Digital Visionaries

The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

2007-09-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here are URLs from 50 columns I wrote for The Wall Street Journal from 1997 through 2005:

Longer Tours Take Toll on Employers, Reservists -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/hrcenter/articles/20050203-koprowski.html

Smaller Wireless Firms Drive Telecommunications Hiring -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/hrcenter/articles/20050203-koprowski.html

Real Estate Investors Should Beware Of Scams -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/agentsandbrokers/20030502-koprowski.html

The Pros and Cons of Financing A Mortgage -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/mortgages/20040219-koprowski.html

Internet Resources Aid Long Distance Buyers -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/relocation/20030821-koprowski.html

What You Should Know About Buyer's Agents -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/agentsandbrokers/20030703-koprowski.html

Should You Buy Or Sell A Home Through E-Bay -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/markettrends/20030403-koprowski.html

Making The Move From Homeowner To Landlord -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.realestatejournal.com/secondhomes/20021211-koprowski.html

Non-Profit Board Work Can Boost Your Career -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/strategies/20030224-koprowski.html

Court Ruling Hinders Recruiting in Germany – The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/recruiters/workingwith/20010805-koprowski.html

Should B-School Grads Seek New Certification? -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/school/20021030-koprowski.html

Top Executives Lose Clout When Negotiating Contracts -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/negotiate/20021218-koprowski.html

What To Do When Told, 'You're Overqualified' -- The Wall Street Journal

http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/fifty/20021002-koprowski.html

Sen. Sununu Looks to Block States from Regulating VOIP -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB108723117532136390.html

Stop the Spammers -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB105112106311176800.html

Oregon Democrat Leads Charge Against Extra Taxes on Internet -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1045262386225624343.html

Former Fugitive Hacker Shares Some Secrets of the Trade -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1045262386225624343.html

Shedding The Debt, The Post-Enron Way -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1030307030901958195.html

Virtual Telecom Reality -- The Wall Street Journal Europe
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1020631517500136480.html

East European Energy Companies Are at the Gates -- The Wall Street Journal Europe
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB1015800002791677200.html

Seniors Are a Growing Force Among Internet Consumers -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB947692379399765298.html

Tech Firms Turn to Hollywood in Search of Product Placements -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB921013414258694774.html

Female Executives Gain Clout in World of Internet Start-Ups -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB914893991823741500.html

The Spectre of Information War Haunts Public, Private Sectors -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB91341219254166000.html

The New Hidden Persuaders -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB912725900291457000.html

Forget Disintermediation, Portals: There's A New Buzzword in Town -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB911849852483949000.html

'Ads for Access' is a Model That is Drawing Attention -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB908828866492181000.html

A Tax Dispute in Cyberspace Could Have Broad Implications -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB90762703176737500.html

Could Your Personal Information Be A Money Maker in Cyberspace? -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB905812550155558000.html

A New Crop of Developers Wants to Get Inside Your Head -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB903998693661998500.html

Is the Internet Really Just the Next 'Fax'? -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB900343581807293000.html

There's An Art to the Science of Picking on Online Name -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB898531310620963000.html

The Web's 'Cookie Monsters' Don't Take No for An Answer -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB895528985362239500.html

Can 3-D Be A Monster Hit on A New Kind of Screen -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB894303516762415000.html

Intranet Advertising is an Idea Whose Time May Have Arrived -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB892747058274705500.html

A New Breed of Companies Asks the PC to Heal Itself -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB890688020191839500.html

Some Internet Executives Wonder if Alliances are Industry's Enemy -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB889137090112782000.html

Is a Free PC in Your Future? Analysts No Longer Say 'No' -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB887994712844535000.html

Euro Could Open Doors in European Cyberspace -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB886638742848391500.html

ISP Doesn't Move Data PDQ? Trade It for a PNAP -- ASAP -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB886638742848391500.html

Here's a Reliable Prediction: The Pundits Will Be Wrong -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB882990042195586000.html

With Inventory the 'Kiss of Death,' Computer Makers Get Sneaky -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB881945058707987000.html

Grumbling Cyber-Workers Await Their Mr. Gompers -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB880565360990357000.html

Entrepreneurs Look to Put The 'World' Into the Web -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB878665688337491500.html

Internet-Service Providers Find Need to Play Washington Game -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB876946014260935500.html

High-Tech Industry Wonders If Courts Should Get a Reboot -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB875068095748024000.html

NBA Teams Look for Help From the Digital Sixth Man -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB873925682501481500.html

New Fear for Computer Users: Do 'Vandals' Sack and Plunder? -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB872468176176192000.html

High-Tech Industry Seeks Help In Filling Technical-Talent Void -- The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB870276425193561500.html

Wireless World: Aisle displays for shoppers

2006-07-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060724-123351-3637r

By GENE KOPROWSKI, UPI Technology Columnist

CHICAGO, July 28 (UPI) -- Wireless retailing is growing beyond mere point-of-sale service and inventory management, as new displays are coming to market that interact directly with customers in the shopping aisles, experts tell UPI's Wireless World.

These systems, which integrate hardware interface technologies, application software and wireless infrastructure, are poised to play a direct role in the in-store shopping experience of consumers. These systems have the potential to improve store operational performance by influencing the purchasing behavior and buying habits of shoppers.

"The outcome will be a new generation of grocery shoppers with a transformed view of their supermarket shopping experience," said Mark Smith, an analyst with Applied Data Research, a technology consulting firm based in Amherst, N.H. "Despite the enormity of such a shift, the economics of the grocery industry and the logistics of deploying these powerful mobile shopping systems in an industry with tight margins have slowed adoption to a crawl as a few major players cautiously feel their way through this new customer paradigm."

The transition to in-store wireless shopping, he noted, will be evolutionary, but ultimately it will be driven by information-savvy consumers as repeated exposure and acceptance time produces a new level of expectations. "Early-adopters of the technology will be positioned to ride the learning curve and maintain a tactical advantage over the competition," said Smith.

The interest in wireless in the retail space was stimulated by Wal-Mart, which a few years ago commanded its supply-chain vendors to start using wireless tags to track inventory in real time, including companies like Serious Magic, maker of Ovation software, or Altec Lansing headphones. The so-called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags -- which can be put on boxes of software, pallets of headphones, or other consumer goods -- are exciting the imagination of the industry and are now starting to take off globally, experts tell Wireless World.
Sales of RFID systems around the world will grow from $550 million this year to about $6.78 billion during the next 10 years, according to a report from the Cambridge, U.K.-based consulting firm, IDTechEx.

Growth in the market will be led by "disposable" RFID tags, like smart, active labels and real-time inventory location systems.

Tracking, locating and monitoring products and employees will be the single most significant driver for the growth in the wireless retail space, said the researchers.

"Growth factors include: increased competition in consumer goods, terrorism, threatened disease epidemics and consumers demanding better service and more information," according to the report.

What is more, the researchers said, RFID tags will become cheaper and smaller by 2016, which will help fuel growth.

Currently, healthcare and air industry markets are the most prolific consumers of RFID tags. "In both cases, the customers are prepared to pay for quality and readability, and prices are not in a free fall," said the report.

The researches said that G2 Microsystems, the Australian company that designed the lowest power, lowest cost WiFi chip on the market, recently set up its headquarters in the United States. Many Israeli and European RFID suppliers are doing the same.

There are about 1,000 RFID vendors around the world "with an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions and continual growth," said the researchers at IDTechEx.

There are also about 10,000 projects with RFID deployment globally and about 60 new projects launching each month, IDTechEx said.
--
Gene Koprowski won fellowships at The University of Chicago and at Dartmouth College for his reporting for United Press International. E-mail: hitech@upi.com

