TAD Consortium April 2000 Information Update 5

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CONTENTS
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NEWS

--- Cyber Connections site at Wits Technikon
--- One Billion Email Accounts by 2002
--- Gender Gap to Vanish in New Net Gold Rush
--- Radio ga ga for rural India through cable

ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS

--- Scripts available to broadcasters from Developing Countries Farm Radio Network.

PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS

--- Media Matters
--- Radio Clubs - Zimbabwe

ONLINE RESOURCES

--- HUD: University-Community Partnerships -- Current Practices Volume III
--- The Knowledge Loom
--- Comparative report on learnings from work in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa on institutional issues in supporting sustainable rural livelihoods
--- Who wants to be empowered? Local perspectives on participatory development from Tanzania
--- Articles related to the social embodiment, telepresence and cyborgs
--- Portal site of Sustainable Development Networking Programme, India
--- Lesson Plan Links website
--- Science4Kids
--- English Language Reference page
--- Seven Points to Overcome to Make the Virtual University Viable
--- Article on computer use in schools

ARTICLES

--- A report of "Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2000"
--- Computers rot our children's brains: expert
--- "Dot-Com" Energy May Be Doomed to Fizzle Into Midlife Stagnation

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NEWS
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On March 23, 2000 the second Cyber Connections site - at the Wits Technikon - was opened in Doornfontein. The site is laid out for 108 terminals with 50 terminals installed. The site is presently, in spite of the school holidays, occupied in excess of 90% during opening hours.. We have a Webcam installed on our sites and they can be viewed at  http://www.epoint.co.za

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: April 10th, 2000

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Messaging Online:One Billion Email Accounts by 2002

There were 569 million email accounts globally at year-end 1999, up 83 percent on the previous year, according a new report to Messaging Online.

The report predicts there will be 1 billion email accounts in two years' time. In the early 1990s, there were 15 million email accounts in the world. There are now about 333 million electronic mailboxes in the US. About two-thirds of the US workforce and about half of US households now use email. Accounting for overlap, at least 40 percent of those living in the US are email users.

Growth in the rest of the world exceeded 100 percent last year, up from 117 million at year-end 1998. Globally, under 5 percent of workers and about 6 percent of households use email although penetration is closer to US levels in most of Europe and many parts of Asia/Pacific.Webmail, such as Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail, is the most popular email category in the world with almost 170 million accounts. There are 149 million email accounts in the ISP/online category.

Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange continue to be the most popular email systems in the corporate world, with 55.3 million and 44.2 million mailboxes respectively.Messaging outsourcers are becoming more popular for businesses, however, and the number of mailboxes in this category soared from under 14 million to more than 45 million in 1999.

<http://www.messagingonline.com/>

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: April 10th, 2000

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Angus Reid Group:Gender Gap to Vanish in New Net Gold Rush

A dramatic shift in Internet demographics will occur this year as, for the first time ever, more women than men will gain access to the Internet.

According to the first wave results of the Angus Reid Group's study "The Face of the Web", there will be more than 150 million new Internet users globally by the end of the year and 54 percent of those will be women. Currently, 59 percent of the global Internet population is male.In areas that already have high Internet penetration such as North America and Scandinavia, up to 60 percent of new users will be female.

Another first in Internet demographics should happen this year, as the number of new users from the baby boomer generation will surpass new teen and young adult users for the first time. Households with children will also log on in greater numbers than ever before.

Contrary to other research houses, Angus Reid does not predict any dramatic increases in Internet user numbers in the over 55 age group. More people in this group say they have no interest in going online than any other group. The main reasons cited by all age groups for not going online were lack of knowledge and equipment. Factors influencing the decision to go online included the desire to use email, interest in researching or finding relevant information and curiosity. Ecommerce was not a particularly influential factor, probably because new users need to become comfortable with the medium before they begin to shop online.

Angus Reid project director Brian Cruikshank says 2000 will be the year of the "second digital gold rush". The first such gold rush took place when young, wealthy and well-educated males flocked to the Internet. Now, Cruikshank says, content providers should concentrate on security and family-focused content if they want to attract the new users to their sites.

