NewsScan Daily, 17 Jul 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 17 Jul 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        Microsoft Flaw: A New Stage of Delirium
        Some Healthy Reasons to Log on to The Internet
        Satellite Phone Market Reaches to the Sky
        Permanent Ban on Internet Services Taxes Proposed
        How Do You Measure Computing Consumption?
        'Viral Marketing' Stoops To New Low

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Ely Samuel Parker

MICROSOFT FLAW: A NEW STAGE OF DELIRIUM
Microsoft has acknowledged a critical vulnerability in most versions of its 
Windows operating system software, including its latest Windows Server 2003 
software. The vulnerability (first pointed out by researchers in Poland 
known as the "Last Stage of Delirium Research Group") could be used by 
network vandals to seize control of a victim's Windows computer over the 
Internet, stealing data, deleting files or eavesdropping on e-mail 
messages. The Server 2003 software was sold under the highly promoted 
"Trustworthy Computing" initiative launched last year by Microsoft founder 
Bill Gates. The company urged customers to immediately apply a free 
software patch available from Microsoft's Web site. Internet Security 
Systems, an Atlanta-based computer firm, characterized the Windows flaw as 
"an enormous threat." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 17 Jul 2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6318125.htm

SOME HEALTHY REASONS TO LOG ON TO THE INTERNET
A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 80% of 
U.S. adults online use the Internet to find health information. It's 
clearly a case of "news-you-can-use": the No. 1 searched-for health topic 
is information about a specific disease or medical problem; the No. 2 
search topic is information about a specific medical treatment or 
procedure. Three-fourths of the searchers surveyed said the Net has 
improved the quality of the health information and services available to 
them. The downside? The Pew study found that only about one out of every 
four searchers thoroughly checked the source and timeliness of online 
information. (USA Today 16 Jul 2003)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-07-16-net-health_x.htm

SATELLITE PHONE MARKET REACHES TO THE SKY
Satellite  phones -- now offering smaller handsets with better reception 
and lower prices -- are finding new acceptance in the marketplace -- 
especially the rental marketplace. A few years ago a satellite phone cost 
thousands of dollars to buy and was the size of a suitcase; now, the phones 
are not much larger than cellphones and can be purchased for a few hundred 
dollars or rented for less than $50 a week (plus $1 to $2 a minute for 
calls). Customers include boaters, schoolteachers on field trips, 
businessmen, hunters and missionaries. Rental phones are available at 
numerous sites, including www.satellitephonesource.com and 
www.worldcell.com. One person in the satellite phone rental business sees 
déjà vu all over again: "I remember when the rental of cellphones was a big 
business. And now they've become ubiquitous, while rentals have become a 
very small market. It's likely you'll see that scenario play out with 
satellite phones." (New York Times 17 Jul 2003)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/17/technology/circuits/17phon.html

PERMANENT BAN ON INTERNET SERVICES TAXES PROPOSED
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee has approved legislation that would 
permanently bar states from taxing Internet access and related services and 
would require the handful of states currently levying such taxes to stop. 
The proposed bill would extend the moratorium on such taxes which has been 
in place since 1998 and is set to expire Nov. 1. However, lawmaker decided 
to sidestep the highly controversial debate over whether states should 
collect sales taxes on goods and services sold over the Internet. (AP 16 
Jul 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030717/D7SB04P80.html

HOW DO YOU MEASURE COMPUTING CONSUMPTION?
"We're looking for that single unit of measurement that will be the tech 
industry's equivalent of the kilowatt," says Bernardo Huberman, a director 
at Hewlett-Packard's research laboratories. Identifying and agreeing on 
such a unit is essential to the future success of the much-hyped initiative 
called "utility computing," touted by tech giants HP, IBM and Sun 
Microsystems. Currently, the three companies offer a jumble of pricing 
schemes for their utility-computing offerings, but all agree that finding a 
simple and standard way to measure and charge for computer use would enable 
the nascent market to really take off. At HP's labs, researchers have 
coined the term "computon" -- a mix of "photon" and "computation" -- to 
describe the unit, but coming up with exactly what a computon is, isn't as 
easy. The problem is that unlike a kilowatt, a computon can't be a strictly 
scientific quantity. It must cover aspects such as data-storage capacity 
and processing power, and must be flexible enough to accommodate the 
evolving needs of customers. "Ten to 20 years from now, you might see 
computing companies as closer to the electrical utility of today," says 
Nick van der Zweep, HP's director of utility computing. "Tech companies 
will have big computer-processing generation stations all over the world, 
and there may be meters on everybody's houses measuring how much computing 
power they use." (Wall Street Journal 17 Jul 2003)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105839415496602400,00.html (sub req'd)

