NewsScan Daily, 12 August 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 12 August 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization
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management and appropriate use of information technology. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, [email protected].
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        New Worm Targets Microsoft Security Site
        America Online Wants 'AOL' for Itself
        Microsoft Must Pay $521 Million for Patent Infringements
        Is 'Six Degrees of Separation' Theory an Academic Myth?
        What's in a Name? Plenty of Confusion, When It's 'Wi-Fi'

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Worth Thinking About: Shell Games
        Mailbag: The World As We Find It

NEW WORM TARGETS MICROSOFT SECURITY SITE
A virus-like computer attack expected to infect hundreds of thousands of 
computers worldwide is programmed to direct all infected computers to 
attack the security-related Microsoft Web site www.windowsupdate.com, used 
by millions of Microsoft users each week. The worm, variously called 
LoveSan, Blaster and MSBlaster, is apparently similar in structure to the 
Code Red virus that affected 300,000 computers two years ago; it targets a 
flaw in Microsoft Windows operating systems, and is considered to be a worm 
type of virus because it doesn't require computer users to open an e-mail 
attachment or take any other action to spread automatically from computer 
to computer. Home computer users who leave computers constantly online to 
the Internet through DSL or cable are among those most at risk. (San Jose 
Mercury News 11 Aug 2003)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6511962.htm

AMERICA ONLINE WANTS 'AOL' FOR ITSELF
America Online CEO Jonathan Miller has asked AOL Time Warner to drop the 
"AOL" portion of its moniker, because he's concerned that "AOL," the online 
service, is being confused with "AOL," used as shorthand for the world's 
largest media company. "I believe it's time for us to get our brand back," 
said Miller in an e-mail to staff Monday. "Any controversy or criticism 
involving the corporate entity has actually hit our consumer brand." A 
company spokeswoman said AOL Time Warner chief executive Richard Parsons is 
considering Miller's proposal, but the final decision will be up to the 
company's board. AOL Time Warner's name has been in the news recently as 
the Securities and Exchange Commission investigates possible accounting 
irregularities, mainly at the AOL division, which is also struggling with 
dialup defection as subscribers switch over to broadband ISPs. (AP 11 Aug 2003)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030811/D7SS04DO0.html

MICROSOFT MUST PAY $521 MILLION FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENTS
A federal court in Chicago has ruled that Microsoft must pay $521 million 
to Eolas Technologies and the University of California for infringing 
patents owned by UC and licensed to Eolas. At issue is code included in 
Internet Explorer that enables it to use plug-ins and applets, allowing Web 
surfers to view multimedia or real-time content within a Web browser rather 
than a separate software application. Eolas originally filed the lawsuit in 
1999, and will receive 75% of the proceeds from the verdict, minus legal 
fees and costs, and UC will receive the remaining 25%. Microsoft has said 
it will appeal the jury verdict. (CNet News.com 11 Aug 2003)
http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-5062409.html

IS 'SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION' THEORY AN ACADEMIC MYTH?
Columbia University researchers have conducted the first large-scale 
experiment examining the "six degrees of separation" theory, which posits 
that a short chain of acquaintances (six links or less) can be found 
between almost any two people in the world. In this global study, more than 
60,000 people tried to get in touch with one of 18 people in 13 countries, 
and of the more than 24,000 e-mail chains that were started fewer than 2% 
reached their targets. The successful chains arrived quickly, requiring 
only four steps to get there, but the rest failed when someone in the 
middle did not forward the e-mail. Psychologist Judith S. Kleinfeld of the 
University of Alaska calls the "six degrees of separation" theory the 
"academic equivalent of an urban myth" and says: "Instead of showing we 
live in a small world, it really shows the opposite. Ninety-eight percent 
of people can't reach anybody. What do they conclude? 'Hey, we're all 
connected.' What? All I'm saying is this study didn't prove it." The 
follow-up experiment is at http://smallworld.columbia.edu. (New York Times 
12 Aug 2003)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/science/12MAIL.html

WHAT'S IN A NAME? PLENTY OF CONFUSION, WHEN IT'S 'WI-FI'
A survey conducted in the U.K. on behalf of Packard Bell shows that fewer 
than 30% of those quizzed were familiar with the term "Wi-Fi hotspot." A 
group of just under a thousand people were polled, and were given a list of 
possible answers, some of them pretty far-fetched. Among the responses: 5% 
thought it referred to a night club; 2% thought it was something smelly 
that had been left out in the sun too long; and 1% of married people 
thought it referred to discord with the wife. Among the other definitions 
selected were a posh hot tub, a sunbed and a microwave-ready meal. "It is 
very interesting to see the number of people who have opted for the more 
outlandish responses," said Graham Hopper, managing director of Packard 
Bell UK and Eire. (BBC News 10 Aug 2003) 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3135737.stm

