DIGITAL DIVIDE
Women Surf Past Men On the Internet (WP)
EDTECH
Choosing Quick Hits Over The Card Catalog (NYT)
No Lectures or Teachers, Just Software (NYT)
For the New College B.M.O.C., 'M' Is for 'Machine' (NYT)
INTERNET
Judge Blocks Va. Law on Internet Porn (WP)
The Campaign on the Web (WP)
AOL Is Taking Down MP3 Search Engine (WSJ)
PRIVACY
FBI Refuses to Reveal Data on Carnivore, Tells Congress Documents
Are Classified(WSJ)
'Sensitive' Kaiser E-Mails Go Astray (WP)
Users Get Privacy On Web From Freedom Software (WSJ)
Online Privacy Technologies Workshop (NTIA)
JOBS
Extent of Telephone Strike May Have Surprised Target (NYT)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
WOMEN SURF PAST MEN ON THE INTERNET
Issue: Digital Divide/Gender
Female users of the Internet now outnumber male users
according to a new survey shows by Media Metrix and Jupiter Communications.
The survey is based on a sample group of 55,000 users. In May of 1999 the
total U.S. online population was 45.4 percent female and 54.4 percent male.
In May 2000 the numbers have changed to 50.4 percent female and 49.6 percent
male. The survey accounts for users age 2 and up. Of course, measuring actual
WWW users is difficult, but this survey seems to confirm a trend reflected
in other ISP service subscriptions. Usage by women has grown among all
demographic groups and ages. But the Media Metrix/Jupiter Communications survey
found that among those 24 to 34, when many women are starting families, the
most popular Web sites are Babygear.com, Pampers.com and Ibaby.com. At the
35 to 44 age bracket, women make up relatively large proportions of visitors
to consumer product sites and health sites. Among the 55-and-up set,
genealogy sites are popular.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Klein and Johnson]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A137-2000Aug9.html)
EDTECH
CHOOSING QUICK HITS OVER THE CARD CATALOG
Issue: EdTech/Libraries
Many younger students today prefer to do their research online rather than
at the library. They feel more comfortable sorting through hyperlinks than
card catalogs even though libraries are organized and easily navigated. The
trend troubles educators who fear that point-and-click research can lead to
lazy study habits and ineffective searches. "Students have an idea when they
come into the library that everything they need is on the Internet," said
Mary Arnold, president of the Young Adult Library Services Association and a
librarian at the Cuyahoga County Public Library near Cleveland. "That may be
true, but they often don't know how to find it." The University of
Michigan's School of Education developed Artemis to help students do better
Web searches: it included a spell checker and a thesaurus to help poor
spellers [like me] and students who don't know synonyms for the terms they
are searching for. The URL also includes eight hints for better Web searches.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Lori Leibovich]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10thin.html)
NO LECTURES OR TEACHERS, JUST SOFTWARE
Issue: EdTech
Dr Roger Schank, director of the Institute for Learning Sciences at
Northwestern University, wants to use technology to overhaul the entire
education system. "The computer is our Trojan mouse," he said. "It allows us
to get our foot in the door to do something radical and difficult." Through
his company, Cognitive Arts, Dr Schank has developed more than 100
software-bases education programs that programs combine the look of
high-tech video games with a Mission Impossible-style narrative. A course in
biology, for instance, might challenge students to stop a worldwide virus
outbreak. The aim is to get students to delve into a course's volumes of
academic information, including hours of videotape of experts in a field
related to the program. "The value of the computer is that it allows kids to
learn by doing," he said. "People don't learn by being talked at. They learn
when they attempt to do something and fail. Learning happens when they try
to figure out why." The goal-based scenarios, Dr Schank believes, get kids
excited. Read some criticism and support for his approach at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D6), AUTHOR: Joshua Green]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10prof.html)
FOR THE NEW COLLEGE B.M.O.C., 'M' IS FOR 'MACHINE'
Issue: EdTech
A look at what equipment is considered essential as kids go off to college.
At the top of the list is the computer which is used to do research, play
music, communicate, turn in assignments, register for classes [ok,not in
this exact order]...
This trifecta of stories lets you know what technology students are using
and how -- and helps you pick out a computer for your college-bound student.
