TAD Consortium September 2000 Information Update 4

SÃO PAULO, Brazil -- The prospects seemed bright when the Internet was recently introduced in a remote part of the mountainous Cotopoxi region in Ecuador. Under the guidance of aid workers, Quichua-speaking peasants planned to gather crop information and sell their crafts over the Web. Soon, though, it was discovered that some of the men were using the computer to visit pornographic sites.

Dismayed, the women began to question how the men were treating them, and a debate ensued over the common practice of beating women. Although use of the Internet was later curtailed, its introduction unexpectedly generated discussion on a once taboo topic.

The changes created by the Internet in rich industrialized nations are well known, affecting everything from how people date to how they work. But less is known about the impact on societies with limited contact with the rest of the world. As such experiments multiply, at least one outcome seems certain: the way people in these communities relate to each other and with the world is likely to be altered forever.

The Ecuadorean peasants were a case in point. "The impact was huge, but as it almost always is when the Internet makes it to such a community, quite surprising," said Amalia Souza, a Brazilian technology expert familiar with the project who has been an adviser on programs that bring the Internet to poor communities in more than 40 countries.

A year and a half ago the women of the impoverished Wapishana and Macushi tribes of Guyana were introduced to the Internet in a project sponsored by Bill Humphries, who headed Guyana Telephone and Telegragh at the time and was optimistic about technology's money-making potential. The tribal power structures were shaken.

The women began making money by marketing their intricate hand-woven hammocks over the Web at $1,000 each. Feeling threatened, the traditional regional leadership took control of the organization, alienating and finally driving out the young woman who ran the Web site. The weaving group fell into disarray.

"The events should be a case study for students of economics and social work," wrote Indera Ramlall, who is Guyanese, in a letter to a newspaper in the capital city of Georgetown. "Economic advancement is not just about technology and markets; more fundamentally, it is about human relationships."

The Alliance for Progress was the great hope of the Kennedy administration in the early 1960's. Its aim was to thwart communism with American aid to Central America, bridging the gap between poor and rich societies by building roads, factories and bridges. But aid to El Salvador tore the social fabric, contributed to the oppression of the poor, increased the holdings of the land-owning classes and helped fuel civil war.

For many people in developing countries these days, inspiration is increasingly drawn from William H. Gates.

Some of the outwardly successful development projects, like the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, are trying to deal with the unforeseen impact on the people they are trying to help. The Grameen Bank provides small amounts of credit to more than two million poor people, mainly women, enabling them to invest in raising livestock or entrepreneurial ventures like buying rickshaws. But critics say the focus on women, who are considered more reliable borrowers than men, has caused considerable tension between the sexes.

"Redistributing income from men to women, sharing out the misery of a shrinking cake, is not going to solve the people's problems," said Para Teare, a London-based social scientist who has studied such micro-lending programs, in a critique of the Grameen Bank.

Now, as technology starts to blur the distinction between industrialized countries and developing ones, social transition, if not transformation, has become an issue in some of the world's most remote regions. A recent issue of Cultural Survival, a magazine that covers indigenous people and ethnic minorities, described projects to bring the Web to communities as varied as the reindeer-herding Sami of Scandinavia and northern Russian, the aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Territories in Canada, the ethnic minorities of Burma and native Hawaiians.

These efforts represent a departure from the idea that introducing new technologies to indigenous peoples will bring about negative results. Such thinking, which dates back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the 18th-century French philosopher who lured Europe into idealizing the simple lifestyle of the noble savage, appears to be coming undone in the digital age.

"It is not realistic to think that as the world gets smaller there should be enclaves untouched by Western technology," said Robert Whelan, a writer on indigenous affairs at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. "But it is realistic to realize that traditional cultures can be very oppressive, especially for women and wildlife, and that technology can help change this."

Some people think the double-edged nature of technology's impact is beneficial. For the Grameen Bank, credit is considered a weapon for alleviating poverty and oppressive policies affecting women. Yet some societies are better equipped than others to deal with an onslaught of technological change. The American Amish, who are known for their rigid views about technology, have banned the car and computer but not the pocket calculator. A few Amish also use the Internet, albeit quietly.