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Happiness is your dentist telling you it won't hurt and then having 
him catch his hand in the drill." (Johnny Carson)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: SHELL GAMES
      Here's a sample of the writing of yesterday's Honorary Subscriber, 
Albert Jay Nock:
      "Another strange notion pervading whole peoples is that the State has 
money of its own; and nowhere is this absurdity more firmly fixed than in 
America. The State has no money. It produces nothing. Its existence is 
purely parasitic, maintained by taxation; that is to say, by forced levies 
on the production of others. 'Government money,' of which one hears so much 
nowadays, does not exist; there is no such thing. One is especially amused 
at seeing how largely a naïve ignorance of this fact underlies the 
pernicious measures of 'social security' which have been foisted on the 
American people. In various schemes of pensioning, of insurance against 
sickness, accident, unemployment and what-not, one notices that the 
government is supposed to pay so-much into the fund, the employer so-much, 
and the workman so-much.... But the government pays nothing, for it has 
nothing to pay with. What such schemes actually come to is that the workman 
pays his own share outright; he pays the employer's share in the enhanced 
price of commodities; and he pays the government's share in taxation. He 
pays the whole bill; and when one counts in the unconscionably swollen 
costs of bureaucratic brokerage and paperasserie, one sees that what the 
workman-beneficiary gets out of the arrangement is about the most expensive 
form of insurance that could be devised consistent with keeping its 
promoters out of gaol."
                                                      ***
See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0873190513/newsscancom/ref=nosim 
for "Our Enemy, the State" -- or look for it in your favorite library. (We 
donate all revenue from our book recommendations to adult literacy programs.)

MAILBAG: THE WORLD AS WE FIND IT

HOW (AND WHEN) TO WRITE HAIKU
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8944
      I forwarded to my wife your "Worth Thinking About" on haiku written a 
time of death. Her response:
      Creating haiku:
      Difficult during lifetime
      Easier at death?
(Randy Rahn)

E(NAMEL)-MAIL
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8816
      In Canada we have the good fortune to have two languages on a lot of 
our consumer products.  Recently, while in the midst of painting a room in 
our house, I discovered that the French word for enamel is émail. 
Considering the note in the July 21 issue of NewsScan [ADIEU TO 'E-MAIL'?] 
concerning the French Culture Minister declaring Courriel the official term 
for e-mail in France I thought you (and other readers) should be aware that 
French just might be the only language on the planet which already had a 
word with the same spelling as e-mail and this is a very good reason (by my 
way of thinking) for having a different word so that one of their other 
words does not become obsolete.  You can reply by enamel if you wish. (Dave 
Trautman, Edmonton)

HE'S BACK!
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8945
      I enjoy reading NewsScan each day, and I am now especially glad to 
see Dr. Mike Litrel back. (Kathy Ball)

TONE-SENSITIVE AND TONE-TOLERANT
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8945
I've been waiting patiently (or attempting to be patient) to see if Dr. 
Mike might return. Many days I have thought about writing to you to inquire 
if "that is it" or if we would get more but decided I shouldn't bother both 
of you. I'm glad to see there is more and hope it may continue. FYI, I'm 
not turned off at all by Dr. Mike's "Christian" tone (nor do I think his 
tone is necessarily Christian) and I don't always say that. I am somewhat 
sensitive to the issue of religious overtones since I am Jewish. Thanks for 
including Dr. Mike and the other "guest" writers. (Pamela Galowich)

WE TORTURED HIM BEYOND THE LIMITS OF HUMAN ENDURANCE
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8945
      Well I've reached my limit -- too much religious claptrap taking over 
at NewsScan, esp. in regards to the very silly "Dr. Mike" postings. I'm 
unsubscribing. (Les Gasser)

DELETING SPAM
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8865
      Hitting the DELETE key is no doubt very effective in dealing with 
spam. To make the task easier, I have added a twist to it. I use Microsoft 
Outlook 2002 to download my mail, using the email address supplied by the 
Internet service provider. I also use the preview pane to show the top of a 
message without opening it. I go offline before viewing the mail. I find 
that most of the spam messages, when seen offline, show just blank boxes. 
(They are programmed to show the graphics only when you are online.) So, 
with the index finger of the left hand on DELETE and the index finger of 
the right hand on the DOWN ARROW, I view all messages one by one. The 
moment I see a big blank box, I know that it is spam and press the DELETE 
button. (There is nothing to read!). The process takes very little time but 
deletes most of the spam. (Muhammad Abd al-Hameed, Lahore, Pakistan)

SMELLING THE ROSES, METAPHORICALLY
Re: http://www.newsscan.com/cgi-bin/findit_view?table=newsletter&id=8964
      So what exactly is a "stealth-mode" startup like Kaltix? Is it 
something that tip-toes along until it's successful [or, of course, not]. 
One wonders who might fund such a venture? Does "leveraging" mean 
exploiting or even, heaven forefend, somehow "borrowing" other 
technologies??  What might be the licensing position regarding the 
inception of this research and its move to a more commercial 
environment?... Do you have a quote or comment from the other members of 
the Stanford University PageRank team?  Or from those that funded the 
research in the first place? Just interested... Roses are sweet and 
pure...  We must always keep smelling them in the turmoil of business and 
everything else. (Scott Pollard) [Good questions, all of them -- but alas 
we can't help you with any further insight from the Stanford folks. The 
article didn't go into any licensing or other arrangements they may have 
made with Kaltix. -- J&S]

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