The global study of 28,374 internet users and consumers in 34 countries found that the biggest growth in user numbers this year will occur in North America and developed parts of Asia.<http://www.angusreid.com/MEDIA/CONTENT/displaypr.cfm?id_to_view=1006>

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Radio ga ga for rural India through cable

by Frederick Noronha, India Abroad News Service

Bangalore, Apr 13  -  Using satellite cable network for radio broadcasting is the novel solution an Indian engineer has struck upon to promote the popular electronic medium to empower the rural masses.Arun Mehta, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-trained electrical engineer who heads the Society for Telecom Empowerment, is working on plans that could offer people relevant information about local issues through the radio.

Technology exists, but official restrictions block the setting up of community radio stations that will offer relevant content to local communities, says Mehta. To cope with this, he suggests sending out radio broadcasts via satellite cable networks, without violating any laws and at the same time getting local radio across to citizens.

"Depending upon the quality of satellite TV cable that is being used, it leaks power. The worse the quality of the cable, the more power it leaks. So radio is much  easier to receive from cables," explains Mehta. Radio requires much less signal strength. So anyone with a radio receiver within 30 metres of the satellite cable would be able to receive broadcasts on his radio.

Says Mehta: "This way, one doesn't have to fight against colonial laws dating back to 1885 that block the citizen from starting a radio station without paying huge licence fees. You can start your own station. You don't have to ask anyone for permission." Mehta recently held discussions with non-profit organisations in Mumbai in this regard.

"Cable is a very important medium for the Indian environment. There are about 30 million Indian households with cable TV connections," says Mehta who, after stints with Siemens in Germany and the U.S., did a doctorate on esoteric subjects like crane control. Later, he headed Amnesty International's India branch. 

"It's a lack of technological courage to try out solutions like this. It's just that we don't have the approach of using technology to solve our problems in our own way. In electronics, we like to ape the West in our R&D. That's a great pity," he said.

Mehta argues that if he persuades a cable-TV operator to carry a radio staon, he could do it for almost nothing. Each satellite TV channel can carry several audio channels and in many languages. All these can be treated as independent radio channels, he says. Any willing cable satellite operator would be able to feed radio programmes via FM into the cable.

Mehta believes the current round of "opening up" the airwaves to the private sector at a phenomenally-high licence fee would only commercialise radio broadcasting in the country, rather than making it relevant to the "needs of millions."

Last month, there were 360 applications for 108 FM radio-station licences offered by the government to the private sector, covering 40 cities by 103 companies. The price for licences to run a private station was as high as Rs. 97.5 million each in the commercial capital of Mumbai.

Mehta points out that in New Delhi, journalist Raman Nanda has been trying other options by running an Internet radio station on news and current affairs. "That's quite interesting. But Internet radio is not a very good broadcast medium. If 1,000 people start listening to the same station, the server packs up. Radio also somehow has to be wireless in your psyche. You can't be tethered to a computer," says Mehta.

His Society for Telecommunications Empowerment aims to bring telecom to the people and empower people through it. "We want to find ways by securing changes in policy, in the legal position, also technology awareness. We want to showcase some examples that work," he says.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS
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Scripts available to broadcasters from Developing Countries Farm Radio Network.

This month's theme: agroforestry.  Agroforestry means growing trees on farms, which can improve farm productivity and the welfare of a rural community.   Agroforestry is a way to keep the land continuously in use, without depleting it of nutrients needed for growing crops.

The radio scripts in the current package give many examples of how to successfully grow trees with crops and livestock.  Network members also receive our newsletter which provides additional resources and information for farm radio broadcasters.

