As is tradition here, the Headlines staff will be taking a few days off to
serve as elves at Macy's (where our motto is: If you can't find it here,
check Amazon.com -- we own stock there now). There will be no CRH service
Thursday 12/23 -- Friday 12/31. We will be back Monday January 3, 2000 (Y2K
permitting).
INTERNET
White House Orders E-Vote Study (USA)
Interactive TV To Limit Web Access (SJM)
MEDIA LITERACY
Should Programs That Teach Kids To View Ads Critically Take Ads?
(WSJ)
TELEPHONY
An Ancient Roadblock (SJM)
INTERNET
WHITE HOUSE ORDERS E-VOTE STUDY
Issue: Internet
The White House is ordering the National Science Foundation to conduct a
one-year study on online voting. The White House will use a team of legal
scholars, technical specialists and experts on the democratic process to
consider whether cybervoting might increase turnout without creating fraud
or privacy problems. President Clinton is also signing two executive
memorandums today on developing Web resources. In one, the White House will
order the creation of a single Internet "portal" to be used to reach any
government Web site. In the second memorandum, Clinton will order Cabinet
secretaries and agency heads to pursue about a dozen specific initiatives,
in conjunction with the private sector to foster an "e-society." The
initiatives will include: expanding access to health care by encouraging
"telemedicine," and networks for doctors and patients that may be especially
important in rural areas; improving the ability of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency to respond to natural and man-made disasters through the
use of remote supercomputers; expanding access to "national treasures" at
the Smithsonian and elsewhere.
[SOURCE: USA Today (1A), AUTHOR: Susan Page]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/19991217/1764791s.htm)
See Also
WHITE HOUSE ORDERS STUDY OF ONLINE VOTING - REPORT
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/942l.htm)
INTERACTIVE TV TO LIMIT WEB ACCESS
Issue: Interactive TV/Internet
AT&T and Microsoft are developing an interactive TV service that will allow
customers to shop electronically, read headlines and sports scores, check
the weather and send e-mail. One thing that consumers won't be able to do,
however, is have unrestricted access to the Internet. According to current
plans, full access to the Web will cost subscribers an additional fee. The
basic interactive service will be available at no extra charge to AT&T's
"digital cable" offering, which sells for $10 per month. The company plans
to collect a premium from business who want to sell products and services
electronically to cable viewers.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Jon Healey]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/inter121799.htm)
MEDIA LITERACY
SHOULD PROGRAMS THAT TEACH KIDS TO VIEW ADS CRITICALLY TAKE ADS?
Issue: Advertising/Media Literacy
The Locke Middle School in Billerica, Massachusetts mandated a "media
literacy" component in its sixth-grade English classes, in part to help
students figure out when advertising and other mass-media messages are not
telling the truth. Now Locke and the 12,000 other schools that air the
Channel One broadcast are about to receive a free media-literacy curriculum
that deals with such thorny issues. But the benefactor is Channel One, which
is one of several companies trying to promote their own version of media
truths. Critics liken companies such as Channel One teaching media literacy
to beer companies promoting safe drinking. Educational guidelines in 48
states call for some form of media education including understanding how TV
news is edited and produced, reading labels on food packages and studying
whether Internet information sources are reliable. Most of the programs are
informal, and now media companies are developing materials themselves, which
could be a problem as children receive conflicting message from educators
and the commercial world.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Daniel Golden]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB945386201377345198.htm)
TELEPHONY
AN ANCIENT ROADBLOCK
Issue: Telephony
Qwest was ordered to stop work laying broadband fiber-optic cable throughout
California after the state Public Utilities Commission charged the company
with ignoring laws designed to protect Indian burial sites. The PUC ordered
Qwest to suspend work after it was discovered digging near a prominent
burial ground in San Jose. "They should have known it was there," said Larry
Myers, executive secretary of the state's Native American Heritage
Commission. "It was a recorded site." The PUC and Indian groups are becoming
increasingly concerned that the telecom diggers are flouting California
environmental laws aimed at safeguarding sensitive archaeological areas. We
can't stop progress," said Howard Soto, an Native American activist. "But we
can ensure that our heritage is preserved"
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Ken Mclaughlin]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/qwest121799.htm)
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