Bob Jensen's Year 2004 New Bookmarks Editions for January 1 thru March 31, 2004 Archives

New Bookmarks
Year 2004 Quarter 1: January 1-March 31 Additions to Bob Jensen's Bookmarks
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

For earlier editions of New Bookmarks, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
This search engine may get you some hits from other professors at Trinity University included with Bob Jensen's documents, but this may be to your benefit.

Once again Trinity University receives a top ranking --- http://www.trinity.edu/Home/usranking.htm

Choose a Date Below for Additions to the Bookmarks File

March 11, 2004 March 1, 2004

February 20, 2004 February 10, 2004

January 31, 2004 January 20, 2004

March 11, 2004

Bob Jensen's New Bookmarks on March 11, 2004
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

This is a great Iraq War News Blog with archives --- http://www.brandonblog.homestead.com/
“... we will not relent until your country is free.” President Bush

Quotes of the Week

I dedicate this edition to my enemies who have helped me so much in my career.
Camilo José Cela

Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life.
Charles Frohman

Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content.
Paul Valéry

A fruitful conversation springs only from minds absorbed in reinforcing their own confusion.
Emil Cioran

My concern is not to know whether I am great or not, rather whether I am developing as a person with every day that passes.
Eduardo Chillida

I firmly reserve the right to contradict myself.
Paul Claudel

Limited expectations yield only limited results.
Susan Laurson Willig as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-03-04-04.htm

To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Theodore Roosevelt as quoted recently in an email message from Ceil Pillsbury

Especially a neighbor with perpetually barking dogs.
It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.
Eric Hoffer

Future wars will be fought over the issue of survival (especially with adverse weather) rather than religion, ideology or national honor.
"Key findings of the Pentagon," Guardian, February 22, 2004 --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1153547,00.html

A Woman in Georgia was once sentenced for seven years after taking a chair from the porch of a vacant house.
The Association of Defense Lawyers wrote the following in a lobbying letter --- http://snipurl.com/DefenseLawyers
Note that a $1 million theft may ultimately get you “41-51” months.

The incremental increases in offense levels at the higher end of the consolidated theft and fraud table instituted via the ECP significantly exceed those of their previous separate tables. For example, a $1 million loss in year 2000, even with application of the more than minimal planning offense characteristic, would result in a 30-37 month sentencing range; in contrast, the same offender after the implementation of the ECP loss tables is subject to a 41-51 month range, an approximately 25% increase. Thus, the upward trend will accelerate over the next few years as the sentence increases built into the ECP begin to take effect.
For more of this March 17, 2003 lobbying letter go to http://snipurl.com/DefenseLawyers
Bob Jensen's threads on white collar crime leniency are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#CrimePays

Granted, there are a few parents who support the school's endeavor to provide a rigorous, challenging curriculum. Unfortunately, these parents are few and far between. In over ten years of teaching high school in California, I have encountered two or three such parents. Most parents of high school students, however, appear to believe that their proper role is to defend their children against the school.
Elise Vogler, "Stop Teaching My Kid" --- http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-03-04-04.htm

"Poetry, like love, depends on a kind of recognition. So often with Duffy does the reader say, 'Yes, that's it exactly,' that she could well become the representative poet of the present day."
Sean O'Brien in the Sunday Times
See Carol Ann Duffy's Home Page --- http://www.geocities.com/klf67/duffy.html

That's the bottom line: The war has begun, and the telecom, cable, and related industries may be about to enter the bloodiest battle in their history.
Olga Kharif, Business Week, March 2, 2004 --- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc2004032_4116_tc076.htm

Forwarded on March 2, 2004 by Ed Scribner [escribne@NMSU.EDU]

On the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Seuss, it seems fitting to revisit his insight into peer review and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board:

Oh, the jobs people work at!
Out west, near Hawtch-Hawtch,
there’s a Hawtch-Hawtcher Bee-Watcher.
His job is to watch...
is to keep both his eyes on the lazy town bee.
A bee that is watched will work harder, you see.

Well...he watched and he watched.
But, in spite of his watch,
that bee didn’t work any harder. Not Mawtch.

So somebody said,
“Our old-bee-watching man
just isn’t bee-watching as hard as he can.
He ought to be watched by another Hawtch-Hawtcher!
The thing that we need
is a Bee-Watcher-Watcher!”

WELL...

The Bee-Watcher-Watcher watched the Bee-Watcher.
He didn’t watch well. So another Hawtch-Hawtcher
had to come in as a Watch-Watcher-Watcher!
And today all the Hawtchers who live in Hawtch-Hawtch
are watching on Watch-Watcher-Watchering-Watch,
Watch-Watching the Watcher who’s watching the bee.
You’re not a Hawtch-Watcher. You’re lucky, you see!

From: http://spoerlein.iwarp.com/lucky3.html

Reply from Barbara Scofield [scofield_b@UTPB.EDU]

I use the video of Horton Hears a Who in my class in Professional Ethics to talk about accountability and corporate ethical programs. Horton and the Mayor only save Who-ville by getting "a very small, very small shirker named Jo-Jo" to get with the rest of the town and "YOPP." "And their whole world was saved by the Smallest of All!"

Barbara W. Scofield

On the Serious Side
A Must-Read For Updates in Finance, Economics, and the Scandals (tons of links)
Jim Maher's Update on trials, Greenspan on everything!, Much new research, Economy and energy prices climb, and much more!
FinanceProfessor News February 27, 2004 --- http://snipurl.com/Maher022704

March 8, 2004 message from neil glass [neil.glass@get2net.dk]
Note that you can download the first chapter of his book for free. The book may be purchased as an eBook or hard copy.

Dr. Jensen,

I just came across your website and was pleased to find you talk about some of the frauds and other problems I reveal in my latest book. If you had a moment, you might be amused to look at my website only-on-the-net.com where I am trying to attract some attention to my book Rip-Off: The scandalous inside story of the Management Consulting Money Machine.

best wishes

neil glass

The link is http://www.only-on-the-net.com/

Bob Jensen's links to related books on fraud are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm#References

Bob Jensen's January-March 2004 Updates on Frauds and the Accounting Scandals --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud033104.htm

On the Lighter Side
Martha Stewart's New Magazine and Her Latest Products --- http://www.justsaywow.com/funpages/view.cfm/2232
Martha's Latest Press Cartoons --- http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/MarthaStewartCONVICTED/main.asp
Bob Jensen's scandal humor --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm#Humor

The Tragedy of Jacqueline Saburido

I checked to see if this is a hoax fund raiser. Unfortunately, it appears to be for real. The PowerPoint show should be shown in all driver's education courses and to all persons arrested for drunk driving.

Check out http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/adults/saburido.htm

The above site has a link to download the horrific PowerPoint show.

Auntie Bev sent the pictures to me, and I found the above link by using Google.

A citation guide for Internet sources --- http://www.h-net.org/about/citation/
Note the links under the words “ East Tennessee State University .”

Of course the huge problem is that Internet links get broken quite often. It is very important to give other details such as the name and address of the authors, journal reference specifics, publisher address, etc.

A major problem arises when they are permanently deleted to create storage space on the server for newer items.