Scripts in this package:

1. Choose the right trees to grow with crops - how farmers can select appropriate trees for agroforestry
2. Who owns the trees? - owndership of trees varies according to local laws
3. Grow vegetable crops with coconuts - farmers in Philippines share tips
4. The supermarket garden - a forest "supermarket" provides food in time of need
5. The forest garden: a garden with shelves - a multi-layered garden provides food and income all year
6. Tree planting - radio spots about planting, trees in pasture and living fences
7. A farmer turns wasteland into rainforest - barren land in Brazil becomes a vibrant forest
8. Food, fruit and fuelwood from a small hillside farm - farmers in Philippines grow many different crops on hilly land
9. Trees and terraces prevent hillside flooding - an Ethiopian farmer finds a way to prevent flooding and landslides
10. Observations on the calliandra tree and its use in poultry feed - notes about a favourite multi-purpose tree from a research farm in Sri Lanka
11. Trees and animals on the farm - trees and animals can benefit each other

Scripts distributed in print format by air/surface mail in English, French or Spanish to active members.  Membership free to radio broadcasters in the South.  To request an application form and information package, please e-mail dcfrn@web.net http://www.web.net/~dcfrn/ or write to

Developing Countries Farm Radio Network
366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 706
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
M5V 1R9
tel: 416.971.6333
fax: 416.971.5299

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PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS
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Introducing Media Matters, a registered non-profit trust based in Mumbai, India.

Media Matters works with the purpose of bringing knowledge and skills to the use of media in development. We have now expanded to include an action programme in an urban slum, working mainly with women and children.

In the area of development communication, Media Matters seeks to:

At present we are working on a project "Planning and Management of IEC in Health communication" and would appreciate if you could suggest relevant material on the topic.

Sincerely

Prabir Bose
Managing Trustee
Media Matters
Kolsawala Building, 16 Cawasji Patel Street, Fort
Mumbai 400001, India
mediamatters@vsnl.com

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Taken from Innovations? (circulated by The Communication Initiative)
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Radio Clubs - Zimbabwe - Members of the Zimbabwe Chapter of the Federation of African Media Women spent a lot of time in the rural areas of Zimbabwe talking with women in their villages about the issues that most concerned them. Then we raised the question whether they wanted to be involved in a radio programme that sought to make progress on those issues. Radio was chosen because it is far and away the most accessible medium. In almost all cases everyone was enthusiastic. From those meetings the group of women identified leaders, whom we called monitors. A group of monitors were gathered in Harare for orientation and training. We purchased each group a radio cassette recorder with microphones. The monitors were given some basic instruction on how to use these. There was also some training in running group meetings and basic interview techniques. ZBC agreed to give time slots for any work that the women produced. The groups of women asked for and received Mondays and Wednesdays at 2pm. Then the women began running group meetings in their villages. They would listen to the live broadcast of the show featuring the work of one of the groups. This was followed by discussion, amongst the group in each village, on the issues that most concerned them and the messages they wanted to get across. Then each group would record its own radio programme - maybe an interview or perhaps a group discussion. These are collected by project co-ordinators who listens to the cassettes and seeks responses to the question raised by the communities. These are then packaged and broadcast on ZBC. Contact Jennifer Sibanda  jsibanda@internet.co.zw

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ONLINE RESOURCES
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Taken from  From The Scout Report for Social Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000.  http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

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HUD: University-Community Partnerships -- Current Practices Volume III http://www.huduser.org/publications/commdevl/partner.html

This report just released from HUD's Office of University Partnerships "celebrates the growing number of commitments that colleges and universities are making to their communities to provide better places in which to live, work, and learn." The report is comprised of 599 entries from 342 colleges discussing collaborative programs between institutions of higher education and their communities. The report is divided into seven categories of partnership: service learning, service provision, faculty involvement, student volunteerism, non-degree courses for the community, applied research, and major institutional change. This report updates the first volume on this subject published by HUD in 1995. [DC]

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Taken from  From The Scout Report for Social Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000.  http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

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The Knowledge Loom http://knowledgeloom.org/

Developed by The Northeast & Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, this site offers a collection of materials on well-regarded, innovative teaching theories and models. The collection functions as a database providing links to sites devoted to user-selected topics. Search parameters include educational themes, level of instruction, states of the union, institutional settings, school type, and school organization. A keyword search is also available. (We advise users to begin with broad searches and narrow if necessary as our sample searches did not result in a deluge of data.) The site also hosts an In the Spotlight section that features a different educational issue on a regular basis. The current topic is professional development, and the site offers "research-based principles of practice for successful professional development, along with examples of those principles in action in real schools and districts." Users may participate in a professional discussion list as part of this feature.

