date:20050426

[For some reason this interview reminded me of Harold Furschtgott-Roth, who 
served as an FCC commissioner from 1997 to 2001; Mr. Furschtgott-Roth was 
the only member of the FCC who didn't own a television.]

April 24, 2005
QUESTIONS FOR KEN FERREE
Recasting PBS?
Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/magazine/24QUESTIONS.html?pagewanted=printposition=
Q: As the chief executive of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 
you've been said to represent the growing influence of conservative 
politics in public TV and radio.

Believe it or not, we don't discuss politics here. We're just trying to get 
money into the public broadcasting system in the most efficient and 
intelligent way we can.

Q: But who can deny that politics has crept into the process? Your 
predecessor, Kathleen Cox, was axed just two weeks ago, supposedly because 
she had incurred the wrath of conservative groups. Recently, they were 
outraged by an episode of ''Postcards From Buster,'' which was never shown, 
in which the animated bunny visits a friend who lives with a lesbian couple.

All I know is that on Friday afternoon the board chairman came in and asked 
if I would serve as interim president. I had no idea until the 11th hour 
that this was happening. I don't know what led to what.

Q: Do you worry that these sorts of incidents will alienate the old 
left-leaning PBS loyalists?

Well, maybe we can attract some new viewers.
Q: You mean viewers who are more conservative?
Yeah! I would hope that in the long run we can attract new viewers, and we 
shouldn't limit ourselves to a particular demographic. Does public 
television belong to the Democrats?

Q: Of course, many liberals also gripe about PBS. Maybe the real problem is 
a lack of creativity.

We're working on that right now. We have a new initiative we call 
''American History and Civics.'' There's been a long decline in teenagers' 
knowledge of civics. So we're going to put our TV dollars into new 
programming that will not be TV-centric.

Q: How can TV not be TV-centric?
It uses new media. Interactive media. Games.
Q: You previously worked at the F.C.C., where you championed deregulation. 
Why did you want this job?

What I was doing at the F.C.C., in my mind, was preserving commercial 
broadcast services and helping them thrive. Now, in this job, I am trying 
to preserve free noncommercial television.

Q: Isn't the president trying to cut the budget of public broadcasting by 
about 15 percent?

In the president's budget there were some changes that would result in a 
net cut to us of about $60 million. We need to be better at telling the 
story of public TV and radio on the Hill so that Congress will be less 
inclined to look at public broadcasting as an easy place to find extra 
dollars.

Q: What PBS shows do you like?
I'm not much of a TV consumer. I like ''Masterpiece Theater'' and some of 
the ''Frontline'' shows. I like ''Antiques Roadshow'' and ''Nova.'' I don't 
know. What's your favorite show?

Q: It would probably be the ''NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.''
Yes, Lehrer is good, but I don't watch a lot of broadcast news. The problem 
for me is that I do the Internet news stuff all day long, so by the time I 
get to the Lehrer thing . . . it's slow. I don't always want to sit down 
and read Shakespeare, and Lehrer is akin to Shakespeare. Sometimes I really 
just want a People magazine, and often that is in the evening, after a hard 
day.

Q: For the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, you don't sound 
like much of a PBS viewer. Perhaps you prefer NPR, which your organization 
also finances?

No. I do not get a lot of public radio for one simple reason. I commute to 
work on my motorcycle, and there is no radio access.

Q: Can't you install a radio on a motorcycle and listen with headphones?
One probably can. But my bikes are real cruisers. They're stripped down 
deliberately to look cool, and I don't want all that electronic gear.


George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923  Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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[Medianews] MCI on a Roll as Bidding War Shows No Sign of Ending

April 26, 2005
MCI on a Roll as Bidding War Shows No Sign of Ending
By KEN BELSON and MATT RICHTEL
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/business/26place.html?pagewanted=printposition=
Have Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications been overtaken by 
irrational exuberance in their pursuit of MCI?

That is the question some industry analysts are asking with the nearly 
three-month bidding war for the long-distance company showing no signs of 
ending.

Industry analysts and executives briefed on the negotiations say Qwest 
could well raise its bid for MCI to $32 a share or more if Verizon matches 
its offer. This, even though Qwest said last Thursday that it was making a 
best and final proposal of $9.75 billion, or $30 a share, for MCI. That 
offer is 30 percent more than Verizon's bid of $7.6 billion, or $23.10 a 
share.

Verizon, which is widely expected to raise its offer in the coming weeks, 
could increase its bid to $25.72 a share, the amount it paid for the 13.4 
percent share of MCI owned by Carlos Slim Helú, the company's largest 
investor. Including the financial guarantees that Mr. Slim received, the 
offer was closer to $27 and only 10 percent below Qwest's bid. Verizon 
could also increase the cash portion of its offer to give MCI shareholders 
a quicker payout.

But regardless of who ultimately acquires Qwest, the winner is likely to 
pay relatively more for MCI than SBC Communications paid for ATT, a 
company that is larger, more efficiently run and has a stronger brand name.

Jeffrey Halpern, an industry analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein  Company, 
compared the offer prices for ATT and MCI relative to their earnings: 
It's twice the price but not twice the value.

This disparity, some investors say, has as much to do with how small a bid 
ATT was willing to accept as it does with how much MCI is worth. ATT 
received no premium for its shares, while Qwest is now offering 12.5 
percent more than the value of MCI's shares, which closed yesterday at 
$26.67. MCI's shares have risen about 26 percent since early February, when 
the bidding began.

Still, for Verizon and Qwest, the pursuit of MCI, the largest remaining 
independent carrier, makes some sense despite its rising price.

Interest in MCI grew in May 2004, soon after the company emerged from 
bankruptcy protection. But the bidding began in earnest the minute SBC 
scooped up ATT for $16 billion at the end of January. Immediately, MCI 
became a much more valuable asset simply because there were few other 
stand-alone global network carriers available to buy.

Verizon got pulled into a bidding war it didn't want, but everyone was 
scrambling after SBC took out ATT, said John Krause of Thrivent Financial 
for Lutherans, a financial management company in Appleton, Wis., that 
controls 200,000 Qwest shares and 1.6 million Verizon shares.

The two Bell companies have different reasons for trying to buy MCI and 
therefore different price tags they can justify. Qwest, the smallest of the 
regional phone companies, needs MCI because having a bigger long-distance 
network could help it fend off its larger rivals. It also expects a merger 
to produce about $14 billion in total cost savings, or about $2.5 billion a 
year after the third year, by combining overlapping long-distance networks, 
sales forces and engineering teams.

Qwest could also benefit from costs MCI would have cut on its own, as well 
as the resolution of lawsuits that had plagued both companies.

Adding these savings together, Qwest could justify bidding as much as $35 a 
share for MCI, said David Ahl, a telecommunications consultant. Mr. Ahl 
analyzed Qwest's finances for Leon Cooperman, chairman of Omega Advisors, a 
major MCI shareholder who has argued that MCI's board should accept Qwest's 
higher offer. Mr. Cooperman has also pledged $100 million to Qwest to help 
finance its acquisition of MCI.

To reassure MCI's board and skeptical investors that its business is 
stabilizing and it is capable of paying for the deal, Qwest yesterday 
released forecasts for its first-quarter earnings. The company said that 
sales had not fallen for the fourth consecutive quarter and revenue after 
expenses would rise about 12 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Qwest said it would be profitable, largely because of a gain of $250 
million from the sale of wireless spectrum in the quarter that ended in March.

A merger of Verizon and MCI would involve fewer redundant operations, a 
fact that cuts two ways. On the one hand, Verizon would reap smaller 
operational savings from consolidation. On the other, MCI's global 
long-distance network will help Verizon provide national and international 
services for its corporate customers in the Northeast.