A major problem arises when the path to a particular document is changed without providing a new path at the old site.

A major problem, especially in Bob Jensen's Web documents, is that the link may be the same but the content is being continuously updated and otherwise revised.

How Stuff Works!

How Income Taxes Work (including history) --- http://money.howstuffworks.com/income-tax.htm
IRS --- http://www.irs.gov 
Bob Jensen's tax helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#010304Taxation

How Web Pages Work --- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-page3.htm 
How Internet Infrastructure Works --- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-infrastructure.htm 
Protect yourself with a cookie jar --- http://www.stealthsurfer.biz/ 
Stay Safe Online --- http://www.staysafeonline.info/ 
How Internet citations work --- http://www.h-net.org/about/citation/
Long URL's can be shorted by using SnipURL (this is neat) --- http://snipurl.com/index.php

How Computer Things Work (including buying guides) --- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ 
Bob Jensen's computing bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob4.htm

How E-commerce Works --- http://money.howstuffworks.com/ecommerce.htm 
Bob Jensen's threads are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce.htm

How government works
FirstGov at http://www.firstgov.com/   
Yahoo Government --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/ 
Yahoo Regional --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/

How electronic stuff works --- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/

How mortgage stuff works --- http://money.howstuffworks.com/mortgage.htm 
Bob Jensen's helpers for mortgages are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#mortgages

How Buying a Car Works --- http://money.howstuffworks.com/car-buying.htm 
Bob Jensen helpers for buying real estate and vehicles --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob3.htm#RealEstate

Beyond Martha Stewart
How home stuff works --- http://home.howstuffworks.com/

How health things work --- http://health.howstuffworks.com/ 
How Cholesterol Works --- http://home.howstuffworks.com/cholesterol1.htm

How travel stuff works --- http://travel.howstuffworks.com/ 
How Frequent Flier Programs Work (or don't work) --- http://money.howstuffworks.com/ff-programs.htm 
Bob Jensen's travel helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob3.htm#Travel

How Entertainment Stuff Works --- http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/
Yahoo Entertainment --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/ 
Yahoo Recreation and Sports --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/ 
Bob Jensen's entertainment helpers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#History  .edu

How science stuff works --- http://science.howstuffworks.com/ 
Yahoo Science --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/ 
Yahoo Social Science --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/ 
Yahoo Science and Culture --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/

How education/learning stuff works --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm 
Bob Jensen's threads on learning assessment --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm 
U.S. Department of Education --- http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

From Smart Stops on the Web, Journal of Accountancy, March 2004, Page 27 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2004/news_web.htm

A Forecast for the Future
www.financialwonder.com
CPAs will want to check out this Web site to find free tools for corporate budgeting and forecasting. Users can build forecasts using the formulas found here for free. They then can use the results on their individual balance sheets or income statements and copy the results directly to their spreadsheets or word processors.
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/roi.htm

Nix Pop-Up Ads
toolbar.google.com
Web users tired of disruptive automatic ads can get rid of most of them by downloading this Google toolbar to their browsers. In addition to blocking pop-ups, it features an Autofill button, which eliminates the need to retype personal information into e-forms such as those in e-commerce checkouts.

Terms Explained
www.legal-definitions.com
CPAs who need help deciphering “lawyerspeak” can find concise definitions of legal terminology at this e-stop as well as the meaning of general business terms such as bankruptcy.

www.commerce-database.com
Need to know the difference between an act of God and an act of nature? The legal terms section of this online business dictionary defines them as one and the same. The Commerce Database categorizes words into separate business and legal dictionaries: The business one offers categories such as accounting.

www.computer-acronyms.com
This Web site offers visitors short definitions for technical terminology such as, for example, cable modem. Also users can find brief explanations of acronyms for high-speed Internet concepts such as DSL—digital subscriber line.

www.legal-database.com
CPAs interested in legal topics such as bankruptcy, civil rights, employment, labor and tax laws can find various terms explained in the articles section for each category at this Web stop. In addition visitors can register for free monthly newsletters on bankruptcy, employment, family and tax law.

Also see FindLaw --- http://www.findlaw.com/

Also see Legal Information Databases --- http://www.wlu.ca/~wwwlib/subject/legal/databases.html

Bob Jensen's links to glossaries are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm

Bob Jensen's search helpers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm

Updated
Bob Jensen's helpers for small businesses and small accounting firms (including expert witness links) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#SmallBusiness

Bob Jensen's Threads on Professional Practice, Fees, Choosing Accountants, Financial Advisors, and Consultants --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fees.htm

Services Offered by Professional Accounting Firms (including how to find them) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fees.htm#ServicesOffered

There is an enormous problem of assuming that students who wrote high evaluations of any course actually learned more than high performing students who hated the course. Happiness and learning are two different things.

Reasons why students often prefer online courses may have little or nothing to do with actual learning. At the University of North Texas where students can sometimes choose between an onsite or an online section of a course, some students just preferred to be able to take a course in their pajamas --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm#NorthTexas
Some off-campus students prefer to avoid the hassle and time consumed driving to campus and spending a huge amount of time searching for parking. Some Mexico City students claim that they can save over five hours a day in commuting time, which is time made free for studying (Jim Parnell, Texas A&M, in partnership with Monterrey Tech, deliver an ALN Web MBA Program in Mexico City) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

In general, comparisons of onsite versus online test and grade performance will tend to show "no differences" among good students, because good students learn the material under varying circumstances. Differences are more noteworthy in weaker students or students who tend to drop courses, but there is a huge instructor effect that is difficult to factor out of such studies. For more on this, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm

Online Learning Styles

Here are a few links of possible interest with regard to student evaluations and online learning styles. In some cases you may have to contact the presenters to get copies of their papers.

Probably the best place to start is with the Journal of Asynchronous Learning --- http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/index.asp

For example, one of the archived articles is entitled “"Identifying Student Attitudes and Learning Styles in Distance Education" in the September 2001 edition --- http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/v5n2/v5n2_valenta.asp

Three opinion types were identified in this study: Students who identified with issues of Time and Structure in Learning, Social Interaction in Learning, and Convenience in Learning. These opinions can be used to aid educators in reaching their students and increasing the effectiveness of their online courses. At UIC, this insight had direct application to the evolution of course materials. Early application of technology merely supplied a web site on which were posted syllabus, readings and assignments. No opportunity existed for conferencing; thus, there existed no opportunity for social learning. In a subsequent semester, conferencing software was made available to the class, in addition to the website. Thus, the opportunity was added for social learning. The faculty learned, however, that every time a new technology was added, it experienced an increase in the level of effort necessary to support the student. Ultimately, the University made available a course management system, which significantly streamlined the effort on the part of faculty to make course materials available to the student. The system provides through a single URL the student's access to course materials, discussion forums, virtual groups and chat, testing, grades, and electronic communication.