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Khanya has now finished the comparative report bringing together learnings from the work in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa on institutional issues in supporting sustainable rural livelihoods.

The report is available from our website, www.khanya-mrc.co.za.

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Who wants to be empowered? Local perspectives on participatory development from Tanzania contributor(s): Claire Mercer - University of Wales

10 March 2000

What does participation mean at a local community level? Just who participates in development projects and why do they choose to do so in the first place? Does participation in NGO projects improve women's status? Such questions are often ignored by development workers involved in the theory and practice of development: they may well advocate the benefits of participation and empowerment but ignore more fundamental questions. Research at the University of Liverpool looks at how participatory development causes social and political change by examining the impact of NGO work in one village on Mount Kilimanjaro. If projects are to have a positive impact, the study concludes, they must take more account of local cultural conditions.

http://www.id21.org/static/4ccm1.htm

To receive this piece by email, send a message to the following email address:

mailto:getweb@webinfo.ids.ac.uk
Leave the SUBJECT field BLANK, and copy the following text into the BODY of the message:
GET http://www.ids.ac.uk/id21/static/4ccm1.htm

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Interesting articles related to the social embodiment, telepresence and cyborgs have been published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol 3 and Issue 2 of September 1997.

a) Bridging the Gulfs: From Hypertexts to Cyberspace by Thierry Bardini is available at <http://jcmc.huji.ac.il/vol3/issue2/bardini.html> -The purpose of the paper is focusing on the two main aspects at the origin of hypertext technology and contrast between associationist and connectionist views.

b) The Cyborg's Dilemma: Progressive Embodiment in Virtual Environments by Frank Biocca is avilable at <http://jcmc.huji.ac.il/vol3/issue2/biocca2.html> This paper brings another issue, of How does the changing representation of the body in virtual environments affect the mind? The article also considers how virtual reality interfaces are evolving to embody the user progressively? The author has also discussed other issues, such as "Embodiment: Thinking through our Technologically Extended Bodies" and "Being There: The sens of Physical Presence in Cyberspace".

c) At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Telepresence by Matthew Lombard is available at <http://jcmc.huji.ac.il/vol3/issue2/lombard.html> This paper discusses the issues regarding the emerging technologies including virtual reality, simulation rides. video conferencing, home theater, and high definition television are designed to provide media users with an illusion that a mediated experiences is not mediated, a perception defined here as presence.

d) Telepresence via Television: Two dimensions of Telepresence May Have Different Connections to Memory and Persuasion by Taeyong Kim and Frank Biocca is available at <http://jcmc.huji.ac.il/vol3/issue2/kim.html> This particular essay has discussed some questions, such as –Is Telepresence Related to any other cognitive correlates or outcomes, specially memory and persuasion?, Is Presence a unidimensional construct? and others!

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in collaboration with Ministry of Environment and Forests (India) has launched the portal site of Sustainable Development Networking Programme, India (SDNP-India) at http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in mirrored at http://members.tripod.com/sdnp_india. SDNP India is a part of the Global Capacity 21 Initiative of the UNDP to foster informed decison-making by countries in environmental matters. More information of the global SDNP Initiative is available at http://www.sdnp.undp.org

The SDNP India website provides access to a host of online databases, environmental legislation, case studies, publications, news clippings and electronic discussion groups on gamut of issues from Agriculture to Climate Change to Population, Health and Human Rights. A database of international organisations working on sustainable development issues is being maintained on the website and has been indexed subject area wise. We have also started to host information on Environment and Sutainable Development in local Indian languages too, so as to enhance the reach of the programme.

The website also provides a platform to initiate debates and discussions, highlight developmental issues and initiate environmental actions at all levels through a host of services such as Building Bridges, Development Job Opportunities, Query Desk, Dev-Online, Event Reporting service, Web-Site Hosting and Training on Information and Communication Technologies.