Others, though, are not so sure about placing too much value on technology's liberating potential.

"When you introduce the Internet to people whose most urgent need is to get enough food to eat each day," said Karin Delgadillo, a coordinator at ChasquiNet, which provides technology assistance to remote communities in Quito, Ecuador, "you see there are other priorities that need to be taken care of first."

http://www.nytimes.com/library/review/042300global-villages-review.html

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: August 28th, 2000

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Activmedia: Internet presence is costly for businesses

A report from Activmedia Research has projected that more than USD22 billion will be spent by businesses trying to either establish or maintain an Internet presence, which is equal to 17 percent of the USD132 billion generated by current ecommerce revenues.

The study, 'Real Numbers Behind Web Hosting and Development,' found that almost half of all development dollars will be driven into b2b vendors, with a figure of USD10.7 billion being estimated for costs in operating, maintenance, and development of such websites.

While b2c businesses make up about half of web sites today they only constitute one in three global dollars, with USD7.5 billion projected for the cost of hosting and maintenance. The report found that most of these sites are simplistic from a design perspective, and are usually developed by small companies.

Online content sites are usually heavy users of multimedia and video, and tend to be quite sophisticated. About USD2.1 billion is the estimated figure required for maintenance, operating, and development of these high-end sites. Only one in ten development dollars will be spent, however, by Internet Service and Support businesses, which the report found to be under continuous pressure to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

http://www.activmediaresearch.com/free_newsroom.html

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: August 28th, 2000

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Monitoring.ru: Russian Internet audience increases

Penetration of the Internet has increased slowly in Russia over the past year, according to the latest findings from the 'Russian Internet Monitoring III-2000' report. The maximum Internet audience is over the age of 18 and stands at 9.2 million, or 8.3 percent of the adult population.

The maximum audience consists of active Internet users, less active, and those who have used the Internet only once.

The weekly online audience in Russia is around 2.5 million, with 1.8 million people spending more than one hour a week online. The core audience (users who spend more than 3 hours on the Internet) totals 900 thousand people.

Men outnumbered women online. The share of men for the maximum Internet audience was 61.5 percent and, with the growth of audience activity, this rises to 81 percent.

Online subjects popular with the maximum Russian Internet audience include: entertainment, jokes and games (35 percent); chats and meeting people (32 percent); news (31 percent); and science and education (21 percent).

Internet use in Russia still has a long way to go, however, with 80 percent of the population aged 18 and over not using the Internet. The report also found that 62 percent of the Russian population are just not interested in the Internet.

http://www.monitoring.ru/internet/digest.html

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Taken from Screen Africa News Bulletin 29 August 2000

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SABC satellite channels launched onto C-Band

The SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) has launched its new-look 24-hour satellite channels, SABC Africa News, and the broad-spectrum entertainment channel, Africa 2 Africa (A2A), onto C-Band. The two channels will be broadcast - they are already on Ku-Band - to Southern, Central, East and West Africa on the DStv Service of MultiChoice. SABC acting Group Chief Executive, Cecilia Khuzwayo said the re-launch of the channels aims to "depict Africa in a modern but positive manner, bringing news stories and entertainment about Africa by Africans". A2A will broadcast 24 hours a day in three, eight-hour segments. Four new programmes have been added to the channel's schedule (a talk show, a magazine programme about Africa's successful people, a unique travel show and an African sports programme). A2A is targeted at Africa's modern elite and middle class (LSM 7 & 8). Editor in Chief, SABC Africa News, Phil Molefe says the channel's new schedule aims to include programmes on democracy-building and good governance in addition to its round-the-clock news reports.

