-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Digital Society Cybergirl Reads the News For an extra charge, Ananova will morph into Dan Rather in drag. A COMPUTER generated newsreader called Ananova that can deliver information on the internet 24 hours a day has been unveiled. With the help of technology in Silicon Valley, California, her creators claim she has a full range of human characteristics based on Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue and Carol Vorderman. "She has been programmed as 28 years old, 5ft 8in tall, with a pleasant, quietly intelligent manner that makes people feel relaxed when they engage with her," say Ananova's inventors at the Press Association in Britain. "She doesn't exhibit any of the less desirable adult personality traits like arrogance, cynicism and deceit. Self-importance and pomposity aren't in Ananova's emotional toolkit." The creators hope to capitalise on the modern phenomenon that many newsreaders are paid exorbitant salaries. Mark Hird, PA New Media's director, said: "We have been working on Ananova for the last nine months and she is now undergoing final trials. "Without doubt this is the most exciting product we have developed and one that has far-reaching implications for our whole business. We are taking news and information, converting the data into speech and creating the graphics needed for Ananova to read out the bulletin on the fly." Ananova will be launched this year on a special web site. The intention is that she will also be used on televisions and mobile telephones, palm sized organisers and even watches with screens. Ananova can be programmed to report on specific subjects, thus avoiding being bombarded with unwanted information. The creation of a "human" interface to present news is claimed as the next logical step for new media. Internet users are well aware of the current limitations of viewing video delivered down a phone line but Ananova's developers claim that broadband technologies will soon make the image better. William Cooper, the product manager at PA, said: "When we set out to develop Ananova we were anticipating the convergence of digital technologies and the increasingly mobile nature of information devices. In the not too distant future you will be able to take her wherever you go, acting as your own personal information assistant." The London Telegraph, January 18, 2000 Monetary Policy Japan Asks for G7 Help in Weakening the Yen (?) Just how incompetent is the central bank, anyway? The Japanese government is asking other countries from the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations for help in weakening the yen at next weekend's meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors. Japanese officials have lobbied for a collective G7 warning against the dangers of a too-strong yen at the meeting to be held in Tokyo. The appeal is regarded with limited sympathy in some countries, including the US, not least because the Japanese currency has recently weakened slightly against the dollar. Some G7 officials now regard the state of the euro as a potentially more important issue, given its decline. They also argue that Japan should be discouraged from focusing too closely on exchange rate issues at the expense of implementing other structural reform. Officials travelling with Lawrence Summers, US Treasury secretary, in India, declined to discuss the issue. Washington has tried to avoid what officials have called "viewing issues through the prism of the exchange rate". In a speech on Friday in Washington previewing the G7 meeting, Mr Summers devoted more attention to Europe's perceived economic shortcomings than to Japan's. However, Japanese government officials have said there is a risk of the yen again surging towards �100 to the dollar unless the G7 acts. They also argue the yen remains too strong for the Japanese economy. Eisuke Sakakibara, the former vice minister of finance for international affairs, said: "With the yen at �105 to the dollar, this is not a wide enough margin when there is a prevailing sentiment for the appreciation of the yen. "What we need to worry about is the post-G7 markets. Without a statement it is not unlikely that the market would turn around after the meeting and push it to �100 to the dollar - so I think that some statement is necessary, or the markets will take it as a sign that the US is accepting the weakness of the dollar." The yen on Monday closed in Tokyo at �105.2 to the dollar, down more than �1 from a seven-week high of �106.37 on Friday. The movement reflected a sharp rally in the Nikkei 225 average, the key stock market indicator, which closed at a 21/2-year high of 19,437.23, or 2.54 per cent up. It was also triggered by signs that the Bank of Japan was re-absorbing the excess liquidity it had left in the markets over the year-end to combat any millennium problems. Earlier this month the central bank had left surpluses as high as �24,000bn ($227bn) in the money markets, and even last Friday it continued to leave a surplus of �6,900bn. But yesterday it cut this surplus to �1,400bn, only slightly higher than the surpluses seen before the year-end. The Financial Times, January 18, 2000 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. 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