V4 N47 -  1 May 2005

iTHINK ZONE
 

A Peek Into the Near Future of Electronics Technology

How long do you think DVDs have around? 20 years? 10 years? Actually, they have only been around for about seven years, but it seems like they have been around much longer. Many of us can hardly remember life before DVDs. That can be attributed to how rapidly we can become acclimated to some innovations in electronics technology. I believe there are other electronics technologies, either just getting ready to take off, not widely available yet, or just around the corner, that are going to become adopted just as quickly in the near future.

READ ON
http://cyberzone.pacific-tier.com/iThink.htm
[Posted April15 ]
 

REALITY ZONE

FEWER COLLEGE STUDENTS PURSUING COMPUTER SCIENCE DEGREES A new report from the Computing Research Association (CRA) shows a significant drop in the number of college freshmen in the United States who say they plan to major in computer science. The CRA looked at data from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles and found that between fall of 2000 and fall of 2004, interest in computer science fell by more than 60 percent and is now 70 percent below its all-time high. Interest among women has fallen even further, said the CRA, dropping 80 percent since 1998 and 93 percent since 1982. The CRA also conducted surveys of higher education institutions and came up with similar results. The report goes on to suggest that the United States will have difficulty meeting the demand for IT workers in coming years, increasing the gap with countries including India and China that are producing larger numbers of computer science graduates. "Freshmen interest levels at any given point have been an accurate predictor of trends in the number of degrees granted four to five years later," according to the report.
http://news.com.com//2100-1022_3-5681438.html

FRENCH COURT ORDER NO MORE "CAN'T COPY" DVDs A French court has ordered DVD vendors to pull copies of the David Lynch film "Mulholland Drive" off store shelves as part of an unprecedented ruling against copy prevention techniques.
http://www.bizreport.com/news/8873/

CYBERZONE

OLD COMPUTER DO FIND NEW USES
More than half the old personal computers replaced by consumers last year were put to productive use instead of being dumped or stored away, according to a nationwide survey by MetaFacts, a San Diego research firm.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/11500206.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

VCs OPEN WALLETS FOR OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE Venture capitalists are again embracing open-source technology companies, and a natural question may be whether some of them have perhaps lost their minds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/technology/27open.html?th&emc=th

MICROSOFT's GATES SEEKS EXTENDED OVERSEAS HIRING Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates urged the Bush administration and lawmakers Wednesday to abolish immigration limits on foreign engineers who can be hired by U.S. companies, a sensitive subject among American technology workers watching their own jobs increasingly move overseas.

During an infrequent visit to lobby personally for changes in federal policy, the world's richest executive said the government should eliminate the limit of 65,000 for overseas workers who can be hired each year by American firms under specialty "H1-B" visas aimed at drawing engineers, scientists, architects and doctors to the United States.
http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W3RT04277752E09A7C77F3CED3C751
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/04/27/financial/f130357D15.DTL&type=printable

WildBlue TO LAUNCH SATELLITE INTERNET
WildBlue Communications will launch its satellite based Internet service equipped with low prices and speed, comparable to DSL, in June 2005. The new service will provide broadband services with a speed of 1.5 Mb/s downstream to households and small business customers across the United States at $79.95. The monthly rate for 512 Kb/s downstream will be $49.95 while that of 1 Mb/s will be charged $69.95. The service will be launched through 300 National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative telephone and electric organizations. The services will also be made available in the urban areas by the end of the third quarter of 2005.
http://www.telecomweb.com/news/1114546151.htm

RESEARCHERS TEST DATA FLOW FOR GRID COMPUTING Researchers at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, have completed a test with seven other organizations in Europe and the United States in which 500 terabytes of data were transferred over 10 days.
http://www.theregister.com/2005/04/27/grid_computing_data_flow/

THE ECONOMICS OF BRAINS
Traditional economic theory assumes that human beings behave rationally. That is, that they understand their own preferences. But it's not very good at describing more-complex phenomena like why people gamble against the odds.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/05/issue/review_brains.asp?trk=nl

AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES CAN BE SUED FOR MISLEADING INFORMATION The Australian Communications Authority has announced that the Internet service providers and phone companies will be fined upto $250,000 if they disseminate misleading information concerning their products and services. Since the new standards have come into effect a company has to provide full product information on the packaging, warranties, advertising and contracts. If it declines to do so it can be taken to the Federal Court and a fined can be imposed. There is also a provision for the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which will see that the faulting company compensates the customer.
[WIRE SERVICE]

