DIGITAL DIVIDE
Report Urges Change in Male-Dominated Culture of Computing (SJM)
Japan Internet Access Jumps to 19.1% of Households (SJM)
SATELLITES
Iridium, Bankrupt, Is Planning A Fiery Ending For Its 88 Satellites
(NYT)
Bruised Teledesic at Brink (USA)
TELEVISION
Bumpy Road Slows Digital TV Rollout (SJM)
DTV: Getting Over the Hurdles (NTIA)
Europe's 'Reality' TV: Chains and Big Brother (NYT)
WIRELESS
'Spammers' New Calling: Cell Phones (WP)
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFO
Going Online: The Opinions That Count (NYT)
ANTITRUST
An Online Scoop On Microsoft Goes Poof (NYT)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
REPORT URGES CHANGE IN MALE-DOMINATED CULTURE OF COMPUTING
Issue: Digital Divide/Gender
A report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) scheduled
for release today cites an imbalance in the computing/science coursed taken
by female and male high school students. Female students account for 17
percent of the students that opt to take the College Board's Advanced
Placement exam in computer science; earn 28 percent of the computer science
bachelor's degrees awarded; and make up only 20 percent of information
technology professionals. What's needed is change in the culture that
discourages female participation in these academic and professional areas
contends the report, "Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age."
The male-dominated computer culture must change in order to attract girls
and women to technology. Sherry Turkle, professor of sociology at MIT,
co-chaired the commission that wrote the report. The lack of participation
by females in these areas seems not to be related to a phobia of math or
science, but instead a lack of interest in currently promoted uses of
computers. When asked to describe a person who was really good with
computers, the girls interviewed would often describe a man. The report also
noted: "Girls outnumbered boys only in their enrollment in word processing
classes, arguably the 1990s version of typing." Parents are also providing
boys more opportunities with computers. Boys tend to have a computer in
their bedrooms, attend computer camps, and are allowed to tinker with
machines. The commission report concludes that students need to be better
educated about the range of career options that use technology.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Martha Woodall, Knight Ridder]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/girls041100.htm)
JAPAN INTERNET ACCESS JUMPS TO 19.1% OF HOUSEHOLDS
Issue: Digital Divide/International
Japan's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications said in an annual
report on Tuesday that 19.1 percent of Japanese households had access to the
Internet, up from 11.0 percent a year earlier. In 1997 the rate was just
6.4%. Japan has a population of 125 million. Companies using the
Internet also rose. 78.3 percent of firms reported that they were accessing
the Web compared to 63.7 percent the year before.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/011662.htm
SATELLITES
IRIDIUM, BANKRUPT, IS PLANNING A FIERY ENDING FOR ITS 88 SATELLITES
Issue: Satellites
In another example why we should just trust marketplace forces, Iridium, the
bankrupt global satellite telephone company, will begin spiraling 88 giant
satellites toward Earth and a fiery death. [Don't you worry, we believe
they'll all crash in Schaumburg, IL] Total cost for the system which
promised anytime communication with anyone, anywhere: over $5 billion. Total
subscribers: ~55,000 -- not enough to pay the interest on the start-up
costs. "It was a technology that didn't live up to its hype or its billing,"
said James Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, who has
chronicled Iridium's problems, noting that the telephones could not even be
used indoors. "People chose to overlook the risks because they were
bedazzled by the technology and the promoters or sponsors."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C1), AUTHOR: David Barboza]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/11iridium.html)
BRUISED TELEDESIC AT BRINK
Issue: Satellites
Teledesic, the $10 billion plan to build an "Internet in the sky," faces a
slew of troubles including problems with partners, an economically
unfeasible design, and a financial community skeptical about satellites
since the demise of Iridium. Craig McCaw, the cellular pioneer who is one of
the projects major backers, believes the venture can be saved and will
release a secret plan to do so in the coming weeks. The plan is said to
include a dramatic redesign of the system by cutting the number of
satellites, and adding an infusion of capital through the recruitment of new
investors. The company was started in 1994 when McCaw and Bill Gates,
chairman of Microsoft, each put in $5 million to start the system with a
goal of providing worldwide high-speed Internet access to much of the world.
Since then, the plan has hit snag after snag. The number of satellites,
originally envisioned at 840, has been cut several times, and the date that
service would start, originally 2001, has been pushed back several times to
its current date of 2004. Additionally, the prime contractor for the
satellites has been moved from Boeing to Motorola, causing further delays
and straining relations with investors.