Wireless World: PDA makers eye small firms

2006-07-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060721-095127-4930r
By Gene Koprowski, UPI Technology Columnist
CHICAGO, July 21 (UPI) -- Christopher Bennett started two small businesses this year and recently made the executive decision to drop the BlackBerry wireless device he had been using to communicate with his clients and his partner. The entrepreneur switched to another wireless data carrier and now uses the Motorola Q smart gadget. "It's been amazing for business," Bennett, founder of www.doodyduty.biz (a pet waste removal company), told United Press International's Wireless World. "I've never used a PDA (personal digital assistant) so effectively to grow, control, and manage a business."
This is not good for Research in Motion, the famous maker of the BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. After settling a longtime patent dispute with NTP for $612.5 million earlier this year, RIM is refocusing its strategy, this time on the small and medium business market.
"Mobilizing applications for users is the most significant IT catalyst for boosting productivity in the enterprise today," said Jim Balsillie, chairman and co-chief executive officer at RIM.
The challenge for the Canadian developer of one of the best-known PDAs, however, is that there are plenty of other companies already targeting the same market. By no means do they have the niche to themselves.
"The wireless e-mail market continues to evolve and flourish," Terry Austin, president of worldwide marketing and sales at Good Technology, a rival of RIM, told Wireless World. "Whether BlackBerry exists, or not, will be a footnote in the face of diversifying handheld alternatives from Nokia, Motorola, HP, Palm and others, and powerful enterprise software and service alternatives."
BlackBerry is ignoring the critics, however, and moving ahead with a new, hosted service for firms that don't have the IT resources to deploy wireless service software across their entire network. The new service supports an array of software applications, including Microsoft Exchange, IBM's Lotus Domino and Novell's GroupWise software, for collaboration. Some partners seem to believe in the strategy too -- IBM, EDS and even the United Kingdom's Vodafone are helping to market and distribute the new BlackBerry service.
The services the company is planning to offer -- according to a spokesman -- include desktop software that pushes e-mail messages from servers to PDAs, hosted Internet and a hosted enterprise server. This may seem like a bold move for the firm, but, in reality, it is just catching up with what Palm and Nokia are already doing, experts said. RIM has the resources to pursue its strategy, however. The company's sales last quarter were a surprising $613 million, an increase of 9 percent from the previous quarter. The company has nearly 6 million customers and added another 680,000 last quarter. So it does appear to have some momentum.
Some IT experts do see the advantages of their strategy. "Right now, BlackBerry is the only vendor that offers a complete, secure push e-mail solution; they control the hardware and the software," David Hoff, a spokesman for Optimus Solutions, an IT solutions and services provider based in Norcross, Ga., told Wireless World. "While it is a proprietary system, it does not interface with all three leading corporate e-mail systems -- Microsoft, Lotus and Novell."
Hoff said that BlackBerry's fame gives it an advantage over other competitors, like Good Technology and Nokia, even though they may already be selling in the small and medium business (SMB) market.
"In the long run, RIM/BlackBerry has a very significant lead, and for the SMB market, most people will tell you the solution just plain works," said Hoff. "In SMBs, where IT skills can be in short supply, Nokia, via Intellisync, and Microsoft might have an advantage by being able to provide multiple parts of the solution. But they have both got a lot of ground to cover."
Yet, there are still some in the small-business world -- accountants and other financial folks -- who are reluctant to use wireless for their business, due to security concerns. "As tempting as it might be, my business will never go wireless. Period," Eva Rosenberg, who practices a form of tax law as an enrolled agent before the Internal Revenue Service and who is publisher of Taxmama.com, told Wireless World. "The potential security risks are too high. Anyone who maintains records containing other people's financial data would be well-advised to take the same precaution. This includes tax professionals, financial advisers, stock brokers, and investment advisors, bookkeepers, medical offices, just to name a few."
-- Gene Koprowski is a Lilly Endowment award-winning columnist for United Press International. E-mail: hitech@upi.com

Networking: Protecting your MP3s

2006-07-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

By Gene Koprowski, UPI Technology Columnist
http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1183575.php/Networking_Protecting_your_MP3s
CHICAGO, IL, United States (UPI) -- You probably have a lot of MP3 files -- like the smash hit 'Crazy' by the U.K.`s Gnarls Barkley -- on your PC. Maybe some oldies too, and a lot of other computer files, with extensions like .EXE, .MPEG, .JPEG, and other, often confusing, file formats.
With all that valuable content, maybe you should think about maximizing your Windows XP operating system, getting more out of it than just playing MP3s, and also securing those expensive files from iTunes?
There has been so much news about phishing expeditions, hackers, crackers and online Russian mafia scams, nefarious folks who want to damage your computer, and those expensive files, just for fun.
The anti-virus software developer McAfee recently released a report that indicated that the number of vulnerabilities discovered on the Macintosh OS X platform had increased by 228 percent, from 2003 to 2005, while Windows vulnerabilities discovered in the same time period had increased by 'only' 73 percent.
But the good news is that you can prevent the loss of those valuable files -- 99 cents a download adds up fast, when you have hundreds of songs on your hard drive -- and improve the performance of your PC with a few simple steps to secure your network, experts tell UPI`s Networking.
'Most losses -- are the result of human errors or system loopholes that can be easily and cost-effectively remedied,' said Ira Winkler, president of the Internet Security Advisors Group, who has also been dubbed the 'James Bond' of computer networking, because of his keen understanding of the high- and low-tech methods used to make computers susceptible to security breaches.
Here are some other, savvy bits of advice from Winkler and other pros:
-- Keep your PC and security software updated, constantly. Just as you put on a seatbelt when driving a car, make sure the operating system is up to date and utilizing the recommended security updates, every time you turn on the computer;
-- You should always install anti-virus, anti-spyware and a personal firewall to protect computer files. Keep your software updated as new viruses and spyware bugs are released virtually daily. One protective software package -- the Office Depot Internet Security Suite -- is available for just $49.99 and shields against viruses, spyware, hackers and phishing scams;
-- Be cautious when working with confidential information. Reviewing documents when traveling or working outside the office can maximize productivity, but if the files include sensitive information, always make sure no one can see what you are working on. A good way to ensure your information remains safe from wandering eyes is to install a laptop privacy filter so only you can see the information. For example, the 3M Notebook Privacy Filter, available for as little as $59.99, darkens screen data from a side view allowing only the user to view information on-screen;
-- Always use passwords and keep them private. Passwords are the simplest way to protect your information, but make sure you don`t use basic passwords like your name, birthday or phone number. If you need to write down your password, keep it in a secure location and do not share it. If you need to share your password, change it as soon as you can. If you have trouble remembering passwords, the Microsoft Fingerprint Reader, available for $39.99, lets you log on to your PC and your favorite Web sites with the touch of your finger -- without having to remember all of your passwords;
-- Put your laptop on lockdown -- secure your notebook from theft by attaching a cable lock, such as the Targus Defcon CL notebook computer cable lock, available for as little as $29.99, which tethers it to a desk or other surface. Cable locks are portable and can go on the road, so if you use a laptop at a business center, it can also be secured;
-- Enable Auditing on your Workstations. While this is a fairly normal practice for servers, it is not usually performed on PC workstations unless there is a high risk of data theft. Auditing can include account log on events and account management;
-- Disable default shares. Windows XP automatically creates a number hidden administrative shares that the operating system uses to manage the computer environment on the network. These default shares can be disabled via the Computer Management console in the Control Panel;
-- Disable Dump File Creation. A dump file can be a useful troubleshooting tool when either the system or application crashes and causes the infamous 'Blue Screen of Death.' However, they also can provide a hacker with potentially sensitive information such as application passwords. You may disable the dump file by going to the Control Panel > System > Advanced > Startup and Recovery and change the options for 'Write Debugging Information' to 'None';
-- Disable the ability to boot from a floppy or CD-ROM on physically unsecured systems. There are a number of third-party utilities that pose a security risk if used via a boot disk. If your security needs are more extreme, consider removing the floppy and CD drives entirely. As an alternative, store the CPU in a locked external case that still provides adequate ventilation;
According to Dan Hubbard, a security specialist at Websense Inc., the network security consultancy, taking 'a proactive approach' will preserve your PC and optimize your ability to use it. There`s no better way to protect those MP3s.
-- Gene Koprowski is a Lilly Endowment Award-winning columnist (2004, 2005) for United Press International.

Designing like an expert online

2006-07-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

GENE KOPROWSKI, UPI Technology Columnist
CHICAGO, July 26 (UPI) -- Design and graphics software used to be targeted solely at commercial art professionals -- creative directors at ad agencies and magazine production editors. And, perhaps, rightly so. But the Internet is changing all that, experts tell UPI's The Web. Now, entrepreneurs in small businesses, and middle managers in corporations, are the focus of marketing efforts for Corel Corp. and other graphics and design software makers.
"We have become focused on specific market segments," Nick Davies, general manager for graphics at Corel Corp., told The Web. "We're now focusing on occasional users -- people who have their own businesses. Many of these people have an aptitude for graphics, but are not trained."
Most of the time, these professionals are designing and developing their own Internet sites, and own Internet adverts, as well as creating their own brochures and business cards.
So, Davies said, the latest version of Corel Draw Graphics Suite has been made easier to use than earlier versions. "We're not dumbing down the product," said Davies. "We're just making it easier to use the application."
For instance, Corel is including some training videos on CD-ROM with the new version of the software, CorelDraw Graphics Suite X3. "Entrepreneurs and small-business owners want that -- because they don't want to spend two hours out of the office, at a class learning about the software," said Davies.
http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060724-094557-7506r

Networking: Human error largely to blame

2006-04-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, April 17 (UPI) -- What's the most grave IT security threat today? Hackers? Overly complicated corporate networks? None of the above, experts are telling United Press International's Networking column. Good, old-fashioned human error -- not nefarious, new technologies or super-sophisticated computer geeks, holed up in a shack near the Caspian Sea by the Russian mafia -- are to blame for about 60 percent of IT security breaches.
A new survey, a copy of which was provided to Networking, by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), said human error is increasing as an IT problem. Last year, only 47 percent of security breaches were blamed on human error alone. By Gene Koprowski
http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060417-090458-4697r

Wireless World: Wirelessly monitoring ECGs

2006-03-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060324-103519-5762r
Hi-Tech

