V5 N5 -  10 Jul 2005

iTHINK ZONE
 

Top Ten Blunders Business Owners Make

READ ON
http://cyberzone.pacific-tier.com/iThink.htm
 

VoIP ZONE

NEW VoIP and IP TELEPHONY NEWS & INFORMATION WEB PAGE FROM CYBERZONE PARTNER PACIFIC-TIER COMMUNICATIONS. 
YOU CAN NOW READ CONSTANT UPDATES ON VoIP and IP TELEPHONY AT A NEW SISTER SITE ESTABLISHED BY OUR PACIFIC-TIER PARTNER.  UPDATED 24/7, THE SITE COVERS ALL RELEVANT NEWS AND INFORMATION ON VoIP ISSUES, SERVICES AND PROVIDERS.

YOU CAN READ IT & BOOKMARK IT AT
http://voip.pacific-tier.com/
 

RESEARCH INDICATES JAPAN FIRST IN VoIP
UK-based Point Topic, a company that provides information on broadband communications services, has said that globally nearly 11 million people were using the voice over Internet protocol service. According to the senior analyst of the firm, John Bosnell, the number climbs to 17.5 million if VoiceGlo and Skype are taken into account.

The company conducted a research on VoIP subscribers and found that Japan was the largest market for this service. According to the research that the people subscribing to Yahoo! Japan number 4.5 million. American cable business has 2.1 million people subscribing to its VoIP service. France is the third largest market with more than 1.2 million subscribers.
FULL ITEM

OTHERS' THINK ZONE

OPINION: A VERY BIG CYBER CYCLONE DEVELOPING IN ASIA Today, for the first time, China has 100 million people on the Internet, 30 percent of whom are on broadband. Within a few years, a billion people in Asia will be playing with e-commerce. All that power and all that technology replicating at a phenomenal rate will create global shockwaves both in trade and communications.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/44314.html

ENTERING A DARK AGE OF INNOVATION
It may seem like we are living in a technological nirvana, but the rate of technological innovation has been falling for 100 years, a new study reveals http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18625066.500

CYBERZONE

PLACE-SHIFTING NOW AVAILABLE FOR HOME USE New to the shelves of Best Buy and CompUSA this month is Slingbox, a brick-sized device that enables viewers to route the live television signal coming into their homes to a portable device anywhere on the globe via broadband connection. Slingbox costs $250 and has no subsequent subscription fee; several stores sold out on the first day.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3337472a28,00.html

A TAX TO SURF?
Americans already pay a tax to make telephone service more affordable in rural areas. But are we ready to foot the bill for rural high-speed Internet access?
http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W6RT04C5EB79209A7C77F3C8147700

FROM LEWIS AND CLARK TO LANDSAT
David Rumsey oversees a digital catalogue of 11,000 rare maps, including one created by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. By Wade Roush
http://wwwnl.technologyreview.com/t?ctl=E146EF:2EBD7D6

GOOGLE INVESTS IN POWER-LINE BROADBAND
Current Communications Group, which offers broadband Internet service over power lines, said Thursday it has received investment money from Google, Hearst and Goldman Sachs.
http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1036_3-5777917.html

OPEN SOURCE ZONE

$299. LINUX PC HITS U.S. SHELVES
Systemax offers budget computers pre-installed with Linspire operating system Systemax has unveiled its first desktop PC pre-installed with desktop Linux. The budget model is selling in the US for $299. The system builder chose Linspire's operating system for its Venture L335 system which comes with an Intel Celeron D processor, 40GB hard drive and 256MB of Ram.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2139388/299-linux-pc-hits-shelves

STATES' OPEN SOURCE EFFORT MIGHT FORCE VENDORS TO CHANGE Massachusetts and Rhode Island are nurturing an effort that might be the catalyst for widespread deployment of open-source software for state and local governments. The Government Open Code Collaborative already has released a half dozen sets of open-source code and is poised to develop e-government applications, officials directing the initiative said.
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/20_13/statelocal/26524-1.html

A FIFTH OF JAPANESE BUSINESSES HAVE GONE OPEN SOURCE "Over a fifth of Japanese businesses are using open-source operating systems, most thanks to lower costs, according to a report by the Japanese government..."
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1qdp,1,2l31,1vv,jcj3,9ffi

BIO/MEMS/NANO ZONE

University of Maryland Gets an 'A' For Its Nanotechnology Research - http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W6RT04C4CC49109A7C77F3CBEB7220

