NewsScan Daily, 24 February 2005 (" Above The Fold" )

NewsScan Daily, 24 February 2005 (" Above The Fold" )
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Networked Homes Spell Trouble for Consumer Electronics
        Threat of the 'L' Word Makes Software Makers Shudder
        Ads Embedded in News Stories Raise Concerns
        IBM Releases 'Hypervisor' Code
        E-Tags for Australian Pedophiles
        Study: Brits Feel Lost Without Mobiles

FEATURES
          Flash Card
         Honorary Subscriber: Lillian Wald

NETWORKED HOMES SPELL TROUBLE FOR CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
      The vision of the "networked home" is driving the digitalization of 
nearly every consumer electronics device, and eventually could lead to the 
disintegration of the consumer electronics industry as we know it, says 
Columbia University public policy expert and economist Eli Noam. Caught in 
the upward spiral of Moore's Law, the chips that run consumer electronics 
devices will become evermore powerful, and many stand-alone products, such 
as Blu-Ray Disc players, TVs and PCs, could entirely "disappear," says 
Noam. In fact, it's already happening: consumer PCs now come with built-in 
TV and recording functions, and vendors are selling DVD, CD and VHS players 
packaged as single units with hard disk drives. And while Noam predicts a 
bonanza for consumer electronics makers in the near term -- the next seven 
years or so -- ultimately, many of the networked products will be replaced 
by a single box or hub. "The good news is that this will mean an initial 
spike in demand for makers. But it also means fewer hardware boxes being 
sold," says Noam. As the trend continues, and consumers demand easy-to-use 
and glitch-free home networking, a new breed of specialized services, 
called CSPs (Consumer Electronics Service Providers), could emerge, who 
would integrate home, community and work-based networks, providing services 
based around content provision, security and assurance. (ComputerWorld 16 
Feb 2005)
<http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/itspending/story/0,10801,99821,00.html?source=x10>

THREAT OF THE 'L' WORD MAKES SOFTWARE MAKERS SHUDDER
      Major technology customers are fed up with spending millions to fix 
shoddy software and are starting to challenge software makers to assume at 
least some responsibility for costly repairs. So far, it's just a low 
rumble, but even the thought of the dreaded "L" word -- liability -- sends 
shivers through the software industry. One leading proponent is GM, whose 
chief information-security officer says: "Can you imagine if GM produced a 
vehicle and said, 'We did a pretty good job of engineering this. It worked 
in the laboratory. Here it is, consumer, you go crash-test it.'" GM is 
pushing for penalty provisions in new contracts that could hold vendors 
liable if they fail to meet security requirements. Other customers are 
seeking to add liability clauses to their "service level agreements" with 
outsourced technology providers that would limit the number of times their 
systems can go down. Meanwhile, some companies are taking matters into 
their own hands: BJ's Wholesale Club last year filed suit against IBM for 
providing software that allegedly allowed thousands of BJ's customers' 
credit-card information to be stolen by an organized crime ring. And even 
the Business Roundtable, a Washington association of CEOs, last year issued 
a call for "shared responsibility" between technology users and suppliers. 
(Wall Street Journal 24 Feb 2005)
<http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110920333716762568,00.html> (sub req'd)

ADS EMBEDDED IN NEWS STORIES RAISE CONCERNS
      In the never-ending pursuit of profits, online sites are generating 
new revenues by selling advertisements that appear when users click on 
certain keywords, but when the practice is extended to words in news 
articles, critics say it could create the impression that advertisers are 
influencing the reporting. Business news articles in yesterday's online New 
York Post included words highlighted and underlined in green, which, when a 
mouse was rolled over them, produced a box with a link to the "sponsor's" 
Web site. Aly Colón, who teaches journalistic ethics at the Poynter 
Institute, says the biggest risk may be alienating readers: "If we want to 
be taken seriously for the work that we do as journalists, we should try to 
devise a way of presenting our material so that the users, the readers, 
know that we are first and foremost about the news." A Nielsen/NetRatings 
analyst says news organizations' recent experimentation with embedded 
advertising reflects a dearth of online advertising opportunities: "There 
is definitely a shortage of supply [of online content]. That leads to this 
kind of experimentation." (New York Times 24 Feb 2005)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/24/business/media/24post.html>