By GENE KOPROWSKI, UPI Technology Columnist
CHICAGO, March 24 (UPI) -- An elderly woman has a heart attack. Paramedics arrive on the scene at her home a few minutes later and begin to revive her, and hook up an electrocardiogram transmitter to her chest, and send the signals, wirelessly, to a cardiologist at the hospital, who reads the vital signs on a handheld device. That technology advance is now saving lives, experts tell United Press International's Wireless World. And it's just one of the ways hospitals are today innovatively using wireless devices.
A new study, conducted by cardiologists at Duke University Medical Center and the NorthEast Medical Center, located in North Carolina, found that doctors can find and remove clots from heart-attack patients in half the time that they previously took, because of wireless transmission of ECGs en route to the hospital. Reducing the amount of time before surgery begins is vital, for the faster the doctors open an artery, the higher the odds are that the patient's heart muscle can be saved.
The study involved just one hospital, with a single ambulance service, and a small team of cardiologists, and examined ECGs from a kind of heart attack known as an ST-segment, elevation myocardial infarction. Duke is now planning another study, at 12 hospitals across the United States.
"We've seen a significant increase in hospitals seeking a common infrastructure to manage all of their wireless applications and devices," Rick Gentry, vice president of healthcare for InnerWireless, a Richardson, Texas-based provider of in-building wireless systems, told Wireless World. "For clinicians, having complete mobility throughout the hospital is a huge benefit, and it helps improve patient safety and the overall patient experience."
According to Gentry, at least 25 leading hospitals across the country have installed medical-grade wireless networks, including the University of Chicago hospitals, the Children's Memorial Hospital of Northwestern University and the National Institutes of Health.
It's not just small technology companies that are serving the hospitals -- major technology players are as well. Cisco Systems, the networking technology developer, has an integrated wireless network that it is offering to hospitals what is called the connected health environment, a company spokesman said. The network has an array of capabilities, including:
-- Nurse call, enabling real-time alerts, like patient and caregiver locations, to let nurses directly communicate with patients, or their colleagues, wirelessly;
-- Patient monitoring, which provides real-time event alerts on patient status, via text and wave form transmission to wireless IP devices;
-- Location-based services, using radio frequency identification technologies to find IV machines and missing wheelchairs.
Missing assets, like wheelchairs, or IV devices, can be quite costly for hospitals. "Misplaced or missing assets degrade a hospital's financial situation, especially when equipment is often over-purchased to ensure availability," said Gentry of InnerWireless.
Customers using the Cisco asset and patient tracking technology include Boston Medical Center, a 550-bed facility, and the Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., the company told Wireless World.
Others use technology from InnerWireless, called Spot. "With Spot, we can tell you in which room your crash cart, for example, is located," said Gentry. "Not where it might be."
Another study, conducted at St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, found that wireless voice communications were also helpful in medical care. Communications badges, provided by Vocera Communications, reduced the overall mean time for completing a patient request by 51 percent. That's a potential savings of $37,700 per year, per unit. What is more, the study also demonstrated that doctors have more control when prioritizing patient requests.
--
Gene Koprowski is a Lilly Endowment Award winning columnist for United Press International, for whom he covers networking and telecommunications. E-mail: hitech@upi.com

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The Web: Death, taxes and Internet spam

2006-03-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

By GENE KOPROWSKI, UPI Correspondent
CHICAGO, March 8 (UPI) -- Receiving a lot of e-mail spam lately? If you're like most Americans, the answer is probably a categorical "yes." Blame it on the Internal Revenue Service. Income tax return filing time is approaching for most individuals, and the spammers are inundating the Internet with fake offers of "instant refunds" for taxpayers. Now, not only death and taxes are assured for all. Death, taxes, and Internet tax spam are all now metaphysical realities, experts are telling United Press International's The Web.
"The increase in spam was due to an increase in tax preparation offers other financial service offerings that are more prevalent as we approach April 15," said Andrew Lochart, senior director of marketing at Postini, the San Carlos, Calif.-based electronic message management firm.
Last month just 15.5 percent of all e-mail messages sent over the Internet were legitimate communications, said Postini.
Internet-security experts have been predicting, since as far back as 2002, that spam would one day overtake real e-mail messages. "By all accounts, in 2006, this trend has gotten worse," said Kenneth Shaw Jr., chief executive officer of SOS Onlinebackup.com, a global data storage firm.
http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060308-100242-6799r

Networking: Fingerprints of Terrorists

2006-03-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/features/printer_1133231.php

From Monsters and Critics.com
By Gene KoprowskiFeb 27, 2006, 19:00 GMT
CHICAGO, IL, United States (UPI) -- A Muslim terrorist places a bomb inside a mosque in Iraq. The bomb detonates, obliterating most of the building. But American military personnel, sifting through the debris, just moments later, find a doorknob with the scoundrel`s fingerprints on it, from a door he opened to enter the facility. The prints are collected with digital technology, and sent via a wireless network, locally, in Iraq, and then across the globe via satellite to the Army`s Biometric Fusion Center in Clarksburg, W. Va., near Washington, D.C.
There, Army agents, working with FBI counterparts, scan the prints, and compare them with a database of known terrorists, looking to determine if the killer was behind other bombings in Iraq, Afghanistan, or elsewhere in the world, experts tell United Press International`s Networking.
'The benefits of biometrics are phenomenal,' said Daniel Munyan, chief scientist at CSC`s global security services identity labs, which has worked with several government agencies on biometric projects, and is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif.

Networking: E-mail as slow as snail mail?

2006-03-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20060306-100550-8028r.htm

By Gene KoprowskiMar. 6, 2006 at 10:57AM
You send a crucial e-mail on a Monday morning, but it doesn't arrive in the client's mailbox, across town, until Thursday afternoon. You lose a pending deal. Exasperating? Yes, but increasingly, as a result of the profound demands placed on e-mail network servers, including spam, spyware and viruses, legitimate e-mail messages that should take seconds to get to the intended recipient may take days, experts tell United Press International's Networking. E-mail delivery, it seems, is now sometimes as slow as the U.S. Postal Service.

Wireless world: Enormous innovation, but big challenges

2006-01-29T13:44:00.000-08:00

By GENE KOPROWSKI

A record number of mobile phones were shipped last year, and analysts and investors are now saying that the promises made 10 years ago about the potential for the wireless economy are truly being realized. Still, some of the foremost investors and analysts tell United Press International's Wireless World that they are nervous that the United States may not maintain its competitive edge in the global information economy unless certain changes are made -- by federal policymakers and business leaders -- soon.

"There is enormous innovation in our economy -- no doubt," said James Melcher, founder of the New York City-based hedge fund, Balestra Capital Management, in an interview with Wireless World. "It's incredible. But there are problems. Why are countries with only 40 percent of the world's population (e.g., China) graduating ten times as many engineers and scientists as we are? Why are our schools pumping out so many lawyers? There is no value-added in legal work."

Melcher's fund -- which grew 14 percent last year, and is up 6 percent during the first three weeks of this year -- is invested in a number of economic sectors, including energy and agriculture, and has reduced its exposure to technology, to hedge its bets.

Global mobile phone shipments grew 19 percent year-over-year, to reach a record 810 million units during 2005, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, the noted Boston-based consultancy.

But Melcher, and others, worry that the growth in the technology sector may turn out to be what he terms "profitless prosperity." He worries that federal regulations regarding homeland security related technologies may be too restrictive -- and may cut off an avenue of future growth for the technology industry. That, combined with immigration restrictions on foreign-born engineers and scientists, heightened since Sept. 11, 2001, and the decline in the number of native-born Americans seeking technology degrees, may be a signal to view the future of the U.S. economy pessimistically.

Other investors and analysts are less pessimistic, however.

According to the report, 2006 IT Predictions from Nucleus Research, a copy of which was provided to Wireless World, the global economy has already seen some of the charm of India fade, "as the population of top programmers is tapped and costs rise."

Although some companies will move technology work to China or Bangkok, others will find that the costs of effectively managing offshore outsourcing "outweighs the benefits," said the report.

What is more, Nucleus said, wireless and Internet technologies are still driving cultural changes that are creating waves at many major companies.

While many firms have provided employees the option of working remotely, some have been reluctant to extend the practice past a select group of workers, fearing loss of control. "But, the realities of natural disasters and the rising cost of commuting to work provides compelling reasons for companies to examine their current practices for enabling employees to work remotely," said the Nucleus report. "Telecommuting will be on the rise as companies take advantage of the technology they already have in place, and appreciate that by loosening the corporate apron strings, you'll be able to provide your employees a nice addition to the benefit package that doesn't add to and perhaps can even lower overhead costs."

According to Peter S. Cohan, an executive-in-residence at Babson College, there are an array of trends, being pushed by consumers, not businesses, that could continue to propel the tech economy to prosperity. Cohan tells Wireless World that the six most promising technology sectors this year are as follows:

-- location-based services
-- free wireless Internet
-- Web-based document management
-- sensor networks
-- Flash memory
-- semantic Web

Among that technology mix, the wireless technologies may be the most compelling. "Location-based technologies use global positioning satellite (GPS) technology linked to individuals' changing locations to create new services for consumers and businesses," said Cohan. "Location-based applications have already started in Asia -- helping parents locate their children, providing driving directions and enabling consumers find the closest movies or restaurants."

The market for location-based services is expected to grow fast, other experts note. ABI Research estimates that the global location-based market will grow at a 52 percent compound annual growth rate, from the current of $981 million to $8 billion in 2010.

Another wireless trend of promising potential for this coming year is free wireless Internet, Cohan told Wireless World. "Through a laptop computer, people can send or receive mail, obtain news and entertainment, and -- using Internet telephony services such as Skype -- converse with others," he added. "And thanks to the increased availability of free wireless Internet, laptop users can do all this from any location where wireless Internet is available."

As it becomes more pervasive, free WiFi Internet access will create opportunities for some businesses and threaten others, Cohan said. "WiFi Internet access will increase the productivity of mobile workers, such as sales and service people, globe-trotting executives and medical professionals. However, WiFi Internet represents a direct threat to Internet service providers and telecommunications companies that are used to charging monthly fees for wired services."

Another very promising area -- networks of tiny wireless sensors. Cohan said these sensors are making it cheaper to monitor temperatures, chemicals and light. "Using small amounts of energy, the sensors can quickly wake from hibernation and locate and establish communications with nearby wireless sensor networks. They can then report changes in temperature, light, motion, or the presence of chemical agents," he said.