Verizon estimates it could save about $7 billion through cost cuts. Because 
it will generate fewer savings, Verizon has a harder time justifying paying 
as high a price for MCI as Qwest.

Indeed, rather than pay what it

[Medianews] A Common Currency for Online Fraud

April 26, 2005
A Common Currency for Online Fraud
By TOM ZELLER Jr.
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/business/26forgery.html?pagewanted=printposition=
Fake checks have been the stock in trade of online fraud artists for years. 
Now authorities are noting a surge in schemes involving sophisticated 
counterfeiting of a different form of payment: United States postal money 
orders. And the fleecing of victims often begins in an e-mail in-box.

In the last six months, the F.B.I. and postal inspectors say, international 
forgers - mostly in Nigeria, but also in Ghana and Eastern Europe - appear 
to have turned new attention to the United States postal money order. More 
than 3,700 counterfeit postal money orders were intercepted from October to 
December, exceeding the total for the previous 12 months, according to 
postal inspectors.

Moreover, 160 arrests have been made in the United States since October in 
cases where people have been suspected of knowingly receiving fraudulent 
postal money orders or trying to cash them, Paul Krenn, a spokesman for the 
United States Postal Inspection Service, said.

The quality of what they are producing is very good, he said, adding that 
ordinary consumers can easily be fooled. They are not going to know what 
they are looking at, he said.

Despite the arrests, however, the schemes often do not involve attempts by 
the fraud artists to cash the postal money orders. In many cases, unwitting 
victims, often contacted by an e-mail message or in an online chat room, 
are deceived into accepting the bogus money orders as payment for items 
they are selling, or into cashing the orders in return for a fee. It is the 
latest twist in a long series of Internet schemes that use bogus financial 
instruments to bilk unsuspecting victims out of merchandise and cash.

The United States Postal Service would not estimate the dollar value of the 
counterfeit postal money orders it has intercepted. But law enforcement 
officials estimate that the amount runs into the millions of dollars.

The trend is significant, because unlike private business checks or even 
other money orders, the postal money order is generally regarded as one of 
the more difficult financial documents to counterfeit because of its 
watermarks, security threads and a rainbow of inked patterns and tones.

The fake money orders have been received by small Internet retailers, 
classified advertisers or others lured into an Internet confidence scheme, 
from sellers of Siberian Husky puppies in Iowa to art dealers in Indiana. 
Some consumers, authorities say, are simply not using common sense.

One victim, Kevin McCrary, a 56-year-old Manhattan business consultant, 
would not dispute that. After falling prey to a fake postal money order 
scheme, he said, I couldn't reach around far enough to kick myself.

Single and lonely, Mr. McCrary joined an international online dating site, 
Elitemate.com. In late January, he was contacted by someone claiming to be 
a young woman from Nigeria. She - or perhaps he, or even they, Mr. McCrary 
now concedes - went by the name of Ogisi Douglas.

Their e-mail exchanges were barely a week old before the supposed Ms. 
Douglas asked Mr. McCrary for his help buying a laptop computer. Mr. 
McCrary purchased a $1,500 laptop, and after he received two United States 
postal money orders for $950 each, he sent the laptop to an address in 
Nigeria.

Neither Mr. McCrary nor the teller at the J. P. Morgan Chase branch where 
he deposited the postal money orders knew they were bogus. It was only 
after he was asked to buy more computers and received several more postal 
money orders that he discovered, after trying to cash them at a post 
office, that he had been duped.

He had not yet sent out any more computers. But the cost of the first 
laptop was a total loss: the money from the first two postal money orders 
was ultimately debited from his Chase account.

I felt, obviously, a bit foolish for not listening to those little voices 
that say: 'Something's not quite right here. You don't have all the 
information on this person,'  said Mr. McCrary, whose parents, Tex McCrary 
and Jinx Falkenburg, helped define the talk radio format in the 1940's. 
But it all moved very fast.

Mr. Krenn said that postal inspectors had been working with other delivery 
agencies to intercept packages containing bogus money orders as they 
entered the United States, as well as warning financial institutions to be 
vigilant. He said tips for identifying counterfeit postal money orders were 
available online, at www.usps.com/postalinspectors.

The best way to identify a genuine postal money order, postal service 
officials say, is to look for the telltale watermark, which, when held up 
to the light, should reveal an image of Benjamin Franklin. Genuine postal 
money orders also have a security strip running alongside the watermark, 
just to the right. If held to the light, a microfiber strip will show the

[Medianews] Sea Launch Propels DIRECTV Satellite Spaceward

Sea Launch Propels DIRECTV Satellite Spaceward
By Justin Ray
Space.com
TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005
0850 GMT (4:50 a.m. EDT)
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/zenit3sl_spaceway1_05025.html
The first of several new satellites to substantially expand the 
high-definition channel offering by direct-to-home television broadcaster 
DIRECTV successfully rocketed into Earth orbit this morning.

The commercial Sea Launch Zenit 3SL booster put the Spaceway 1 satellite 
into geosynchronous transfer orbit following a 30-minute flight that began 
at 0731 GMT (3:31 a.m. EDT) from a converted oil-drilling platform floating 
in equatorial waters of the Pacific about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii.

The two Ukrainian-made lower stages of the rocket performed their firings 
to propel the Russian Block DM-SL upper stage and Spaceway 1 satellite out 
of the atmosphere during the initial 9 minutes of flight. The upper stage 
then took over, completing one engine burn to reach the intended orbit.

While flying above the eastern coast of Brazil, explosive bolts holding the 
13,376-pound satellite to the spent rocket motor were detonated, allowing 
small springs to release Spaceway 1. By design, tip-off rates were imparted 
on the satellite to create a gentle tumble as it moved away at 
one-foot-per-second.

Was that a great launch or what? Jim Maser, president and general manager 
of Sea Launch, said to the cheering crowd of VIPs monitoring the mission 
from Long Beach, Calif. I have to say this was our 16th launch and it has 
absolutely been one of the smoothest from beginning to end. We didn't have 
any hitches, the countdown went very smoothly and the launch was right on 
the money.

Controllers made first contact with the free-flying spacecraft about 50 
minutes after liftoff through the Hartebeesthoek tracking site near 
Johannesburg, South Africa.

The craft is the heaviest commercial communications satellite launched to 
date, eclipsing the record set last month when the 13,138-pound Inmarsat 
4-F1 was carried into orbit aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket from 
Cape Canaveral.

From its operational position in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the 
equator at 102.8 degrees West longitude, Spaceway 1 will use its Ka-band 
communications payload for television and broadband services to support 
DIRECTV's 13.9 million subscribers across America. The Boeing 702-model 
satellite has a 12-year life expectancy.

After a checkout period, Spaceway 1 will go into service this summer to 
begin DIRECTV's new initiative to transmit more than 1,500 national and 
local high-definition channels. It will be joined by three other satellites 
-- Spaceway 2 later this year and DIRECTV 10 and DIRECTV 11 in 2007 -- to 
fully implement the system.

Meanwhile, a Russian Proton/Breeze M rocket managed by International Launch 
Services is scheduled to put up the DIRECTV 8 spacecraft on May 21 to 
replace an aging satellite in the DIRECTV fleet.

Our satellites, which are the backbone of DIRECTV, make it possible for us 
to offer new and expanded services to our customers, said Jim Butterworth, 
senior vice president of Communication Systems at DIRECTV.

For Sea Launch, the Odyssey platform and command ship are expected back in 
port within two weeks to begin preparations for another mission this summer.