This study is qualitative and confined to University of Illinois at Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. The three opinion types identified through this study, however, correlate closely with results reported in the literature. All three groups of students, representing the three opinion types, shared a belief in the importance of being able to work at home. The studies of Richards and Ridley [9] and Hiltz [10] described flexibility and convenience as both reasons students enrolled in online courses and as the perception of students once enrolled. On the other hand, all three groups of students thought unimportant the need to pay home phone bills incurred in online education, whereas Bee [13] found that students felt the university should provide financial assistance to offset the associated costs of going online. There is evidence in the literature (viz., studies by Guernsey [8] and Larson [18]) that support the opinion identified in this study of the need by some students for face-to-face interaction. Since none of the students taking the Q-sort had ever taken an online course, they were unaware of the opportunities provided by technology [8,10] to potentially increase individual attention from instructors above that normal in face-to-face course offerings. Since no post-enrollment Q-sorts were administered, there was no way to tell whether students continued to hold that opinion, or whether that opinion has changed. It is anticipated that even if the Q-set were administered to a larger number of students, similar viewpoints would still emerge.

The authors wondered whether there was an association between the opinion set held by the student and his or her learning style. Preliminary data using the Canfield Learning Styles Inventory [27] show that the factor one group--Time and Structure in Learning--exhibited a much higher than expected proportion of independent learners. (74% of the students who had high factor loadings on factor one were also classified as independent learners. This difference was significant Z = 3.00, p < .025.) One might be tempted to hypothesize a relationship between being an independent learner and having the time and structure opinion of technology and education. Similarly, one might also expect that individuals who had high factor loadings for factor two (Social Factors in Learning) would be more likely classified as social learners. Further research is necessary to understand how learning styles contribute to the experience of online education.

There is a movement in both education and business to harness the power of the World Wide Web to disseminate information. Educators and researchers, aware of this technological paradigm shift, must become invested in understanding the interactions of students and computing. The field of human-computer interface design, as applied to interaction of students in online courses, is ripe for research in the area of building better virtual learning communities (thus addressing the needs of the social learner) without overwhelming the ability of the independent learner to excel on his or her own.

Learning and Teaching Styles (Australia) --- http://library.trinity.wa.edu.au/teaching/styles.htm

Online Learning Styles --- http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm

Adapting a Course to Different Learning Styles --- http://www.glue.umd.edu/~jpaol/ASA/

FasTrak Consulting --- http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/lngstyle/style04.htm

VARK Questionnaire --- http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

Selected professors --- http://online.sfsu.edu/~bjblecha/cai/cais00.htm

JCU Study Skills --- http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/learningst/

Cross-Cultural Considerations --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cultures/culture.htm

"How Do People Learn," Sloan-C Review, February 2004 --- 
http://www.aln.org/publications/view/v3n2/coverv3n2.htm

Like some of the other well known cognitive and affective taxonomies, the Kolb figure illustrates a range of interrelated learning activities and styles beneficial to novices and experts. Designed to emphasize reflection on learners’ experiences, and progressive conceptualization and active experimentation, this kind of environment is congruent with the aim of lifelong learning. Randy Garrison points out that:

From a content perspective, the key is not to inundate students with information. The first responsibility of the teacher or content expert is to identify the central idea and have students reflect upon and share their conceptions. Students need to be hooked on a big idea if learners are to be motivated to be reflective and self-directed in constructing meaning. Inundating learners with information is discouraging and is not consistent with higher order learning . . . Inappropriate assessment and excessive information will seriously undermine reflection and the effectiveness of asynchronous learning.

Reflection on a big question is amplified when it enters collaborative inquiry, as multiple styles and approaches interact to respond to the challenge and create solutions. In How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, John Bransford and colleagues describe a legacy cycle for collaborative inquiry, depicted in a figure by Vanderbilt University researchers (see image, lower left).

Continued in the article

Bob Jensen has some related (oft neglected) comments about learning at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/265wp.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on online learning styles can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm#StudentEvaluations

From MIT's Emerging Technologies on March 10, 2004

Productivity's Technology Iceberg
Productivity may be economists' single most important statistic. Productivity determines the ultimate success of companies; it is the source of the wealth of nations; and it is the key to our standard of living. From the 1970s into the 1990s, U.S. labor productivity grew by barely 1.4 percent a year. Many economists thought it would be stuck at that level forever. Fortunately, the growth rate jumped to more than 2.5 percent in 1995 and has averaged more than 4 percent since 2001. MIT productivity expert Erik Brynjolfsson writes that this boom is rooted in a revolution in the way American companies apply information technology. However, he warns, organizations that sit back and wait—assuming that technology alone will quickly or automatically introduce gains—are setting themselves up for failure.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_brynjolfsson031004.asp?trk=nl

Film Promises Terabit Storage
Researchers in China have recorded marks as small as 1.1 nanometers in a single-molecule-thick film of organic material. Such tiny marks could yield a storage medium that packs the equivalent of more than 250 DVDs worth of data into each square centimeter.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_030204.asp?trk=nl

"Where the Net is Headed in 2004," Alex Salkever, Business Week, December 23, 2004 --- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2003/tc20031223_1093_tc047.htm

Everyone Guns for Google

Microsoft (MSFT ) has already made it known that it's planning to invest massively to build its own search engine. It has even started hiring key personnel from Overture, among other places. Yahoo! (YHOO ) is doing the same, having snapped up Overture as well key assets of search companies AltaVista and FAST.

However, a new wave of startups is also taking aim at Google -- as well as at Yahoo, the two search leaders (see BW Online, 12/16/03, "Google Here, There, and Everywhere"). Kanoodle provides paid-search placement technology that it claims is better than Google's or Overture's. Groxis, a search tool that works as a desktop application, has just launched with Google clearly in its sights. Vivante, a new entrant aimed at giving surfers better geographically specific search capabilities, is tuning up for battle. And Ask Jeeves has improved up its Teoma search engine to the point where it's a very solid Google competitor.

More competition is on the way as venture capitalists are throwing money at search startups. That's no surprise, considering the eye-popping $15 billion pre-IPO valuation that Google-watchers are placing on the company. Google is a tempting target, and it'll draw an increasing number of competitors in the coming year.

Your Cable Company Is Your Phone Company

The Baby Bells that provide local phone service to most of America are in a nasty fix. They rely on old-style phone technology for the majority of their revenues. Yet Americans will begin cutting that local cord in droves in 2004. Instead, they'll opt for wireless phones or Internet-based calling (known as voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP). Wireless number portability now lets mobile customers take their number from plan to plan, making cell phones far more attractive as a full-time replacement for land lines.

At the same time, VoIP has soared in quality. And a host of cable and big long-distance companies are set to offer it to tens of millions of local customers. To fight back, the Bells are going to have spend big bucks to further upgrade their already outdated DSL broadband networks. To date, they've spent close to the bare minimum to compete with cable.

Now the moment of truth is coming, and if they don't improve their networks enough to deliver, say, a viable video service, they'll be toast. Otherwise, they'll have to somehow support an incredibly expensive legacy network mainly by selling Internet access, a service that's rapidly becoming a near-freebie offering from competitors.

Wi-Fi: Wait Til Next Year

Everyone expects 2004 to be the year that Wi-Fi finally hits the mainstream. Intel (INTC ) is busily building Wi-Fi into every laptop it makes. And announcements of public Wi-Fi hotspot networks are coming fast and furious.