More information about these services is available at the SDNP website or by sending an email at sdnp@envfor.delhi.nic.in

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The Lesson Plan Links website:

http://rrnet.com/~gleason/lesson.html has been updated for a total number of 131 sites.

The Subject Lesson Plan Links website: http://rrnet.com/~gleason/subject.html has been updated for a total number of 164 sites, including a new section on WebQuests!

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Taken from Education Planet Newsletter
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Science: Kapili Research Labs - Science4Kids http://www.kapili.com/research/index.html Come to the Kapili Research Labs site and explore the world of science. Here you will find subject specific sites such as Biology4Kids, Chemistry4Kids, Physics4Kids, Astronomy, and Terrarum (Physical Geography). Each section contains well researched material that is written in a very understandable manner accompanied by excellent graphics. The Chemistry section includes extensive information on Elements 1-18. The Terrarum includes sections on the Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere, Atmosphere, Energy and Climates. There are quizzes to test your knowledge in each section, and an overall glossary of scientific terms.

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Please check the following English Language Reference page:

http://www.jindagi.com/ref/

This is a must bookmark page as you can use it to access different dictionaries, theasurus and other resources from single page. In fact, you need to fire only one query and select the appropriate option button to get the result.

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An important web-pointer regarding distance learning.."Seven Points to Overcome to Make the Virtual University Viable"..

<http://zebu.uoregon.edu/special/virtual.html>

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This is quite a good (short) article on computer use in schools, which both outlines some of the pitfalls and delineates different types of computer use in schools. Thanks to Stefan Coetzer and Goolam Mohamed from WCED for spotting this and passing it on.

http://www.edc.org/LNT/news/Issue14/feature1.htm

Cheers
Stephen Marquard

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ARTICLES

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A report of "Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2000"

"Challenging the assumptions" was the theme of this year's 'Computers, Freedom and Privacy' conference (April 4-7). The tenth edition of CFP was held in Toronto and, as usual, it brought together professionals from a broad range of fields: computer scientists, lawyers, business, journalists, academics, NGOs and students.

Reversing the chronological order of things I start my review with the last session entitled "Ten Years of CFP: Looking back, looking forward", because it condensed and made visible two themes that underlied the feeling of this conference. The first has to do with a shift from 'whether the Net will be regulated' --a concern which prevailed in the first editions of CFP-- to a concern with 'who will regulate it' --that dominated this year's conference. Adding to this point, Simon Davies (Privacy International) spoke of a struggle between 'us' (computer scientists, privacy advocates, etc) and 'them' (business and government). The second, has to do with the delicate balance between concepts such as freedom and privacy. How can we make them work together, and if they don't which should prevail?

These issues were dealt with in a variety of contexts that ranged from the 'domain name system', to children's rights, intellectual property, surveillance and technological determinism, amongst others [1]. Although the 'domain name system' and its regulation was a hot topic, after debating it for almost two mornings the only conclusion that one can arrive to is that it is a dead topic. On one hand, nobody seems to applaud the ICANN initiative for it resembles too much a political instrument; on the other, nobody can provide feasible alternatives [2]. Jerry Berman (Center for Democracy and Technology) summarized this position well when saying that ICANN should be concerned only with issues of management of the domain names. The rest, he said, should be in the hands of the government and the different organizations that lobby there. It goes without saying that the above mentioned government is the American one, and that the 'lobby groups' are also American.

Another hot topic, and the one that created the most heated discussion, was that of 'net filters' and children's rights. With two defendants and two opponents the panel on "Views of the Bertelsmann Foundation's self-regulation of internet content proposal" was the best place to see the inextricabilities of the concepts of freedom and privacy. The proposal's supporters argued for the need to 'protect our children', for the self-regulating aspect of the proposal, and for the innocuous character of labeling devices. The opponents replied with the real danger of institutional use of these filtering systems as mechanisms of control (what happens when a website falsely self-rates itself?.), and with the global homogeneity of the filtering systems themselves because, in fact, there is no filtering system that, for example, has a category for media monopolies. Christopher Hunter (Annenberg School of Communication) brought up the danger of pushing idiosyncratic speech to the 'no-man's land' of the web and the subsequent homogenization of content. As it is, he said, 80% of the traffic goes to 5% of the sites.