George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923  Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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[Medianews] EarthLink Wireless Offers Treo 650


 EarthLink Wireless Offers Power-Packed Treo(TM) 650 smartphone
 From palmOne
 - Apr 26, 2005 10:00 AM (PR Newswire)

EarthLink's TotalAccess software delivers wireless sync and personalized
content, plus server-side spam and virus protection features


ATLANTA and MILPITAS, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink
Wireless, a branded service operated by SK-EarthLink, and palmOne, Inc.
(Nasdaq: PLMO) today announced the availability of the Treo(TM) 650
smartphone, which offers a compact, full-featured mobile phone with email, a
Palm OS(R) organizer, messaging, web access and digital camera, letting users
organize and simplify their business and personal lives all in one device.(1)
This powerful multifeatured mobile device is built on the Treo 600's award-
winning design and features EarthLink's exclusive TotalAccess software for
users on the move.


The all-in-one device is pre-bundled with EarthLink's exclusive
TotalAccess software, designed to deliver a range of personalized content to
the Treo 650. TotalAccess software includes server-side spamBlocker(SM) and
Virus Blocker, which eliminate virtually 100 percent of spam and protects the
users' inbox from unwanted viruses. EarthLink Wireless offers wireless,
over-the-air synchronization between the Treo 650 and EarthLink's server to
keep the users' address book updated without cradle-based synchronization. In
addition, users can get fast and easy access to email, information, and
favorite features in a simple, integrated interface. Accessing EarthLink's
Personal Start Page on the Internet allows users to set up customized content
to be delivered wirelessly, such as news, stock prices, sports scores,
weather, directions, maps and more.

...

 - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48636798


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[Medianews] Dems Rebuff GOP Pleas on Social Security

Dems Rebuff GOP Pleas on Social Security
AP
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=514e=1u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_go_co/social_security
WASHINGTON - From the buttoned-down confines of a Senate hearing room to a
boisterous outdoor rally nearby, Democrats took on President Bush and his
Social Security proposals with gusto on Tuesday and rebuffed pleas for
bipartisanship from frustrated Republicans.

If he's going out to push for privatization, let's help him pack, Sen.
Dick Durbin of Illinois said to cheers from a sun-splashed crowd on the
lawn across the street from the Capitol. He was ridiculing Bush's heavily
publicized 60-day tour to build support for his proposals.

Personal accounts unravels the Social Security safety net in a way that
makes it hard to find common ground, said Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio,
voting record) of Oregon, one of several Democrats who criticized the
president's recommendations at a lengthy Senate Finance Committee hearing.

The Republicans didn't just sit and take it.
Those of you that are bad-mouthing every other suggestion out there,
suggest your own plans, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting
record), the normally mild-mannered committee chairman erupted at one point
during the hearing. Doing nothing is not an option, because doing nothing
is a cut in benefits, he added. Grandpa Grassley gets Social Security,
but my granddaughter, when she retires 56 years from now, if we do nothing,
is going to get this cut that you're talking about.

Taken together, the hearing and the rally underscored the hardening of
partisan differences in the three months since Bush called on Congress to
enact solvency legislation that included an option for younger workers to
invest part of their payroll taxes on their own.

The president was in Galveston, Texas, during the day, the latest in a
string of appearances designed to build support for his plan. His
cross-country campaign neared an end as a Washington Post-ABC News poll
showed public support had declined for his plan for personal accounts.

Against that backdrop, Bush's top political aide, Karl Rove, journeyed to
the Capitol for a meeting with GOP senators that one participant said
included a discussion of Social Security. The White House and Bush's
Republican allies in Congress have been struggling for weeks to advance
legislation that meets the two goals Bush has stated placing the program
on a stable financial footing while creating the voluntary personal
accounts for younger workers.

His proposal, which Democrats unvaryingly refer to as privatization,
envisions deep cuts in guaranteed benefits for future retirees.

House Republicans, confronting solid Democratic opposition and fearing a
political backlash in 2006, have made it clear they want the Senate to move
first on legislation that would make major changes in Social Security.

But efforts to do so are hampered by the same Democratic opposition and by
skittishness among several members of the GOP's own rank and file. After
weeks of insisting that any legislation would have to be bipartisan,
Grassley said recently he might try to craft a measure that had only
Republican support.

Even that may prove difficult, given the breakdown of votes on the
committee, although he said after the day's session he remained determined
to try.

We need to start somewhere and we don't need to have unanimity among
Republicans to start, said Sen. Craig Thomas (news, bio, voting record) of
Wyoming, one of 10 Republicans on the panel, which has eight Democrats.

Grassley gaveled the meeting to order with a reference to the rally that
Bush's opponents organized for later in the day.

Outside the hearing room today, we have political theater and dramatic
attempts to polarize Social Security along partisan lines, he said.

I ask my fellow committee members to resist the temptation to allow such
theatrics to pervade this hearing room. If there is ever going to be a
bipartisan consensus for reform, the process must begin in this committee,
and there's no time like the present to get started.

Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record), D-Mont., responded moments
later by agreeing changes were needed to assure that Social Security can
pay full promised benefits after 2052. But we do not need to privatize
Social Security to save it, he said.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who lost to Bush in the 2004 election, said it
was the president who had failed to put a plan on the table. Referring to a
proposal he made during his bid for the White House, Kerry called for
repealing Bush-era tax cuts for the nation's top wage-earners to help shore
up Social Security's finances.

We're going to do something, he said of the need to address Social
Security funding difficulties. We're not going to do nothing.

Grassley called the hearing in an attempt to review competing proposals
that would make Social Security permanently

[Medianews] Consumer Confidence Dips; Home Sales Up

Consumer Confidence Dips; Home Sales Up
By ADAM GELLER, AP Business Writer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=668e=6u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy
NEW YORK - Consumer confidence declined in April for the third consecutive
month, signaling Americans' concerns that economic growth is leveling off.
But one area of the economy is still white hot: the government said sales
of new homes shot up 12.2 percent last month to the highest level in history.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index fell
5.3 points to 97.7 for April, down from a revised reading of 103.0 in
March. The new reading was slightly lower than the 98.0 forecast by analysts.

The new figure takes the index to its lowest point since last November,
when it registered 92.6. The confidence index peaked most recently in
January when it registered 105.1.

The confidence and housing reports, while appearing to contradict each
other, reflect an incremental change in consumers' mood, economists said.
High fuel prices, concerns about Social Security, and a so-so job market
have people more worried, but they are willing to look past those concerns
because of continued low interest rates, according to analysts.

When people are making big picture, long-term decisions, while they may
not be as confident as they had been, they're not backing away from buying
the house, said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pa.

Stocks closed lower following release of the reports. The Dow Jones
industrial average lost 91.34 to finish at 10,151.13. The Standard Poor's
500 index fell 10.36 to 1,151.74, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped
23.34 to 1,927.44.

The lower confidence reading points to dimmer view of both current
conditions and more caution about the coming months, said Lynn Franco,
director of the New York-based Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.

Looking ahead consumers do not anticipate an improvement in economic
growth nor in their incomes. And they expect an even tighter job market
over the summer months, Franco said.

Economists keep a close watch on consumer confidence because consumer
spending accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.

The Conference Board's index is based on responses received thorugh April
19 to a survey mailed to 5,000 households. About 2,500 households are
represented in the results.

In the other report issued Tuesday, the Commerce Department said new
single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43
million units in March, confounding the consensus forecast of a small
decline in sales in March, a month when mortgage rates had been inching
higher.