Sensor networks, Cohan added, are likely to create significant business opportunities. "They will improve the quality and lower the cost of providing perimeter security, they will facilitate the tracking and management of inventory, and they will improve manufacturing and process quality," said Cohan, who is also founder of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, based in Marlborough, Mass.

There are other tech trends as well that are worth noting for 2006 and beyond, according to researchers. Growth by acquisition will be seen among telecoms, as VoIP vendors continue to attract the technology-hungry Baby Bells. What's more, electronics and computer hardware manufacturers will continue to sell for higher prices -- relative to earnings than firms in other industries. This is partly due to rapid advances in technology and end-users' lower costs for equipment replacement -- such as cheaper mobile phones.

Costs for manufacturing overseas have probably gone about as low as they can go -- and Asia may some day no longer have a lock on the electronics manufacturing jobs. "The big impact from China over prices is probably over," said Melcher. "Wages and prices are increasing there too now."
--
Gene Koprowski is a Lilly Endowment Award winner for his columns for United Press International, for whom he covers networking and telecommunications. E-mail: hitech@upi.com

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060127-095551-4133r

Networking: Search term faves emerge

2005-12-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20051219-100741-5398r.htm

By Gene Koprowski
Dec. 19, 2005 at 11:56AM

Back in the early 1990s, when the Internet first emerged as a cultural phenomenon, technology gurus reckoned that a brilliant new intellectual era was here and that Americans would soon be able to search for all sorts of sophisticated information online. Just over a decade later, it turns out, the most popular search subjects include the Cartoon Network, Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson, experts tell United Press International's Networking.

"People are fixated on the activities of pop culture icons," said Erik Gunther, an index expert at Yahoo!, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company that pioneered online searches.

Yahoo, AOL and others have compiled lists of the top search terms for 2005, and, generally, the trend across these different search engines seems the same. "Everyone on the list this year had success either in music, film, or television, so it appears that people this year are looking more at talent than controversy," said Gunther.

The top five search subjects on Yahoo! for 2005 were Britney Spears, 50 Cent, The Cartoon Network, Mariah Carey and Green Day.

The story was somewhat similar at America Online. Hotel heiress, socialite, actress, author and "all-around entrepreneur" Paris Hilton was the most searched celebrity in 2005 on AOL. Last year she came in second behind Britney Spears, and in 2003 she was third behind 50 Cent and Britney.

After hovering in the No. 1 or No. 2 spot for four years running, Britney slipped in searches in 2005, according to AOL, based in Dulles, Va.

"Millions of people search online through AOL Search for a wide spectrum of things," said Jim Riesenbach, senior vice president of AOL search and directional media. "The most searched for topics online during 2005 are a reflection of what was top of mind or what people wanted to find more information about."

The popular search engines are apparently evolving in the imagination of the U.S. public as an all-electronic version of People Magazine or US Magazine, sources of titillating, but ultimately almost useless, information. "Shocking as it may seem, but the same general themes emerged back in the mid-90s when I worked at Excite," Faith Sedlin, a spokeswoman for the classified search engine Oodle.com told Networking.

To find more serious information, experts say, consumers have turned to what are called "vertical" search engines. That is, narrowly tailored sites that can help them find specific information. Along those lines, LexisNexis.com has become a go-to location for news for consumers and business professionals alike.

A survey of 1,500 adults in November by LexisNexis, made available to Networking in advance of its release later today, indicates that the most talked about news stories of 2005 included Hurricane Katrina, with 97 percent of the vote; the temporary spike in gas prices, with 88 percent of the vote; the war in Iraq, with 83 percent of the vote; the tsunami in Asia with 62 percent of the vote; the terrorist attacks on London, with 36 percent of the vote; the U.S. Supreme Court nominations, with 35 percent of the vote; and the forced dehydration of comatose Terri Schiavo, 33 percent.

"What is changing is that users are reaching out more and more to vertical search engines to fulfill their more specific needs," said Sedlin of Oodle.com. "Vertical sites tend to be more focused." At Oodle, during 2005 the most popular searches were for housing, pets, cars, jobs and furniture. The site aggregates listings from an array of sources, including eBay.com and newspaper classifieds and has experienced an increase in traffic volume since its launch in February.

In addition to subjects and celebrities, searches for words are increasingly common online, and the major search engines sell access to most searched words for a fee.

According to Merriam-Webster.com, the word "integrity" topped the online dictionary's most searched term for 2005. "What does this mean?" asked Scott Lorenz, president of Westwind Communications, a marketing firm based in Plymouth, Mich. "It indicates to me that there must be a lack of integrity in our society and that people are seeking the definition because we don't have enough examples of it in our daily lives. I believe it is very telling about our concern for values in our society, and is worthy of pausing to take note."

-- Gene J. Koprowski is a Lilly Endowment Award winner for his columns for United Press International, for whom he covers networking and telecommunications. E-mail: hitech@upi.com

Wireless World: Sponge Bob Calling

2005-12-12T16:51:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- You're sitting on the metro, heading home from work, bored and exhausted. You used to have to wait until you arrived at home to watch some entertaining TV, but not anymore. Telecom carriers are now introducing content, like hot TV shows, including "CSI" and "The Late Show With David Letterman," and "Entertainment Tonight," as well as famous comic strips, that you can view from your mobile phone, wherever you please, experts tell United Press International's Wireless World.

At the intersection of the mobile phone and the television lies tremendous programming," said Cyriac Roeding, vice president of wireless at CBS Digital Media. By Gene Koprowski

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051209-103733-3939r

Networking: Capturing baby boomers' knowledge

2005-12-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A third of the aging baby-boom generation employees of Bruce Power, Canada's private nuclear power producer, are poised to retire in the coming years, taking decades of insights into complex nuclear reactor systems and steam generators with them.

Like many other employers of sophisticated technical talent, the energy company is hoping to retain some of those insider perceptions through so-called knowledge networks, software and hardware solutions to capture, and keep, the vital information, experts tell United Press International's Networking.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051212-102542-4849r

Wireless World: Convergence arrives

2005-11-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051104-093022-8655r

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI

CHICAGO, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The wireless deal announced by a consortium of cable companies grabbed all the headlines this week, but analysts have been predicting the convergence of such technology capabilities for several years now. More partnerships like this are likely to come in the near future, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

Moreover, future deals may go even further than the joint venture or partnership stage. One leading telecom lawyer, William Maher, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Morrison & Foerster and the former chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, said that he sees "more wireless deals and companies merging in the future."

But this week's partnership among Comcast, Sprint, Cox, Time-Warner and Advance-Newhouse Communications is finally accelerating that long-expected move toward "convergence" of technologies, is increasing the competition in the wireless-services market and is going to lead to new products and services being offered by cable companies.

According to Ranjan Mishra, a wireless industry analyst with A.T. Kearney, the move is bold, yet risky.

Networking: Digital doctors' records

2005-10-31T12:16:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Old-fashioned medical claims processing -- doctors handwriting codes for procedures on hardcopy files -- is gradually being replaced by digital physicians networks, electronic archives that maintain all patients' medical histories, experts tell United Press International's Networking.

Last week Providence, R.I.-based Digital Physicians Network announced that it had debuted a new tool for physicians, surgeons and other healthcare providers to "transform" the process of coding case files intended to improve the accuracy of claims and streamline billing.

"It sounds pretty basic, but it can actually be fairly complex," a spokesman for Merge Healthcare, another software developer for the healthcare, field told Networking.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051031-084858-1880r

The Web: Carriers dragging feet on e911?

2005-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A number of telecom carriers may not meet next month's Federal Communications Commission deadline to implement 911 emergency call services for Internet telephony, experts tell United Press International's The Web.

The deadline of Nov. 28 may have to be extended -- by up to two years -- and a number of companies are petitioning for an extension right now.

"The telcos have been dragging their feet on this forever," Robert Schwaninger, an attorney who practices before the FCC in Washington D.C., told The Web.

The primary concerns are technical. Originally, Internet-telephony providers, which route calls over the Internet, thought they could use technology to locate callers through "triangulation" of signals, so fire and police authorities could be directed to them in an emergency, said Schwaninger.

"They realized it's not good in dealing with tall buildings," he said.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051026-100142-7617r

Wireless World: 'WiFi before you fly'

2005-10-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO -- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport this week debuted a wireless Internet system throughout all its terminals, outflanking Boston Logan and other major U.S. airports by providing WiFi for travelers from the curb of the cabstand to the tarmac near the departing aircraft, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

The Atlanta project is said to cover all 5.8 million square feet of the airport -- extending the concept of WiFi beyond simple hotspots and making wireless online access nearly ubiquitous for travelers.

"The real power of WiFi is the ability to discover and connect with other people in proximity that you might want to meet," said Charles Ribaudo, co-founder of Jambo Networks Inc., a WiFi-services developer in Dallas. "Until recently, people have been using WiFi just to access the Internet."

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20051028-125503-9572r

Networking R&D going global

2005-10-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- R&D in networking hardware and software is accelerating, as several new development projects have been announced this month in Bangalore and Pune, India, and at least one foreign firm has located operations in the United States, experts tell UPI's Networking.

Last week Cisco Systems, which first established operations in India in 1995, broke ground on a brand-new, 1 million-square-foot R&D facility in Bangalore, budgeting $50 million for the project and planning to hire 3,000 scientists, engineers and researchers. The technical teams will work on projects spanning the San Jose, Calif.-based company's entire networking technology portfolio.

Another leading networking firm, Apptix, a provider of messaging and collaboration software, on Oct. 11 launched a new applications-development center in Pune, India, where it expects to "quadruple" the workforce of the town in the coming year.