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Taken from NEWS-ON-NEWS/The Ifra Trend Report: No. 58 (30 August 2000)

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ELECTRONIC INNOVATIONS POISED TO LAUNCH A NEW ERA IN PRINTING

(CANADA) -- Homesick cruise passengers, international business travelers and insatiable news hounds can now receive daily print versions of their hometown newspapers (or any distant newspaper for that matter), thanks to a new service called NewspaperDirect. The service turns the lowly desktop printer into a versatile news delivery system by sending content electronically to a user's printer -- or one that's convenient, such as a hotel business center. The news of the day is rendered on an 11-inch by 17-inch page at 66% scale, and the cost is minimal (hotels typically charge about $1). It's a boon to overseas travelers, said Cameron McClean, a business development manager with Hewlett-Packard (Canada): "The old method involved finding a newsstand, buying a two- or three-day-old paper and spending as much as $5 for, say, an old copy of USA Today." With this and other innovations -- including Encryptix.com, which lets customers print tickets to entertainment and sporting events on their desktops, and Stamps.com, which prints postage for customers -- Hewlett-Packard predicts the worldwide printing and imaging market will expand into a US$100-billion "Internet-based ecosystem" by 2004. (National Post 14 Aug. 2000)

http://www.nationalpost.com/

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Taken from Techno Update, 1 September 2000

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SA PROVING GROUND FOR DIGITAL TELECOMS

Source: ITWeb

A new physical layer wireless communications system that some believe will revolutionise data transmission could be field-tested in SA before year-end. Manufactured by a small American company called Time Domain, the PulsON technology is claimed to be totally secure, unjamable and cheap. More than 20 years in development, the company says recent chip improvements have finally made commercial application possible.

For the full story go to:
http://196.36.119.109/sections/telecoms/2000/0008311416.asp?A=%&O=F

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India Initiates National Internet Backbone

by Uday Lal Pai
India Correspondent, asia.internet.com

[September 1, 2000--MUMBAI] The Department of Telecom Operations (DTO) has commissioned two Internet nodes as a part of the $8 million National Internet Backbone (NIB) Project, which envisages Internet infrastructure throughout the country.

The two nodes were commissioned at Delhi and Bangalore. "The project costing $8 million consists of a total of 45 nodes located in the important cities all over the country interconnected through wide bandwidth for smooth flow of Internet traffic. The remaining 43 nodes of the NIB will be commissioned by the end of next month," says a DTO official.

The DTO has also decided to set up 375 Internet Nodes (IN), at least one each in all Secondary Switching Areas (SSAs). Two hundred forty-five such nodes covering 215 SSAs have already been commissioned. The remaining nodes are likely to be commissioned progressively by December this year. SSA constitutes the basic field level executive unit of the DTO.

The DTO planned the NIB, which is a broad access network meant to provide convenient and easy accessible points for DTO and the private ISPs, so that they can connect their Point of Presence (PoP) locally. This will help in providing better Internet service to the subscribers.

Analysts feel that the government's objective is clear that it wants to boost Internet connections in the country to at least 5 million by 2004 from the present level of 1.2 million.

http://asia.internet.com/2000/9/0104-indiabackbone.html

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This story from The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com)
Monday, August 28, 2000

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A Brazilian Web Site Will Offer Noncredit Distance-Education Courses

By DANIELA HART

A new distance-education Web site in Brazil, inaugurated last month, will offer noncredit courses, such as preparatory classes for university entrance examinations. The site, Educativo, is expected to be offering 52 courses by December, including courses for those entering the diplomatic services and supplementary support for basic university courses. Through Educativo, students will also be able to complete the supletivo, a substitute course for secondary education, and they will be able to receive the equivalent of a high-school diploma after taking examinations in person in a traditional classroom. Brazilian law does not permit students to earn credit for undergraduate and graduate courses taken on the Internet. Distance education via the Internet in Brazil started four years ago, at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, and is now used by various universities for extension courses and continuing education for teachers. But Wagner Horta, the co-owner of Educativo, said none of those programs make full use of multimedia resources. By contrast, he said, Educativo provides instant correction of all work, as well as chats and online discussions. "This is the first site actually offering distance education, as opposed to distance reading, which is what existing sites do," said Mr. Horta, a professor of sociology and education in Brazil. "Our courses are fully interactive, offering a similar structure to classroom study." Educativo course contents are prepared by a team of around 50 professors; 12 professors are available to work with the students. "We will be taking quality education to the whole country with minimum costs," said Mr. Horta, adding that this is particularly important in a large country like Brazil, which has many regional differences. "Paradoxically, Educativo courses will be even cheaper than free education, which involves students paying for transport, books, and stationery," he said. Paulo Renato Souza, Brazil's minister of education, praised Educativo as "a pioneer initiative" and said that information technology could improve learning conditions throughout the nation. Prices for Educativo courses will vary from $8.50 a month for the preparatory course for university entrance examinations to $80 a month for the specialized course for those entering the diplomatic service. Educativo will offer free courses for parents and teachers, such as orientation courses on drug use among young people and courses for teachers in special education. Brazil currently has seven million to eight million Web users, but the potential education market is over 60 million, according to Educativo staff members. Mr. Horta also plans campaigns to bring secondhand computers to Brazilians who otherwise could not afford them.

