Searcher articles from October 2003

Searcher archives from October 2003

The Technological Imperative.(Searcher's Voice)
October 1, 2003... Many years ago, a sophisticated, though mildly technophobic, friend of mine and I got in an argument over whether she needed an answering machine. My friend lived a very full life that included occasional management consulting. What finally...

Cell phone reference.(Internet Express)
October 1, 2003... I used to have this beautiful fantasy. I dreamed of being able to surf the Web wherever I was in my home. Just sitting, clicking, and typing from wherever. The power of the Internet dancing at my fingertips wherever I happened to settle. ...

Spies like us: understanding information-hiding technology.(steganography)
October 1, 2003... The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about a secret message that was sent in the 5th century B.C.E. by Histiaeus, a captive king who needed to get word to his army. The head of a trusted slave was shaved and the message tattooed on his...

Cole, Eric. .(Book Review)
October 1, 2003... Indianapolis: Wiley, 2003. ISBN: 0-471-44449-9 Security expert Cole, who spent 5 years working for the CIA, is currently Chief Scientist for The Sytex Group's Information Warfare Center. His book not only explains steganography,...

Katzenbeisser, Stefan, and Fabien A. P. Petitcolas, eds. Information Hiding Techniques for Steganography and Digital Watermarking.
October 1, 2003... Information Hiding Techniques for Steganography and Digital Watermarking. Norwood, MA: Artech House, 2000. ISBN: 1-58053-035-4 Here's a collection of research in the areas of steganography and digital watermarking. A great many mathematical...

On the Web.
October 1, 2003... Technology consultant Neil F. Johnson explains steganography and his research at http://www.jjtc.com/stegdoc/sec202.html. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit group working to protect digital rights: http://www.eff.org.

On the road.
October 1, 2003... If you travel to Washington D.C., you can see some fine examples of stego and other "spy stuff" up close and personal at the International Spy Museum, which opened in the summer of 2002. Visit the Web site at http://www.spymuseum.org for more...

Early pioneers tell their stories.(Online Before the Internet)(Interview)
October 1, 2003... Parts 3 and 4 Carlos Cuadra And Roger Summit "Online Before the Internet" continues a series of interviews with selected industry pioneers who were responsible for the first online wave. This Searcher segment prints excerpts from interviews...

Roger Summit: shaping the online industry.(Online Before the Internet)(Interview)
October 1, 2003... Ardito: Dialog is certainly one of the first, if not the first names associated with the online information systems that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. How do you think your work with Dialog shaped the growth of the industry? ...

Social software.
October 1, 2003... Social software is a phrase used with more and more frequency to describe the latest in a long line of Internet "revolutions." Many of its elements are familiar: electronic mail, bulletin boards or listservs, allowing people to post comments or...

The state of search engines: CHI2003 and the 8th Infonortics Search Engines Meeting.
October 1, 2003... Search engines now serve as vital tools for enterprises, essential features on Web sites, and, in fact, key components of many applications. Search is a "killer app" for the World Wide Web. Search engines form part of the growing field of...

Q&S: a comparison of QUATRA and SAEGIS trademark databases.(Web Wise Ways)(Product/Service Evaluation)(Column)
October 1, 2003... If you need resources for trademark research, three sources immediately come to mind: QUATRA, SAEGIS, and Trademark.com. In this column, I'll share some of what I've learned about two of the sources--QUATRA and SAEGIS. QUATRA is CCH...

Net effects: how librarians can manage the unintended consequences of the Internet.
October 1, 2003... Editor's Note: Sites, projects, and articles mentioned below are further referenced in the "Resources" sidebar on page 44. The Luddites got a raw deal all around; not only did they lose their livelihoods to the machines, but they became the...

Kick the Google habit: pick up the phone. Whoever talks the longest, wins!
October 1, 2003... Only after I bad spent way too much time constructing complicated search strings for multiple search engines and way too much money in Factiva looking for a report, duly then did I finally break down and call the association that might know my...

Angst and the art of computer maintenance.
October 1, 2003... I have come to the conclusion that there are two competing forces in the universe. "My Computer"--always wishing to be state of the art. And "My Wallet"--always wanting to hold onto what little cash it contains. In this eternal contest,...

Chemical information software for searchers: a brief review.(Software Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 1, 2003... Let's get the disclaimer out of the way at the start. This review will not evaluate or analyze the usefulness or accuracy of chemical information software at the level of a chemist or biologist. As former scientists (biologist and chemist,...

Best buys.
October 1, 2003... Hardware Best Pentium 4 PC: MPC Computers LLC's Millennia 920i Creative Studio ($3,623) Source: Konstantinos Karagiannis, "Pentium 4 Jumps Up a Notch to 3.2 GHz," PC Magazine, August 5, 2003, pp. 36-7. Best "College-Bound"...

Contacts.(Directory)
October 1, 2003... Accelrys Inc. (Accord for Excel 5.0) 9685 Scranton Road San Diego, CA 92121 (858) 799-5000 (858) 799-5100 (fax) URL: http://www.accelrys.com ADS Technologies Inc. (Instant DVD 2.0) 12627 Hidden Creek...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
October 1, 2003... "Sidebar" columnist Carol Ebbinghouse has had a change of address, which was not updated in last month's issue. Our apologies to Carol and here is how she can now be reached. Carol Ebbinghouse CALIFORNIA SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL...