degree in literature and
philosophy in 1959 and a master's in library science from Columbia
University in 1960.
     For several years, she worked as a librarian in Mount Vernon and then
New York City. In 1962, she married Edward Rollins, an attorney, but they
divorced in 1970, after having two children. As she began to experience
success as a writer she gave up library work for full-time writing and
occasional teaching and lecturing. She offered courses on poetry at City
College and on racism at Lehman College and John Jay College of Criminal
Justice. 
     Lorde's writings upheld Black American culture in an otherwise
white-dominated society. She protested the perpetuation of sex
discrimination, and argued for gay rights. In 1973 her poetry collection,
"From A Land Where Other People Live," was nominated for a National Book
Award. Her strongly political poems, "New York Headshop and Museum" and
"Coal" broadened her readership. Then in 1978 came what is widely considered
her masterpiece, "The Black Unicorn," which relates African mythology to the
experiences of the black diaspora.
     In both her poetry and prose Lorde blended social criticism with
personal revelation. "The Cancer Journals" revealed her terror during the
treatments she received for breast cancer, and her last book, "A Burst of
Light," poignantly described her decision to terminate further invasive
cancer treatments. 
     About her, Renee Graham wrote in a Boston Globe tribute: "She took her
frailties and misfortunes, her strengths and passions, and forged them into
sometimes startling, always stirring verse. She could weep like Billie
Holiday, chuckle like Dizzy Gillespie or bark bad like John Coltrane."
                           ***
[To find a library copy of Lord's "Undersongs Old and News" visit RLG's
RedLightGreen service at
<http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACTION=EDITION&WORKID=17991646&> or to purchase a copy of Lorde's Collected
Poems go to:
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393319725/newsscancom/ref=nosim>
     Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult
literacy programs.]

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

OPEN AND PUBLIC BLOGGING IS JOURNALISM
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=12035>
     First off let me say that I enjoy each issue of NewsScan. It is always
very informative and packs a lot of information in a small space.
     At the risk of being accused of practicing "journalism," let me offer
the following opinion on NewsScan article entitled "Who Gets To Decide What
Journalism Is?" Are the two bloggers mentioned in the article journalists? I
am not sure, but I am leaning closer to saying yes than no. I thought the
opposing view offered by Professor Bezanson was very weak. First off, I do
not think the size of one's audience should be a major factor in deciding if
a person is a journalist or not. The "old media" consisting of the national
network's newscasts and many of the major newspapers around the country have
been suffering from a decline in viewers and readers, respectively, whereas
the "new media," the Internet, has enjoyed an increase in people seeking
news from alternative sources. The U.S. Constitution does not provide a
magic number of readers or viewers that, once exceeded, a news or opinion
outlet can cite to claim journalist protection, or if circulation falls
below this number then the rights of a journalist are lost.
     I would not be surprised if these two bloggers have a larger daily
readership than many of the small-town newspapers in this country.
Professors Bezanson¹s example of writing a letter to his mother and claiming
to be a journalist is to me comparing apples and chainsaws. I would argue
that the professor¹s letter is a private communiqué between two individuals,
whereas the web logs of these two people are in an open and public forum to
which anyone who wishes may enter and take part. That to me should be the
real test of a journalist and free press -- are these bloggers' opinions
open to the public?  Not how many people actually choose to come and read
then. Maybe the next Constitutional crisis will be, does the First Amendment
protection of the right of assembly extend to U.S. citizens gathering in an
Internet "chat room" to argue politics?
     Thanks for use of the soapbox. Keep up the good work. (Dan Weber)

REIN YOURSELF IN
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=12035>
     "Why isn't a blog the electronic equivalent of a letter?" reader
Michael H. Bell has asked. Seems quite obvious to me -- a blog is
deliberately published without editorial or legal constraint for all to read
at the Parish Pump. His point is completely valid. Letters originated as
sealed confidential correspondence. Is it now seriously suggested that at
the Pump, or the latter-day equivalent the Water Cooler, or now the blog,
that any individual can display any opinion right or wrong attached to, and
any information provided from, an intercepted but erstwhile private
communication possibly edited to reflect the blogger's views, and then all
of that then should be published for all to see, with no redress?  Do I blog
-- darned right I don't -- nothing I have to say to my friends or any of my
contacts is of any interest to anyone else -- and that's MY decision!!
Anyone who thinks differently, well, why not publish your Credit Card
number, and the Security Code, on your blog, and have it indexed by Google
or any of the other blog indexers springing up, as per the story in
NewsScan. I'm sure we're all looking forward to seeing the information from
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Kurt Opsahl. There's freedom and
there's stupidity.  Could it soon be time for the Internet gurus to examine
how far this has gone and whence hither?  Edited Internet... OUCH!!!  But
you seem to be going for it, people.  Just ask yourselves whether the best
way of suppressing Freedom might not be to challenge others into believing
that one is making too much use of it and wait for the backlash? Think about
it, EFF and others. Push the envelope hard enough and it will burst. Please
think about reining yourselves in. Pornography has been largely sidelined.
More serious matters will correctly not be so handled. (Scott Pollard)

ANOTHER VALENTINE FABLE
Re: <http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=12068>
     Although it's fascinating to see something like this actually happen, I
first encountered the idea as a humorous fictional account in the cartoon
"Firkin" by Hunt Emerson and Tym Manley. They depict an English couple,
needing "space," taking his-and-hers vacations to mutually undisclosed
locations -- which just-so-happen to be the same tropical getaway.  The act
of completely cutting loose and assuming alter-ego personalities makes them
unrecognizable to each other -- and quick lovers. Back in England, they
arrange a tryst and get into a knockdown-dragout at the assignation point! A
great little one-pager!  And it shows that sometimes our
cartoonists/scenarists function as prophets.        (Ron A. Zajac)

WHO SHOT THE PILTDOWN MAN?
Re: 
<http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=honorary_subscriber&id=888>
     You could add to your biography of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that he
was marginally involved in 1912 in the discovery of the Piltdown Man, later
revealed to be a hoax. There is no convincing evidence that Teilhard was one
of the hoaxsters, but neither is he without suspicion. There is a minor
industry in trying to figure out who knew what about the hoax, and
occasionally some writers (notably Stephen Jay Gould) come to the conclusion
that Teilhard had to have known. Others disagree. It's the "Who shot JFK?"
of paleontology! To find out more, start with a web search using "Teilhard
Gould Piltdown".  (John M. Astell)

A SHOCK OF TULIPS FROM THE NOOSPHERE
Re: 
<http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=honorary_subscriber&id=888>
     Thanks for the piece about Teilhard in NewsScan Daily.  After his death
he was buried in the Jesuit cemetary at St. Andrew on the Hudson in
Poughkeepsie NY.  The cemetery is preserved, though overlooked, as the
property now belongs to the Culinary Institute of America.  Each spring,
among all of the plain, austere graves, a shock of tulips bursts from
Teilhard's grave. (Dick Hezel)

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