Computers and Society: 
Current Issues


  1. "APPLE TURNS 30"

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/26/MNG7EHUEQ51.DTL&type=tech
    2. Whether he's inspiring his staff or negotiating with captains of industry, Jobs has outsize abilities to persuade, motivate, inflame the imagination and enrage. How did he get this way? Like the Wizard of Oz, Jobs tries his best to hide behind a curtain, keeping a tight rein on media access and dealing harshly with friends who say too much to biographers.
    Contributed by: Jim, on Monday, March 27, 2006 01:45 pm
  2. " Apple not happy, but French may be on right track"

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/26/BUG4CHTPEF1.DTL&type=tech

    Lawmakers in Paris last week approved a bill that would require Apple Computer to make songs sold on its hugely successful iTunes Web site playable on all music devices, not just Apple's hugely successful iPods. 
    Contributed by: Jim, on Monday, March 27, 2006 01:45 pm
  3. " Wise parents peek in kids' myspace" http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/25/BAGT5HEPDK1.DTL&hw=MySpace&sn=005&sc=395

    At first, they didn't even know what myspace.com was. Now, many of them realize it is a wildly popular Web site where more than 50 million teens post personal profiles, photos and comments to friends. They also know that the profiles may be shocking, the photos racy and the comments obscene, hurtful and inappropriate.
    Contributed by: Jim, on Monday, March 27, 2006 01:45 pm
  4. " Youths used a popular website to organize their walkouts."
    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-students31mar31,1,5470646.story?coll=la-headlines-california

    Shuffling her feet in her Garden Grove home last weekend, Mariela Muniz stared into the carpet and suffered, as teenagers do, the silent deliberation of her parents. Soon, her father nodded and her mother uttered the words she'd been waiting to hear: "Lo puedes hacer."  [NOTE:You will have to sign up for a LA Times account to view this--it's free so go for it]
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 3, 2006 11:45 pm
  5. " Apple faces off with Apple"
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002897896_webapple29.html

    LONDON – As a disco beat filled a staid British courtroom today, the Beatles' record company asked a judge to force Apple Computer Inc. to remove the logo from the popular iTunes Music Store.
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 3, 2006 11:55 pm
  6. "Math's Role in Internet Security"
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5331973  Click on Listen

    Weekend Edition Satuarday April 8, 2006 · Scott Simon talks with Stanford University mathematics professor Keith Devlin, the Weekend Edition "math guy," about how math makes Internet security possible. It's all about encryption. 
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:30 am
  7. "Apple Does Windows with New Intel Machines"
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5327149  Click on Listen

    Morning Edition, April 6, 2006 · Apple has announced a major change in its approach to rival Microsoft. The company will now help users of its Macintosh computers run the Microsoft Windows operating system on their computers. Previously, only hackers had been able to get Windows to run on Apple's new Intel-based machines. Steve Inskeep talks with New York Times columnist David Pogue. 
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:30 am
  8. " Samsung Shows Off Flash-Based Laptop 'Disk Drive'"
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5319181  Click on Listen

    Morning Edition, April 3, 2006 · Samsung has a new laptop prototype that doesn't use a hard-disk drive; it runs on 32 gigabytes of flash memory. Steve Inskeep talks with David Pogue, technology columnist for The New York Times about the device. The flash drive reads data three times faster, and writes data 1.5 times faster, then a regular hard drive. The technology also requires less electricity and takes up less space than the standard disk storage system. 
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:30 am
  9. " Testing the Bounds of MySpace"
    http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-myspace8apr08,1,6268794.story

    By Catherine Saillant, Times Staff Writer April 8, 2006"...in nearly two decades of journalism, nothing has made my insides churn like seeing what my 13-year-old daughter and her friends are up to on MySpace.com."
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:30 am
  10. " Programs on a Flashdrive"
    http://www.psychpage.com/tech/portable.html

    By Richard Niolon, Ph.D.. Do you regularly work at another computer? A coffee shop, friend, library, lab, or generic office computer? Do you ever wish you could take all your information and programs with you? You can with a portable drive.  
    Contributed by: Jim, on Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:30 am
  11. " Internet Debate: Preserving User Parity"
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5362403

    NPR By Laura Sydell . Should the Internet be divided into fast and slow lanes? That's the question at the heart of the debate over "network neutrality." Broadband providers have clashed with Internet and software companies, who are concerned that giving some users preferential treatment for a price effectively shuts out competition. Click on Listen. 
    Contributed by: Jim, on Wednesdy, April 26, 2006 11:00 am
  12. " Is Web Surfing a Job Hazard?"
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5363506

    NPR ATC By Frank Langfitt 

    Morning Edition, April 26, 2006 · A judge has recommended that a New York City worker be reprimanded, but not fired, after he ignored warnings to stop surfing the Internet at work. The judge said that trolling the Web at work is equivalent to making a personal phone call, or reading a newspaper. But experts say roaming the Internet at work can still put your job at risk. Click on Listen.

    Contributed by: Jim, on Wednesdy, April 26, 2006 11:30 am