Too bad it's still a technology not quite ready for prime time. Installing Wi-Fi nodes at home remains a big problem because configuration isn't always intuitive, and many people get frustrated with what they thought would be a plug-and-play system. Also, they have concerns about the security of data passing over wireless networks, and setting up even the most basic security isn't as easy as it should be.

What's more, services offering hotspot networks for paying subscribers are still glitchy at best and totally awful at worst. All of these things should improve quickly as phone companies and wireless providers roll out their networks and slowly start to work out the same problems that originally plagued DSL access when it launched in the late 1990s. But if you're expecting 2004 to be the year of Wi-Fi, you'll be in for a disappointment.

The International Digital Divide Shrinks

In December, the U.N. held its first annual Internet Summit in Geneva. The event drew 12,000 attendees from 150 nations. The main goal was to discuss the Net's future governance and how the developed world could help the developing world close the digital divide.

Many delegates had beefs with how the U.S. now dominates Internet governance. Others proposed that the developed world set up funds to assist poorer countries in getting wired. But on the eve of the summit, the International Telecommunications Union released its first World Telecommunication Development Report, which examined Internet access and other communications trends -- and came up with some surprising results.

Most important: that the digital divide in the developing world has been grossly overstated. The study found that Net usage in Lima, Peru, alone actually eclipsed government estimates for usage in the entire country. And in Jamaica, user surveys pegged Net penetration at 23% of the population vs. the government's estimate of 5%. The discrepancies came from the complete lack of real research into this area. Governments had given estimates floated from headquarters with no field studies to back them up.

This points to the rapid disappearance of the digital divide in terms of barebones Internet access. In 2004 as the technologies that provide this access become cheaper and telecom and data transport costs remain very low, an increasing percentage of the world's population will get a chance to at least surf the Web. Much of this will be driven by Internet cafés, a wonderful way to provide cheap access and distribute the costs of the computers and bandwidth.

None of this is to say developed nations shouldn't help erase what remains of divide even more quickly. But it's heartening that the Net's basic qualities have made it also totally adaptable for both the rich and the poor.

And That's Not All...

Of course, loads of other interesting things are in store for the Internet next year. Digital music downloads should hit the mainstream, while America Online (TWX ) hits the skids due to the proliferation of low-cost dial-up Net access. Microsoft will likely struggle with more viruses. True, that's no revelation, but...expect the period between vulnerability revelation and malicious code that attacks it to shrink.

Here's one thing that's certain: The coming year will bring many more changes to the Internet compared to the past few years. That seems inevitable given how many more people will be using it, the key court cases coming down the pike that could affect it, and more capital investments and startups now looking at it as a rejuvenated source of income. Here's hoping that your 2004, both online and off, is a safe and healthy one.

"Leading-Edge Technology Trends," by Peter Cohan, Financial Executive, March/April 2004, Page 70

Since March 2000, a change in the way technology is financed has changed the way it is bought and sold--money for technology is not "free" anymore. With cash scarce, companies are looking to squeeze more performance out of lower IT budgets. Technology vendors that offer cost-cutting tools--like VolP, Linux and outsourcing firms--are taking a growing share of these dwindling budgets. This dynamic will produce the following 12 technology trends through 2004:

Convergence of cable and telecom industry services.

Targeting digital advertising to consumers who are skilled at avoiding it.

Shakeout among medium-sized software companies.

Pressure to squeeze higher performance from lower-cost IT infrastructure.

Chine will continue to emerge as an important market for IT, but it must be approached cautiously.

Spam avoidance as a major venture investment opportunity.

Industry-wide focus on security.

Linux as an emerging standard.

Outsourcing IT will continue.

IT suppliers will learn to sell products that solve real business problems and generate tangible investment returns.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is likely to fall short of the hype.

Wi-Fi growth will continue.

"Whither the Stock Option? by Ira Kay, Financial Executive, March/April 2004, pp. 46-49 --- http://www.fei.org/mag/articles/3-2004_comp.cfm

  While stock options lose more luster as executive motivators, compensation committees face challenges, including selecting other forms of stock incentives.
   During the late 1990s, companies issued billions of dollars worth of stock options to motivate their employees. Those days are likely over, for a variety of reasons, including potential new rules requiring companies to expense them. But getting the best out of executives through other forms of stock incentives - including actual ownership - will no doubt continue, according to a recent study of executive compensation conducted by Watson Wyatt.

   Indeed, stock options' best days may be behind them - not just because they will soon have to be expensed, but because institutional investors are increasingly worried about them. Moreover, there is perennial concern over perceptions of excessive CEO pay and disconnects between pay and performance. Finally, there is the crisis in governance created by corporate accounting standards and a gap between the cost and value of options created when a company's future accounting cost of stock options exceeds their value to employees.

   These factors do not appear to be lessening in importance and have already resulted in a huge drop in the value of options granted to employees. From 2001 to 2002, the value of stock option grants at major companies fell by 29 percent, from $139.6 billion to $99.6 billion.

   When data for 2003 becomes available, it will likely show a further decline of 10 percent to 15 percent from 2002. The magnitude of this drop cannot be overstated: the only other event in the history of executive compensation as important is the sharp increase in executive pay levels that took place during the 1990s. However, the recent bull market has softened this trend, as 2004 values are expected to be up from 2003.

   Some analysts believe that the decline in option value was caused entirely by stock price declines - for example, a company granting one million stock options at $30 in 2001 and one million at $20 in 2002. Other things being equal, their value would have declined by 33 percent, solely due to stock price movement. But this is not what happened. In fact, declines in both stock price and the number of stock options granted are responsible.

   For the average company, the 29 percent total decline in stock options value cited above came about as a result of a 20 percent decline in the average number of stock options granted to all employees, from 7.6 million to 6.1 million, and a 16 percent decline in the average value per option, from $17.25 to $14.50, almost entirely due to stock prices falling.
Options Reflected in Stock Prices

   Consistent with findings in a prior study, investors consider stock option expenses as real expenses, even if reported only in the footnotes. As expected for a bear market year, the relationship was negative: those with the highest option expenses in 2002 had the lowest total returns to shareholders (stock price appreciation plus dividends). Dividing up the 998 major companies in the recent Watson Wyatt study into three groups, the companies with the lowest option expenses - those with a 2002 expense of $266 per employee - had total return of negative 4.3 percent. Those in the highest expense group, with a 2002 expense of $3,997 per employee, had a total return of negative 12.4 percent.
Pay and Performance Linked

   Another important finding is that pay and performance are strongly linked. Analysis shows a strong, positive relationship between company performance and executive compensation levels. For example, companies whose CEOs had higher total pay opportunities from 1998 to 2002, as measured by their total direct compensation over the five years, had higher total returns to shareholders during the period than those with CEOs having lower pay opportunities. The relationship between pay and performance is apparent in other measures as well:

Annual increases in a CEO's total cash compensation are positively related to the company's stock performance.
CEOs of companies that performed below a one-year total return to shareholders median had a decline in actual pay and stock option profits in 2002.
Companies having CEOs with high stock ownership were superior investments compared to those with low ownership. Companies with high CEO ownership realized a three-year median total return of 3.9 percent for their shareholders for the period ending December 2002, while low CEO ownership companies saw a return of negative 3.4 percent on their investment during the period.
Investors are willing to pay a premium for companies where senior management and shareholder interests are aligned.

