Closing the Boundary Between Biology and Computers

The Next Big Bang: Man Meets Machine. Staff. Deal.com (via CNET News.com). May 29,
2006.
Companies are creating implantable computer technologies that will compensate for the effects of paralysis. Other firms are developing techniques for replacing mechanical computer components with biological materials such as bacteria, viruses, proteins and DNA.

College Students' Attitudes About Libraries

College Students’ Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources. OCLC - Membership Reports.
As a companion piece to December's Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources, OCLC has published the results of a survey revealing college students' awareness of library resources, libraries and librarians.

MS Improves Local Mapping Service

Microsoft Upgrades Windows Live Local. Robin Arnfield. NewsFactor Network (via Yahoo News). May 24, 2006.
Microsoft has improved its local mapping service, and maps can now be annotated, saved and shared. [Windows Live Local] [also see Microsoft to license infoUSA database]

Sir Tim Berners-Lee Opposes Two-Tiered Web

Web Inventor Warns of 'Dark' Net. Jonathan Fildes. BBC News. May 23, 2006.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee warned against the creation of the two-tiered Web desired by telecom companies, where priority would be given to transmissions by those companies who can pay the most. [also see Save the Internet]

Big Players Enter Enterprise Search Arena

Revisiting Business Search. RED HERRING. May 17, 2006.
At Microsoft's CEO Summit Chairman Bill Gates declared that the solution to business's information glut is improved internal search systems. Google, IBM and Oracle are also entering the enterprise search market.

Psychological Factors in E-mail Communication

E-mails and Egos. Lea Winerman. APA Monitor on Psychology. February 2006.
Winerman summarizes research by psychologists Justin Kruger and Nicholas Epley which found that people typically overestimate their abilities to convey their intended tone via e-mail as well as their abilities to interpret messages sent from others. [Egocentrism Over E-mail]

Improved Compression Sought for Video Files

As Internet Video Multiplies, Compression Draws Interest. Brian Bergstein, The Associated Press. USATODAY.com. May 14, 2006.
As more and more video is transmitted over the Internet, companies are trying to relieve network congestion by developing better methods of file compression.

Some Video Can Cause Problems for ISPs

High-Def Could Choke Internet, ISPs Fear. Peter Svensson, AP Technology writer. Yahoo! News. May 14, 2006.
ISPs may have to charge content providers for delivery of large streaming video files, something the Internet was not designed to handle.

Google Founders Respond to Critics

Is Google Evil? Sean Michael Kerner. Internet.com. May 10, 2006.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin answer questions at a press conference as to whether or not Google is violating its "don't be evil" motto (by censoring search results in China). They seem to think that evil is just a matter of opinion.

Businesses Imperiled by Bad Data

Hamstrung By Defective Data. Rick Whiting. InformationWeek. May 8, 2006.
Poor data quality is becoming an ever greater danger for businesses and some companies are devising strategies for dealing with it.

Microsft and Google Battle

Microsoft and Google Set to Wage Arms Race. Steve Lohr and Saul Hansell. New York Times. May 2, 2006.
Competition heats up with Microsoft leading the browser market and Google providing Internet services for free.

What's Ahead for Ask.com

Asking More of Ask.com than of Jeeves. Elinor Mills. CNET.com. May 2, 2006.
Jim Lanzone, the new CEO of Ask.com, discusses the future of his company in this interview.