Instead, sales climbed past the old all-time high of 1.3 million units at
an annual rate set last October. Sales of both new and existing homes have
set new records for four straight years, but analysts are expecting demand
to cool off a bit in 2005 as mortgage rates climbed higher.

Despite the downturn in confidence, the record home sales reflects a
marketplace whose dynamics are unlikely to change in the near future, said
Robert I. Toll, chairman and CEO of homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc.

There are so many consumers that if we remove 25 percent of the consumers
(whose confidence has diminished), we still have a tremendous imbalance
between the supply of housing and the 75 percent who are still left in the
market, Toll said.

We see from our statistics that demand continues to increase in relation
to the product that we have available, so the drop in confidence is not
viewed as a problem. Rather, our problem continues to be securing entitled
(approved) ground for future clients, he said.

While the overall reading on confidence fell, a component index measuring
consumers' view of the current economy is still at a level reflecting a
fairly healthy business climate, said the Board, a private research group.

But a sub-index measuring consumers' expectations for the coming months
fell to its lowest level since July 2003, pointing to growing doubts about
where the economy is headed, the Board said.

The Conference Board said its expectations index declined for the fourth
consecutive month, falling to 87.2 from 93.7. The number of consumers
expecting business conditions to improve fell to 17.8 percent from 19.3
percent. Those expecting conditions to worse rose to 9.7 percent from 8.2
percent.

Consumers expecting more jobs in coming months declined to 14.2 percent
from 15.1 percent. Those expecting fewer jobs increased to 18.0 percent
from 15.8 percent.

Meanwhile, just 16.3 percent of those surveyed expect their incomes to rise
in the next few months, down from 17.2 percent.

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[Medianews] Woman in Wendy's Case Waives Extradition

Woman in Wendy's Case Waives Extradition
AP
By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA, Associated Press Writer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=514e=4u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_re_us/wendy_s_finger
LAS VEGAS - The woman who was arrested after claiming she bit into a human
finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili waived extradition Tuesday, telling a
judge she was eager to return to California to face charges.

Anna Ayala, 39, appeared before the same judge who issued a warrant for
police to search her home outside Las Vegas on April 6. Records from that
raid are sealed.

Outside court, Ayala's lawyer, Frederick Tait Ehler of San Jose, derided
charges against his client as baseless.

Anna says they're ridiculous, Ehler said of the charges of attempted
grand larceny. She's eager to go back to San Jose.

Ayala was arrested late Thursday, and San Jose police on Friday called her
claim a hoax. Authorities said the attempted grand theft charge relates to
millions in dollars of financial losses Wendy's has suffered since news
broke of her claim.

Ayala maintains she bit down on a 1 1/2 inch-long finger fragment while
dining March 22 with her family at a Wendy's in San Jose. She has denied
placing the digit in her bowl.

She hired a lawyer and filed a claim against the franchise owner, but
dropped the legal fight shortly after police searched her home.

Ayala, who has maintained her innocence, faces a maximum seven-year
sentence if convicted of the larceny charges, and at least another 16
months if convicted of unrelated charges that she allegedly bilked a woman
$11,000 over a soured real estate deal two years ago.

Ayala has been involved in nearly a dozen legal battles, including a sexual
harassment suit against an employer, an auto dealer over a car and even
another fast-food chain for food poisoning.

Authorities have not yet identified who the finger belonged to or Ayala's
connection to it.

A person with knowledge about the case who spoke on condition of anonymity
said the finger charge stemmed from San Jose police interviews with people
who said Ayala described putting a finger in the chili, statements
bolstered by authorities announcing last week that it did not appear the
finger had been simmering in chili.

The company maintains that the finger did not enter the food chain in its
ingredients. Employees at the San Jose franchise have all their fingers,
and no suppliers of Wendy's ingredients reported any hand or finger
injuries, the company said.

Wendy's, based at Dublin, Ohio, is offering $100,000 for information
leading to the origin of the finger.

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[Medianews] Yahoo Hires Ex-AOL Executive to Growing Media Group

Yahoo Hires Ex-AOL Executive to Growing Media Group
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=581e=1u=/nm/20050426/tc_nm/tech_yahoo_dc
SAN FRANCISCO - Internet media company Yahoo Inc.  said on Tuesday it hired 
Shawn Hardin, a former AOL vice president, in the midst of an expansion of 
its media group in Southern California.

Hardin, 43, join the company on May 2 as a vice president of content 
operations overseeing a number of media sites within Yahoo's media group.

Hardin was most recently senior vice president broadband at AOL, a unit of 
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news) Earlier in his career, Hardin held 
various positions at General Electric Co.'s (NYSE:GE - news) NBC.

At NBC Entertainment, Hardin oversaw online content and enhanced-television 
services for NBC Digital Productions. Prior to that, he was supervising 
producer and creative director of NBC-2000, an on-air marketing and 
promotions group.

Earlier this month, Yahoo said it had hired Scott Moore, the former general 
manager of the programming group at Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) 
MSN unit, to be a vice president of content operations.

Hardin and Moore will report to Yahoo media group leader Lloyd Braun, a 
former chairman of Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE:DIS - news) ABC Entertainment 
Television Group, who Yahoo hired late last year.

Yahoo, which is expanding in Southern California in a move closer to 
Hollywood's entertainment companies, has been led by former studio chief 
Terry Semel since 2001.

The Sunnyvale, California, company, which gets much of its revenue from 
online advertising, is actively seeking content deals as it moves to 
broaden into entertainment.

It already has signed programming deals with Survivor creator Mark 
Burnett Productions and JibJab Media, a producer of short animated films. 

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[Medianews] XM to Launch Spanish Language Sports Channel

XM to Launch Spanish Language Sports Channel
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=581e=3u=/nm/20050426/tc_nm/media_xm_dc
LOS ANGELES,  - XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. on Tuesday said it plans 
to launch a national 24-hour Spanish-language sports channel in July to 
capitalize on the quickly-growing Hispanic media market.

The channel will feature Spanish coverage of many sports events, including 
the World Cup, which will be held next year in Germany, as well as 
qualifying soccer matches, beginning later this year.

XM said it will also carry English-language coverage of World Cup soccer 
matches on a separate channel.

In addition, the new channel will feature coverage of all sports from Latin 
America, including baseball and boxing, along with sports from all over the 
world.

XM is launching the channel in partnership with Andres Cantor, chairman of 
Futbol de Primera, the leading syndicator of soccer programing in Hispanic 
radio, and a well-known sports commentator. 

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[Medianews] FCC Chief Wants 911 Service for Internet Phones

FCC Chief Wants 911 Service for Internet Phones
Reuters Internet Report
By Jeremy Pelofsky
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=582e=2u=/nm/20050426/wr_nm/telecoms_voip_911_dc
WASHINGTON - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said
on Tuesday he would soon propose requiring Internet-based telephone
providers to offer their customers emergency 911 dialing services.

After hearing reports of consumers having trouble getting through to the
police when dialing from an Internet telephone, known as Voice over
Internet Protocol (VOIP), Martin said he wanted to address the problem
quickly.

Calls to 911 with traditional telephones provide emergency service
dispatchers with the caller's number and address. VOIP providers have
limited access to the systems connecting those calls to primary emergency
lines and location information is not always available.

I immediately asked our staff to develop a plan to address this issue,
Martin said during a House subcommittee hearing. The proposal would
hopefully require they (VOIP providers) have 911 services being provided,
he said.

After the hearing, Martin told reporters he planned to offer a proposal to
the other three FCC commissioners so they could vote on it in May, possibly
at the May 19 FCC open meeting.

He declined to offer more details about his plan. Martin said since the FCC
insulated the Internet phone carriers from many state regulations, the
agency had an obligation to act.