Stock Option Overhang Declining

   Stock option overhang has continued to grow - despite efforts by a large number of firms to reduce their overhang levels between 2001 and 2002 - primarily from a large reduction in the amount of options being exercised. Stock option overhang is a measure of potential dilution from granted and approved stock option programs (calculated as options granted and outstanding, plus shares that remain to be granted, expressed as a percentage of total shares outstanding). The average stock option overhang increased one-half percentage point over the average of the same time last year - from 15.6 percent in 2001 to 16.1 percent in 2002 for companies with December 2002 year-ends.

   However, there is strong evidence of a decline in the growth rate of overhang during this same period. Between 1997 and 1999, overhang levels increased at an annual rate of 11.8 percent, while growth slowed to 7.9 percent between 1999 and 2002. Moreover, the earlier growth occurred as a result of larger option grants and more extensive programs covering more employees during a bull market. The current increase can be attributed to fewer options being exercised as they are increasingly out of the money (worth more than the current price of the stock), due to declining share prices without an offsetting decline in new share authorizations.

   There are substantial differences in overhang levels by industry (see Figure 2). Technology and health care firms have consistently exhibited higher overhang levels than other industries, while utilities have exhibited the lowest levels of overhang. This is consistent with economic theory, which predicts that stock-based incentive compensation is more important in industries with a high share of value derived from intellectual property.

   The study also found that firms with higher overhang levels have more options outstanding and higher run rates (a measure of shares granted annually to employees, which are calculated as options granted and expressed as a percentage of total shares outstanding).

Continued in the article

Bob Jensen's threads on stock options are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory/sfas123/jensen01.htm

"Equity Compensation: The Future Is Now," by Blair N. Jones and Jesse Purewal, Financial Executive, March/April 2004 --- http://www.fei.org/mag/Exclusives/3-04.cfm

In lieu of simply replacing stock options with the next 'big thing,' two consultants say companies have an opportunity to strategically rethink their approach to equity compensation.

Although the spate of corporate scandals and accompanying backlash on stock options are seemingly starting to recede, changes resulting from these events are just now taking hold as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) moves ahead with issuing new rulings on stock option accounting.
A number of high-profile companies as diverse as Microsoft Corp., Kraft Foods Inc., Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and Amazon.com Inc. have replaced at least some stock option grants with restricted stock. Dilution caused by large stock option grants, the egregious behavior of a few executives who allowed short-term stock price to serve as the hallmark of success and tighter corporate governance requirements for shareholder votes (loss of the broker vote), have made new equity authorizations less of a sure thing.
The implication of these events is that board compensation committees and management teams have had to start with a clean slate when designing long-term incentive strategies. But, therein lies an opportunity: Rather than simply basing changes and adjustments to equity plans on accounting considerations and stock performance, companies now have an chance to strategically rethink their approaches to equity compensation. Which begs the question: Are companies doing so in a thoughtful manner, or simply acting like lemmings by chasing the "next big thing" to replace stock options?
Before answering that question, it is important to consider the changes companies have already begun making to their stock option and other equity incentive programs over the last two years. For the most part, companies have responded to the stock option backlash by making some changes to stock option programs, but not by eliminating stock options altogether. According to a September 2003 survey of 336 publicly traded U.S. companies, conducted by Sibson Consulting and WorldatWork, the prior 18 months had seen companies make changes to the size and mechanics of stock option grants, including vesting, terms and the timing and frequency of grants. These changes have occurred primarily in response to shareholder concerns, accounting scandals and internal concerns about the company's ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. This survey was a follow up to a similar Sibson/WorldatWork survey conducted in March 2002. A comparison of both surveys' findings provides insight into the direction these changes are taking.
Fewer stock options for lower levels. Any discussion of changes to stock option accounting invariably raises concerns that reported earnings will suffer even if there is no change in company performance. Associated with this concern is the warning issued by some opponents of stock option expensing that an accounting change will cause companies to reduce or rescind stock option awards to lower-level employees, thereby hurting certain segments of the workforce more than others. So far, that warning is proving to be prescient. Changes to stock option plans are primarily affecting lower-level employees, according to the both the 2002 and 2003 surveys.
Eligibility for stock options decline at lower levels. While eligibility remains largely unchanged for employees at the professional level and above, employees below that level saw eligibility decline. For example, two thirds of sales staff were eligible for stock options in 2002, but only half were eligible in 2003. Eligibility among nonexempt employees fell from 37 percent in 2002 to 27 percent in 2003. Additionally, the survey found that the value of stock option grants over the 18-month period of March 2002 to September 2003 decreased more for non-exempt employees than for any other group.
Restricted stock on the rise. With stock options losing appeal, companies are looking for alternative equity-based incentive vehicles. Enter restricted stock. More companies use or plan to use restricted stock than any other vehicle to replace or supplement stock options. Approximately 60 percent of companies responding to the survey plan to grant restricted stock by September 2004, and more than 40 percent have already established restricted stock as a component of compensation for at least some employees. (See box at the end, "Restricted Stock: Caveat Emptor," for cautions about this trend.)
Performance counts. Companies are taking steps to tie stock option eligibility more strongly to company performance and evidence of value creation. The survey found that 28 percent of companies now use group, unit or company performance to determine stock option eligibility, compared to 17 percent in the earlier survey.
Stock option effectiveness still a question mark.
Despite changes in programs, companies still struggle to achieve their key goals for stock option plans. A majority of respondents report that their plans are only moderately effective at helping to achieve key objectives such as attracting and retaining talent, focusing employee attention on corporate performance and aligning shareholder and employee interests. Even so, equity is still a compelling benefit to most employees. Sibson Consulting Group's 2003 "Rewards of Work" study, which focused on the attitudes of 1,108 workers about the "deal" between employer and employee, found that one fourth of workers who have not received stock options or grants in the prior 12 months would switch employers for just 40 shares of a $10 stock. Workers who had received stock options or grants in the prior 12 months were a little harder to entice but would still change employers in exchange for 100 shares of the same value.

The future of incentives

To avoid the lemming syndrome, companies need to clearly define design objectives for long-term incentive plans. Few companies can depend on a single incentive vehicle to address all objectives, and simple tweaks to existing stock option plans are likely to be insufficient. A complementary plan or plans that focus on intermediate drivers of shareholder value may be in order.
If a new performance-based plan is to be introduced, financial executives will play a central role in identifying appropriate measures and goals for these plans. Performance measurement is at the heart of good long-term incentive design. Poorly chosen measures, at a minimum, can lead to a sub-optimal plan and, at worst, to significant unintended consequences. Well-chosen measures and goals can enhance organizational focus and lead to superior performance.