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Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: September 4th, 2000.

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Forrester Research: Email and TV pave the way online in Europe

With the growth of pay TV in Europe set to drive a 50 percent increase in interactive digital television (iDTV) by 2005, Forrester Research predicts that the TV will be the main point of online access for today's offline population.

Email will be the key tool for driving today's offline population online, with 66 percent of online PC users stating that email is the reason they go online from home.

With pay TV bringing interactivity to 20 million households this year, while also driving iDTV, the customer loyalty built up could mean that the present offline population will use their TV rather than their PC to access email.

Five European markets were researched, including Great Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Overlap was found between ownership of set-top boxes and ownership of other technologies such as mobile devices or PCs.

The researchers divided the users into four categories, based on the type of device they owned.The groups were Boxed and Wired, Leaning Forwards, Laid-back Socializers, and Digital Outcasts.

The Boxed and Wired consumers have both a set-top box and online access from home, represent the smallest proportion of consumers, and are very focused on entertainment.

Leaning Forwards account for 17 percent of consumers. These are mostly men motivated by career and entertainment. Laid-back Socializers have pay TV but no Internet access and accounted for 13 percent of consumers, while Digital Outcasts made up 50 percent of all consumers.

With only one-quarter of all Europeans going online from their home PC, Forrester believes that the Laid-back Socializers and the Digital Outcasts are the two groups that will be the primary targets for iDTV companies.

http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,389,FF.html

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Taken from E-Access Bulletin - Issue 8, 2000

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DIGITAL RADIO STATION SPREADS THE WORD

A new digital radio station devoted to the spoken word can now be received over the Internet as well as through the Sky Digital network (channel 942) and the Digital One Network. There are also plans to add alternative platforms including digital cable, digital satellite and mobile phone transmission.

'Oneword' is the first national radio station dedicated to the transmission of plays, books, comedy and reviews. It broadcasts from 6am to midnight, covering a wide range of genres from classic fiction to comedy and popular writing. Current programming includes The Autobiography by John Major; The Inimitable Jeeves by PG Wodehouse; Last Orders by Graham Swift; Silas Marner by George Eliot; and Crisis Four by Andy McNab. Most books are read out unabridged, in a series of episodes.

The company's shareholders are The Guardian Media Group, Unique Broadcasting, audio publishers Chivers Communications, and audio book producers Heavy Entertainment.

The station's services are not specifically targeted at blind and visually impaired listeners, but it is keen to reach that audience. There are currently some problems with the accessibility of digital radio sets, not least their cost, but as prices fall and digital radio and other services become more accessible to blind users, the station could prove a flexible and enjoyable alternative to talking books.

Paul Kent, head of programmes at Oneword, says the service is set to become more accessible with greater 'signposting' of programmes on the channel itself, ensuring listeners are kept abreast of programmes due to appear later in the day or in the next few days.

The basic time slots are currently 15 minutes around peak times and 30 minutes at quieter times of the day or evening when people have more time to listen. There are even a few one hour slots. The station is a commercial enterprise and hence does carry advertising between and during programmes, although Kent says efforts are made to introduce the ads at natural breaks in the story to minimise disruption.

The station's web site is at:
http://www.oneword.co.uk/

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ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS

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The Imfundo Project is the name of the British Prime Minister’s information communication technology (ICT) initiative. The Imfundo project’s aim is to consider how ICTs can be used to support education, particularly teacher training in the developing world, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The Imfundo project will also investigate the opportunities provided by new ICTs for improved education management.

