BPR Mailing List Digest: 05/04/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
May 4, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | May, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Crime in Cyberspace Draft
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:01:21 -0400

"Crime in Cyberspace First Draft of International Convention Released for
Public Discussion

STRASBOURG, 27.04.2000 - The COUNCIL OF EUROPE today released a
draft version of a Convention on crime in cyberspace for public discussion in
order to enhance the consultation process with interested parties, whether
public or private. Businesses and associations are particularly encouraged to
share their comments with the experts involved in the negotiations before the
final adoption of the text.

Provisionally entitled "Draft Convention on Cyber-Crime", this Council of
Europe text will be the first international treaty to address criminal law and
procedural aspects of various types of offending behaviour directed against
computer systems, networks or data as well as other similar abuses.

This legally-binding text aims to harmonise national legislation in this field,
facilitate investigations and allow efficient levels of co-operation between the
authorities of different States.

The text should be finalised by a group of experts by December 2000 and the
Committee of Ministers could adopt the text and open it for signature as
early as Autumn 2001.

The text of the draft Convention can be found on the following website:
http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/projets/cybercrime.htm

More information for editors :

Recent attacks against commercial web-sites, such as Amazon.com, drew
international attention to the dangers that the Internet and other computer
networks need to face: cyber-criminals and cyber-terrorists threaten
business and government interests and may cause colossal damages. Time
has come for the Council of Europe to take action, which today released a
draft Convention to deal with crime in cyberspace. This document,
provisionally entitled “Draft Convention on Cyber-crime”, will be
the first ever international treaty to address criminal law and procedural
aspects of various types of criminal behaviour directed against computer
systems, networks or data and other types of similar misuse.

The draft provides, among others, for the co-ordinated criminalisation of
computer hacking and hacking devices, illegal interception of data and
interference with computer systems, computer-related fraud and forgery. It
also prohibits on-line child pornography, including the possession of such
material after downloading, as well the reproduction and distribution of
copyright protected material. The draft Convention will not only define
offences but will also address questions related to the liability of individual
and corporate offenders and determine minimum standards for the applicable
penalties.

The draft text also deals with law enforcement issues: future Parties will be
obliged to empower their national authorities to carry out computer searches
and seize computer data, require data-subjects to produce data under their
control, preserve or obtain the expeditious preservation of vulnerable data by
data-subjects. The interception of data transmitted through networks,
including telecommunication networks, is also under discussion. These
computer-specific investigative measures will also imply co-operation by
telecom operators and Internet Service Providers, whose assistance is vital
to identify computer criminals and secure evidence of their misdeeds.

As computer-crimes are often international in their nature, national measures
need to be supplemented by international co-operation. The draft treaty
therefore requires future Parties to provide each other various forms of
assistance, for example by preserving evidence and locating on-line
suspects. The text also deals with certain aspects of trans-border computer
searches. Traditional forms of mutual assistance and extradition would also
be available under the draft Convention and a network of 24 hours/ day, 7
days/week available national contact points would be set up to speed up
international investigations.

The 41-nation Council of Europe has previously produced two
recommendations on the question, in 1989 and in 1995, to encourage
governments to adapt laws to the challenge of computer-related crime, but
later a binding legal instrument was considered necessary to harmonise
computer-crime provisions, step up investigations and ensure effective
international co-operation among authorities. The draft Convention is
expected to be finalised by an expert group by December 2000 and the
Committee of Ministers could adopt the text and open it for signature as
early as September 2001. Given the importance of the subject, non-member
States, such as Canada, Japan, South-Africa and the United States, also
actively participate in the negotiations.

By releasing the latest draft of the treaty, the Council of Europe seeks to
enhance the consultation process with interested parties, whether public or
private. It particularly encourages business and civil society organisations to
come forward and share their comments with the experts involved in the
negotiations before the text eventually becomes final. "

http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/projets/cybercrime.htm

via: transhumantech@onelist.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - GM pigs produce new wonder 'green' droppings
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 08:13:10 -0500

GM pigs produce new wonder 'green' droppings

By Mary Dejevsky in Washington

2 May 2000

If consumers were dismayed by the news that hundreds of
giant, genetically modified salmon are under production in
Canada, they will be even more alarmed by the arrival of
"enviro-pig", a beast genetically modified to produce low-
phosphorus faeces that are deemed less harmful to the
environment.