Continued in the article

Bob Jensen's threads on stock options are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory/sfas123/jensen01.htm

Beta Gamma Sigma honor society --- http://cba.unomaha.edu/bg/

I’ve been a member of BGS for 40 years, but somehow I’ve managed to overlook B-Zine

From Beta Gamma Sigma BZine Electronic Magazine --- http://cba.unomaha.edu/bg/

CEOs may need to speak up
by Tim Weatherby, Beta Gamma Sigma
As more Fortune 500 companies and their executives are sucked into the current crisis, it may be time for the good guys to put their two cents in. The 2002 Beta Gamma Sigma International Honoree did just that in April.
http://www.betagammasigma.org/news/bzine/august02feature.html

How Tyco's CEO Enriched Himself
by Mark Maremont and Laurie P. Cohen, The Wall Street Journal
The latest story of corporate abuse surrounds the former Tyco CEO. This story provides a vivid example of the abuses that are leading many to question current business practices.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/790996.asp

A Lucrative Life at the Top
by MSNBC.com
Highlights pay and incentive packages of several former corporate executives currently under investigation.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/783953.asp

A To-Do List for Tyco's CEO
by William C. Symonds, BusinessWeek online
The new CEO of Tyco has a tough job ahead of him cleaning up the mess left behind.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_32/b3795050.htm

Implausible Deniability: The SEC Turns Up CEO Heat
by Diane Hess, TheStreet.com
The SEC's edict requires written statements, under oath, from senior officers of the 1,000 largest public companies attesting to the accuracy of their financial statements.
http://www.thestreet.com/markets/taleofthetape/10029865.html

Corporate Reform: Any Idea in a Storm?
by BusinessWeek online
Lawmakers eager to appease voters are trying all kinds of things.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_32/b3795045.htm

Sealing Off the Bermuda Triangle
by Howard Gleckman, BusinessWeek online
Too many corporate tax dollars are disappearing because of headquarters relocations, and Congress looks ready to act.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jun2002/nf20020625_2167.htm

Identity Theft Articles and Links

Is Your Identity Safe?
by Tim Weatherby, Beta Gamma Sigma
How much do you REALLY know about identity theft?
http://www.betagammasigma.org/Feb04article.htm

Welcome to the Federal Trade Commission
U.S. Government site designed to aid consumers.
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Identity Theft and Fraud
U.S. Department of Justice
Helpful tips and information about Identity Theft.
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html

You’ve Got (Stolen) Mail
by Greg Hunter, ABC News
Is your mailbox a lure for identity theft?
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/Business/Mailbox_Identity_Theft_040217-1.html

Identity Crisis
by Sue Cant, Sydney Morning Herald Online
”Stealing an identity or creating a new one is not new but it has become much simpler with a personal computer, scanner and laser printer.”
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/23/1077497503111.html

Identity Theft Worries Consumer Advocates
While businesses and universities can do more to prevent identity theft, federal lawmakers have opened loopholes in some state laws that previously didn't exist, making it easier for crimes to occur.
by Peter Brownfeld, FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110923,00.html

Businesses appeal date identity-theft law goes into effect
Citing higher-than-expected upgrade costs, businessmen asked legislators to approve a bill that would give them more time to comply with a state law designed to curb identity theft.
by Elbert Aull, MaineToday.com
http://www.centralmaine.com/news/local/439761.shtml

Bob Jensen's threads on identity theft are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#IdentityTheft

Have a Nice Day

By 2007 violent storms smash coastal barriers rendering large parts of the Netherlands uninhabitable. Cities like The Hague are abandoned. In California the delta island levees in the Sacramento river area are breached, disrupting the aqueduct system transporting water from north to south.
· Between 2010 and 2020 Europe is hardest hit by climatic change with an average annual temperature drop of 6F. Climate in Britain becomes colder and drier as weather patterns begin to resemble Siberia.
· Deaths from war and famine run into the millions until the planet's population is reduced by such an extent the Earth can cope.
· Riots and internal conflict tear apart India, South Africa and Indonesia.
· Access to water becomes a major battleground. The Nile, Danube and Amazon are all mentioned as being high risk.
· A 'significant drop' in the planet's ability to sustain its present population will become apparent over the next 20 years.
· Rich areas like the US and Europe would become 'virtual fortresses' to prevent millions of migrants from entering after being forced from land drowned by sea-level rise or no longer able to grow crops. Waves of boatpeople pose significant problems.
· Nuclear arms proliferation is inevitable. Japan, South Korea, and Germany develop nuclear-weapons capabilities, as do Iran, Egypt and North Korea. Israel, China, India and Pakistan also are poised to use the bomb.
· By 2010 the US and Europe will experience a third more days with peak temperatures above 90F. Climate becomes an 'economic nuisance' as storms, droughts and hot spells create havoc for farmers.
· More than 400m people in subtropical regions at grave risk.
· Europe will face huge internal struggles as it copes with massive numbers of migrants washing up on its shores. Immigrants from Scandinavia seek warmer climes to the south. Southern Europe is beleaguered by refugees from hard-hit countries in Africa.
· Mega-droughts affect the world's major breadbaskets, including America's Midwest, where strong winds bring soil loss.

· China's huge population and food demand make it particularly vulnerable. Bangladesh becomes nearly uninhabitable because of a rising sea level, which contaminates the inland water supplies.

Special report
Climate change

Graphics
CO2 emissions
The world in the 2050s
The greenhouse effect

Interactive
Guide to drilling for oil in the Arctic
Calculate your personal carbon count

Key resources
The Kyoto protocol
Bjorn Lomborg: Are we doing the right thing?

Useful links
UN framework convention on climate change
Greenpeace
Friends of the earth

March 10, 2004 reply from Aaron Delwiche

Scary, isn't it? Check out this trailer for an exaggerated view of these predictions.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/dayaftertomorrow/

Aaron

Aaron Delwiche, Ph.D.
Department of Communication
Trinity University
e-mail: aaron.delwiche@trinity.edu

March 8, 2004 message from David R. Fordham [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

So-called "environmental accounting" seems to have faded from glory, but I can't help but wonder what impact the following NASA findings may have in the long run:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/05mar_arctic.htm

Some speculate that your property on the French Riviera may shortly look like Bob's New England retreat in January.

I'm still dismayed that no one has looked at the effect of "pavement" on the global climate. Anyone who has walked across a Florida (or Texas) parking lot in July, and then gone into the adjacent woods, can't help but wonder whether the "pavement quotient" is outstripping the "greenhouse gasses" effect in terms of warming things up. And then there are those maddening wastemongers who drive those huge gas-guzzling SUV's, which require not only more gas, but more pavement! (There was a local petition in our paper to enlarge parking spaces to accommodate the larger vehicles!)

I'm going to spend my fall semester in Antwerp, Belgium. The preliminary orientation meetings have been eye-openers in terms of recognizing the wasteful practices of American culture. It's a wonder that the Europeans are still speaking to us. And if the NASA report is true ...

(Of course, I've always taken these reports with a couple of grains of salt... is anybody on this list old enough to remember the "Club of Rome" and their book "The Limits to Growth"? giggle giggle...)