Rep. Mark Kirk (news, bio, voting record), an Illinois Republican who
represents northern Chicago, criticized the biggest Internet telephone
provider, Vonage Holdings Corp., for limited access to 911 services and
urged consumers be told.

We need a clear warning that anybody who buys a Vonage phone is going to
be out of luck, Kirk said. Is there some way the FCC can warn customers
not to buy Vonage?

Vonage denied that was case, saying that its customers who dial 911 are in
fact connected to emergency response officials, though it may be to a
secondary line in the call centers.

Martin said the agency should not be in the business of discouraging
consumers about particular services and noted the FCC had limited authority
to regulate advertising.

The Federal Trade Commission and states typically oversee truth in
advertising. The Texas attorney general has sued Vonage for failing to
properly warn its subscribers of the limits they would experience when
trying to dial 911.

Vonage in recent weeks has reached deals with three of the four big local
telephone carriers for its customers who dial 911 to be connected to the
primary lines in emergency call centers.

The marketplace is moving toward E911 access for all communications
providers, but everyone's feet need to be held to the fire to ensure that
nationwide rollout is completed as quickly as possible, said Chris Murray,
Vonage's vice president for government affairs.

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[Medianews] Court Rules Against DVD Copy Preventions

Court Rules Against DVD Copy Preventions
AP
By MARY MACCARTHY, Associated Press Writer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=528e=4u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_hi_te/france_dvd_copying
PARIS - 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.

The appeals court ruled Friday that copy prevention software on the DVD
violated privacy rights in the case of one consumer who had tried to
transfer the film onto a video cassette for personal use.

The ruling could be a major setback for the DVD industry, which places lock
software on disks as part of its battle against piracy. The industry blames
illegal copying for millions of dollars in lost revenues each year.

This ruling means that 80 percent of DVDs now on the French market are
equipped with illegal mechanisms, said Julien Dourgnon, spokesman for
consumer advocacy group UFC-Que Choisir, which brought the case.

Stores will probably not have to send back products already in stock,
Dourgnon said Tuesday. But in the future, no DVD or CD that has the device
can be sold.

France, along with other European Union members including Germany and
Spain, has laws guaranteeing the right of consumers to copy recordings they
have purchased for private use.

Lionel Thoumyre, a lawyer for the artist rights group Spedidam, said the
ruling sets a new precedent in the European Union, where intellectual
property laws are nearly identical among member states.

This is brand new, he said. I think this is the first judgment in Europe
going in this direction.

The consumer group filed the suit on behalf of a man who bought the
Mulholland Drive DVD and then wanted to copy the movie onto a
videocassette so he could show the film at his mother's home.

The ruling overturned a lower court's decision in favor of the defendants,
co-producers Alain Sarde Films and Studio Canal and distributor Universal.
The suit was filed in 2003.

The defendants also were found guilty of violating French consumer
protection laws, which state that a vendor must notify consumers of a
product's essential characteristics.

The only notification of the copy prevention software on the DVD in this
case were the letters CP, short for copying prohibited, in small print
on the cover, a warning that the court found insufficient

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[Medianews] Feds Rethinking RFID Passport

Feds Rethinking RFID Passport
By Kim Zetter
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,67333,00.html
Following criticism from computer security professionals and civil 
libertarians about the privacy risks posed by new RFID passports the 
government plans to begin issuing, a State Department official said his 
office is reconsidering a privacy solution it rejected earlier that would 
help protect passport holders' data.

The solution would require an RFID reader to provide a key or password 
before it could read data embedded on an RFID passport's chip. It would 
also encrypt data as it's transmitted from the chip to a reader so that no 
one could read the data if they intercepted it in transit.

Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary for passport services, told Wired 
News on Monday that the government was taking a very serious look at the 
privacy solution in light of the 2,400-plus comments the department 
received about the e-passport rule and concerns expressed last week in 
Seattle by participants at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference. 
Moss said recent work on the passports conducted with the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology had also led him to rethink the issue.

Basically what changed my mind was a recognition that the (reading 
distance) may have actually been able to be more than 10 centimeters, and 
also recognition that we had to do everything possible to protect the 
security of people, Moss said.1

Reading distance refers to the distance from which an RFID chip can be 
read. The new RFID passports, or e-passports, were designed with a 
contactless chip in the back cover, which allows officials to read 
electronic data on a passport from a distance, using an electronic reader. 
The distance depends on the design of the chip and the reader.

The government had long maintained that the passport chips to be used could 
be read from only 10 cm away. But at least one test showed that a reader 
could read a passport chip from 30 feet away. And Barry Steinhardt, 
director of the Technology and Liberty Program for the American Civil 
Liberties Union, demonstrated a chip being read from two to three feet away 
at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference last week.

Because the government had decided not to encrypt data contained on 
passport chips, the chips exposed passport holders to privacy risks, such 
as skimming and eavesdropping.

Skimming occurs when an intruder with a reading device in the vicinity of 
the passport holder surreptitiously reads the electronic information on the 
chip without the passport holder knowing. Eavesdropping occurs when an 
intruder intercepts data as it's being transmitted from the chip to an 
authorized reader.

It turns out, however, that a solution to prevent skimming and 
eavesdropping was actually proposed a while ago, but U.S. officials 
rejected it.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, which created the 
international specifications for countries adopting RFID passports, 
designed specifications (.pdf) for a process called Basic Access Control.

Basic Access Control, or BAC, works this way: The data on a passport would 
be stored on an RFID chip in the passport's back folder, but the data would 
be locked and unavailable to any reader that doesn't know a secret key or 
password to unlock the data. To obtain the key, a passport officer would 
need to physically scan the machine-readable text that's printed on the 
passport page beneath the photo (this usually includes date of birth, 
passport number and expiration date). The reader would then hash the data 
to create a unique key that could be used to authenticate the reader and 
unlock the data on the RFID chip.

Basic Access Control prevents skimming because it doesn't allow remote 
readers to access data on the passport without the passport being 
physically opened and scanned through a reader. It also prevents 
eavesdropping since it would encrypt the communication channel that opens 
when the data is sent from the chip to the reader.

Moss said the solution was originally rejected because the United States 
never planned to include more data on the RFID chip than what could be 
easily read simply by looking at the passport. That being the case, they 
believed that anti-skimming technology, such as metal fibers in the 
passport cover, would prevent anyone from surreptitiously reading a 
passport as long as it was closed

We originally thought that the chip could not be read at a distance of 
more than 10 cm (when the passport was open), Moss said. We now find that 
perhaps there are some more serious threats in the area of read ranges 
The use of BAC now gives you additional protection when the book is 
actually open.

Moss said the German government and other members of the European Union had 
embraced BAC because they planned to write more data to the chip than just 
the written data that appears on the passport photo page. Many countries 
plan to include at

[Medianews] Your Money Under More Scrutiny

Your Money Under More Scrutiny
By Manu Joseph
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,67249,00.html
Pressured by anti-terror laws, banks will be spending billions of dollars 
over the next few years on software to counter money laundering. The 
software will automatically track suspicious financial transactions, but it 
will also monitor millions of innocuous ones, and may make it harder to 
cheat on your taxes.

Thanks to the stringent requirements of the Patriot Act, enacted after 9/11 
to choke the supply of terror funds, and the unambiguous threats of steep 
fines and even imprisonment of bank directors if their organizations 
facilitate money laundering, U.S. financial institutions are very 
enthusiastic about installing anti-money-laundering software.