The Imfundo Project is a joint collaboration between the British Government (DfID), Cisco Systems, Marconi and Virgin. Imfundo will explore how the skills and resources of the private sector can be used to help support the work of the project.

One of our outputs is the KnowledgeBank. The KnowledgeBank provides analysis in the form of 23 articles which review the current state of knowledge on all issues relating to the project, especially ICT, education and development. Each article will be published on the Imfundo Project website, enabling all stakeholders to review and comment on them. The papers will be amended where necessary to reflect those comments, and updated in the light of our own experience.

The Imfundo Team would value any comments you have on the work we are doing. We now have a number of KnowledgeBank papers on our site and would like to hear what you have to say about them. To join our discussion group send an email to imfundo-subscribe@egroups.com

For further information visit: www.imfundo.org
Email info@imfundo.org

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News Update is a free e-letter covering African internet content and infrastructure developments published by Balancing Act. The latest issue and all previous issues appear on the balancing Act web site (www.balancingact-africa.com). To subscribe to this free e-letter, simply send a message saying subscribe to info@balancingact-africa.com. Future issues will cover: the internet in Namibia, South African telecommunications policy, an assessment of telecentres and the internet in Senegal. The Telematics for African Development Consortium is pleased to be working with Balancing Act, another initiative focusing on providing free information on Telematics and Development to e-mail subscribers.

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Greetings

SchoolNet South Africa is looking for people with classroom experience to act as mentors on a part-time basis in their Educator Development distance learning programme.

The programme

Educator development for the use of computers and the Internet, including educational and administrative use of computers
Course materials are provided on CD and conducted in distance learning mode
Educators communicate with their learning group and are supported by mentors via e-mail
The programme will take place from January 2001 until July 2002
Course modules last for approximately 5 weeks

The role of the mentor

Facilitative and supportive
Monitor e-mail interaction within learning group of approximately 15 educators
Provide formative assessment comments to educators based on e-mail interaction and contents of reflective journals
Know when and how to intervene as required by the learning process

Training for Mentors

You will take part in a distance learning course for developing mentoring skills
This will take place from 9 October to 17 November 2000
Ongoing support will be provided during the mentoring process

Applicants are encouraged to attend the Millenium Minds conference in Pretoria in September, where initial contact with mentors will take place. You may register online at http://www.school.za/

Requirements

To have at least 5 years classroom experience
Basic skills in e-mail and word processing
Experience in using computers in education
Supportive manner - able to accept a range of views
Committed and accessible via e-mail on a daily basis (approximate time requirement will be 9 hours per week at flexible times)
Good interpersonal skills
Organisational and record-keeping skills

Mentors will be contracted subject to successful completion of training course. Payment details will be made known by the application deadline.Please apply by submitting an e-mail application including your CV by no later than 15 September to janet@schoolnet.org.za

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PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS

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Taken from The Drum Beat - 61 (Edited by The Communication Initiative)
http://www.comminit.com

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http://www.community.org.za
Community ICT Projects In South Africa - for community information and communication technology projects in South Africa. Aims to support action, discussion and research on Universal Access to ICTs, e.g. Telecentres and other types of community ICT projects in South Africa.

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Taken from The Drum Beat - 61 (Edited by The Communication Initiative)
http://www.comminit.com

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http://easd.org.za/ceika.htm

Centre for Environment Information and Knowledge in Africa (CEIKA) - provides multi-media resources and training to support strategic environmental management in Africa.

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ONLINE RESOURCES

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

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http://www.linuxnewbie.org/

Linux users, both newbies and the more experienced, should find scads of useful information at this site. The heart of the site is the NHF, "Newbieized Help File," a collection of documents from former Linux Newbies who want to share their experiences, tips, and tricks, and assist other users. The site as a whole is meant to be as newbie-friendly as possible, with intimidation or ridicule of newbie mistakes severely frowned upon. This is evident in the very active discussion board, where any and all users are invited to post questions and offer advice. Other content at the site includes breaking news, a collection of articles (product reviews, press releases, submitted articles), book recommendations, and related links. [MD]

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How to Manage "Country-Code" Domain Names in a ".com" World
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/grossman-2000-08a-p1.html

Not long ago, companies could register their domain name in the ".com" hierarchy without concern for other "top-level domains." But now, a number of nations are exploiting their "country-code" domain names – such as Tuvalu's ".tv". This article explains the structure of these country codes and how businesses should react to them.