SCIENTISTS BREED STURDIER RICE PLANTS
Some 23 percent of all the calories consumed by the world's population come from rice, making it one of the most important foodstuffs on the planet. Now scientists in Japan and China report that they have developed a hardier rice plant that resists collapsing in inclement weather, leading to higher crop yields. The results, the researchers say, could "pave the way for a new green revolution."
http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe561675746103787c13-fe20167073670d7c7c1c79

WHY THE PHARAOHS NEVER SMILED
Amenhotep III was one of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs. His rule was a gold age, when the Egypt was powerful, peaceful and fabulously wealthy. He wanted to be remembered. And he is, but not for the reasons he probably wanted. More than 3000 years after he died, Amenhotep is famous for his horrific teeth. They were missing, worn to stumps or riddled with cavities. He suffered abscesses, loss of jaw bone, and blood poisoning. So what was to blame? And why on earth didn't he simply see a dentist?
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18625061.900

HOW TO KNIT YOURSELF SOME MUSCLES
A new conducting fibre made of plastic and nanotubes could one-day be used to make super-muscles and smart clothes that can power your laptop, say Australian researchers.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/tech/InnovationRepublish_1403331.htm

VIDEO ROBOTS REDEINE "TV DOCTOR"
New "telemedicine"; technologies are allowing doctors to use their time more efficiently and serve more patients, often at odd hours or in remote places where the sick would otherwise have a hard time seeing a doctor.
http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W6RT04C54268E09A7C77F3CBE68A80

BIO-BRIEFS ZONE

Honolulu--UH still seen as catalyst for Kakaako
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1528538

San Francisco--Genentech's $417M acquisition needs to accelerate production
http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1528539

Seattle--Amid bioethics debates, a think tank takes root http://www.bizjournals.com/ct/c/1528540

ASIA-PACIFIC ZONE

TOURISTS FROM CHINA MAINLAND SPEND MOST ABROAD Almost all tourists from the Chinese mainland shop when they travel abroad, according to a recent survey conducted jointly by AC Nielsen and Tax Free World Association (TFWA). The research tracked 1,500 consumers from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou who visited Asia and Europe and Hong Kong and Macao over the past six months.

Each of the tourists spent 987 US dollars on average shopping abroad, ranking first worldwide, the study found. On average, their expenses for shopping made up about one third of their total tourism budget.

Last year, 29 million people from the Chinese mainland traveled abroad, a year-on-year increase of 43 percent, said Thom Rankin, vice-chairman of the conference and research department of TFWA. Of the total tourists surveyed, females accounted for 69 percent, and young people aged from 20 to 29, made up 36 percent.

Most of the tourists were well-educated high-income earners, according to the consulting firm. High on their shopping lists for overseas traveling were fashionable apparel, cosmetics, perfume and candies. Young tourists tended to seek nouveau things and brand products. About 88 percent of the Chinese tourists opted for shopping at upscale stores, the firm added.

The survey also discovered that more than 70 percent of the survey respondents went abroad for sightseeing.
Source: Xinhua

WIRELESS ZONE

CONGRESS PAYS ATTENTION TO Muni Wi-Fi
The debate over whether localities can treat Internet access like telephone service and cable TV has reached the Hill, where two bills
-- one backing cities' efforts to provide WiFi, the other protecting the telecom industry's interests -- are set on a collision course.
http://letters.washingtonpost.com/W5RT04C1E380809A7C77F3C89D9190

ZIGBEE vs Wi-Fi vs BLUETOOTH
Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4 standard for data communications with business and consumer devices. Zigbee is designed around low-power consumption allowing batteries to essentially last forever. A Zigbee network may also be considered a Piconet defined as a collection of devices connected in adhoc (random) manner. In a Piconet, one device acts as a master controller and the other units are slaves...
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-wednesday-techtionarycom-tech-tip-zigbee-/2005/jul/1160818.htm

ZIGBEE AND THE SMART HOME
A new wireless standard could finally make building-automation practical. By Duncan Graham-Rowe.
<http://wwwnl.technologyreview.com/t?ctl=E1A10F:2EBD7D6>http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/08/issue/forward_home.asp?trk=nl   

SITE CITES

EGYPTIANS ATE LETTUCE TO BOOST SEX DRIVE The ancient Egyptians used lettuce as an aphrodisiac, according to an Italian researcher who claims to have solved a century-old archaeological puzzle.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1403295.htm
We thought this was discovered by rabbits!

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