David R. Fordham
PBGH Faculty Fellow
James Madison University

Marketing and Purchasing
ClickZ's Search Engine Watch released its annual list of outstanding Web search services for 2003. Your favorites are among them, but there were also surprises and controversial predictions for the coming year --- http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/opt/article.php/3319991

Bob Jensen's search helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm

Bob Jensen's bookmarks for marketing are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#Marketing

SCO Group filed lawsuits against DaimlerChrysler and AutoZone, broadening its legal attack on Linux to users of the popular operating system.

SCO Refutes Allegation That Microsoft Is Funding Suits
A leaked E-mail appeared to provide evidence that SCO Group and aconsultant were looking to Microsoft to fund SCO's legal strategy and licensing initiatives. http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/efeF0BcUEY0Gly0CPKx0AU

"SCO Broadens Its Attack on Linux," by David Bank, The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2004 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107832489299545323,00.html?mod=technology%5Fmain%5Fwhats%5Fnews

Suits Against AutoZone,
DaimlerChrysler Claim
Breach of Rights on Unix

SCO Group Inc. filed lawsuits against auto maker DaimlerChrysler AG and auto-parts retailer AutoZone Inc., broadening its legal attack on Linux to users of the popular operating system.

SCO, a software company based in Lindon, Utah, claims copyright ownership over the older Unix operating system, and contends that part of Linux violates those copyrights. The company already is in litigation with Linux vendors International Business Machines Corp. and Novell Inc., and said the new actions were the first of many against corporations that use the open-source software.

Darl McBride, SCO's chief executive, said he was taking a page from the playbook of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has filed more than 1,000 lawsuits against computer users it claims illegally distributed music over the Internet. In a conference call, he said those suits highlighted the legal risks facing those computer users. "We believe that the legal actions we have taken and will continue to take will have a similar impact on end users of Unix and Linux," he said.

The suit against Germany's DaimlerChrysler, filed in a Michigan state court, involves software license agreements that SCO says the auto maker signed for using Unix. In December, SCO sent DaimlerChrysler a letter demanding that it certify compliance with the license, including restrictions on the transfer of the underlying source code to Unix. SCO's suit doesn't allege such a transfer from Unix to Linux, but said DaimlerChrysler's failure to respond implies violations of the terms of the licenses.

Continued in the article

Congress is considering a bill that would allow companies to copyright databases and 
other sets of information. Critics say the bill would circumvent the core of copyright 
law, which says no one can own a fact --- 
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,62500,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html

And to think that I moved from the south up to the northern mountains in anticipation of global warming. (Sigh!)

March 8, 2004 message from David R. Fordham [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

-----Original Message-----
From: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia [mailto:AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU] On Behalf Of David R. Fordham
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 8:48 AM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU Subject: Hot and Cold...

So-called "environmental accounting" seems to have faded from glory, but I can't help but wonder what impact the following NASA findings may have in the long run:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/05mar_arctic.htm

Some speculate that your property on the French Riviera may shortly look like Bob's New England retreat in January.

I'm still dismayed that no one has looked at the effect of "pavement" on the global climate. Anyone who has walked across a Florida (or Texas) parking lot in July, and then gone into the adjacent woods, can't help but wonder whether the "pavement quotient" is outstripping the "greenhouse gasses" effect in terms of warming things up. And then there are those maddening wastemongers who drive those huge gas-guzzling SUV's, which require not only more gas, but more pavement! (There was a local petition in our paper to enlarge parking spaces to accommodate the larger vehicles!)

I'm going to spend my fall semester in Antwerp, Belgium. The preliminary orientation meetings have been eye-openers in terms of recognizing the wasteful practices of American culture. It's a wonder that the Europeans are still speaking to us. And if the NASA report is true ...

(Of course, I've always taken these reports with a couple of grains of salt... is anybody on this list old enough to remember the "Club of Rome" and their book "The Limits to Growth"? giggle giggle...)

David R. Fordham
PBGH Faculty Fellow
James Madison University

"Teachers fight against Internet plagiarism," by Kimberly Chase, The Christian Science Monitor,
March 2, 2004 --- http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0302/p12s01-legn.html

On www.research-assistance.com , for example, students can browse an alphabetical list 
of categories - Cuba, evolution, or racism, just to name a few - to find the paper of 
their choice. For $136, a frantic high school or college student can download a 19-page 
paper on "Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt." It can be faxed for $9.50 or delivered 
overnight for $15.

Bob Jensen's threads on plagiarism are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/plagiarism.htm

Walt presents his first annual buyer's guide to digital cameras. It's a quick road map 
to the most important features to look for when buying a digital camera, and to the 
terminology sales people and "experts" are likely to hurl at you.

I recommend printing this article if and when you go shopping for a camera!

"Missed Moments: Pitfalls of Buying A Digital Camera," by Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2004 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107827125013744724,00.html?mod=gadgets_lead_story_col

Like all high-tech products, digital cameras are described by a dense jargon of techno-babble, designed in part to confuse civilians and separate them from their money. As the cameras have soared in popularity, this terminology problem has actually grown worse.

So here's our first annual buyer's guide to digital cameras. It's a quick road map to the most important features to look for when buying a digital camera, and to the terminology sales people and "experts" are likely to hurl at you.

This guide is meant for average, casual photographers. If you are a photo hobbyist or enthusiast, you will likely want to consider many more features than these, and you may want to focus more on such traditional photographic issues as lenses and optics. This guide mainly focuses on the cameras' basic digital characteristics.
Continued in the article

Honey, They Shrunk the Cameras

In tests of the newest crop of mini digital cameras, it turns out that the best pictures came from the camera with both the lowest price and the lowest megapixel rating, writes Walt. Go figure.

"Honey, They Shrunk the Cameras," by Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2004 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107706028702331957,00.html?mod=gadgets%5Fprimary%5Fhs%5Flt

In technology, as in the rest of life, numbers don't tell the whole story. When comparing digital cameras, you might expect that the best pictures would come from the most expensive models in any given class, or from the models with the highest megapixel rating -- a measure of maximum picture resolution. But it ain't necessarily so.

In fact, after testing four similar, name-brand digital cameras for this column, it turned out that the best pictures came from the camera with both the lowest price and the lowest megapixel rating. Go figure.

My assistant Katie Boehret and I tested four slim, lightweight digital cameras from Casio, Sony, Konica Minolta and Pentax. These are point-and-shoot models that are designed to be tiny enough to carry around in a pocket, while still capturing high-quality photographs. Each camera measures slightly larger than the size of a credit card and has a 3x optical zoom lens.

Whenever high-tech products get really small, their price tags get bigger, and these cameras are no exception. The least expensive of the four cameras goes for $300, while the most expensive costs a whopping $550.

Each is under an inch thick, but all have plenty of features to keep an amateur photographer happy. All can take short videos as well as still photos, and all have multiple shooting modes and flash settings. Two of our test cameras even boasted the hot new trend in digital cameras -- larger liquid-crystal-display screens that take up most of the camera's back side.

In our tests, I took mostly indoor photos with each camera at a favorite hangout of mine, my local cigar store. Katie snapped outdoor pictures of landscapes, monuments and people while wandering around Washington, D.C.