An issue that the panelists did not question, but that is of the greatest importance, is that of giving unlimited power to parents to decide for their children. In countries such as the U.S. and Canada, where a 'zero tolerance' policy is already in place in schools it is urgent to consider if implementing filtering systems at home will not lead to the creation of children that are unable to deal with any situation that falls beyond the lines delineated by others and that lack a capacity for self-critical thinking. Besides, why assume that the Net is more powerful than any other media in perverting our children and that, therefore, there is a need for strict regulation?

On the theme of surveillance Duncan Campbell gave an excellent report on ECHELON. Campbell started off with a bit of history and argued that despite widespread belief ECHELON was not born out of the cold war. In fact, he said, the USSR never had a system like this or the ability to create it. The fact of the matter is that ECHELON is a product of our own Western society, it is designed to monitor global satellite communication (140 centers around the world) and it does so automatically. That is, 80% of what is intercepted is sent directly to the U.S. It's enemies are not single individual users that write 'dangerous' keywords in their email messages, rather, its enemies are hackers, NGOs, single lobby groups, et cetera. Campbell argued that currents movements in favour of stronger security laws--such as the banning of anonymous web hosting in France—are used to increase surveillance.

Questions related to intellectual property (IP) and the adjacent legal systems were very prominent in this conference. Apart from the usual legal discussions there were two ways of approaching this issue that I believe are helpful to understand the broader social aspects of the enforcement of IP laws. The first was brought up by Jessica Litman, a Professor at the Wayne State University. Litman highlighted the dangers of applying the traditional IP model to the new digital context. Discussing specifically the issue of piracy, Litman stated that the current IP model establishes a direct correlation between strong copyright models and the amount of works produced, that is, it implies that the more 'protection' the more 'production'. Using this kind of metaphor its proponents have managed to convince people that anything that has the same effect as piracy is indeed piracy, and that if the results of any practice are the same as piracy then it is also piracy. Litman argued that in order to change this situation we need to start using new metaphors that reflect a new reality. In order to do this we have to come up with a new vocabulary to replace the current one. Thus, rather than using words such as piracy or cybersquatting--which are heavily loaded words—we should use terms that are neutral in the eyes (and hears) of the majority of people.

The second point, which I think is important to mention, was brought up by Randall Davis (MIT). Davis affirmed that new technologies change our relation to information. To exemplify these changes Davis mentioned what happens to libraries when their contract to an online journal finishes. The library no longer possesses the previous issues, these were only there while there was a bond between both institutions. Thus, Davis argues, information becomes more an experience than an artifact.

It is then possible to take this argument a step beyond the immateriality of information, and note that the experience of information is based on a relationship: Information no longer resides in you or in me but in our connection, and this, I believe is crucial to the understanding of the so-called 'new digital society'.

The last point that I want to mention is that of the discussion regarding the non-neutrality of technology. Although many speakers addressed this issue, I will focus exclusively on Steve Talbott. Talbott, the publisher of the NetFuture newsletter, argued for the need to look beyond the immediate technological use, that is, to start by thinking about our (human) needs and concerns and then think of the technology. If you don't understand how the things are connected, he argued, then the cause of problems are solutions. Talbott argued that throughout our struggle for progress we seem to have lost track of our initial goals and purposes, and technological advancement became, in itself, a goal or even the goal. For example, we first wire up all the schools in the nation and only then think about how to use this technology. Or, we introduce notions of efficiency in realms--such as workplace--that traditionally had much less numerical and statistical traits. Our freedom, says Talbott, resides in the capacity to think in larger terms, to leave behind the immediate and think about the future while keeping in mind our humanity.