Here's an excerpt:

"A few enterprising countries have realized that the shortage of '.coms' -- combined with the rather catchy two-letter abbreviations of their countries, which just happen to mean something else in English -- have made for a very profitable business. In some cases, the income from country codes has become a major revenue source for some small countries.

"For example, '.cc,' is the country code TLD for the Cook Islands, which are near Australia. Before it began marketing its '.cc' TLD, coconuts were the major source of income for these islands. They've come a long way, baby.

"The '.cc' TLD has become popular for many reasons including because it's easy to remember and, unlike many other country code TLDs, it has a working registration interface in English.

"Another great example of a small nation cashing in on some rather good luck is the tiny island nation of Tuvalu, which was assigned the '.tv' TLD. Recognizing the commercial viability of the '.tv' TLD, Tuvalu decided to sell its rights to '.tv' to a company called DotTv for $50 million. DotTv's guaranteed minimum payment of $1 million per quarter to Tuvalu is the largest source of income to this island nation of 10,600 people."

To read the full article, go to
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/grossman-2000-08a-p1.html

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Taken from Education Planet Newsletter

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Science News Online
http://www.sciencenews.org/index.asp

Grade Level: 6-12
Subject Area: Science
Content: Scientific Articles, Historic Photos, Science 70

Years Ago

Here's a great place to go to find weekly science news articles from Science News. There are selected full text articles from the magazine along with the weekly table of contents and article abstracts. You can find articles and information from older issues in the Archives. There are also special online features including Math Trek, Science Safari, Food for Thought and Timeline. Don't miss the Historic Photo Archive which is now a part of the Smithsonian.

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Taken from Education Planet Newsletter

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Cybertours
http://www.infosearcher.com/cybertours/

Grade Level: K-12+
Subject Area: Lesson Plan
Content: Multistage Guide, Using Internet for K-12 Education

All aboard, its time for the CyberTour. You don't want to miss this set of guided Internet Explorations to teach you how to use the Internet with your class. Take the Active Learning Mini-Tour to see sites where students collaborate and share their work. Then hop on the Search Strategies bus to find out how to find information on the Internet. Web Evaluation is the next topic followed by Weaving a Web-Based Curriculum. Next you can explore a variety of reference web sites, find out about having your own school library web site and then take the final Internet tour to learn more about this amazing world-wide resource.

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

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The Creative Teaching Web Site
http://www.creativeteachingsite.com/

"If you're not having fun, you're not being the best teacher you can be," says the masthead of this Website, and we would tend to agree. Updated frequently, the site offers a host of materials designed to inspire teachers and refresh flagging energies as well as providing some specific instructional materials. The materials focus on teaching younger children -- though the site covers K-12 – and emphasize interactive ways to engage children's learning skills that draw on contemporary media, including the Internet and video games. There is also an annotated list of useful links and a free email alerting service that periodically dispenses creative teaching tips and links to creative sites. Coming soon from this Website: Star Trek Captains and Teaching Style. The site is the brainchild of Robert Morgan, a teacher and educator for the past 30 years who currently holds the positions of Web Administrator and Director of the Computer, Space Science, Simulation, and Faculty Technology Training Center at University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. [DC]

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

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Rome: Republic to Empire
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/politics.html

Created and maintained by Barbara McManus at the College of New Rochelle, this Website was constructed for a course taught by McManus entitled Rome in Film, Fiction, and Fact. The Website consists of pages on different historical and cultural topics, including Roman slavery; the rebellion of Spartacus; Julius Caesar, Antony, Octavian, and Cleopatra; Augustus and Tiberius; Caligula; Roman Republican government; Roman social classes; the Roman army; chariot racing; gladitorial games; theatrical entertainment; and more. Each page offers substantial information in hypertext on its subject and links to a Sources page listing Web and print resources for further study. A link is also provided from the homepage to McManus's syllabus, which links these materials into her course structure. McManus's approach, juxtaposing contemporary representations of Rome in literature and film with verified historical research, strikes us as satisfyingly both classical and postmodern. [DC]

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ARTICLES

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September 4, 2000

DIGITAL NATION

If you were to compile a list of the Americans with the most influence on technology in the last 40 years, Ralph Nader might not be on it. But he should be. Nader, of course, is running for president and he still has a lot to say about technology in contemporary America.

