Flux
Happy Holidays: Just before they left for their election break, those well-intentioned folks on Capitol Hill left you and me with a ticking time bomb called the Digital Telephony Bill. Sure, thousands of you phoned, faxed, and e-mailed your opposition, but it passed the House and got unanimous approval in the Senate. God knows Mr. Bill (Clinton) didn't have the backbone to veto it. When you're facing the national security state, things get tough. It's not enough to build in vague, loophole-laden assurances of privacy (the EFF's claim to fame on this particular piece of legislation). We had a chance once and forever to keep the government out of our phone switches. As it stands, future J. Edgar Hoovers and Richard Nixons will have an open invitation to your phone calls - be they voice or data. Not to mention Oliver North.
Butt-head, the Sequel: Remember some months ago, when astronomer Carl Sagan threatened to sue Apple unless it changed the code name of a secret project called Sagan? Apple cheerfully complied by changing the name to "Butt-head Astronomer," a move that so infuriated Sagan he sued the company for libel. Well, the court has dismissed the case, thankfully, and with some wonderful conclusions as well: "One does not seriously attack the expertise of a scientist using the undefined phrase 'butt-head,'" wrote a judge in the US District Court, Central District of California. "Thus, the figurative language militates against implying an assertion of fact."
+1 (800) 768 2221: That's the number far-right, Traditional-Values-Coalition leader Reverend Lou Sheldon has set up as a direct line to the Capitol. Seems the Reverend wanted his anti-gay minions to use the toll-free line to express their hate mongering - but, hey, anyone can call the number and get connected to his or her representatives. We tried it; it really works. And it's free! Why not call up the Senate today and express your views, and let the ol' Reverend pick up the tab for you? You might even toss in a few choice lines on the Digital Telephony Bill, while you're at it.
Microsoft Book Notes: Bill Gates and his co-authors are learning just how tough it is to write a book. Or, rather, Bill Gates, Microsoft tech wizard Nathan Myhrvold, and a writer called in to help them make a book out of their thoughts on the infobahn are learning how tough it is to work with publishers. Rumor has it they turned in a manuscript but the publisher (Viking) thought only five chapters were ready for prime time. So The Road Ahead, originally slated as a Christmas book, will not be out at least until March. Meanwhile, Microsoft's much-publicized but still nonexistent next-level operating system (once called Chicago, now named Windows 95) does have a book out, amazingly enough. It's called Inside Windows 95, and it "provides an overview of every new feature of the Windows operating system - including the base system architecture, the file system, and the new user interface." Has the publisher (Microsoft Press) shown this to the sleep-deprived coders over at Building 8 yet? Maybe they could read it and finally get the product shipped.
Really Driving on the I-bahn: A Seattle Volvo dealership opened up a WWW site (http://www.dealernet.com), and serendipity prevailed. While the Web isn't the greatest place in the world for selling cars, the page has turned up quite a nice parts business.
Survey Says: A global survey of consumer demand for interactive services came up with some interesting conclusions. Conducted by multimedia research firm Inteco (+1 (203) 866 4400), the survey found that households are cancelling their premium movie channels and curling up with a good CD-ROM instead. In fact, home PC purchases are driven largely by entertainment and education rather than work-at-home applications.
Fun fact for the month: Mortal Kombat II, the even bloodier sequel to the controversial rip-off-the-skull-and-see-the-spine-dangle videogame, sold US$50 million in its first week this past fall. That beats every hit movie's comparable receipts, from Forrest Gump to The Lion King.
One more fun fact: The number of international phone calls made worldwide rose from 23 billion minutes' worth in 1988 to 43 billion minutes' worth in 1993, according to BusinessWeek. That's nearly 82,000 years' worth of one country talking to another. A good sign?
Who Are We?: A recent Internet-based survey turned up some not-so-surprising numbers on who is using the info highway. According to a summary of the survey, respondents "were predominately male (nearly 80 percent), white (again nearly 80 percent), and young (median age of 31 years). About 40 percent classified themselves as single and never-been-married. The median household income of the 310 US citizens who responded was between US$40,000 and $59,000 annually. More than 22 percent of these respondents claimed an annual household income that exceeded $80,000." As for politics: 36 percent Democrat, 32 percent independent and 23 percent Republican.
Internet Index, Version 3: More cool numbers from Win Treese's Internet Index - number of daily newspapers with Internet mail addresses, 54; number of TV and radio stations with Internet mail addresses, 62; average time between new network connections, 30 minutes; number of commercial domains registered between July 15 and August 15, 1,401; number of Internet access providers (US), more than 100; number of cable television companies providing Internet access, one. To subscribe to future issues of the Internet Index, send a message saying
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