Much more could be said about this conference, but as I finish I just want to mention one last problematic issue: diversity. This issue is double sided for, on one hand, this conference has the great merit of being diverse both in the range of issues dealt with, but also in the spectrum of fields. The presence of specialists both from the private and governmental areas, the presence of theorists and pragmaticians, of lawyers and journalists, et cetera is definitely a characteristic that makes many other conferences envious. But, by the same coin, this conference lacks diversity in attendees and realities. Most of the sessions dealt exclusively in a very North-American (if not American) reality which does not apply to most of the world. As an attendee from Spain put it, "in Spain we deal with much more basic and profound problems than the ones dealt with here". Also, the attendees were almost exclusively white and largely male.

But, personally, what bothered me the most was the widespread tendency to say 'consumers' or 'little guys' when referring to people. In a conference whose aim is to deal with privacy and freedom issues, and try to make these concepts part of the public awareness it strikes me that confining it to the realm of 'consumers' is not the solution. Rather, we should see these concepts as part of that which makes us human, as a right that everyone should and must have.

[1] Wired News published yesterday a summary of many of the panels of the conference <http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35519,00.html>. See also USAToday <http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cth671.htm>

[2] A good, if impractical, solution was advanced by Simson Garfinkel, who proposed that we take all the meaning out of the domain name making it similar to a telephone number.

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#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission

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[Observer UK news]

Computers rot our children's brains: expert

Anthony Browne, Health Editor
Sunday April 16, 2000

Computers can rot young children's brains, a parenting expert warned yesterday. The warning is set to alarm parents who believe they must introduce their children to computers at ever younger ages.

Dr Jane Healy, an educational psychologist from America, told a conference in London that instead of helping to advance a child's knowledge, computers can stunt the healthy development of a child's mind, reducing attention span and hampering language skills. Parents who feel guilty about not buying their child a computer and expensive 'learning software' will be relieved.

Healy told the Parent Child 2000 conference that parents should limit the time youngsters spend using computers and watching television. Rather than living in an 'unchallenging, two-dimensional world', they should interact with others around them.

Demolishing the hype of what she calls the 'technology-pushers', Healy condemned the conventional wisdom that declares every child must have a computer at home and in school. Studies have shown that children under the age of seven are likely to be better off without them.

Dr Healy told the conference: 'It is playing with the parental hormone, guilt, to make them believe that if a child doesn't have a computer by the age of three it's not going to get a job.

'But quite to the contrary, it is limiting children's physical development and taking too much time away from what they should be doing.  They are, in fact, damaging the brain development in the sense that it's going to make it harder for them to learn at school.'

In the US, schools spent more than $4 billion on computers last year, and the market for 'edutainment' software is growing at about 30 per cent a year. Tony Blair has promised to connect every UK school to the Internet.

Rye College in Watford runs lessons for 18-month-old infants, using software aimed at the very young. They learn about shapes, colours and simple words. At two and a half, children begin programming and basic word processing.

But Healy said: 'Most of this software ... is doing more harm than good.'

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"Dot-Com" Energy May Be Doomed to Fizzle Into Midlife Stagnation

By Gary Chapman

Copyright 2000, The Los Angeles Times, All Rights Reserved

In this election year, many Americans seem to be teetering between the contentment of prosperity and anxiety due to a turbulent and uncertain economy. Last week, the stock market was "groping for the bottom," as one analyst put it, rattling the nerves of shareholders, while at the same time an industry report predicted that more than a million and a half jobs would be created in information technology fields this year and that half of those would go unfilled.

Most of my friends are now middle-aged, like me, and their careers started well before the current Internet craze. They're watching the "new economy" unfold with very mixed emotions. Some of them have found or crafted interesting and stimulating careers, while others are disappointed by where they find themselves now.

A few of my friends' stories are good examples. The people below have asked that their real names not be used, so I'm using pseudonyms.

Angie has a doctorate in English and has worked for a couple of decades as a journalist, author and magazine editor. Several years ago it became apparent that the number of publications that would publish her serious, probing articles were dwindling, and her income was following suit. So she took a breather from the stresses of freelancing by joining a small information services company as an editor and writer. It was her first 9-to-5 job in a long time.