IBM RELEASES 'HYPERVISOR' CODE
      IBM has quietly released the source code for its Research Hypervisor 
software (rHype), which enables a computer to run multiple operating 
systems simultaneously. Big Blue's timing potentially competes with two 
commercial products -- Microsoft's Virtual Server and EMC's VMware -- as 
well as the open-source Xen software. Analysts say that in the case of Xen, 
however, IBM's release may boost its capabilities, enabling it to move from 
its current base of x86 chips to IBM's Power. Xen founder Ian Pratt has 
expressed interest in incorporating the rHype software directly into Xen, 
because both are governed by the General Public License and are based on 
"paravirtualization," which runs faster than full virtualization products 
such as VMware and Virtual Server. (CNet News.com 24 Feb 2005)
<http://news.com.com/IBM+project+pushes+for+OS+efficiency/2100-1016_3-5588129.html>

E-TAGS FOR AUSTRALIAN PEDOPHILES
      Dangerous pedophiles could be electronically tagged and subjected to 
strict curfews after their release from jail under new laws before the 
Victorian parliament. Under the scheme, child sex offenders considered 
risks can be put under supervision orders administered by the adult parole 
board. The supervision conditions can include electronic bracelets allowing 
the offenders to be tracked, restrictions on where they live, curfews, and 
restrictions on movements to block their access to children. "We take the 
view that protecting the community, particularly vulnerable children, has 
to be our highest priority," Police Minister Tim Holding said. "We think 
these laws are an effective and appropriate way of protecting Victorians 
from serious child sex offenders who show a real likelihood of 
re-offending," he said. (The Australian 23 Feb 2005) rec'd from John Lamp, 
Deakin U.
<http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,12345329%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html>

STUDY: BRITS FEEL LOST WITHOUT MOBILES
      Millions of Britons admit feeling lost if parted from their mobile 
phone or e-mail, according to a survey published yesterday. The problem 
gets worse if the technology is out of reach for more than a few hours. The 
findings have led to the emergence of what has been dubbed Mobile and 
Internet Dependency Syndrome (MAIDS). Nearly two-thirds of those questioned 
in the survey for Lloyds TSB admitted feeling concerned if they left their 
mobile phone at home and 3% even said they felt "freaked out and panicky." 
When asked what they would do if they realized within 15 minutes of leaving 
home, 15% would make time to go back and collect it. (The Age 23 Feb 2005) 
rec'd from John Lamp, Deakin U.
<http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/02/23/1109046952955.html>

*****

FLASH CARD
     "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most 
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." (Charles Darwin)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: LILLIAN WALD
     Today's Honorary Subscriber is the nurse and social worker Lillian 
Wald (1867-1940), who in 1893 founded the internationally known Henry 
Street Settlement House for social services on New York City's Lower East 
Side, which she later expanded into a training center and headquarters of a 
visiting-nurse service.
     Wald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from the New York 
Hospital School for Nurses in 1891. She then worked for a year in an 
orphanage, where she quickly became disillusioned with the prevailing 
conditions of institutional care of children. She undertook studies at the 
New York Woman's Medical College and, with Mary Brewster, she moved to the 
College Settlement House on Rivington Street. With support from the New 
York financier Jacob Shiff, the two women soon opened their own settlement 
house, first on Jefferson Street, and soon thereafter in the more spacious 
facility on Henry Street.
     Wald was a support of woman suffrage and a pacifist, but during World 
War I she nevertheless she provided nursing care for soldiers and joined 
the Council on National Defense. After the war she represented the United 
States at several international conferences concerned with medicine and 
public health. In 1918-19 she organized the fight against the influenza 
epidemic and chaired the Nurses' Emergency Council. In 1931 she retired as 
head at Henry Street, but remained as president of the board of directors 
until 1937.
     She wrote two books: "The House on Henry Street" and "Windows on Henry 
Street." When she died in 1940 she was hailed as a beloved symbol of what 
was democratic, cosmopolitan, humane and practical in American social 
tradition.

[To find a library copy of "The House on Henry Street" visit RLG's 
RedLightGreen service at 
<http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?ACTION=EDITION&WORKID=26082468&> 
-- or to purchase Clare Coss's biography of Wald go to: 
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1558610006/newsscancom/ref=nosim>
     Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult 
literacy programs.]

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