[SOURCE: USA Today (1B), AUTHOR: Kevin Maney]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000411/2131983s.htm)
TELEVISION
BUMPY ROAD SLOWS DIGITAL TV ROLLOUT
Issue: Digital TV
The road ahead for digital television is going to be bumpy. TV makers are
claiming more content in the high-definition format must be created by
broadcasters. Broadcasters are saying that manufacturers must develop better
digital TVs and make them compatible with cable boxes. Meanwhile the FCC is
pressuring TV set makers and cable companies to resolve differences over how
to make digital TV sets compatible with cable boxes. The talk of changing
standards is making everyone jumpy. The unresolved cable issue is
significant. First more than two-thirds of Americans get their TV signals
via cable. If that weren't enough, customers who buy digital TV sets, now
are getting only slightly better picture because the cable box can't
communicate with the set. On top of that sundae of issues add the sprinkles
and cherries of unanswered questions about labeling devices telling
consumers whether their digital set connects to other digital appliances,
such as VCRs and copy protection technologies. The FCC is expected on
Thursday to begin devising rules on those matters if the industries can't
work it out themselves.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Kalpana Srinivasan, Associated Press]
(http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/411090l.htm)
DTV: GETTING OVER THE HURDLES
Issue: Digital Television
Remarks by Assistant Secretary Rohde at the annual meeting of the
Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), April 10, 2000. "The term
"conversion" has its origins in a Greek word which means "to repent" or to
"have a new outlook." The conversion to digital for the television industry
is creating a whole new perspective for television. While there are some
constants - such as the unquestionable value of local news and information
and the need for that to be free and accessible to all citizens in our
society - the digital era opens up new avenues to serve the needs of local
communities."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/lv41000.htm)
EUROPE'S 'REALITY' TV: CHAINS AND BIG BROTHER
Issue: Television
Another article on the hottest new genre in international television:
reality TV. CBS plans to air a version of a European show called Big Brother
in which five men and five women are sealed into a heavily-microphoned and
camera-laden home for 100 days. Viewers vote to kick some of the contestants
out until just one winner remains. The shows creator thinks he has 20-25
similar formats that could work in the US. "My explanation is that our
everyday life has become very boring and nondramatic," said Jens Jessen,
chief culture editor of Die Zeit, the German newsweekly. "People are missing
the real life in their lives, so they want a substitute life."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A4), AUTHOR: Edmund Andrews]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/europe-tv.html)
WIRELESS
'SPAMMERS' NEW CALLING: CELL PHONES
Issue: Wireless
Users of AT&T wireless phones with text messaging received unsolicited text
messages from a company that wanted to sell them cell phone accessories.
This seems to be particularly possible on AT&T's system because it is set up
so that users of its text messaging feature automatically get an email
address consisting of their phone number, followed by "( at )mobile.att.net."
"Because of the way AT&T sets up the e-mail account, all you need to do is
just try consecutive numbers," said Nick Nicholas, an "evangelist" at the
Mail Abuse Prevention System, an organization that tries to get Internet
providers to cut off spammers' access. AT&T spokeswoman Alexa Graf hadn't
heard of the unsolicited transmission until she received a call from a
reporter yesterday. "The last thing we want to do is start spamming our
customers," she said.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Mike Musgrove]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51301-2000Apr10.html)
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFO
GOING ONLINE: THE OPINIONS THAT COUNT
Issue: Access to Government Info
The Supreme Court has announced that it will make its decisions available
online hours after their 10am release through a link to a site run by the
Government Printing Office. The address for the Court will be
(www.supremecourtus.gov). Other information to be available on the Web site
includes the weekly orders granting and denying new appeals; the court's
schedule and argument calendar; the court's rules; bar admission forms and
instructions; visitors' guides; news releases; and general information, like
biographies of the justices.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A19), AUTHOR: Linda Greenhouse]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/041100scotus-online
.html)
See Also:
HIGH COURT GETS OFF THE CYBERBENCH OPINIONS, ORDERS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO
PUBLIC ONLINE
[SOURCE: USA Today (3A), AUTHOR: Richard Willing]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000411/2132095s.htm)
A BROADER AUDIENCE FOR THE COURT
A NYTimes op-ed urging the Supreme Court to open its proceedings to TV cameras.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A30), AUTHOR: NYTimes Editorial Staff]
(http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/11tue3.html)
ANTITRUST
AN ONLINE SCOOP ON MICROSOFT GOES POOF
Issue: Journalism/Antitrust
For a while yesterday morning, The Wall Street Journal's Web site knew
something that no one else did. Microsoft might be forced by the Justice
Department to make the source code for Internet Explorer available to
customers and rivals. The story was picked up by Reuters and sent all over
the world. Then, just as the scoop was being broadcast by news outlets
jealous of the Journal's good fortune, and miffed at having to use wire
copy, the story was unceremoniously pulled from the site. The Journal is
being reticent about the whole thing. Dick Tofel, a spokesman for the paper,
would say nothing about the article's accuracy, and little more than nothing
about why it was removed. "The story was not ready for publication and
should not have been posted," he said.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Claudia Deutsch]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/11wall.html)
See Also:
MICROSOFT HIRES A BUSH ADVISOR TO LOBBY BUSH
Microsoft hires Ralph Reed, a senior consultant to Gov George Bush (R-TX),
to lobby Gov Bush in opposition to the government's antitrust case against
the software giant.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A1), AUTHOR: Joel Brinkley]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/biztech/articles/11soft.html)
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