 "Cookiegate"
It's time to feel a bit more uncomfortable about the use of cookies by government
websites. Recently released information indicates that the Federal Government has been
using the DoubleClick advertising service to track users searching the web for information
on illegal drugs. Government officials conceded to using cookies for tracking purposes and
ordered the Office of National Drug Control Policy to stop the tracking program.
Want to know more?
Netscape is #1, not
The trend of Netscape's decreasing popularity continues. WebSideStory's (an Internet
market research firm) recently released their latest analysis of web usage stats and the
news is not good for Netscape fans. Following a significant drop in popularity during the
past few months, Netscape users now account for only 14% of web use.
The growing level of IE use means that libraries can expect a growing number of patrons to
be familiar with Explorer. In addition to the growing level of patron familiarity, the
recent upgrade of Internet Explorer to version 5.5 and the addition of a number of new
features (including Print Preview) make Explorer an excellent choice for libraries. |
Ready for
Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is coming! Get ready for a world where all variety of devices communicate
wirelessly. Imagine a world where your PDA could exchange information with a laptop or a
cell phone using wireless connection? With Bluetooth it will be possible. Bluetooth is a
short range wireless communications technology which allows any Bluetooth capable device
to communicate with any other Bluetooth device, within a given proximity. Some of the
possibilities of this model include allowing your Bluetooth refrigerator to transfer a
grocery list to your Bluetooth Palm Pilot before you walk out the door, having lights in
your home turn on and off as you enter or leave rooms, and conducting library inventory by
simply walking from book stack to book stack. Taking the model a step further in the
library environment you can envision the ultimate in self-check technology - books with
Bluetooth enabled smart barcodes could be checked out by patrons carrying a PDA and
walking by the Bluetooth-enabled library security gate. In addition to checking the books
out to the patron the due date would be automatically entered in the date book of the
patron's PDA.
Want
to Know More?Understanding data
storage
When is a file really deleted? How can you make sure that certain email messages are
really removed from your computer? How do drives become fragmented? ABCnews recently
published a very readable two part series on disk storage, fragmentation, file deletion
and data recovery.
Part 1: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/Geek/geek000615.html
Part 2: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/Geek/geek.html
Disappearing Computers
In the world of computing technology bigger is not always better. The Tiqit is a matchbox
sized computer which is capable of running Windows 95 and a web server. While it's
underpowered (using only a 486 processor with 16 MB RAM) it demonstrates the ability of
hardware developers to continually pack more power into a smaller device and may prove the
precursor to wearable computers and other extremely small and portable computing devices.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CuttingEdge/cuttingedge000623.html
What's New?
The Annual PC Expo conference is underway in New York here are some of the hot
technologies being discussed at the event:
- The Transmeta processor which is a new, powerful processor
designed for use in portable systems
- The growing popularity and functionality of entertainment
devices, such as Sony's PlayStation2 and high capacity DVD
- Palm-based computing devices, especially the Handspring, which
is similar to Palm Computing's Palm Pilot
- Wireless Networking products - a strong focus is being placed
on 802.11b and Bluetooth
Items submitted by:
Brad Stephens - Email
NOLA Regional Library System
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