[SOURCE: New York Times (D7), AUTHOR: Lisa Guernsey]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10dorm.html)
See Also:
PC 101: PITFALLS TO AVOID ON THE WAY TO COLLEGE
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Peter Lewis]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10pete.html)
THE MODERN STUDENT: BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
[SOURCE: New York Times (D1), AUTHOR: Katie Hafner]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10gadg.html)
INTERNET
JUDGE BLOCKS VA. LAW ON INTERNET PORN
Issue: Legal Issues
U.S. District Judge James Michael Jr. repealed a Virginia law passed in
April 1999 that made it illegal to use the Internet to sell, rent or lend
sexually explicit pictures or written narratives to juveniles, ruling that
it violated the First Amendment rights of online users. "The effort by
Virginia to restrict the Internet--making it so it can have only materials
fit for children--is presumptively illegal," said Elliot Mincberg, legal
director for the nonprofit People for the American Way, which filed the
lawsuit along with 16 Internet businesses and others. "There are many
materials that could fall in this vague zone--sex education materials and
art materials that clearly would be proper for adults and might not be
proper for children." David Botkins, a spokesman for the Virginia attorney
general's office, said, "Although we are disappointed in the decision, it is
just one more step in the evolution of Internet law. Laws that apply to the
bricks-and-mortar world are having to be tailored to cyberspace, and with
that comes various legal challenges."
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Glod and White]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A358-2000Aug9.html)
THE CAMPAIGN ON THE WEB
Issue: Political Discourse
Shortly after Vice President Gore (D-TN) selected Sen Joseph Lieberman
(D-CT) as his running mate, the Internet campaign team discovered that
practically every conceivable Gore-Lieberman combination had already been
snatched up by cyber-squatters seeking to cash in on their domain name
investment. Ben Green, the Internet campaign director, said he has received
solicitations as high as $200,000/month to lease an address. Meanwhile,
David Jackson, a 20-year-old Orthodox Jew at the University of Maryland, had
registered www.gorelieberman.com. When word spread that Lieberman would join
Gore on the ticket, Jackson offered to give away the address for free. So in
Nashville yesterday, there was much rejoicing. "We were just very, very
lucky that the individual who owned it was not a materialistic person but
just a very nice kid," Green said. Many domain investors are not quite so
nice. One particular squatter, Pete Lucas of Bridgewater (NJ), who held at
least five possible Gore-Lieberman addresses, also owns combinations of
George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney. Lucas has suggested that he might use
several "R-rated" addresses related to the name "George W. Bush" that he
owns as leverage to get the Bush campaign to pay for a G-rated Bush-Cheney
address.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A19), AUTHOR: Ben Wjote]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1201-2000Aug9.html)
AOL IS TAKING DOWN MP3 SEARCH ENGINE
Issue: Intellectual Property
AOL said it would take down a controversial search engine that for the past
month has allowed Internet users to locate music files in the popular MP3
file format including pirated versions of songs. The search engine was
developed by AOL's Winamp site and added to the group's home page at
www.winamp.com about a month ago. AOL's aim was to add a search function to
its Winamp site. AOL doesn't store the MP3 files on its own computers,
instead providing hyperlinks to songs on other Web sites. Although the AOL
search engine is hardly the first of its kind, the company's proposed
acquisition of Time Warner added an interesting twist. People familiar with
the matter said AOL decided to take the search engine down after media
inquiries to AOL and Time Warner about the service. Time Warner's Warner
Music group had questioned how AOL could have put the service up and what
impact it could have on Warner Music's relations with artists. Several
Warner Music labels are among the record companies that earlier this year
filed a copyright-infringement suit in federal court in Manhattan against
MP3Board, a Web site that lets users search for MP3s on other sites.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Nick Wingfield And Martin Peers]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965864619718115505.htm)
PRIVACY
FBI REFUSES TO REVEAL DATA ON CARNIVORE, TELLS CONGRESS DOCUMENTS ARE
CLASSIFIED
Issue:Privacy
Answering a member of Congress who has introduced a bill to make it harder
for the FBI to use Carnivore-the Internet surveillance system --, the FBI
said in a letter to the House's oversight committee that it is "not
presently in a position" to provide documents he requested. "There remains
substantial public misunderstanding and misinformation about the system,"
wrote John Collingwood, assistant director for public affairs. The FBI also
said some of the documents requested include classified information and
others are the subject of a pending lawsuit seeking their release. Critics
have complained that Carnivore makes it easy to capture e-mail from innocent
citizens using the same Internet provider as those under surveillance. To
reassure critics, the Justice Department may give Carnivore's blueprints to
an academic institution for private analysis. The FBI continue to defend
Carnivore, saying in the letter that "Carnivore is not the evil echelon that
people think it is. There is so much misinformation out there," he said.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B8), AUTHOR: Ted Bridis]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965861735609205665.htm)
'SENSITIVE' KAISER E-MAILS GO ASTRAY
Issue: Privacy
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health insurers, said yesterday that
it accidentally compromised the confidentiality of members who used its Web
site by sending 858 e-mail messages to the wrong Kaiser members last week.