A special report in The New York Times yesterday claimed
that the pig is one of a whole menagerie of animals - cows,
goats and sheep - being modified in America.

Most are being altered to produce milk with specific
medicinal properties, for instance sheep's milk used to
treat cystic fibrosis.

The fish could be on US dinner plates as early as next
year and could be followed by the other animals shortly,
thanks to scant intervention from the official US food
safety watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration, The New
York Times claimed.

As with GM vegetables, the FDA's remit extends only to
food safety, and so long as the mega-fish are not found to
damage human health, they will be certified safe. Federal
regulation, the paper says, is running well behind advances
in the bio-technology sector, and the ease with which GM
fish, pigs etc can reach consumers only exposes the many
loopholes. In what one scientific critic described as
"ludicrous", the FDA has decided to treat GM salmon as a
drug and not a food for regulatory purposes.

It currently has no authority to approve new foods before
they go on the market - an omission which suits the
producers, many of which are big and politically
influential conglomerates. Nor can the growth hormone be
regulated as an "additive" because it is not deemed to
change the nature or quality of the fish.

A further obstacle to the regulation of GM produce in the
US is that ecological concerns are handled by the
Environmental Protection Agency, quite separately from food
safety, and it is environmental concerns that could be
uppermost with GM fish.

The newspaper cited one recent study as showing that
certain types of wild fish could become extinct if they
mated with GM fish: second generation GM fish, it was
found, are shorter-lived and may be more prone to disease
than conventionally bred fish.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Microsoft to Adopt Fingertip Technology
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 08:14:58 -0500

Microsoft to Adopt Fingertip Technology

Reuters

http://www.latimes.com/business/20000503/t000041568.html

Microsoft Corp. said it plans to adopt biometric
technology in its Windows software that will allow computer
users to sign on using their fingerprints or other physical
characteristics. The software giant said it has acquired
biometric authentication technology from I/O Software Inc.
in a major endorsement of this increasingly popular form of
security that many consider more secure and convenient than
passwords. Biometrics work by reading a person's
fingerprint, iris pattern or other physical characteristic
and comparing it to stored data.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Scan the Headlines? No, Just the Bar Codes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:17:47 -0400

May 4, 2000
Scan the Headlines? No, Just the Bar Codes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Encoding Technologies for Newspapers and Magazines Link Printed Page
to Web Page

By LISA GUERNSEY
Readers of The Post and Courier, the daily newspaper in Charleston,
S.C., may have noticed something peculiar about their paper this
week. Tiny black marks, no wider or higher than a five-letter word in
a news column, have been appearing throughout the pages since Monday.
There is one under the weather map, another on the masthead, still
more at the top of the business and local sections.

These little symbols, which at first glance appear to be nothing more
than smudges, provide a direct link between the newspaper and the
Internet. Each mark is a miniature Universal Product Code for a Web
address. When those U.P.C.'s, or bar codes, are read by a handheld
scanner connected to a computer, a Web page pops up on the screen.
The bar code under the weather map, for example, takes readers to the
weather page on the newspaper's Web site.

Alan H. Seim, director of Internet operations at The Post and
Courier, considers the bar codes a much-needed solution to a problem
that newspapers and their readers have been facing since the dawn of
the Web: the awkwardness of printing and typing (let alone
remembering) a new Web address.

"You just beep on this thing and you're there," Mr. Seim said.

But the tiny bar codes are more than just a print-based replacement
for long Web addresses. They are one of several new technologies that
create hyperlinks for the physical world, establishing a direct
connection between static objects and the ever-changing Internet.
With these links, magazines, books, postcards, product packages --
any imaginable artifacts with room for bar codes -- could become
on-ramps to Web pages that offer related reports, movies, sound clips
or online order forms.