All four cameras took good pictures, and deciding which did best is necessarily a subjective judgment. But, after comparing similar pictures from the four cameras side by side on a computer screen, Katie and I consistently found the images from the low-end $299 Konica Minolta Dimage Xg to be the best overall.

The fast and easy way to print pictures, but the price at fifty to seventy cents per picture is about double the price for online prints. Newsweek recommended the Olymbus P-10 and the Sony PictureStation DPP-EX50 on Page 65, February 23, 2004. Both models sell for under $200.

PC Magazine reviews these and others --- http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,3048,a=112333,00.asp

"Inside the Home of the Future," by Kelly Greene, The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2004 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107712037785532703,00.html?mod=gadgets%5Fprimary%5Fhs%5Flt

Houses that make your coffee, lock your doors and even measure your health are closer than you think

As you pour the detergent into your last load of laundry, you realize the bottle is almost empty. But instead of making a mental note to add it to your grocery list, or running to the kitchen to scribble it down, you simply say out loud, "Remember: Buy laundry detergent." The word "remember" is picked up by a microphone in the wall and triggers a computer to transcribe your words to your to-do list.

It might sound like a sci-fi vision of the future. But it's actually a project called Audio Notes, currently in the works at the Georgia Institute of Technology's 5,000-square-foot Aware Home, a combination house and laboratory in Atlanta where scientists are dreaming up futuristic housing technology.

"I love that shopping list," says Eileen Lange, a 68-year-old retiree from Lithonia, Ga., who toured the house and tried out some of its projects last year.

Researchers and commercial labs around the country are building experimental homes to test technology that could make domestic life easier and extend the independence of older homeowners. Such efforts go beyond so-called universal design, a trend toward building houses with wider doorways, grab bars and adjustable kitchen cabinets that took off in the early 1990s.

"These are lifestyle services empowered by a new generation of technology," says Joseph Coughlin, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab in Cambridge (web.mit.edu/agelab/research/hnh.html).

In many cases, the mechanics for the gizmos already exist -- mainly wireless sensors, cellphones, broadband access and home computers. What's been missing, and what researchers now are trying to develop, are ways to harness the hardware to run your entire house with little effort or technological savvy -- letting you turn up the heat remotely, anticipating when you want the lights on, or deciding automatically how long your food should cook.

Continued in the article

"European Smart Phone Is Trim and Sharp, But Poor on E-Mail," by Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2004 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,personal_technology,00.html

In cellphones, as in so many other things, Europeans are different from Americans. I was reminded of this again last week in France, where I attended the world's biggest cellphone conference and exhibition, an event called the 3GSM World Congress.

What I saw at the show was an impressive display of cellphone features and designs. Many of these advances are unavailable in the U.S., where we have crippled our wireless phone system by failing to adopt a single transmission standard and by handing too much power to slow-moving wireless carriers.

The European cellphone industry is preparing for the widespread rollout later this year of so-called 3G phone networks, which will supposedly operate at broadband speeds. And the carriers and phone makers there were showing off various services they hope to sell over these networks.

At one booth, I was amazed to be able to carry on a perfect real-time video phone call, via a small cellphone, with a woman in Japan. At another, I was able to surf the Web almost as quickly and easily on a cellphone as on a networked PC at home. Numerous companies were showing advanced phones on which you could play games, and take and send photos and videos, at speeds and quality levels far exceeding what's available in the U.S.

Yet there is one aspect of wireless communications that the Europeans and Asians don't do as well as the North Americans -- the melding of a phone, an organizer and serious e-mail capabilities in a small, portable device.

U.S. and Canadian companies have produced two fine high-end smart phones that are also great e-mail devices: the Treo 600, from PalmOne, and the BlackBerry, from Research in Motion. A third combo gadget, the Danger Sidekick sold by T-Mobile, is also an excellent portable e-mail device, but it's too clumsy as a phone.
Continued in the article

"Apple's New Chapter in the Classroom," by Alex Salkever, Business Week, March 3, 2004 --- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc2004033_0360_tc056.htm

Despite some some setbacks lately in its education efforts, Apple has been able to keep building market share and excitement

Has Apple (AAPL ) fallen back into a school daze? It sure seems that way from a recent series of bad tidings. The Mac folks just lost a massive one-to-one computing deal for the state of Michigan to tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ). These state programs, which seek to give every student a laptop and tightly integrate the machines' use into the curriculum, are seen as the holy grail of the now stumbling K-12 education business. And the Michigan contract was the proverbial mother lode. Worth $68 million over four years, it calls for HP to provide laptops to as many as 132,000 middle-school students in the Wolverine State.

Bob Jensen's threads on education technologies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

An Innovative Cookie Jar

The big question is whether Microsoft will adapt to StealthSurfer or introduce a competitive product for Internet Explorer. My guess is no! We may have to install Netscape once again just to keep pesky cookies off the main hard drive.

"Furtive Surfers Find a Way to Keep Their Travels Secret," by Howard Millman, The New York Times, March 4, 2004 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/technology/circuits/04quie.html

A new thumb-size U.S.B. drive from a company called StealthSurfer aims to guard your privacy by keeping the records of your Web activity close to the vest. When you plug in the StealthSurfer and use its customized version of the Netscape browser, the device stores the cookies, U.R.L. history, cache files and other traces of your Web browsing that would ordinarily accumulate on your computer's hard drive. When you're done surfing, you unplug the drive and take the records of your travels with you.

StealthSurfer's name is a bit of an overstatement. It does keep your Web-hopping and file-sharing activities away from prying eyes after the fact. But since it uses your computer's Internet connection, the Web sites you visit can still track your Internet protocol address as you move around online.

The StealthSurfer comes in four capacities, ranging from 64 megabytes ($70) to 512 megabytes ($299). You may experience a slight reduction in performance when you use the device because its flash memory writes data at slower speeds than a full-size hard drive does.

On the other hand, installation is a breeze - computers running Windows Me, 2000 and XP recognize the StealthSurfer as a drive when it is plugged in. (If you're running Windows 98, you must download a driver

The StealthSurfer home page is at http://www.stealthsurfer.biz/
Don't you hate it now that some businesses now use biz instead of com in their URLs?

Bob Jensen's threads on computer security are under "Security" (in the S-Terms) at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm
Also look under the C-Terms for "Cookies."

Training magazine conducts extensive research for the Top 100 through a multi-tiered nomination, application and interview process. In many cases, companies are nominated by vendors, while others respond to mass mailings and marketing initiatives targeted at Training magazine's 45,000-plus circulation base. Companies who wish to be ranked answer a detailed questionnaire providing both quantitative and qualitative data. Training magazine's editorial staff evaluates the information provided and conducts follow-up interviews, where appropriate, on the many qualitative questions.
http://www.trainingmag.com/training/reports_analysis/top100/2004/rankings.jsp

The Top 10 are as follows:

1. International Business Machines (IBM)
2. Pfizer, Inc.
3. Sprint Corp.
4. Booz Allen Hamilton
5. KLA-Tencor Corp.
6. Deloitte & Touche (Deloitte), US, LLP
7. AT&T
8. Ernst & Young, LLP
9. Lockheed Martin Corp.