Nader actually began his career writing about technology, when he burst upon the national scene with his 1965 book "Unsafe at Any Speed," a withering critique of the auto industry and General Motors in particular. He followed that with campaigns against nuclear power, pesticides, dangerous drugs, workplace hazards and, most recently, Microsoft's monopoly. Nader hosted the first national conference on Microsoft as a monopoly; the Justice Department filed its case a few weeks later.

In his presidential campaign this year as the Green Party candidate, he is aiming his formidable rhetoric at massive corporate power and the rampant commercialization of American culture, including the political process. "Most Americans don't realize how badly they're being harmed by the unchecked commercialization of what belongs to the commonwealth," Nader told Harper's magazine this month.

"Technology follows corporate power," Nader told me last week. "The vast bulk of our federal R&D [research and development] spending is to serve civilian corporate interests or military institutions. We need a much broader public debate about the purposes of technology and the harm of technology.

"Only when you have a 'small d' democratic context do you have the right context for discussing these issues. In a corporate or government environment, you always get a distorted discussion," he said.

Nader noted that whenever the "technological faithful" get together, which is often, their discussions about technology are "always a plus, never considering a subtraction. It's like the GDP [gross domestic product]. Everything is a plus in the GDP, never a minus -- pollution, crime, workplace injuries, these are all missing."

Nader said, "Even within the computer [and] Silicon Valley framework, there's this obsession [that] first you have computer hardware. Then you get computer software. Then you get software upgrades that you don't need but have to have because your equipment won't communicate without the upgrade. Then you get viruses. Then programs to combat viruses. Then you get magazines about viruses, and computer conventions about viruses, and so on.

"We keep backing up and backing up, instead of focusing on, 'What is all this for?'

"There are certain technologies that are very important to human beings and the planet that are subordinated in every way to the glamorous and lucrative technologies," he said. He contrasted solar power with the mania over the Internet and telecommunications. "It would be far better for the world if solar technology were promoted more than telecommunications technology. Which is the most important technology? Solar tech doesn't get any press, any public support, Clinton and Gore don't fly to 'Solar Alley,' and so on," he said. Federal support for renewable energy research is lower now, even in the face of global warming and crushing oil prices, than it was in 1981, when President Carter left office.

"Our culture fosters a technology because it happens to be a moment in time when it makes a lot of money," Nader said. "This spawns a lot of stories about mega-millionaires and their lifestyles, lots of glitzy conferences. Are we advancing technology for its corporate power sake or for people's sake?"

Nader is at his most controversial when he says there's no significant difference between the Democratic and Republican parties these days. He has called his opponents, provocatively, "Gush and Bore." He told Harper's magazine, "When people tell me that I'm wrecking the Democratic Party, I ask them, 'What's left to wreck?' "

In the technology policy area, he's right. There's been a subtle but profound transformation of what we call "technology policy" in this country today. Now, when journalists ask either the Gore or Bush campaigns about their positions on technology, they're pointed to billionaire advisors from industry. "Technology policy" has become synonymous with what industry wants: ax relief, more foreign workers, no regulation and support for research that industry doesn't want to fund itself. The reason both parties have abandoned any idea of technology in the public interest is clear: They can't afford to lose access to the money the industry wields.

On the tech industry, Nader again pulls no punches. He says the industry is dominated by what he calls " 'techno-twits': people who just push technology for profits or their own personal gain, or people who just talk tech because they're fascinated and obsessed with it. They're far removed from the question of 'Quo vadis?' [where are you going?]."

One organization Nader set up, and which he continues to support, is the Consumer Project on Technology in Washington. CPT has helped press for more public accountability of the Internet's management, such as forcing the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, to hold elections for better representation on its board of directors. Those elections are scheduled for next month.