The Post and Courier is the first newspaper in the country to
experiment with the miniature-bar-code technology. This month,
Charleston residents who sign up as testers will receive free
handheld scanners so they can activate the bar codes and jump
straight to the corresponding Web sites. GoCode, the Charleston
company that developed the technology, will also put the codes in
several catalogs in the next few months, and more free handheld
scanners will be distributed.

By summer, observant readers of Wired magazine and Popular Mechanics
may spot another version of these offline links. For them, the mark
will not be a smudgelike bar code but a small logo with an uppercase
"D" lurking on the lower outside corner of some pages. The D stands
for Digimarc, a company that has developed a way to embed nearly
imperceptible digital watermarks in printed text and photographs.
When held up to a Webcam perched on a monitor, the watermarks tell
the computer to display related Web pages.

In June, Digimarc will offer free software that can be downloaded and
integrated with software for the Webcams. By summer's end, company
officials say, most Webcam manufacturers will have integrated the
Digimarc software into their products. The company, meanwhile, is
hoping to have signed contracts with more than 100 magazines that
will use the watermarks.

Bar codes of other shapes and sizes may also dot the pages of print
publications soon. Belo, a media company in Dallas, announced that it
would incorporate bar codes into some of the pages of its newspapers,
which include The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal in
Rhode Island. A bar code reader developed by DigitalConvergence.:Com,
a hyperlink company, will be distributed to read those symbols and
translate them into Web pages that appear on the screen.

Belo's 17 television stations are also considering a version of the
technology that uses sounds instead of symbols. To open a Web page, a
television program could emit an audible tone that would send a
signal to a computer that was connected to the television via audio
cables.

Those who have experimented with off line links say that they have
potential to change the way people approach the Web. Until now,
people who see a printed Web address have had to jot it down, tear
out the corresponding page or try to remember the Web site's
top-level domain name so they can search the site later. And once
they remember to visit the sites, they often have to dig through
multiple Web pages to find what they want. According to Internet
analysts, most people give up after three or four clicks.

But with digital watermarks or bar codes, a printed page will have
"embedded intelligence," said Guy Creese, a senior analyst at the
Aberdeen Group, a strategic consulting company. Mr. Creese saw a
demonstration of Digimarc's technology a month ago.

"It strikes me as an intriguing way to handle the information
overload problem," Mr. Creese said. "It really brings impulse buying
and searching to a new level."

Anything that increases the possibility of impulse buying is bound to
attract advertisers. Ford Motor Company, for example, is preparing to
include Digimarc's technology in full-page advertisements in both
Wired and Popular Mechanics. At least 10 other advertisers, including
Visa and Sony, are also planning to test the technology.

But before offline linking enters the mainstream, it must clear a
hardware hurdle. Handheld scanners or Webcams will have to become as
ubiquitous as computers, analysts say. GoCode is trying to make that
happen by giving away scanners that are sponsored by advertisers and
that will come with buttons that take users to the sponsors' Web
sites. DigitalConvergence.:Com has a similar idea. And Digimarc is
hoping that the growing popularity of Webcams will give it an edge.

But even if people have the right equipment, companies face another
problem: getting people to make the technology part of their routine.

"The downside is that you have to teach someone to use it," said
David Cooperstein, a research director at Forrester Research, after
seeing a demonstration of GoCode's technology. People will have to be
shown that the bar code "is not just a smudge on the page," he said.

Mr. Seim, of The Post and Courier, is aware of those issues. But his
newspaper is prepared to take on the challenge in exchange for the
chance to offer a cutting-edge service to its readers. A regional
paper with a daily circulation of 110,000, The Post and Courier has
been trying with mixed success to integrate the newspaper and its Web
site.

Most of the stories on the site, Mr. Seim said, are "shovelware,"
digital versions of exactly what appears in the paper.