"It started out as a nice place to work," she said, "with a real family feeling. But then it was bought by a much larger company, and things changed very quickly.

"When the company was bought, the new parent company sent these two guys down to our office for a pep talk -- they were like cheerleaders, they had this dog-and-pony show. They were very slick, but they didn't have a clue what we did or how their new acquisitions fit together." She added, "Those two guys later got fired."

The working environment went downhill from there, Angie said. The parent company was clueless, she said, and the result was a series of stern memos from the remote home office about new employee requirements, new bosses and a new computer system that robbed the editors and writers of their creative input and turned them into data entry clerks.

"Only the computer guys seemed to know what was going on," Angie said. While the computer technicians fiddled with their database program, the office's desktop computers crashed several times a day. Morale started to sink and eventually layoffs and departures set in.

Angie quit before things got worse. She looks back on the experience as an example of what it must be like to work for an information company, and she doesn't want to be part of that world again.

Bob is an exploration geologist for a large oil company, with advanced degrees from Stanford and 18 years in the business. His personal horrors are the serial management fads that sweep through his company, which has been sagging in stock market value, market share and employee morale.

"The latest phrase is 'asset teams,' " he said with contempt. "No one knows what that means, but everyone has to get on board and get with this latest new program. They sent a team of guys with Power Point slides to tell us all about it, but no one understood it. We've seen it before -- in another six months, it will be something else." Bob thinks these fads are a sign of desperation, and of managers cooking up reasons for the company to keep them.

He also thinks the upper management of his company is incompetent and is manipulating the company's finances to "loot" the cash flow -- with executive perks, bonuses and stock options -- while the firm itself stagnates.

Bob is going to give the company another year or two to improve before he bails out. He doesn't know what he's going to do after that because employment in the rapidly consolidating oil business is sinking fast.

John, who holds a doctorate in chemical engineering, has already faced that problem. He's been laid off from his job with a Los Angeles oil company. Getting another job in this industry is nearly impossible, and starting in a new industry is very difficult. "We're so specialized, it's a nightmare," he said. There are jobs for chemical engineers in pharmaceuticals or semiconductors, but those companies want either new graduates or people with years of experience in exactly the same subfield, John said. He doesn't know what he'll do.

"Who's to blame? I don't know. I don't want to appear that I'm blaming anyone," he said.

Ray is an entrepreneur. He started the company Angie worked for. He's doing well, as one might expect. But, he said, "I started my company without borrowing money and without venture capital. It was a hard row to hoe. Now I look at these new companies with all this money and I have to ask, 'Did they earn this?' When you fly these days, the first-class section seems awfully young."

Ray said, "The sense of entitlement among the young today is in for a rude awakening. Sooner or later business fundamentals kick in, and then you have to work really hard just to survive. The world view of young workers now is based on this very limited experience."

Middle-aged people are prone to self-reflection and self-assessment, as in the cliche of the midlife crisis. They also seem inclined to view the energy, idealism and naivete of younger generations with some skepticism and annoyance. This is a pattern that must be as old as the human species itself.

But younger people should regard stories such as those of my friends with the perspective that this is likely to be their future too. My friends began with the same high hopes and naive faith in the future that is common among the young, hip and affluent urban workers of the new economy.

And just as it was hard for our elders and our parents to explain to us that the world wouldn't greet our youthful idealism with open arms, we now find it difficult to explain to the young "dot-com" generation that things don't always turn out like you plan. This is especially worth remembering in the face of a looming dot-com shakeout.

Gary Chapman is director of the 21st Century Project at the University of Texas at Austin. He can be reached at gary.chapman@mail.utexas.edu.

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Telematics for African Development Consortium
P.O. Box 31822
Braamfontein
2017
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 +11 403-2813
Fax: +27 +11 403-2814
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www.saide.org.za

* To view an archive of previous updates visit: www.saide.org.za/tad/archive.htm

* For resources on distance education and technology use in Southern Africa visit: www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Default.htm

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