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051024-101748-6755r4.

Wireless World: Libraries embrace wireless

2005-10-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
Oct. 21, 2005 at 11:23AM

A library patron ambles out the door, book in hand, without stopping by the librarian. Is this theft? No, it's the new checkout procedure, made possible by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, experts tell United Press International's Wireless World.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20051021-100605-6553r.htm

Feds bolstering online banking security

2005-10-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051019-094741-5281r

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI

CHICAGO, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Federal banking regulators are ordering financial institutions to bolster their Internet security by the end of next year, hoping to halt identity theft. But experts tell UPI's The Web that the measures still may not be strong enough, and may, in the words of Mark D. Rasch, senior vice president and chief security counsel of Solutionary Inc., a Bethesda, Md.-based IT developer, inspire "false confidence" among consumers.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council sent a letter last week to U.S. banks indicating that it was no longer permitted for banks to allow access to online banking accounts with just one form of technology authentication -- a PIN number or a password -- because hackers are too savvy to be stopped by such trifling security.

Networking: E-mail is the 'new telephone'

2005-10-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051017-090220-7468r

Networking: E-mail is the 'new telephone'
By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Ten years ago Mark J. Grossman's office was alive with the sound of ringing phones and chatter from account executives placing sales calls. "The prevailing sound today is 'click, click, click,'" said Grossman, who heads Grossman Strategies in Bohemia, N.Y.
E-mail is the new telephone -- the dominant communications medium for many businesses today -- as employees labor away, typing on PCs rather than dialing for dollars, experts tell UPI's Networking.

FEMA computers hampered during Katrina

2005-10-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051010-090814-4456r

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI

CHICAGO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Faulty federal computer networks may have been partly to blame for the government's lackadaisical response to major storms last summer -- and Hurricane Katrina this year, experts tell UPI's Networking.

A new federal audit of the information technology infrastructure at the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicates that the government's computers were "overwhelmed" during last year's hurricane season and that the problems may have hampered disaster response efforts.

The report, which covers the 2004 hurricane season, may help the government interpret this year's hurricane recovery effort too, experts said. The report was presented to FEMA Director Michael Brown in the weeks before Katrina hit.

The Web: Anti-phishing 'posses' hunt criminals

2005-10-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20051005-100210-6605r

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last Friday signed into law the first state legislation that penalizes fraudsters who steal online identities through "phishing" scams, but Internet companies and banks are not waiting for the law to stop the cyber-criminals and are actively taking covert measures to protect their customers, experts tell UPI's The Web.
"We generally find that law enforcement is so involved with other issues that phishing is low on their priority list," said Hugh Hyndman, chief operating officer of Toronto-based Brand Dimensions, an online brand consulting company, in an interview with The Web.

Networking: Virus writing for profit

2005-09-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20050926-091828-4801r

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI

CHICAGO, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Unscrupulous e-mail marketers are collaborating with criminal virus writers to combine selling questionable goods and services online with attempting to steal information from consumers, experts told United Press International's Networking.
"Spammers are now paying virus writers to make new viruses that create zombie networks that are used to send fraudulent or phishing e-mails," said John Dickinson, author of the book, "The New Anti-Virus Formula: How to Use Multilayered Security to Defeat Viruses."
Dickinson added, "The so-called phishing variant induces people to turn over the keys to their financial accounts, leading to outright theft."

Managing Assets -- Digitally

2005-09-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050918-064412-4465r.htm

By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

The networking of digital asset management (DAM) systems is the latest technology trend for the creative industries -- publishing, advertising and entertainment -- and is improving overall corporate performance there.

Jennifer Neumann, chief executive officer of Germany's Canto Inc. and the keynote speaker at the Seybold Chicago seminar in Chicago last week, said that the databases of photos, images and other digital content are being integrated with other networks, from sales, customer service as well as marketing

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050916-091446-5792r.htm

Wireless World: Stopping wireless ID theft
By Gene J. KoprowskiSep. 16, 2005 at 4:23PM
A New Jersey State Superior Court judge this week ordered a company that had acquired customer names from a major wireless carrier without its permission to refrain from selling those customer profiles to others and to surrender the names and transaction records. The order in the case of Verizon Wireless vs. Source Resources Inc. is the latest round in the ongoing war centered on stopping ID theft today, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

2005-09-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050907-083509-6014R

The Web: Searching for survivors online
By Gene J. KoprowskiPublished 9/7/2005 2:17 PM
CHICAGO, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The New Orleans Police and the Louisiana National Guard have an electronic ally in their search for survivors of Hurricane Katrina: the Internet, experts tell UPI's The Web.

Individuals are using the Web to search for lost loved ones and view satellite images of damaged property, and content producers and Internet Service Providers have launched a registry for survivors of the catastrophic storm.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050912-090024-7933r

Networks secure subways, transit systems
By Gene J. KoprowskiPublished 9/12/2005 12:32 PM

CHICAGO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A new surveillance network being built for the New York City subway system may serve as a model in the coming years for other metropolitan transit authorities, experts tell UPI's Networking column.
The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority is developing a security network that will link motion-detectors, decision-support software, closed-circuit TV cameras, and wireless networking technologies, to monitor for terrorist threats below the terra firma.

http://www.physorg.com/news6478.html

September 14, 2005
By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

The motivation for eBay Inc.'s acquisition of Internet telephony upstart Skype may be a mystery to most.

IT Hiring Up In the United States

2005-09-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=25230&cat=Business+News&more=/news/more-business-news.asp

September 6, 2005
Gene J. Koprowski
Information-technology employment is increasing, and the greatest expansion appears to be coming from computer-network design and related services, with Internet companies, software developers and even consumer-product firms hiring the skilled talent, experts tell UPI's Networking.

Unions organizing IT workforces

2005-09-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1855472,00.asp

By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet

Is the IT workforce ripe for union membership? Recent splits in several large labor organizations, growing IT pessimism and the increasing strength of offshore outsourcing are fueling new efforts to attract information workers, insiders say.
There may be growing support among the workforce for such union representation. A union-backed survey released in late August revealed "increasing pessimism" among United States-based technology workers, who see less demand in the future for their skills.
"Clearly, the pixie dust for tech workers has worn off," said Marcus Courtney, president of WashTech/CWA, the Seattle-based alliance of technology workers that organized the national survey.

Carriers struggling to restore service

2005-09-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050902-073227-8592r

By Gene J. Koprowski
UPI Science News

Wireless carriers are struggling to restore -- and in some cases, maintain -- networks in the Gulf Coast and New Orleans regions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the most deadly natural disaster in U.S. history, experts tell UPI's Wireless World.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050829-085725-2860r

Networking: Internet telephony enticing new users

By Gene J. Koprowski
UPI Science News

CHICAGO, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Making calls over the Internet -- rather than over the conventional phone network -- may become the norm for corporations in the coming years, experts told UPI's Networking.

Microsoft's new 'anti-phishing' tool available soon

2005-08-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1852457,00.asp

By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet

Microsoft—seeking to help prevent ID theft—is among the growing list of software companies that are developing new tools that caution consumers when "phishing" attacks are under way on the Internet.

Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer 7 browser, which is available now only in beta tests, features the new filtering technology. The company is planning to add the technology into a tool bar for older versions of Internet Explorer.

Microsoft, however, apparently did not develop the new feature itself.

"WholeSecurity provides the functionality for the phishing component that is part of IE 7," said Ann Taylor, a spokesperson for WholeSecurity Inc., the developer, based in Austin, Texas.

Net slowing spread of AIDS

2005-08-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050824-085024-7366r.htm

The Internet is helping staunch the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, experts tell UPI's The Web.

A report last week by the San Francisco-based Kaiser Family Foundation indicated that gays who are HIV-positive have been using online dating services to find new sex partners who are similarly afflicted.

"The dating practice, which is called 'sero-sorting,' involves men choosing sex partners based on their common HIV serostatus, which refers to the presence of antibodies to a particular infectious agent in the blood," according to the Kaiser report.

More 'e-mail' wiretapping prosecutions to come?

2005-08-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1850388,00.asp

By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet

A federal appeals court ruling in Boston last week on e-mail wiretapping is reverberating throughout the Internet community—and legal world—with a consensus emerging that there may be prosecutions in the future for what today is considered normal business practice by ISPs.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals, voting 5-2, ruled that an e-mail service provider that supposedly read e-mail, intended for customers only, could indeed be tried on federal criminal charges.

Google poised to compete with Microsoft?

2005-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1851086,00.asp

By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet

Google is poised to compete with Microsoft and produce an alternate computing platform for PC users, analysts contend.

Google Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., on Monday launched a beta version of the forthcoming upgrade of its desktop search tool, and on Wednesday the company is expected to unveil a "communications tool" that is said to be a step beyond the company's current search-related business focus.

The beta of Google Desktop 2 "is a new, easier way to get information—even without searching," said Marissa Mayer, director of product management for consumer products at Google.