Between 2005 and 2008, American banks are forecast to spend about $14.7 
billion on anti-money-laundering software, hardware, maintenance and other 
compliance-related activities, according to Neil Katkov, a Tokyo-based 
analyst with Celent Communications. Europe and Asia are expected to spend 
over $11.6 billion during that period.

By 2006, 94 percent of large financial institutions in the United States 
will have installed anti-money-laundering, or AML, technologies, according 
to Celent.

Already, the United States is the global driver of anti-laundering 
software. And the number of transactions reported to government agencies, 
like the United States' Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, is growing 
fast. In 2004, banks reported 14.8 million transactions to FinCEN. That's 
600,000 reports more than in 2003, according to FinCEN's annual report for 
2004 (.pdf).

AML software will change international banking forever, said Suheim 
Sheikh of SDG Software, an Indian software firm hoping to tap into the big 
new market.

Governments across the world will have their eyes on bank customers, he 
added. Since the software can monitor so many accounts, so many 
transactions, all kinds of people will be scrutinized, even those who in 
theory are just regular people. By default, not just money laundering but 
anything that violates the law, like tax evasion, will be hard to hide.

As a consequence of AML surveillance, even citizens with no criminal intent 
or ties will have to become more efficient law abiders, bank officials 
said. Small breaches of the law, or just indifference, will no longer go 
unnoticed.

Chances are that most of the time the software will catch not a money 
launderer, who is always wary, but a regular person, said one bank 
official who did not want to be named. If you got a fat birthday gift from 
your brother who works in the Middle East, would you like to get calls from 
the bank or the government asking for an explanation? In theory, that can 
happen.

Even small transactions may be flagged as suspicious. Terror funds are 
known to be small, as the withdrawals and deposits of 9/11 terrorists 
showed. Being small does not mean being invisible.

Any unexplained deposit will get you calls from the bank or the 
authorities, and you better have the correct answers, said Cherian 
Varghese, chairman of Union Bank of India.

Installed at a large bank with several branches across the world, a 
comprehensive anti-laundering system will monitor millions of transactions 
every day.

Typically, an anti-laundering system pulls in customer data; classifies 
each into varying levels of suspicion, from high risk to low; builds 
patterns of customer behavior; and searches for anomalies within those 
patterns like sudden surges in funds or huge withdrawals.

The software also keeps a lookout for blacklisted names, or specially 
designated nationals, in the parlance of the U.S. government, and takes 
note of transactions from countries that are perceived to be hostile to the 
host nation.

The software reports suspect transactions and customers to bank officials, 
who then forward the information to the appropriate government agency, like 
the FinCEN.

A good AML software is a very complex tool, said Hanuman Tripathi, 
managing director of InfrasoftTech, another of India's software vendors 
eagerly eyeing the AML market. Its job is not to churn out data. Instead, 
it makes intelligent use of data.

For example, Tripathi said, the software will remember that a customer is a 
30-year-old engineer who is paid on the fifth of every month.

It will study the profiles of other engineers in the same age group and 
build a pattern based on common traits like, say, the monthly periodicity 
of salary, said Tripathi. If another customer comes along, says he is an 
engineer and receives deposits every week, the software will raise what we 
call a red flag. He is suspect.

InfrasoftTech claims to have installed the largest AML project in the 
world, linking more than 1,000 branches of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, a large 
banking institution owned by the Indonesian government. According to 
InfrasoftTech, the software monitors 1.5 million transactions a day and 18

[Medianews] L.A. now in Mexico?

L.A. now in Mexico?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43973
(Humm I thought that ENGLISH is the national language of the US)
An immigration activist group is drawing attention to a photograph showing 
a billboard ad for a Spanish-language TV newscast in L.A. on which the CA 
abbreviation after Los Angeles has been crossed out and the word Mexico 
added in its place.

An e-mail to supporters of Americans for Legal Immigration states: We just 
received this photo of a billboard in CA that reads 'Los Angeles CA' but 
the CA is crossed out and replaced by the word 'Mexico.' It looks like this 
billboard is compliments of Clear Channel.

The billboard reportedly sits along the 605 freeway in Southern California. 
A photo of the ad was taken by a commuter who says he first though his eyes 
were playing tricks on him.

The e-mail that accompanied the photo read:
I travel every day to and from work on the 605 freeway. By the sand 
quarries and the river wash there are many billboards. I have noticed that 
it seems more and more of them are in Spanish.

Last week, I thought I noticed something strange on one of billboards. The 
605 moves fast usually at that point, so I went by again the next day and 
verified that the CA was crossed out and replaced with MEXICO.

Still not wanting to believe my eyes, or hoping they were playing tricks on 
me, I went by again, Sunday afternoon the 24th. I went home and retrieved 
the digital camera. I drove north on the 605 past Ramona and there it was 
on the right-hand side. I pulled off the road and took this all too sad photo.

I guess they don't have to hide their intentions anymore.
Last month, ClearChannel, the apparent owner of the billboard, announced a 
Multicultural Sales and Marketing Initiative to expand its focus on 
serving the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic and African American population.

A call to KRCA, channel 62, was not returned by press time. 

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[Medianews] Propaganda of the Police State: Military channel reports for duty

Propaganda of the Police State: Military channel reports for duty
By Randy Dotinga
http://csmonitor.com/2005/0425/p11s01-usmi.htm
The anchors and reporters wear uniforms instead of neckties and suits, and 
the commercials promote the military, not laundry soap and cutlery sets. 
But otherwise, the Pentagon Channel - which is on the cusp of its first 
anniversary - looks and sounds a lot like CNN and C-SPAN.

To the people who run the Department of Defense television network, that's 
exactly the point. To critics, that's exactly the problem. When the 
government creates a cable channel that reminds viewers of a news network, 
down to the live Pentagon briefings and interviews with Washington big 
shots, is it a form of propaganda or just a savvy way to communicate with 
the troops?

We provide news and information and focus on the morale of our military as 
well, says Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of Defense, who 
oversees the Pentagon Channel.

We don't shy away from the tough stuff, she says, but we embrace the 
stories that are uplifting and important for our morale.

For example, segments called Why I Serve spotlight members of the 
military and their stories, and a monthly show features military members 
and their families at Camp Pendleton, a Marine base near San Diego. The 
American Veteran, meanwhile, highlights benefits and services for - you 
guessed it - veterans. Other shows spotlight individual branches of the 
military.

Not everything is happy news, however. In its daily news roundup, the 
Pentagon Channel's reporters and anchors cover fatal attacks and events 
such as the recent court-martial of an Army sergeant accused of carrying 
out an attack against fellow soldiers in Kuwait before the Iraq war. But 
the spin is invariably pro-military.

The on-air staffers aren't reporters, says Ralph J. Begleiter, professor 
of communication at the University of Delaware. That's a hugely important 
distinction. They're not journalists. They're salesmen.

Pentagon Channel senior producer Scott Howe, a veteran of military 
journalism, puts it another way. We are an advocate of the Department of 
Defense and its voice, he says. We obviously don't air speculation out in 
the civilian media that questions what the department is doing or its 
motives.

Military-sponsored news reports are hardly anything new. The government 
even operates an institution called the Defense Information School - motto: 
strength through truth - to train its troops to publish newspapers and 
produce news shows.

What makes the Pentagon Channel different is that the public is getting a 
look at it through cable systems, ostensibly so reservists and military 
families can watch it more easily.

The channel, which was launched last May, is broadcast at many military 
bases and on public cable in major cities. It also streams live on the 
Internet. There are no numbers on how many civilians may watch.

Most other Pentagon news services have limited, military-only audiences. 
The Stars  Stripes, the military's overseas daily newspaper, is available 
in the US via the Internet. (Once produced by service members, its staff is 
now mostly civilians.)

