Just as the Vietnam War was the first televised war, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will likely be known as the first wars to be blogged. BBC News reports that members of this new generation of U.S. military bloggers, or milbloggers, are sharing their fighting experiences online, giving rise to what many followers claim is some of the most riveting reporting about the war. Pioneering bloggers, with names like Greyhawk, Lt. Smash, and Sergeant Hook, have garnered a global following and inspired countless other soldiers, pilots, marines, and sailors worldwide. However, military officials, now more than concerned about the content of these burgeoning blogs, have begun clamping down on the unregulated wartime writings as a potential security risk. In fact, some bloggers have been disciplined for releasing sensitive information or for breaking other military rules in their blogs. Greyhawk advises fellow milbloggers to think how a post will be received by his or her mother, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Osama bin Laden. "Not everyone can approach a keyboard with that kind of responsibility over their heads," he says.
Snap Judgments
First impressions not only count, some lasting impressions are made in the first 50 milliseconds of viewing. So concludes a study by researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa who found the brain can make flash judgments almost as fast as the eye can take in the information. Nature reports the study shows the snap decisions Internet users make about the quality of a Web page have a lasting impact on their attitudes about an organization and the people or products behind it. Volunteers were presented the briefest glimpses of Web pages and were asked to rate the sites on visual appeal. Unbeknownst to them, these pages had been previously rated as easy or jarring on the eye. The images were flashed for 50 milliseconds, roughly the duration of a single frame of standard TV footage; still, their verdicts reflected previous judgments. So what kind a Web page makes a lasting impression? London-based Web designer Marc Caudron says graphics on a page should be strictly limited, perhaps to a single eye-catching image. Use a "puritan approach" to get information across simply and quickly, and make sure your Web site loads quickly. "That can be the difference between big business and no business," says Caudron.
CMU’s Robo-Receptionist
A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon has developed a robotic receptionist named Marion "Tank" LeFleur that answers questions typed into its keyboard, often with a healthy dose of robo `tude. In an effort to make robots more interesting and engaging, CS professor Reid Simmons told NPR Online that the Tank team included members of CMU’s School of Drama to help create storylines to give the robot more personality. Unfortunately, some of Tank’s "history" includes former careers at NASA and the CIA that failed miserably and left him quite cynical. "Everyone knows those government agencies have quotas to fill. I was the token robot on the staff," claims a resentful Tank; still, he embodies a case study in the manner in which humans and computers interact. Simmons contends that endowing robots with personality will draw humans closer to them and make them more willing to accept robots in such positions as cashiers and receptionists. To meet Tank, visit www.roboceptionist.com/meet_tank.htm.
Podcast \ päd-kast \ a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player. —Named "Word of the Year" by the editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary; to be included in the 2006 edition.
Have We Got Mail!
The U.S. National Archives expects to receive 100 million email messages from the Bush administration by the time its second term concludes; a whopping 68 million more messages than the Clinton administration delivered, as email only came into widespread use during his second term. The Wall Street Journal reports this digital flood poses a real challenge for the Archives, which is faced with preserving its data in a format that will never become obsolete. In fact, electronic records have increased in volume 100 times faster than paper documents over the past 30 years. In addition, the recently released documents of the 9/11 Commission were the equivalent of all the digested e-records the Archives had received since 1975. The Commission’s materials will not be fully processed until 2009, however, because the Archives still uses a labor-intensive 1960s-era conversion technique of transferring information onto magnetic tape. It remains the only method archivists are confident will work indefinitely. The Archive has awarded Lockheed Martin a six-year $308 million contract to develop a comprehensive system for storing and accessing records.
The Year of Breaches
At least 55 million Americans were exposed to potential ID theft in 2005, making it the worst year so far for known computer security breaches. USA Today reports at least 130 breaches were recorded last year and security experts warn that wayward personal data could end up in the hands of criminals and feed an ever-growing problem. Gartner Group notes consumer fraud losses as of May 2005 totaled $14.8 billion, almost $3 billion more than all of 2004. Moreover, Internet fraud losses (primarily credit application and checking account fraud) totaled $1.5 billion in May 2005 over $700 million by year-end 2004.
Denim Goes Digital
Levi Strauss has designed a line of jeans that integrates iPod plug-and-play technology, featuring a joystick incorporated into the jeans’ watch pocket to enable the wearer to operate the device without having to remove it from a specially designed "invisible" side-pocket docking cradle. The Levi’s RedWire DLX Jeans, to be available worldwide in the fall, will also have a built-in retractable headphone unit to help prevent tangles. The jeans are expected to retail for over $200. A company spokesperson says they are indeed machine washable "once the iPod is removed."
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