Networking: Cheap health records software

2005-08-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

The federal government and commercial-software developers are offering doctors and medical clinics low-cost -- and sometimes free -- electronic medical-records software, hoping to spur the expansion of networked physicians' offices around the United States, experts told UPI's Networking. By Gene Koprowski

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050822-081101-6078r

New uses for Blackberrys, PDAs coming soon

2005-08-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski, Published 8/19/2005 11:50 AM
CHICAGO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Phil Hammond carries a PalmOne Treo personal digital assistant with him almost all the time. "It's like carrying my office in my pocket -- I can get my e-mail, my contact list, my notes, even my combination to my locker at the Y," Hammond, marketing director for the Boston-based interior design firm of Margulies & Associates, told UPI's Wireless World.
"Before that, I had a Palm Pilot. That one was good, but this one is even more advanced. The only problem is that it is a little cumbersome -- my fingers are too big for the tiny keyboard."
According to a new survey by eAccess Solutions Inc., based in suburban Chicago, businesses like Hammond's firm are increasingly realizing a return on the investments they have made in PDAs. They first were enticed by wireless e-mail, and now, the survey says, they want to see what other applications can be pushed out to the PDA.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050819-073056-8270r

The Web: Home sales rules changing

2005-08-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. KoprowskiPublished 8/17/2005 12:10 PM
CHICAGO, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Is it going to be harder in the future for you to buy, or sell, residential real estate over the Internet? Some experts think so. In interviews with UPI's The Web column, real-estate agents and lawyers say new regulations are emerging, primarily at the state level, that are preventing online discount real-estate firms from selling properties with fees priced below the industry standard of 5 percent to 6 percent. What's more, cutting-edge online sellers may be restricted from offering rebates or other incentives -- e-coupons to HomeDepot.com, for instance -- to entice potential buyers.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050816-014443-4471r

Is VOIP Wiretapping a Privacy Threat?

2005-08-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1847764,00.asp

By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet
Has the Federal Communications Commission radically enhanced the powers of law enforcement with its new regulation to allow for Internet wiretapping, as some civil libertarians have been suggesting? Maybe.

Critics Claim FCC Ruling Creates 'Duopoly'

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1846713,00.asp

By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin says that the agency's new rules on broadband Internet access create a "level playing field." But critics—including leading investment bankers and Internet technology vendors—are alleging that the FCC is actually creating a new, unfair playing field, where cable and traditional telecom companies are favored over ISPs.

RFID Vendors, Analysts Upbeat on Proposed Licensing Plan

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1847142,00.asp
By Gene J. Koprowski
Ziff-Davis Internet

Analysts and RFID industry executives sounded an upbeat note over a proposed patent licensing consortium announced on Tuesday. The plan seeks to bring some order to the rollouts of RFID (radio-frequency identification) implementations heading to market.

Networking: GM, GE embracing Java

2005-08-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. KoprowskiAug. 15, 2005 at 5:07PM
United Press International
General Motors Corp. is embracing Java-based technologies -- hoping to drive down decisively the cost of integrating network applications used in manufacturing, purchasing, sales, marketing and even engineering, experts told UPI's Networking. The GM decision -- along with a deal disclosed during the first week in August by General Electric Co. -- signals the mainstream corporate acceptance of Java.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050815-091003-6227r.htm

'Founder sales' flourishing for dot-coms

2005-08-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
CHICAGO, IL, United States (UPI) -- During the late 1990s and into 2000, every Internet entrepreneur had the same dream: Start an online company and launch an Initial Public Offering on Wall Street a year or two later, becoming fabulously wealthy in the process.
Fast-forward five years and though the dream remains, parts have changed, experts told UPI`s The Web.

Venture-capital spending remains flat, expected to be $21 billion this year, the same as last year, according to a joint survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association, and IPOs have not yet returned to their past peaks.

http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1040426.php/The_Web_Founder_sales_flourishing

Spychips embedded in license plates?

2005-08-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050812-082018-4885r.htm

Toll authorities in the U.K. are mulling embedding spychips in license plates -- and American authorities may follow suit.

Trouble for new Microsoft operating system?

2005-08-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050808-074604-3688r

Published 8/8/2005 1:45 PM
CHICAGO, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp. is releasing a beta version of Windows Vista, its latest operating system -- said to be impervious to most network hackers -- and the accompanying server software is anticipated later this year, experts told UPI's Networking.
According to Microsoft, one of Vista's primary features is its network access protection. Often, worms and viruses attack an internal corporate network via mobile PCs -- and handhelds -- that lack the latest security updates or virus signatures. With Vista, mobile computing users will be prevented from linking to a corporate network until they have installed all of the latest security software and met other "security criteria," the company said in a statement.

Enhanced 911 Delays Expected

2005-08-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050804-115123-8193r.htm

Not all mobile-phone users will be able to access emergency operators by next year -- if they get into a horrific car accident, or observe a violent crime in progress -- even though a government deadline requiring enhanced 9-1-1 is looming, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

Verizon Wireless, one of the nation's largest mobile-phone carriers, notified the Federal Communications Commission this week that it could not meet a Dec. 31 deadline to ensure 95 percent of its customers had E9-1-1 capable handsets. Rival Nextel also has requested an extension of the deadline from the FCC. Other carriers are expected to make similar disclosures shortly.

Networking: 'Smart highways' emerging

2005-08-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050731-082114-2864r

CHICAGO, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Commuters cruise down Interstate 95 from New York City to Washington, D.C., bumper to bumper, at a speed of 120 miles per hour -- about a two-hour trip at that speed. Do they worry about collisions? Not at all. They can even check the Dow Jones industrial average or browse new books on Amazon.com while they motor. By Gene Koprowski

British intelligence disables terrorist web sites

2005-08-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050803-060825-3448r.htm

The online communications channel between al-Qaida's shadowy leaders and its terrorist operatives has been severely disrupted in recent weeks -- since the July 7, 2005, jihadi attacks on London -- apparently by British intelligence.
Though the Internet is a recent and universal resource, legal and military experts told UPI's The Web there is ample precedent for a government, in time of war, to attempt to deny the enemy the ability to communicate.

Networking: Storage software sales soaring

2005-07-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050725-093417-1020r

By Gene J. KoprowskiPublished 7/25/2005 12:49 PM
CHICAGO, July 25 (UPI) -- Sales last quarter rose substantially at major developers of networking and storage software -- SAP, EMC and Microsoft, among others -- as companies purchase software to maintain the privacy of customer and patient records and comply with government mandates, experts told UPI's Networking.

"Several things are driving this trend, but mostly increased regulation is fueling compliance," said Carol Arnold, a spokeswoman for AmeriVault in Waltham, Mass., a maker of data-protection products. "Components of Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC 17a and others call for increased and better storage."

FDIC acts to stop spyware at banks

2005-07-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050727-014107-7631r

CHICAGO -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation -- the New Deal-era government agency designed to restore confidence in the Great Depression-shattered banking system of the United States -- is now providing guidance to banks to protect themselves and their customers from spyware, the latest threat to the integrity of the banks, experts told UPI's The Web.

'Podcasting' soars online

2005-07-20T11:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050719-104140-9680r.htm

Want to listen to your favorite talk radio at your leisure, and not according to a schedule set by some programming director? Apparently, a lot of people do. Search engine requests for Podcasts -- Internet broadcasts, created for downloading on Apple iPod audio players -- have soared 1,052 percent during the last three months, according to Lycos.

Networking: E-document hackers

2005-07-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050718-100724-4768r.htm

A worker sends an office colleague an e-mail with a corporate document attached, but the seeming routine message turns out to harbor a malicious passenger, because the attachment contains hidden pornographic images that were inserted by a hacker during it's transmission over the Internet. When the document is opened by a female employee, she files a lawsuit for sexual harassment. This particular case is hypothetical, but the situation is real, experts told UPI's Networking.

Wi-Fi 'Vampires' on the Prowl

2005-07-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050714-104104-8390r.htm

If a squatter moved in next door, and ran electrical extension cords from his living room to an outlet on your patio, you might object to this pirating of your electricity -- because his actions would be obvious.

Many computer criminals around the country likewise may be stealing, but in this case the commodity is broadband WiFi access. Because the thefts occur over invisible wireless networks, however, most victims do not know about it, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

E-mail from summer campers

2005-07-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

In the past, when a parent sent a child off to summer camp in June, it usually took most of the season before that child sent a card or letter back home. The Internet is providing a solution to that common lament of parents, experts told UPI's The Web.
Children heading to summer camp now pack along their laptops or, more commonly, PDAs, and are increasingly communicating with their folks, sending updates, sometimes daily, via e-mail or text messaging. By Gene Koprowski

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050713-072718-3786r.htm

A New World of Work?

2005-07-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050711-095702-2905r.htm

A new world of work is emerging, as networks enable employees to collaborate in ad-hoc teams assembled for specific projects. New collaboration software, developed by Microsoft and others, enables information workers to read, edit and route documents as a team, not just as individuals, experts told UPI's Networking.

Battle over Supreme Court Nomination -- Already Online

2005-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/44439.html

Lawmakers, for their part, are trying to keep the rhetoric minimized. A leading House Republican, and possible candidate for Illinois governor, appearing on Tuesday at the Fort Dearborn Group, a public policy forum, led by former White House attorney Joseph A. Morris, in Chicago, passed up the chance to pontificate on the Supreme Court nomination process.

Phishing scam rattles consumers

2005-07-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050706-032616-5079r

Consumer confidence in the security of online financial services has declined considerably, in response to continual reports of identity theft and phishing scams, experts told UPI's The Web.
"There's been a loss of trust in the channel, but not in specific brands," said Bruce Cundiff, a research analyst with Javelin Strategy & Research in Pleasanton, Calif., producer of a new report called "Phishing: Consumer Awareness and Behavior." Cundiff said his company's research -- consisting of some 40,000 online surveys completed during the first quarter of this year -- suggests consumers have the "general feeling that somehow, online financial services are bad."