But with the advent of the bar codes, the newspaper has more
incentive to include updated news and weather reports on its Web
site. While printed Uniform Resource Locators, or U.R.L.'s, have
always given ambitious readers an invitation to the Web site, the bar
codes provide a much easier way to make the connection, Mr. Seim
said. With a scanner in hand, going to the Web becomes part of the
reading experience.

"The goal is to keep the readers involved with you and your site,"
Mr. Seim said. "People might like to find out, for example, what
happened with Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez since the time the page was printed."

Classified advertising is another area of the newspaper that will
take advantage of the technology. Mr. Seim hopes that the paper's
staff will soon start using software that will automatically convert
new U.R.L.'s to bar codes during the production process. (He now uses
static bar codes that are set for specific Web sites.) Once that
happens, the classified advertising section will be specked with the
bar codes. A two-line pitch about a used car could immediately link
to the seller's Web site, complete with photographs, references and
details about the car's maintenance record.

Popular Mechanics is planning to add more timely content to its Web
site to take advantage of the digital watermarks that will first
appear in its August issue. Jay McGill, the magazine's publisher,
said he expected at least three or four feature articles, as well as
nearly a dozen advertisements, to have the watermarks embedded within
them.

For example, the magazine has been running a monthly column about the
progress of a Nascar racing team. By the time the magazine is
published, the columns are out of date because magazine writers
usually work several weeks ahead of publication dates. But once the
column is embedded with an offline link, it can transport people
directly to the Web site of the magazine, which will start offering
weekly updates.

"We think it will change the dynamic of how we edit the magazine and
relationships with our readers," Mr. McGill said. He added that when
he first saw the technology and observed how fast Web pages opened
after simply holding the magazine up to the Webcam, "I just went,
Wow, we have to have this."

Mr. McGill added, however, that in addition to the requirement of
Webcams, offline links are burdened with another drawback: people
have to take the magazines to their computers to gain access to the
Web sites.

Still, some analysts are optimistic that advances in wireless
technology in the next year will make the concept viable. If the bar
codes and watermarks could be scanned and stored by a wireless device
instead of by a scanner or Webcam tethered to the computer, they
would be more useful.

Better yet, if the marks could be scanned by a device that talked to
a personal digital assistant with wireless Internet service, people
could gain access to the sites they were reading about while there
were on the subway -- or on the couch.

"Getting this bolted into a P.D.A. makes a lot of sense," said Mr.
Creese, of the Aberdeen Group.

Regardless of how the technology emerges, the founders of the
companies creating offline links are envisioning broader applications
for their products. Bruce Davis, chief executive and president of
Digimarc, said that he was working toward a day when digital
watermarks would be embedded in books, CD's, bank cards and direct
mail.

T. B. Pickens, the founder of GoCode, has begun distributing business
cards that contain his bar code. By the end of the month, people who
receive his card and scan the code will be able to import his contact
information directly into Outlook, Microsoft's address book, with one
click. Even more personal data, like credit card numbers and a
shipping address, are also embedded in the bar code for Mr. Pickens's
use. He unlocks the sensitive data by scanning his business card and
then scanning a house key that features a sticker with a
corresponding bar code. When both are scanned together, Mr. Pickens
can fill in online order forms with a few clicks.

I.B.M. and Palm Computing are also testing the prospects of offline
links. The companies are working with a Safeway grocery store in
England that has provided Palm P.D.A.'s equipped with built-in
scanners to more than 500 of its customers. When the customers scan
the bar codes on the packages of any products they are running out of
-- whether soup cans or cereal boxes -- the computer adds those
products to digital grocery lists. The system uses the Internet to
send each list to Safeway, where employees collect and package the
products so they can be picked up by the customer.

For now, though, officials at The Post and Courier say they are
excited to be one of the first publications trying out the
technology, even if it means that their newspaper is specked with
tiny black rectangles.

"We think it could be a breakthrough on how to connect the reader of
the printed word to the Internet," said Larry Tarleton, associate
publisher of The Post and Courier. "And a lot of people are trying to
figure that out."