The Pentagon Channel raises enormous questions, says Professor Begleiter, 
who is fighting the military over access to photos of flag-draped caskets 
of dead soldiers returning from abroad. It's like any other government 
organization that puts out press releases or video releases or CD-ROMs or 
movies.

Ms. Barber bristles at the idea that the Pentagon Channel is offering 
government propaganda. To her, the network is simply offering a form of 
corporate communication. You would never tell a CEO that they can't talk 
directly to their employees. That's just what we're doing with the Pentagon 
Channel.

The difference, critics say, is that the Pentagon is funded by taxpayer 
money - $6 million to start up the channel - and not stockholders.

Matthew T. Felling, media director at the watchdog group Center for Media 
and Public Affairs, wonders whether it's worth it.

If the question is whether it's wiser for $6 million to [better arm] the 
troops or get them critical information, that's a tough call, he says. 
But that's not the need that the Pentagon Channel is addressing. It isn't 
getting raw information to them. It's providing reassurance programming. 

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[Medianews] Some fear law would create national ID card

Some fear law would create national ID card

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | April 26, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Congress is poised to pass a law that would make
sweeping changes to the nation's system for issuing driver's licenses
by imposing stringent requirements on states to verify the
authenticity of birth certificates, Social Security cards, legal
residency visas, and bank and utility records used to obtain a
license.

House Republicans attached the bill to a must-pass supplemental
spending package for troops in Iraq without first putting it through
the usual legislative scrutiny of hearings and debate. Should it
emerge intact from House-Senate negotiations over the spending
package, it could be law next month.

Touted as an antiterrorism measure, the ''Real ID Act would also
overturn laws in nine states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain
driver's licenses. If a state does not comply with any provision of
the law, its residents would no longer be able to use their driver's
licenses for federal identification purposes, such as for boarding a
plane.

The law, some say, would effectively turn the new driver's license
into a national identification card. Its chief champion, House
Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, Republican of Wisconsin, says
the measure would help prevent terrorists from fraudulently gaining
official documents that would allow them to enter the country and
move freely.

Another set of provisions would significantly raise the standard of
proof that asylum applicants must meet when claiming that they have
been persecuted on ethnic, religious, or political grounds. It would
also grant greater discretion to Homeland Security officials to
reject asylum seekers and curtail the ability of appeals courts to
issue stays of deportation orders and review rejected cases.

Terrorists have ''used almost every conceivable means of entering the
country, Sensenbrenner said in a statement provided by an aide.
''They have come as students, tourists, and business visitors. They
have also been [legal permanent residents] and naturalized US
citizens. They have snuck across the border illegally, arrived as
stowaways on ships, used false passports, and have been granted
amnesty. Terrorists have even used America's humanitarian tradition
of welcoming those seeking asylum. We must plug these gaps.

But many critics of the Real ID Act say that it goes too far and that
its language is riddled with problems that might have been corrected
through the normal legislative review process.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/04/26/some_fear_law_would_crate_national_id_card/

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[Medianews] Report Says Shuttle Standards Ease, NASA Disputes

Report Says Shuttle Standards Ease, NASA Disputes
Reuters
Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:41 AM ET
http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=scienceNewsstoryID=uri:2005-04-26T074115Z_01_N26520431_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-SPACE-SHUTTLE-DC.XML
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA has loosened its standards for acceptable risk
to the space shuttle, the New York Times reported on Friday, but a
spokesman for the U.S. space agency said the shuttle will resume flying
only if safe.

The newspaper cited internal documents including one saying that lesser
standards must be used to determine acceptable risks, because we cannot
meet traditional standards.

The article's technical assertions were factually correct, NASA spokesman
Bob Jacobs said. But he added, The assertion that we're loosening
standards is not.

We take all safety assessments very seriously. We have taken
well-documented strides in changing management structure and safety
reviews, and we're not going to fly the orbiter until we feel that it is
safe to fly, he said.

The three-ship shuttle fleet has been grounded since Feb. 1, 2003, when
Columbia broke up over Texas, killing all seven crew members. Independent
investigators determined that foam insulation from the shuttle's external
fuel tank hit the craft's wing on launch, causing a breach that allowed
superheated gas to penetrate the ship on re-entry.

NASA is preparing to return the shuttle to flight, with a planned May 22
launch for the ship Discovery. The space agency has made several design and
management changes aimed at improving safety.

Jacobs confirmed the newspaper's report that tests showed a
higher-than-desired failure rate for the reinforced carbon-carbon material
that makes up the leading edge of the shuttles' wings.

However, he said this did not represent a loosening of standards. Instead,
he said, it shows a need to learn to fly safely in that environment.

The Times cited internal memos that purportedly show at least three changes
in the statistical methods used in assessing the risks of debris like ice
and insulating foam striking the shuttle at launch.

Jacobs said extensive work has done into reducing such risks.
Debris-shedding was one of the paramount return-to-flight issues and we've
made significant changes -- to the design of the external tank, to the
application of foam -- all to make flight as safe as possible, he said.

Experts consulted for the Times article did not suggest that Discovery is
unsafe, but the newspaper said a small but forceful minority say the worry
that NASA is repeating a practice that contributed to the Columbia
disaster: playing down risks to continue sending humans into space.

NASA has undergone a period of institutional soul-searching since the
Columbia's disintegration, especially after investigators found the agency
had a broken safety culture that was the underlying cause of the accident.

The agency's new chief, rocket scientist Michael Griffin, said this week he
might consider letting the shuttle return to flight even if an independent
panel has not finally approved some safety improvements that Columbia's
investigators deemed essential.

An independent commission meant to monitor the 15 safety recommendations
for the return to shuttle flight has yet to give final clearance to eight
of the recommendations.

George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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[Medianews] Apple Retaliates Over Jobs Biography


  Apple Retaliates Over Jobs Biography
  - Apr 26, 2005 09:01 PM (AP Online)

By GREG SANDOVAL AP Technology Writer


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc. has retaliated against the 
publisher of an upcoming unauthorized biography about chief executive 
Steve Jobs by removing dozens of other technology books sold by the 
publisher from Apple stores around the world.


Apple removed the books last week from all 104 of its stores after 
failing in a monthlong attempt to persuade John Wiley  Sons not to 
release iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of 
Business, which is to go on sale within the next six weeks, the 
publisher said.


The book-spurning is only the latest attempt by Apple executives to 
crack down on writers who publish or distribute unauthorized or 
secret information about the computer maker. It's a strategy that 
experts in brand management say is likely to backfire, only adding to 
the notoriety of Apple's critics and encouraging sales in countless 
other bookstores.

...

  - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=48659724



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[Medianews] The apple of Apple's eye: The improved PowerBook G4


The apple of Apple's eye: The improved PowerBook G4

By Paul L. Kerstein
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - Updated: 01:47 PM EST

The latest batch of innovative Apple PowerBooks are stronger, faster 
and more impressive than their predecessors.

With the prices slightly lower than expected, they pack a lot of 
bang for the buck.

Apple sent us the top-of-the-line 15-inch version. After running 
one through the mill, there's a lot to say for these machines.

Marketed for creative professionals and folks in the science, 
technology, engineering, and audio-video markets, the PowerBook 
provides the maximum in mobile performance.

Apple upgraded many performance aspects, starting with the 
processor. The 17-inch PowerBook comes in one complete configuration 
that includes a 1.67GH processor, the fastest yet for a laptop. The 
big daddy of the line, it comes with the best of everything.

