October 2005

The problem: VoIP users who call 911 from hotels and other remote sites sometimes can't be found by 911 operators. That's because the correct locations of these “nomadic” users don't show up on operators' screens. AT&T says it's solved a problem that has dogged Internet-based phone service: how to provide emergency 911 to people who use VoIP -- short for Voice over Internet Protocol -- on the road. AT&T's nomadic solution, called Heartbeat, uses its Internet network to track the location of users.

Led by the Internet, the high-tech industry appears to be entering a vibrant new phase of both growth and upheaval. It is the Web's sober second act, characterized not by soaring stock prices but by forces that are challenging traditional industries - from publishing to telecommunications - to adopt new business plans. Consumers seem to be the only sure winners.

There's a small but growing number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have tried their hands at blogging. More than a dozen have launched blogs or blog-like pages on their official Web sites in an apparent effort to sidestep the mainstream media and, like thousands -- possibly, millions -- of other Americans, take their stories directly to the public. Some are short-lived, beginning and ending with a trip overseas. Others are permanent. Some are updated daily. Others, once in a while. The sites, invariably, are much tamer than other, well-known blogs. There is no fire-breathing partisanship.

Mayor Richard Daley is a diehard and lifelong White Sox fan, but he acknowledged ruefully Thursday that Chicago is a Cubs town. And that's because Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune, promotes its sports team with its media holdings, Mayor Daley asserted. "How can you compete with . . . Tribune?" he asked. "I mean, give me a break. They own the Cubs, they own WGN Radio (and) TV and CLTV. Come on. You think you are going to get any publicity for the White Sox?