May 4, 2000
Talking to Computers in a Language of Lines and Specks
By LISA GUERNSEY

The companies that have created bar codes and digital watermarks to
link printed pages to sites on the Internet have their own secrets
about how they work. But much of it involves the idea that a printed
image can contain more than meets the eye.

The bar codes developed by GoCode, for example, look like little
rectangles made up of white specks on black squares and a few black
lines. In fact, those rectangles are a specialized type of symbol
called a two-dimensional bar code. The little specks form patterns
that provide an extra dimension of information than is available in a
traditional bar code, which is made up of straight lines. A bar code
with two white specks in the corner, for example, will send a
different message than one with one speck.

The messages contain more than a U.R.L., or Uniform Resource Locator,
that corresponds to a Web site. They include instructions that tell
the computer to open a Web browser and pull up that site. "It's not
just that it is raw information," said George Powell, president of
the GoCode Products Corporation. "We pack tags, or protocols, inside
the code."

The straight lines on the left side of the code are simpler signals
designed to be picked up by the scanners first. "They are the piece
that says, 'Hey, I'm a GoCode and I'm over here,' " Mr. Powell said.

GoCode has developed a handheld scanner that essentially takes a
picture of the bar code, deciphers what it says and sends that
information to the computer. GoCode, which is planning to distribute
the scanners free with the help of sponsorships, estimates that the
scanners will cost $100 or less in a retail store.

Digimarc's technology also uses images to store information but takes
a different approach. Its digital watermarks are designed not to be
perceptible to the human eye. "It's like a dog whistle for the
Internet," said Bruce Davis, Digimarc's chief executive.

Imagine, for example, a photograph on a magazine page. Before the
magazine is printed, the watermark is applied to an electronic
version of the photograph by using Digimarc's production software.
When printed, the photograph may look no different at first glance,
but in fact the pixels have been adjusted to contain tiny signals
that can be picked up by a digital camera that includes Digimarc
software. The technology adjusts the luminance of the pixels, which a
trained eye might pick up as a slight variation in an image's color
or shades of light and dark.

Jay McGill, publisher of Popular Mechanics, described the difference
as a slight graininess. "But to the average consumer," he said, "it
will be difficult to detect."

The camera, however, does detect the adjustments, and the software
decodes them into instructions for the computer, which immediately
pulls up a Web page specific to that watermark. The marks could be
applied to a whole page, to several images on a page or even to a
paragraph of text, Mr. Davis said.

via: transhumantech@onelist.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Bring on the germs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 08:17:57 -0500

Bring on the germs. Too much cleanliness may be making
some people sick. First of two parts.

By Susan McCarthy

May 3, 2000 | More and more we've come to act as if
cleanliness really is next to godliness. The modern
developed countries have become obsessed with eradicating
microorganisms of every kind. We've never been cleaner, and
we've never been more freaked out about cleanliness. We
could eat off our floors, if the very idea didn't give us a
panic attack.

Until now, the rules of hygiene were simple. People whose
standards of cleanliness were lower than yours were
disgusting. People whose standards of cleanliness were
higher than yours were obsessive. The clean freaks had the
moral high ground, and manufacturers were really good at
marketing to the fear of grime.

Nearly 700 new antibacterial products -- lotions, toys,
mattresses, touch screens -- hit the market in the U.S.
between 1992 and 1998, and the bandwagon shows no signs of
slowing down. TV shows about the germiness of motel bedding
or the germiness of raw chicken have made a vivid impact.
I've noticed that increasing numbers of perfectly sane
people won't leave home without a bottle of an
antibacterial hand cleaner like Purell, so they can sluice
down hourly.

The citizens of Japan are even more concerned about
hygiene than Americans. (Accordingly, stories marveling at
their obsessiveness are a favorite of American media
coverage of Japan.) Japanese manufacturers pump out
antibacterial telephones, scissors and deposit books. One
company claims to sell a million antibacterial ballpoints a
month. Some department stores have whole sections of
antibacterial stationery. My favorite product:
antibacterial bait.