CPT and Nader have also fought for more government transparency, for citizens' right to know about what the government is doing.

"Every member of Congress has a Web page now," said Nader, "but no member of Congress posts his or her voting record. Can you believe that?" Nader said he wrote both Al Gore and George W. Bush to ask them to endorse his proposal to require members of Congress to post their voting records. "They didn't answer me," he said. "I've been doing that -- writing them letters with ideas -- because I think a presidential election should produce more for the people than just a winner and a loser."

In his nomination acceptance speech at the Green Party convention in July, Nader quoted the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: "We can have a democratic society or we can have the concentration of great wealth in the hands of a few. We cannot have both."

Nader is the only candidate who has the verve and the spine to put that choice on the table this year.

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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TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

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Taken from The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing
by Jeffrey R. Harrow
Copyright (c)2000, Compaq Computer Corporation

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Beyond Moore's Law.

Physical world constraints seem to draw the line at just how small the elements in our chips can get. Even though traditional "hard limits" seem to be constantly cast aside, it does seem reasonable that, eventually, we'll get to some point where the ever-tinier elements we create on our chips will become too small to work.

Indeed, that may be where "quantum computing" comes in. According to IBM researcher Isaac Chuang in an Aug. 15 Reuters story

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2615525,00.html

"Quantum computing begins where Moore's Law ends -- about the year 2020, when circuit features are predicted to be the size of atoms and molecules. Indeed, the basic elements of quantum computers ARE atoms and molecules."

But quantum computing is still science fiction -- right? We've only seen laboratory experiments that demonstrate what MAY be feasible.

Well, according to this report (brought to our attention by Kenneth LaCrosse), IBM has now developed a 5-atom quantum computer that can solve certain problems far faster than any conventional computer. In this case, their quantum computer solved the problem of finding the period of a function. But instead of the iterative process that a typical computer would have to follow, the incomprehensible (to most of us) magic that is quantum computing allowed this computer to "solve any example of this problem in one step."

How does it work?

"The quantum computer is based on the spin of an electron or atomic nucleus, and the strange properties of quantum particles in which they can spin simultaneously in different directions if they are not observed.

When the spin of a particle is up, the atom can be read as a one, and the spin down can be read as a zero, corresponding to the digital ones and zeros that form the binary language of traditional computers. Such devices use transistors, which are turned on and off to represent the ones and zeros.

What makes quantum computers unique, however, is that quantum particles can also be in a state of "superposition" -- spinning simultaneously up and down. 'Due to their small size, and if they are very well isolated, they can be spinning up and down at the same time,' said Chuang. This state would represent both zero and one and everything in between. Instead of solving the problem by adding all the numbers in order, a quantum computer would add all the numbers at the same time."

I know -- it sounds completely counterintuitive, but don't shoot the messenger -- that's the world of quantum computing! (And remember, the idea that semiconductors worked by moving "holes" around was equally incomprehensible 40 years ago.) Additional details are at

http://www.ibm.com/news/2000/08/15.phtml

Of course quantum computing is hardly ready for commercialization; it's just beginning its life in the research labs. And it may never make it to our desktops, since while quantum computing may be extraordinarily good for certain tasks (like cryptography, which has governments rather interested), it may never be appropriate for "mundane" desktop computing tasks.

Nevertheless, don't blink, because as IBM has shown here, quantum computing has shed its sci fi roots. And the result may well be (dare I say it), a quantum leap!

----------------------------------------

Taken from The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing
by Jeffrey R. Harrow
Copyright (c)2000, Compaq Computer Corporation

---

"The average ... worker with a $799 Pentium-chip laptop computer has more computing power at his fingertips than was contained in all the computers in the entire world during World War II.

One hundred years ago, all of the greatest mathematicians in the world together did not have the problem-solving resources of today's fourth grader with a $19.95 Texas Instruments pocket calculator."

"According to an analysis by Microsoft, 'If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology, a new car would cost about $2, and go 600 miles on a thimble of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.'"

I'd like mine with pepperoni, please...

Cato Institute's "Policy Analysis,"
Dec. 1999
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-364es.html
(Brought to our attention by reader JP Miller)

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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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http://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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