OREGON PROPOSES LOCAL CELLPHONE TAX
Major cell phone lobbyists have launched a campaign opposing a proposed law for Oregon municipalities to collect a 5 percent cell phone tax.
http://tech.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1039_3-5682497.html

ArtsPass DELIVERS ARTS EDUCATIONS OVER THE INTERNET When Richard Humphrey, chief executive officer of Arts4All, began searching for his nitch on the Internet, he started Master Vision, delivering video conferencing services over the Internet. Now he is forging Arts4All as a vehicle for bridging the gap between content online and technology. Arts4All is a leading provider of digital arts, arts education, and entertainment content.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/42275.html

SkyTerra BUYS HALF OF HUSHES NETWORK SYSTEMS SkyTerra Communications has completed the acquisition of a 50 percent interest in Hughes Network Systems from The DirecTV Group, in exchange for $50 million of cash and 300,000 shares of SkyTerra's common stock. SkyTerra will be manager of the venture, with The DirecTV Group retaining a 50 percent stake in HNS.
http://www.spacemart.com/news/vsat-05y.html

HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY's LOSS OF JOBS SLOWED IN 2004 Only 25,300 positions were lost, compared with 333,000 in 2003 The U.S. technology industry continues to bleed jobs, but at a much slower rate than it has in the past few years, according to a new report. The nation suffered a net loss of 25,300 tech jobs in 2004.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/26/BUG1RCF6541.DTL

STARTUP OFFERS DIGITAL TV, RADIO SHOWS ONLINE FOR FREE Open Media Network to distribute content OKd for distribution A Silicon Valley startup plans to begin distributing television shows, radio programs, movies, podcasts and video blogs for free online on April 27. But unlike file-sharing networks like Kazaa or BitTorrent, the new Open Media Network will only have media content that is authorized for online distribution.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/26/BUG1RCF64Q1.DTL

VoIP ZONE

FCC CHAIR PUSHES 911 FOR VOIP
Kevin Martin, the new chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), told a House subcommittee that he intends to pursue regulation that would require providers of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone service to include 911 service for consumers.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=8303447

TELMEX ACCUSED OF SABOTAGING VoIP
Numerous Telmex broadband subscribers are claiming that Mexico's incumbent phone operator is severely degrading the quality of their VoIP calls, perhaps intentionally, to the point of unusability. "It seems to be the case that Telmex is slowing VoIP uploads so much that all audio output is garbled," a subscriber named Wilber reported in the Skype Forum. A March report by the White House's Office of the US Trade Representative notes: "Uncertainty regarding the treatment of voice over Internet Protocol services in Mexico is cause for concern." The Telmex situation appears similar to the conditions global VoIP operators face in many countries, such as Qatar, Costa Rica and Panama, which have government-owned or government-protected phone companies.
http://news.com.com/Mexico+telephone+operator+under+VoIP+fire/2100-7352_3-5681542.html

BIO/NANO/MEMS ZONE

MICROBIAL FUEL CELL
High-yield hydrogen source and wastewater cleaner. Using a new electrically-assisted microbial fuel cell (MFC) that does not require oxygen, researchers at Penn State and Ion Power Inc. have developed the first process that enables bacteria to coax four times as much hydrogen directly out of biomass than can be generated typically by fermentation alone.
http://live.psu.edu/story/11709

MIND-READING MACHINE KNOWS WHAT YOU SEE
What someone sees can be detected by remotely measuring their brain activity - even extracting information that people are not aware they possessed. The newly-demonstrated technique may lead to breakthroughs in measuring consciousness, helping doctors assess coma patients.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7304


FROZEN LIGHT
Scientists at Harvard University have shown how ultra-cold atoms can be used to freeze and control light to form the central processing unit of an optical computer. This new research could be a major breakthrough in the quest to create super-fast computers that use light instead of electrons.
Optical computers would transport information 10-times faster than traditional electronic devices, smashing the intrinsic speed limit of silicon technology.
http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20050426A2

COOPING UP AVIAN FLU
If the next flu pandemic follows the pattern of previous pandemics, a third of the world's population could be infected and perhaps one percent of those people might die. That is, unless the inevitable could be delayed long enough for countries to ramp up production of vaccines and antiviral drugs. A bold idea circulating among flu experts offers a way to create that delay.
http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe5a1579776001757215-fe20167073670d7c7c1c79