Some the emails contained health information deemed 'sensitive.' Some of the
mis-sent messages contained the full names, home phone numbers and medical
account numbers of the Kaiser members, Kaiser spokeswoman Beverly Hayon
said. In total, 19 Kaiser customers received emails intended for others.
Kaiser officials cited "human error" and a "technological glitch" that
occurred Aug. 2 during a Web site upgrade. The Kaiser member site allows
members to fill prescriptions, make appointments and seek medical advice by
e-mail. Anna-Lisa Silvestre, director of the Web site, said company
officials have attempted to phone each of the members whose e-mails were
misdirected. Last night, 687 members had been reached, she said. "We
apologized to every single person we called," she said. About 250,000
customers nationwide use the "members only" section of Kaiser's Web site,
which requires a personal identification number and account number to enter.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Bill Brubaker]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64768-2000Aug9.html)
USERS GET PRIVACY ON WEB FROM FREEDOM SOFTWARE
Issue: Privacy
Due to the carelessness with which online merchants and advertisers have
handled the tracking data most users hand over to them, individual privacy
is becoming a pressing matter for many Internet users. Consider the number
of ways Web site owners and advertisers can follow you across the Internet.
Just opening a Web page broadcasts a long number identifying your location
on the Internet. Many sites also immediately assign you one or more
"cookies," small files they write to your hard disk, many containing codes
that identify you in some way. Think about the ways unscrupulous online
merchants and advertisers can put together all that personal data you
provide in Web-based forms, and it becomes clear that the Web knows more
about you than you think. DoubleClick earlier this year ran into a storm of
protest and had to scrap a plan that would have allowed it to sell a record
of the Web pages you have visited to. A variety of companies are now
offering software and related services to plug those privacy gaps, assuming
that users are willing to put up with the additional hassle required to use
them correctly. Companies like Zero-Knowledge Systems lets users establish
alternate identities called "nyms", and then routes all Internet traffic
associated with a given nym through its own "Freedom network," ensuring that
no personally identifying information leaks out to merchants or advertisers.
Using the service isn't cheap: A five-pack of nyms costs $50, and each is
only good for one year.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: David P. Hamilton]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB965858793186890806.htm)
ONLINE PRIVACY TECHNOLOGIES WORKSHOP
Issue: Privacy
NTIA will host a public workshop on September 19 to examine technological
tools and developments that can enhance consumer privacy online. NTIA and
the Internet Education Foundation will simultaneously co-host a Technology
Fair to demonstrate the use and capabilities of a broad array of online
privacy technologies. The workshop and technology fair will be held 9:00
a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on September 19, 2000. The workshop and fair are open to
the public and are free-of-charge. No advanced registration is necessary.
The workshop and technology fair will be located at the U.S. Department of
Commerce Main Auditorium and Lobby, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, DC, 20230 (entrance on 14th Street between Constitution and
Pennsylvania Avenues).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information about the workshop, contact
either Judy Kilpatrick at NTIA, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution
Avenue, NW, Room 4701, Washington, DC 20230, telephone (202) 482-1866,
facsimile (202) 482-0023, or e-mail privtech( at )ntia.doc.gov; or Wendy Lader at
NTIA, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 4725,
Washington, DC 20230, phone (202) 482-1880, facsimile (202) 482-8058, or
e-mail privtech( at )ntia.doc.gov.
For further information about the technology fair, contact Tim Lordan at
Internet Education Foundation, 1634 I Street, NW, Suite 1107, Washington, DC
20006, phone (202) 638-4370, or e- mail tim( at )neted.org
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/privacy/index.html)
JOBS
EXTENT OF TELEPHONE STRIKE MAY HAVE SURPRISED TARGET
Issue: Jobs
Hopes for a quick resolution to the strike at Verizon are dimming and some
are wondering how the company ever let this happen. It could be management's
focus on the merger with GTE and subsequent campaign to promote the new
company and its name. "I think there probably was a certain amount of
arrogance here on management's part," said Neil Bernstein, a professor of
law at Washington University in St. Louis who also works as a labor
arbitrator. "Telephone companies have generally not been overly concerned
about strikes, mainly because their services are so automated." The company
denies that it underestimated the challenge of reaching a new contract. "No
company ever wants a strike, and we most certainly did everything we could
to prevent one," said Eric Rabe, Verizon's spokesman. "Sometimes it's just
necessary to get eyeball to eyeball on issues." Customers in 12 Eastern
states cannot access directory assistance. And request for repairs have
swelled to 82,000 compared to 36,000 this time last month.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/081000verizon-strike.html)
See Also:
VERIZON, STRIKING UNIONS CONTINUE TALKS, BUT BOTH SIDES SAY SITUATION IS
TENSE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Deborah Solomon]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB96585952118455914.htm)
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