The 15 and 12-inch PowerBooks have many configurations, which 
you can select at time of purchase to meet your needs. They come with 
1.5 GH or 1.67GH processors. However, if you're still holding out for 
the G5 processor in a laptop, it still may be a while as they run too 
hot to keep them in such small package.

Speed performance over the old PowerBooks is most noticeable 
when using power-applications such as graphics, animation or layout 
programs. They are more than capable of running many of these 
programs simultaneously, satisfying the needs of any professional on 
the go.

...

http://business.bostonherald.com/reviews/view.bg?articleid=79440



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[Medianews] At some local nightspots, nerds rule

At some local nightspots, nerds rule
Intellectual city's bars and restaurants cash in with slideshows,
trivia contests

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | April 18, 2005

It may be the jocks who have made headlines for Boston, with their
World Series triumph and talk of a Super Bowl dynasty.

But nerds are the real lifeblood of this city.

''There are so many nerds in Boston, said Chris Balakrishnan, a
postdoctoral fellow in biology at Harvard University who organizes
monthly Nerd Nite gatherings for like-minded, well, nerds. ''It's
just remarkable.

Bar and restaurant owners are getting wise to nerd power and the fact
that geeks pay. Across the city, venues have opened their doors for
events such as Nerd Nite and reaped the financial benefits of a city
population that, thanks to numerous universities, will never suffer a
drought of studious overachievers.

The nerds have brought thousands of dollars on nights when business
was generally slow. Nerd Nite, which initially was held on
Wednesdays, became so popular during the last year that the owners of
the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain agreed to let the nerds take over
coveted Friday nights and fill the stage usually reserved for bands
with their laptops and slideshow presentations.

The nerds bring the friends they never had in high school and lure
strangers curious about topics such as the dog-faced fruit bats of
Southeast Asia. They debate the etymology of nerd and geek and
suggestions for proper usage.

The term nerd, which first appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's book, ''If
I Ran the Zoo, now applies to anyone who is very bright but socially
inept, according to Jim Burrows, a Maynard technical operations
manager and self-described nerd who has researched the word for the
past 10 years.

Chris Cakebread, an advertising professor at Boston University,
estimated that Boston, with all its universities and high-tech
companies, probably ranks among the five nerdiest cities in the
country. He said businesses are smart to provide places for these
sophisticated intellectuals to gather.

http://www.boston.com/ae/food/restaurants/articles/2005/04/18/at_some_local_nightspots_nerds_rule/

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[Medianews] 'Bleep!' focuses on DVD censorship

'Bleep!' focuses on DVD censorship

By Sam Allis, Globe Staff  |  April 26, 2005

It was only a matter of time.

From the cauldron of controversy surrounding family values these 
days, someone was bound to start fooling around with Hollywood movie 
DVDs in the name of morality. And with the digital technology that 
arrived in the '90s ushering in the DVD era, editing the things 
became so easy that even an adult could do it.

A few years ago, technology bumped into intellectual property. A man 
in American Fork, Utah, named Ray Lines began buying film DVDs, 
editing out what he considered inappropriate violence, sex, nudity, 
language, whatever, and reselling the DVDs.

This is the opening bell of a fascinating hourlong documentary airing 
tonight on AMC called ''Bleep! Censoring Hollywood, produced by ABC 
News Productions. The debate over sanitizing has remained under the 
radar for many of us, but it doesn't take long to grasp its 
implications.

Wherever you stand on the issue, the content of this generally 
evenhanded show is so compelling that other considerations, like its 
format and style, are irrelevant.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/04/26/bleep_focuses_on_dvd_censorship/




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[Medianews] Change is in the air for Boston radio


Change is in the air for Boston radio

By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent  |  April 21, 2005

In the old days -- two months ago -- listeners knew what to expect. 
You could turn on ''Mix WBMX-FM (98.5) for fun new pop by Rob Thomas 
or Green Day and get the occasional nostalgic Bon Jovi tune mixed in. 
WBOS-FM (92.9) played it mellow but fresh, with the latest adult rock 
from Los Lonely Boys or the Wallflowers. And ''Star WQSX-FM (93.7) 
was dance music old and new: Donna Summer meets Salt-N-Pepa.

Then, suddenly, they all started sounding a little similar and a 
little strange. Rock tunes ran into hip-hop, a current top hit segued 
into a '70s throwback. DJs were muted, if there at all, and everyone 
was advertising the playlist was wide open.

Are the playlists -- the formatting -- really gone? Not exactly. 
Boston radio may be putting more tunes into rotation, but they'll 
probably be tunes you already know. Because Boston, to varying 
degrees, is going ''Jack -- a hot new radio format designed to win 
back listeners and snare a bigger piece of an ever-diminishing pie.

What is ''Jack?

Put simply, it's a format that abandons the conventional wisdom that 
listeners respond to song repetition and station self-promotion. 
Instead, it substitutes a broad playlist of familiar hits that cross 
musical genres and programs them with virtually no talk.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/04/21/change_is_in_the_air_for_boston_radio/


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[Medianews] Some call T's new Charlie Card an invasion of privacy

Some call T's new Charlie Card an invasion of privacy
But agency insists safeguards in place

By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff | April 16, 2005

When T riders swipe their new Charlie Cards to get on board, some
civil libertarians fear, commuters could be letting loose personal
and financial information.

The new automated fare collection system, which will debut on the
Blue Line's Aquarium and Airport subway stations within the next
month, uses cards that contain a computer chip and can be loaded with
money, which is automatically debited at fare gates.

The new card can also be linked to a credit or debit card, similar to
an option offered by the Massachusetts Turnpike's Fast Lane
electronic toll system. A test of the system started on Silver Line
buses in February.

The technology is seen as a boon for the aging T system, allowing the
MBTA to track riders, cut down on fare evasion, and create a more
efficient transit operation, officials said.

But while MBTA officials say customers can keep their privacy because
they can buy Charlie Cards without giving any personal information,
others say the system is ripe for identity theft.

They say it's possible that hackers could get into T computers and
steal personal data or that information could be released by mistake.
And they say hackers could try to get information on credit or debit
cards through the Charlie Cards' links to them.

...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/16/some_call_ts_new_charlie_card_an_invasion_of_privacy/

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[Medianews] Unrolling AltiVec, Part 3: Down and dirty loop optimization

Unrolling AltiVec, Part 3: Down and dirty loop optimization

Learn how to tailor your code for AltiVec

Level: Intermediate

Peter Seebach ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Freelance writer
01 Apr 2005

This series has looked at how the AltiVec instruction set can improve
performance on G4 and G5 PowerPC chips. With the theoretical
discussion covered in Parts 1 and 2, Part 3 tries to actually get
some code optimized. This installment of the Unrolling AltiVec series
looks at some real-world code that processors might spend a serious
amount of time running, and shows how to tweak it to get extra
performance.
...

http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-unrollav3/


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[Medianews] 'The Simpsons' Hit 350th Episode Milestone

'The Simpsons' Hit 350th Episode Milestone

By Ray Richmond  |  April 26, 2005

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - You know that a show has been 
around a long time when they start measuring milestones in episodic 
increments of 50. But it's understandable that The Simpsons should 
want to make a big deal out of hitting 350 episodes with this 
Sunday's installment.

As the legendary Fox series wraps up its 16th season, the denizens of 
Springfield are wading in some uncharted prime-time waters. When 
executive producer Al Jean boasts that The Simpsons just enjoyed 
the best 16th season of any comedy ever, that's because no other 
comedy has ever made it this far.

...

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/04/26/the_simpsons_hit_350th_episode_milestone/




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[Medianews] Do you know where your identity has been?