Tracking poker chips, soccer balls with RFID

2005-07-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050630-094226-5597r.htm

A gambler goes to a Las Vegas casino and plunks down $2,500 to purchase chips to play poker. In the past, that player may have been able to cheat by slipping some counterfeit chips into the mix. No more. Now, casinos are using chips that contain RFID -- radio frequency identification -- tags to prevent crooked dealings. That is just one of the emerging uses for RFID technology, which is beginning to assume a prominent presence in the U.S. economy, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

Phishing targets smaller banks

2005-06-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Smaller regional banks and credit unions have become prime targets for phishing -- sophisticated scams that send fraudulent e-mails to consumers directing them to fake Internet sites where they are ordered to provide personal or account information -- experts told UPI's The Web. Phishing scams hit an all-time high this spring, and even members of the White House employees credit union were probed. By Gene Koprowski

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050628-062110-4562r.htm

Wireless World: The streaming babysitter

2005-06-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050624-120302-5212r.htm

Bert and Ernie, those beloved "Sesame Street" characters, are now seen via video streaming on mobile phones, providing entertainment for young children while their parents drive around town doing their errands. A new report by IDC, a research firm in Framingham, Mass., indicates that streaming -- such as the video service offered by Verizon Wireless -- soon may emerge as sort of a wireless babysitter for today's on-the-go parents. The rapid development of wireless content capabilities, particularly video, is creating brand-new markets for the content and wireless industries alike.

Wireless World -- Some kinks in the system

2005-06-17T00:20:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published June 17, 2005
CHICAGO -- What is the worst thing about working wirelessly? Experts told UPI's Wireless World that because the business culture is still developing the rules for working remotely on a WiFi-enabled PC or PDA, and because the technology itself is far from perfect, plenty of system problems are emerging. "With the advent of Blackberry devices and T-Mobile Sidekicks, people are able to make the best use of their time, increasing overall productivity," said a spokeswoman for iPass, a firm in Redwood Shores, Calif., that aggregates WiFi hotspots, dial-up and broadband connections.

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050617-113103-8367r

Should we renew the USA Patriot Act?

2005-06-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

We hear that The Chicago Lawyers' Chapter of the Federalist Society is hosting a debate on the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act on Tuesday, June 21. The panel consists of Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Professor Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago Law School; and Professor Geoffrey Stone of the University of Chicago Law School. The panel will provide a diverse array of views on the Act.

One does not need to be a Federalist Society member -- or sympathizer -- to attend--people of all political persuasions are welcome.

The event is being held at the Chicago Athletic Association, 12 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Cocktails (cash bar) begin at 5:30 pm, dinner is at 6:00 pm, and the debate begins at 7:00 pm. RSVP to Christopher Rohrbacher at (312) 407-0940 or christopher_rohrbacher@yahoo.com by Monday, June 20.

Catching 'click fraud' online

2005-06-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Published June 15, 2005

CHICAGO -- An auto repair shop owner buys some online ads and thinks he snagged a bargain by negotiating a deal with the advertising agency to pay only when Web surfers click on the banners. It sounds like a good deal, until the owner receives the bill: His $1 per click deal turns into a $1 million invoice, and he has no idea how many of the clicks came from legitimate prospects.

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050615-010047-2989r

Migrating software from old to new PCs

2005-06-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050613-020208-8976r.htm

Chicago, IL, Jun. 14 (UPI) -- Transferring software applications and files from old PCs to new ones is getting easier, because developers both in the United States and Europe are debuting new software and services to move content from one hard drive to another, experts told United Press International.

Cell-phone gadgets galore

2005-06-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published 6/10/2005 3:32 PM
CHICAGO, June 10 (UPI) -- Only a few years ago, mobile phones began to be considered fashion accessories, but now it is mobile-phone accessories -- from wireless earpieces to multicolored carrying cases -- that have become fashionable, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050610-023523-3589r

What's the appeal of free e-mail?

2005-06-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050608-14225300-bc-web-email.xml

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, June 8 (UPI) -- America Online introduced free e-mail for the Web this week, aiming to vie with existing offerings from Microsoft's Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and Google's Gmail, but experts told UPI's The Web the free e-mail concept's time already may have passed.

Phone plan competition hot

2005-06-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050603-12001400-bc-wirelessworld-phoneplans.xml

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, June 3 (UPI) -- Monthly mobile phone plans have become more competitive than ever, as carriers offer more minutes to consumers for the same or less money, but increase their profits by selling expensive innovative features as extras, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

Attack of the computer zombies

2005-06-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, June 1 (UPI) -- A computer enthusiast downloads the latest saucy Paris Hilton ad, from the Carl's Jr. chain, from the Internet and sends it to his office colleagues. Later that evening, his company finds 67 of its 92 computers have been invaded and are being controlled remotely by hackers, who have sent out a million e-mails touting Viagra, the male potency supplement.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050601-07414600-bc-web-zombies.xml

911 Internet Calls

2005-05-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050527-14332400-bc-wirelessworld-911.xml
.

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, May 27 (UPI) -- A sexual predator attacks a woman in her Florida home. She dials 911 on her Internet-enabled phone, but is routed to an emergency operator in another state. The police never arrive and she is murdered.

Movie-style graphics online

2005-05-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050524-114301-6469r.htm

Gene J. KoprowskiUNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Chicago, IL, May. 25 (UPI) -- Want to draw a "Wookie" for your Web site, or craft some other cool Hollywood-style character for the whole world to see? The latest graphic design applications from Corel Corp., Quark Inc. and other software developers are making it possible for amateur as well as experienced artists to craft images similar to those by produced by LucasFilm for the "Star Wars" movies for Internet sites, experts told UPI's The Web.

Evil twins lurk in Wi-Fi

2005-05-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050520-080934-8184r.htm
ByGene J. Koprowski
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Chicago, IL, May. 20 (UPI) -- There may be an evil twin prowling around your Wi-Fi network connection, the latest scam from hackers who target wireless computer users.

Video search on the Web comes of age

2005-05-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050518-085503-2242r.htm

Chicago, IL, May. 18 (UPI) -- Want to know what President Bartlett or operative Josh Lyman are doing on the next episode of "The West Wing," or what the real characters at the Bush White House are doing? New video search capabilities, created for broadband Internet users by firms from Google to Lycos, are starting to enable people to search and view select video clips of news, public affairs and entertainment programming from television.

Wireless World: Phone games a big hit

2005-05-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050513-09170200-bc-wirelessworld-phonegames.xml

By GENE J. KOPROWSKI
CHICAGO, May 18 (UPI) -- Playing "Trivial Pursuit" on a mobile phone is no longer a trifling matter. Games for mobile phones finally have emerged as a major technology and entertainment business, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

Grandstanding over ID theft. . .

2005-05-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050511-061454-2864r.htm

Chicago, IL, May. 11 (UPI) -- California passed a law to protect consumers from identity theft two years ago, when the issue first was seen as an Internet social problem, and now security breaches at ChoicePoint and Time Warner are prompting attorneys general in other states to press for comparable legislation.

Karl Rove's Secret Plan to Save Social Security

2005-05-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050503-025236-5860r.htm

By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

Chicago, IL, May. 4 (UPI) -- The future of Social Security -- whether there will be private accounts for younger workers or whether the retirement system stays essentially the same -- may be decided on the Internet.

White House adviser Karl Rove said in a recent conference call that Internet lobbying by young grassroots Republicans will make or break the Bush administration's proposals to revamp the pension program, just as the technology helped get out the vote last fall during the presidential campaign.

Rethinking passport chips

2005-05-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050428-115315-2763r.htm

By Gene J. Koprowski
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Chicago, IL, Apr. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. government may be rethinking a plan to imbed wireless tracking technology in the passport of every citizen after hearing objections about potential civil liberties violations, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

Privacy concerns dog Google

2005-04-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

A new feature launched by Google, the Internet's most popular search engine, allows users to see all their past searches. But privacy experts warn the service could easily be abused, reports UPI.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1339826,00040006.htm

See also,

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=103244

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=79851&cat=World

I take it is very good news that my technology columns are being picked up in India/Asia. I was a bureau chief for Bangkok-based Asia Times during the 1990s, and, the paper folded when the baht crashed. If Asia is interested in publishing again, that is a good sign for the world economy.

-- Mr. Gene Koprowski is a 2005 and a 2004 Winner of a Lilly Foundation Award for his column for United Press International.

Mobile phone boom portends. . .

2005-04-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Chicago, IL, Apr. 22 (UPI) -- One great quarter of growth in the wireless industry may not a boom make, but it could be an indicator of one to come, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050421-111249-7563r.htm

'Cookies' causing problems online

2005-04-21T07:49:00.004-07:00

Chicago, IL, Apr. 20 (UPI) -- Would anyone willingly download a file from the Internet that can track his or her movements online and provide that private information to advertisers?

The Washington Times>

Hackers Learn To 'Think Different'

2005-04-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hackers are learning to "think different," so to speak, and now are targeting Macintosh computers. Long-thought to be impervious to viruses, malware and computer vandals, Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Mac OS X is an increasingly succulent target, experts say.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/42376.html

Online gambling rules emerge

2005-04-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Chicago, IL, Apr. 18 (UPI) -- Regulation of online gambling is emerging in the United States and elsewhere, but that is not likely to slow the weird, worldwide phenomenon, experts told UPI's The Web.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050412-113309-5734r.htm

Satellites and cell phones

2005-04-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Chicago, IL, Apr. 15 (UPI) -- Remember satellite phones? During the last decade, technology companies heroically went bust vying to replace conventional mobile phones with sophisticated handsets that transmitted calls off satellites orbiting Earth.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050414-103550-4672r.htm

Technology Tattler. . .

