BROADBAND
Here's Broadband in Your Pocket
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Illinois Paper to Become Nonprofit
ACCESSIBILITY
Thai Project Yields Net Reader for the Blind
INTERNET
Peddling the Internet in Laos
A Web Site in India That Revealed Graft Becomes a Target
Ex-Yahoo Chief Acquitted Over Nazi Sites
BROADBAND
HERE'S BROADBAND IN YOUR POCKET
Researchers at Bell Labs in Australia have developed a chip that allows
users to access audio and video content via a cell phone at speeds faster
than conventional T-1 lines. The "turbo decoder chip" is available for a
license fee and observers say the new technology could rival wi-fi's
popularity, especially in urban areas. The new chip can access any wireless
network via a 3G device at twice the speed of most wi-fi devices, but
spectrum allocation and cost issues may prevent it from taking off.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Elisa Batista]
(http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,57641,00.html)
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
ILLINOIS PAPER TO BECOME NONPROFIT
A family-owned newspaper in Illinois has opted to secure local ownership by
turning operation over to a non-profit foundation -- the second paper to do
so is recent months. The News-Gazette of Champaign follows in the steps of
another small paper in Alabama that went the non-profit route in December,
creating in the process an institute that would sponsor a graduate
journalism program at the University of Alabama. Marajen Stevick Chinigo,
News-Gazette Inc.'s late chairman, was adamant that the newspaper and its
two sibling radio stations remain locally owned and operated.
[SOURCE: Yahoo! News, AUTHOR: Mark Fitzgerald, Editor & Publisher]
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ep/20030211/en_bpiep/illino
is_paper_to_become_nonprofit)
(URL may need to be pasted together if broken)
ACCESSIBILITY
THAI PROJECT YIELDS NET READER FOR THE BLIND
This week, Thailand's Chulalongkorn University and IBM announced the release
of Home Page Reader v3.02, a Web browser designed for native Thai speakers
who are visually impaired. Not unlike other screen readers for the blind,
the software is able to read aloud the textual content of Web pages and
email. However, the tool is the first of its kind to be able to read aloud
pages written in Thai, correctly pronouncing the tonal language with its
five tones, 44 consonants and many vowels. "The tool is a significant
digital opportunity to drive all people, including a large number of those
with visual disabilities, into the digital era," said Monthian Buntan,
acting president of the Thailand Association of the Blind. Sudaoporn
Luksaneeyanawin, director of the project at Chulalongkorn University, says
that she and her team may next try to develop software that will allow
computers to convert spoken Thai into text.
[SOURCE: The Nation (Bangkok), AUTHOR: Sirivish Toomgum]
(http://www.nationmultimedia.com/page.news.php3?clid=2&theme=A&usrsess=1&id=
9039)
(URL may need to be pasted together if broken)
INTERNET
PEDDLING THE INTERNET IN LAOS
Residents of the remote Lao village of Ban Phon Kham will soon join the
global village thanks to an Internet initiative implemented by the San
Franciso-based Jhai Foundation. The hamlet will utilize wi-fi wireless
technology to connect to the Net, powered by an array of batteries charged
through the pedaling of stationary bicycles. Vietnam War veteran Lee Thorn,
developer of the initiative, hopes the program will bring increased economic
opportunity to the village, as well as help heal the wounds left over from
the war, during which Laos gained the distinction of becoming the most
bombed nation in the world. "We're trying to make this as simple as possible
so it can be replicated anywhere in the world," Thorn said. Thorn expects it
will cost about USD $21 a month to sustain access in the village.
[Source CBS News, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/12/tech/main540378.shtml)
(http://www.jhai.org)
A WEB SITE IN INDIA THAT REVEALED GRAFT BECOMES A TARGET
Owners and editors of the Indian news Web site Tehelka.com have been jailed,
audited and prosecuted since airing a controversial story of government
graft nearly two years ago. The workforce at Tehelka.com has shrunk from 125
employees to just three, with no journalists left on staff. Founder Tarun
Tejpal, who has been unable to garner new investment, says that the scrutiny
of his work is unparalleled and unwarranted, adding, "No story in the
history of world journalism has been through this."
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Amy Waldman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/13/international/asia/13INDI.html?ex=1046143
691&ei=1&en=a8bd2d2c32ab78aa)
(URL may need to be pasted together if broken)
EX-YAHOO CHIEF ACQUITTED OVER NAZI SITES
In a victory for free-speech advocates on the Web, former Yahoo chief
Timothy Koogle was found not guilty of condoning war crimes by selling Nazi
Third Reich memorabilia on the Yahoo Web site. A French court ruled that
Koogle's actions did not praise Nazism or "shed favorable light" on Adolf
Hitler's policies. Yahoo had banned the sale of most Nazi artifacts on its
site following the initial lawsuit in 2000.
[SOURCE: CNN, AUTHOR: Reuters]
(http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/02/11/france.yahoo.reut/index.html)
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