'VIRAL MARKETING' STOOPS TO NEW LOW
Internet security company Sophos is warning of a new marketing scheme 
reported by its Australian tech support team, which tricks users into 
visiting a Web site featuring free comic video clips and then installs 
software that sends out e-mails from their computers to people listed in 
their address book. The Web site, run by Curacao-based Avenue Media, uses 
ActiveX to display a humorous video clip and at the same time downloads an 
additional software component called "Internet Optimizer" onto the PC, 
which then sends the e-mails. Peter Ducklin, head of technology at Sophos' 
Asia Pacific division, says: "What tricks a lot of people is that the 
ActiveX control which kicks the process off is digitally signed. Many users 
assume that a program which has been signed in this way is automatically 
both trustworthy and desirable. Ironically, even though Internet Explorer 
presents a 'security warning,' many people treat this as some kind of a 
'security approval' and are more inclined to go ahead." (ZDNet Australia 16 
Jul 2003)
http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000048600,20276284,00.htm

*****

FLASH CARD
      "i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly 
spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is 
natural which is infinite which is yes"
                           (e.e.cummings)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: ELY SAMUEL. PARKER
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the Seneca Indian, engineer and 
soldier Ely Samuel Parker (1829-1895) who served as military secretary to 
Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War and later as United States 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Grant administration. (Parker was 
present when Lee surrendered at Appomattox and the surrender documents are 
in his handwriting. After exchanging small talk, Lee and Grant began 
drafting the articles of surrender for the Confederate army. Once the 
generals had agreed on conditions, Parker was directed to copy the articles 
of surrender for signatures.)
      Parker was born in New York state, near Batavia. His tribal name was 
Hasanowanda ("The Reader"). The Parker name was one his family adopted for 
use when dealing with the area's white settlers. His father was a Tonawanda 
Seneca chief and a veteran of the War of 1812, and his mother's ancestors 
included an Iroquois prophet. He was educated at the Baptist Mission School 
on the Seneca reservation and for time attended Rochester high school.
       He quit school at age 18 and devoted his time to furthering Indian 
affairs in Washington, D.C., where he came to know and work with Lewis 
Henry Morgan on his study of Indian tribal culture. In the early 1850s he 
studied law but was refused admission to the bar because he was not 
considered a citizen. He then attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and 
began to work for the federal government, supervising public works 
projects. During one such project he befriended a local clerk in Galena, 
Illinois, by name of Ulysses S. Grant, the future general and president 
with whom he would become friends for life.
      Parker attempted to join the Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, 
but would not be commissioned as a captain of engineers until 1863 because 
of delay caused by his construction obligations and by questions raised 
about his Indian heritage. When Grant became commander of the Union forces, 
he requested that Parker be appointed to his staff as his military 
secretary. Parker remained in that post through 1869, rising to the brevet 
rank of brigadier-general.
      When Grant became President he named Parker Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs as one of his first political appointments. During his tenure in 
officer, Parker sought to work both for the United States government and 
the Indians he represented; however, his attempts to bring justice to 
various tribes over land deals and treaties earned him many enemies in the 
process. He was accused of defrauding the government and was tried by the 
House of Representatives in February 1871. Although he was exonerated of 
all charges, he resigned from office and went into business in New York City.
      He did well in business, and later in life, he held various positions 
within the New York City Police Department. He died on August 31, 1895. Two 
years later, his remains were reinterred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in 
Buffalo, N.Y. on land that had once belonged to the Seneca tribe.

See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/1575054310/newsscancom/ref=nosim 
for a story about Parker written for young people -- or look for it in your 
favorite library. (We donate all revenue from our book recommendations to 
adult literacy programs.)

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