2005-04-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

If the government builds it, will anyone come? Two new reports make a case for allowing local governments to build broadband networks in competition with private companies and nonprofit organizations, but a free market expert is taking the reports to task.

According to Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit organization based in Chicago, and author of two Heartland Policy Studies on municipal broadband, the new studies simply repeat the rhetoric put forward by municipalities in the past.

See,

http://www.heartland.org/PublicationIssue.cfm?pblId=3&pisId=579.

Technology Tattler. . .

2005-04-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Mobile Meter Maids: We hear from a reliable source that the he City of Yonkers Parking Violations Bureau (PVB) has received a "high-tech" makeover. Gone are the days of meter-maids using “dummy terminals,” or worse, manually writing tickets.

After scanning the vehicle registration on the windshield, the officer's mobile printer spits out a citation, and the handheld uploads the information to a central database via WiFi communications surrounding the station house.

Ads on mobile phones a growing problem

2005-04-08T01:33:00.000-07:00

Chicago, IL, Apr. 8 (UPI) -- Advertising to mobile phone users may be a brand new marketing medium, but it already represents a significant threat to commercial television, industry experts told UPI's Wireless World.

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050407-115623-6971r.htm

The Web: Social Security numbers online?

2005-04-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published 4/6/2005 12:41 PM
CHICAGO, April 6 (UPI) -- A hacker types some computer code into an Internet search engine, such as Google or Yahoo! and finds a number of Excel spreadsheets containing private financial data, including the Social Security numbers, for hundreds of individuals. The national media have been reporting about online services, such as secret-info.com and Infosearch.com, which charge a fee to access someone's personal financial data, but leading Web browsers already allow users to do it for free -- if they know how to look, experts told UPI's The Web.

"You can use Excel or Lotus Notes -- and ask for forms -- and get a lot of forms indexed back to you through Google or Yahoo! indexing searches that were not supposed to be publicly available," said Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, a celebrity in the hacker community, and a division scientist at BBN Technologies, a networking company in Cambridge, Mass.

For the full story, see:

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050405-113252-3101r

Technology Tattler. . .

2005-04-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

We hear from a reliable source that H2F is changing its name to Prolifiq Software.

We hear from another very reliable source that Illinois Governor Blagojevich's office may be sued over an executive order it signed -- regarding the drug industry.

We hear from an inside source that RoomLinX intends to acquire SuiteSpeed.

Breezing through customs

2005-04-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published 4/1/2005 3:19 PM
CHICAGO, April 1 (UPI) -- Very soon, international travelers will be able to breeze through customs checkpoints using passports outfitted with contactless smart-cards, experts told UPI's Wireless World. With the new technology, travelers will present their passports to customs agents, who simply will swipe them across a card reader, just as checkout clerks run bags of potato chips over a laser scanner at a grocery store. Likewise, as part of a directive signed by President George W. Bush, the Department of Homeland Security is planning to issue smart-card identification badges that will include digital images of fingerprints.

For the full story, See:

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050401-102337-5309r

Technology Tattler. . .

2005-04-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

Goof-up for Google? The U.S. District Court in San Jose yesterday may have opened the door to more lawsuits against Google’s AdWords program by rejecting motions brought by Google, Earthlink, America Online, Netscape, Ask Jeeves and Compuserve to dismiss a pending trademark infringement suit filed by the American Blind & Wallpaper Factory.

This ruling essentially says “Google, your Adwords program is not legal and other aggrieved companies may be entitled to file suit as well,” said attorney David Rammelt of Kelley Drye & Warren.

Online Agents: HarrisDirect is launching the first-ever -- in the financial services
industry, at least -- automated service agent (ASA) for its online brokerage customers. "This announcement is set to go out on Monday morning," a reliable source tells us.

Grokster v. MGM (a.k.a., Godzilla v. Tokyo)

2005-03-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

By Gene J. Koprowski
Published 3/30/2005 12:07 PM
CHICAGO, March 30 (UPI) -- Hollywood during the 1980s worried that videocassette recorders would savage the movie business, furnishing fans with free access to films copied from rental tapes from video stores. The industry was so worried, in fact, that it took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sony vs. Betamax, hoping to protect its intellectual property rights. Two decades later, the entertainment industry is back in court, arguing this time that Internet file sharing of music and movies is illegally gnawing away at its profits -- like Godzilla gobbled up Tokyo. Last time, the justices ruled for the VCRs, but experts told UPI's The Web they are unsure who will win the battle over file sharing.

UPI

Technology Tattler. . .

2005-03-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

How Newt Was Rolled? Tony Rudy, a former chief of staff to Rep. Tom DeLay, comments in a new book, "The Clinton White House figured out how to play Newt [Gingrich]. They would put the Time cover with Newt as Man of the Year on the coffee table in front of where they would have Newt sit. Newt would come back into leadership meetings from the White House and tell us how the White House understood his significance." See, http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006488

I seem to recall that when Newt became Speaker of the House, he kept touting technolgy futurist Alvin Toffler as his policy guru. But Newt's hubris over 'old media' coverage may have ruined the revolution, which at that time eliminated just one government agency that I can recall, The Office of Technology Assessment, See:.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/ota/

Stinky Security: We hear that a leading industry analyst is developing a report on "Worst Practices in Developing Secure Software" With all the security problems on the 'Net, that should be a promising read.

Macs for Nerds: Macintosh computers have always had this image of being for artists, writers, educators. Now they are for nerds too. The Numerical Algorithms Group says that Macs are now "moving into the realm of scientific research and technical computing," according to a reliable source.

Rehnquist Recovery? Has Chief Justice of the SCOTUS William Rehnquist recovered from his cancer? One good sign -- he swore in 20 new members of the Supreme Court bar yesterday before hearing arguments in the MGM v Grokster case, we hear from an eyewitness there in the court.

Technology Tattler . . .

2005-03-28T00:11:00.000-08:00

Taxman Tortured: We hear that the wireless carriers, who have sued the governments of Baltimore and Montgomery County, Md., are proceeding, "but slowly" in tax court, according to a well-placed source. The wireless phone companies want to have local wireless taxes, illegally imposed by those government bodies, refunded to consumers.

Blogger Buzz: The Web hosting provider Hostway is, we hear from a reliable source, during the first week of April coming out with a new survey that examines whether some blogs are more credible than newspaper articles. (Of course, this blog is, but you already knew that!) The survey also examines whether bloggers should receive the same rights as traditional journalists.

Online Only EP: We hear from a well-placed music indusry source that the Platinum selling rock band Sister Hazel is going to release its next EP as an online only project. The project is entitled, Lift -- Acoustic Renditions.

Wireless World: Veepers for mobile phones

2005-03-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050325-082236-7428r.htm

By Gene J. Koprowski
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Chicago, IL, Mar. 25 (UPI) -- Someday soon, when you retrieve a voice-mail message from your mobile phone, you will be able to hear the the voice of the caller, and see his or her image, too.

Mobile-messaging services -- MMS in industry argot -- are emerging quickly for mobile-phone applications, and technology companies are working with carriers to incorporate photo-realistic, as well as illustrated, video into the standard monthly wireless-subscription package, experts told UPI's Wireless World."MMS promises for mobile phones a world that looks a lot like the world we see on our PCs," said Brian Lipschultz, chief executive officer of Pulse Entertainment Inc. in San Francisco, a developer of wireless applications. "The media of sound and visuals are being mixed together in pleasing ways that are nothing short of entertaining and dazzling."

Technology Tattler. . .

There's nothing like good PR. We hear that a source we quoted in a recent column was cyber-stalked, all day, by an adamant reader. The alleged cyber-stalker, a famous business book author, reportedly called the source, a woman executive, to tell her he was "not a mean man." He repeated this twice.

We hear the Federal Election Commission is extending campaign finance rules for political activity on the Internet. FEC is asking for public input on "limited regulations" for 'Net. This seems to us to be a response to the aggressive line crossing between legality and illegality that Moveon.org appeared to engage in during the last presidential election.

Good source for the latest on ID theft prevention -- http://idtheftsecurity.blogspot.com/

Other News

2005-03-25T05:45:00.000-08:00

The latest histrionic sales pitch from technology vendors -- the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are bursting at the seams, posing a threat to the delivery of toys next Christmas to children throughout North America, and to western civilization itself, unless radio frequency identification technology (RFID) is used to end the 'logjam'. . .An organization calling itself Democracy for America has begun an ad campaign that should at least be merited for honesty in the cause of spin. The ads depict how Social Security affects the lives of real people, but the producers admit that the ads are based on interviews with activists. If you care to be spun, go to http://www.democracyforamerica.com/30_second_ad,
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/60_second_ad . . .MyMD recently launched a new partnership with Apple Computers, and is now offering house calls, by computer, for patients.

The Web: The battle of the bloggers

2005-03-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

There may be more liberal blogs than conservative ones on the Internet, but the conservatives appear to be much more adept at employing the technology of the medium to market their message and influence public opinion.

See:

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050322-100604-1950r

A quote from Ted Demopoulos, the analyst from Demopoulos Associates, did not make the final cut. But what he says is of note, and so I am reporting it here:

"Due to their dynamic content, regular readers, and search engine popularity, blogs attract traffic."

New 'apps' driving wireless growth

2005-03-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050318-091927-8274r.htm

New wireless applications -- voice and data -- are driving growth in the mobile phone industry, contrary to conventional wisdom.