BIO-BRIEFS ZONE

Atlanta--Arming against smallpox: Local company plays role in keeping vaccine safe
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391317

Denver--Denver hopes to land 2010 BIO show
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391318

Minneapolis/St. Paul--Bianco looks forward to building industry
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391319

Phoenix--Laser company shifts focus to local ventures http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391320

Pittsburgh--Fluorous turns to biology for new growth strategy: As drug discovery process changes, so does Pitt spin-off
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391321

San Francisco--New state grant forms nucleus of City College stem-cell program
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391322

San Francisco--Institute lures big biotechs: Genentech, Amgen sign with UC's QB3
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391323

San Jose--Sunnyvale firm's technology moves biotech fluids by sound
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391324

Washington--FDA warning label tough to swallow for local biotech
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1391325

ASIA ZONE

TOM ONLINE INTRODUCES VoIP
China-based Tom Online will introduce VoIP services in the country. In an effort to attract the subscribers the company will provide the Internet service free for the first month. . Tom Online will work with telecom carriers also. The company plans to transfer signals through telephone networks and Skype software to the people using fixed line, cell phones and computers. According to Tom Online's CEO, Wang Leilei, nearly 50,000 users are registering daily for VoIP services with more than 1 million signed up.
[IDG]

INDIA's DISHNET UNVEILS Wi-Fi SERVICES
The services would be made available in eight cities, which would be subsequently be extended to 38 cities amounting to 6,000 hotspots
across the country.
http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2005/105042708.asp?nl=6_195024_Apr27

INCUBATORS: 500 KIWIS HATCH PLANS
New Zealand's business incubators have "come of age" and now house 130 start-ups which together employ more than 500 people, says Andrew Hamilton, chairman of umbrella group Incubators New Zealand.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,77463~3258492a28~,00.html

MALYASIA PLANS DEMOLITION OF UNUSED TELECOM STRUCTURES The Malaysian government is planning to demolish the telecommunications structures not in use. Also some structures including transmission towers, erected in unsuitable places also need to be demolished. According to Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, the Federal Territory Minister there are 1,143 telecommunication towers on buildings, which are very tall and hence unwieldy. Several of these were built without taking permission from the government or the Kuala Lumpur City Hall. According to the government it is hoping to remove the offending buildings very soon.
[IDG]

PLDT GOES FOR SATELLITE BROADCASTING SERVICES The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is interested to work with US-based Echostar Communications on the direct to home satellite project. Officials of the US Company have already inspected the call center facility of ePLDT, a subsidiary of PLDT. The subsidiary is already handling 20% calls for Echostar. Both the companies have been talking about the need to establish direct to home satellite services project from way back in the year 2000.  However PLDT will have to get a license from the National Telecommunications Commission to be able to sell Echostar's services to the customers. Since PLDT is a telecom company it cannot be allowed to do business as a broadcasting company such as providing direct to home satellite services. Though if it acquires a broadcasting company it can get a license quickly.
[IDG]

WIRELESS ZONE

Wi-Fi POLICING COMES TO GEORGIA
Having a pre-installed fixed wireless network has helped one small southern location get the cops unwired and, it's hoped, more efficient.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1k8e,1,eh3x,e8vj,jcj3,9ffi

Hotspot Hits
Toshiba lowers MyConnect price (for a while); Mount Clemons, Mich., to go wireless; trains from Paris to Brussels testing Wi-Fi with satellite; and more.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1kce,1,l0p5,ecft,jcj3,9ffi

SITE CITES

HAPPY PEOPLE ARE HEALTHIER, STUDY SUGGESTS The song "Don't Worry, Be Happy," could double as sound medical advice, the results of a new study suggest. Whereas previous research had linked depression with an increased incidence of health problems, the new work reveals that people who report more everyday happiness are healthier overall than their less joyous counterparts in a number of key ways. In particular, happy men experienced lower heart rates throughout the day, indicating good cardiovascular health.
http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe561579776001757211-fe20167073670d7c7c1c79

 

Marty Plotnick's CyberZone is a weekly review of Hawaii technology and international technology news.  The Hawaii Technology Calendar is available on the front page of this site, with links and descriptions of events relevant to the Hawaii technology and telecommunications community.  CyberZone takes special interest in researching and collecting links to stories from international technology news sources of interest to CyberZone's readers.  If you have any comments or suggestions for improvements to his site and information resource please contact Marty Plotnick at martycri@lava.net