High sensitivity makes presidential e-mailing unlikely
New York Times Nov 16, 08 9:25 AM CST
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As president, Barack Obama will likely have to make the ultimate sacrifice: giving up his beloved BlackBerry. Obama and the device were literally attached at the hip during the campaign, and email was his main link to everything from political memos to White Sox updates, the New York Time s reports. But security concerns and the fact that all presidential communications must be on the record may force him to surrender the BlackBerry.
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Criminals use chat features on social, game sites to hide conversations: authorities
Guardian (UK) Oct 15, 08 2:17 PM CDT
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With social-networking, gaming, and video sites offering stealth chatting that criminals and terrorists exploit, the British government is moving to require such websites to collect and provide user data to authorities. Accessing chat contents would still require a specific warrant, but demographic information could help find pedophiles, kidnappers, drug traffickers, and terrorists, the Guardian reports.
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ANALYSIS
Controversy in the
blink of an eye
Los Angeles Times Oct 14, 08 2:34 AM CDT
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In Latin America, it's an unmistakable come-on. In much of Asia, it's offensive. In a vice-presidential debate, the meaning of a wink is sparking plenty of controversy, writes Faye Fiore in the Los Angeles Times . Sarah Palin winks more often than any politician experts can remember, and it has "left some voters smitten, some confused and others nauseated," Fiore writes.
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Lousy rapport impairs treatment, survey finds
Globe and Mail Sep 27, 08 2:20 PM CDT
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Odds are you're annoying your doctor, according to a Canadian study that asked nearly 300 physicians about their daily frustrations. As the Globe and Mail reports, many had difficulty establishing rapports with patients, who routinely resisted or flouted their advice —which can lead to patient safety problems. “When you have patients that can't communicate, there's going to be a big issue,” said one of the study’s authors.
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Google blames outage on internal error
Los Angeles Times Aug 12, 08 9:59 AM CDT
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Google's Gmail was largely inaccessible for 2 hours yesterday, as both the company and compulsive email checkers struggled to figure out what went wrong, the Los Angeles Times reports. The blackout was followed by a flurry of anxious web-chatter on the subject of the much relied-upon email service. The company later blamed the downtime on an internal outage.
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Slydial users can sneak a message straight onto voicemail
New York Times Aug 2, 08 7:04 AM CDT
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A new phone service is a hit with people who want to make a phone call without actually talking to anybody, the New York Times reports. Slydial allows users to skip directly to leaving a message on voicemail without the recipient realizing they have an incoming call. Users say the service has helped them dodge many awkward conversations.
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product review
Two new headsets are really secret-agent style communicators in disguise
New York Times Jul 31, 08 4:57 PM CDT
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Two new Bluetooth headsets are meant as cellphone accessories, "the type that make white-collar executives on city streets look like the muttering deranged," but David Pogue has found a much cooler use, he writes in the New York Times. SoundID’s SM100 and Callpod’s Dragon V2 easily convert to "secret-agent two-way radios."
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ANALYSIS
But 'fickle' Internet could 'stall his agenda as president'
Atlantic Monthly May 17, 08 4:12 PM CDT
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Lincoln, FDR, JFK... Obama? So runs the line of US leaders who have ruled by harnessing new communication technologies. Obama's mastery of the Web echoes Lincoln's use of newspapers, FDR's use of radio and JFK's use of television. Obama vows to put the Oval Office online if he wins, but Marc Ambinder warns in the Atlantic that he may find the Internet "unruly and fickle."
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Scientists put meaning to clicks & squeals
Reuters Nov 8, 07 6:12 AM CST
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Australian scientists believe they've begun to decode the meaning behind whale sounds after extensive study of humpbacks off the nation's coast. They identified at least 34 types of whale calls, including a male purring sound associated with female wooing, high-frequency cries during disagreements, and a "wop" sound often exchanged between a mother whale and her offspring.
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no-email days; are computers next?
BBC Oct 20, 07 6:48 AM CDT
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For those of us who haven't spoken face-to-face with the guy two cubicles down in months, the BBC reports a growing trend of no-email days. Shutting down the inbox, which some workers are found to check 30-40 times hourly, is seen as a way to improve communication and decrease interruptions. An average worker sends 37 emails per day, expected to be 47 next year.
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USA Today Aug 27, 07 5:01 AM CDT
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Sending phone text messages soon won’t require a phone, thanks to an upgrade in Yahoo’s already leading email service, which will provide the new feature for free. The new system will integrate email, text messages and instant messaging, reports USA Today . Customers "don't want to bounce around to many different areas," said a Yahoo spokesman.
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Teens call snail mail passé, but etiquette expert defends the pen
CNET Aug 26, 07 6:54 PM CDT
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A quarter of teens call snail mail the most passé way to convey in 2007. But the great-granddaughter of an etiquette doyenne wants to rescue letters before the 'Net makes them extinct. She says ink on paper still carries “more weight” than email, not to mention leaving a permanent record. "Consider the 'Letters of Emily Dickinson,'” said Cindy Post Senning. “What if she had e-mail?"
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Millions of updates, reboots fried VOIP service, company says
PC World Aug 20, 07 12:49 PM CDT
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Skype's mysterious failure last week was caused by a routine Windows update, the company says. Millions of users downloaded the new software, rebooted their computers, and tried to log into Skype at the same time, crashing the net phone service, PC World reports. It's still unclear why previous Windows updates didn't do the same thing, however.
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Company showing prototypes in bid to break into cell phone ad market
Independent (UK) Aug 3, 07 3:17 AM CDT
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Google is spending hundreds of millions of dollars secretly developing a cell phone which offers Google search technology and other services, reports the London Independent. Prototype phones have been shown to several wireless carriers. The company is poised to bid on wireless spectrum licenses in the upcoming federal auction, which could be used to become a mobile phone operator.
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Apes pay attention to whether they are being understood
BBC Aug 2, 07 9:24 AM CDT
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Orangutan communication works just like a game of charades, according to new research. Orangs and other apes who use signals to communicate what they want pay careful attention to whether their audience understands their gestures—if something works, they repeat it, and if they aren't getting through they try another signal.
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Bloomberg May 18, 07 3:14 PM CDT
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After months of stops and starts, Clear Channel's board today gave the green light to a $19.5 billion buyout offer. The communications giant bit after Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, which have been bidding since November, gained the backing of two large shareholders. The successful offer was $39.20 per share, 20 cents more than a previously rejected bid.