Sanitation has been a triumph of modern medicine, all but
eradicating many diseases and parasites. We've whipped the
body louse, trichinosis, typhoid and childbed fever, and
we're not a bit nostalgic. But there are signs that this
very preoccupation with good hygiene is making some of us
sick.

Many immune system disorders are on the rise. There we
sit, in our sparkling kitchens, using spotless glasses of
pure filtered water to wash down antihistamines. The number
of people complaining of allergies has doubled in the past
decade. The number of people with asthma (currently around
17 million Americans) increased by 46 percent between 1982
and 1993. Other immune disorders, from Crohn's disease to
multiple sclerosis, are also proliferating. For instance,
the incidence
<http://www.diabetes.org/DiabetesSpectrum/97v10n4/pg282.htm>
of Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, is increasing by
3 percent to 5 percent a year. While many of these
illnesses have a genetic component, the rises are too
sudden to be the result of genes spreading through the
population.

-- more --

http://www.salon.com/health/feature/2000/05/03/germ_warfare/index.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Getting our planetary ducks in a row
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 08:20:55 -0500

Getting our planetary ducks in a row

DAN FALK

http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/Science/20000503/RV3FALK.html

Special to The Globe and Mail

Wednesday, May 3, 2000

If you believe the supermarket tabloids, a planetary
alignment this week will trigger earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, tidal waves and floods. This newest Armageddon
fuss is focused on a much-hyped -- but nearly invisible --
planetary gathering.

On Friday, the sun, moon and the solar system's five
brightest planets will all lie within the same 26-degree-
wide swath of sky. And May 17 brings an even tighter
grouping -- though the moon will have moved on, the five
planets will lie less than 20 degrees from one another. If
you were looking at the solar system from above, Earth
would be on one side of the sun, while the five planets
would be on the opposite side. Because the sun is in the
way, however, you won't be able to see this planetary parade.

For astronomers, planetary alignments are non-events;
they'd go virtually unnoticed if it weren't for the media
attention they spawn -- which in turn leads to phone calls
to planetariums and observatories from nervous citizens. Ed
Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles,
has been fielding calls for months.

"Basically, the claim that alignments of planets cause
trouble on Earth is really nonsense," says Dr. Krupp. "The
planets are too far away, and too small, to cause any kind
of significant effect on the Earth."

Of course, celestial objects do have some influence on us -
- after all, the sun keeps us in a comfortable orbit, and
provides the light and heat necessary for life. And the
moon gives us the tides.

The planets, however, add virtually nothing to this mix.
It's true that every planet in the solar system exerts a
gravitational tug on each of its sister planets -- but that
force falls off dramatically with distance. As Isaac Newton
famously discovered, if you double the distance between two
objects, their gravitational attraction drops by a factor
of four.

(Scientists call it an "inverse square" law: The strength
of the force is inversely proportional to the square of the
distance.) And it turns out that tidal forces drop off even
faster, obeying an "inverse cube" law (double the distance,
and tidal forces are reduced eight times).

Just how strong is the tug from five planets in a line?
Astronomers Donald Olson and Tom Lytle of Southwest Texas
State University have worked out the net tidal forces
experienced by Earth as a result of the sun, moon and
planets over a period of several years. The results of
their study, published in the May issue of Sky and
Telescope magazine, would surprise the doomsayers: On 16
occasions during 1999 and 2000, Earth experienced greater
tidal stress than it does this week. (Although the planets
are roughly lined up, Earth is over on the other side,
making it rather far from the action; a few planets sitting
closer to us would have a stronger effect.) The greatest
tidal stresses of the past year were actually felt during
the full moon of Dec. 22 -- the famous "extra-bright" moon,
caused when the moon happened to be full at the same time
that it was near "perigee," its closest approach to Earth.

This week's alignment "is quite undistinguished in its
effects on Earth's crust and oceans," Drs. Olson and Lytle
write.

Some of the predictions of doom offer a different twist,
however. A few writers have suggested that it's the
planetary tug on the sun that we should worry about. That
tug could trigger an increase in solar activity and
possibly set off giant solar flares -- which are known to
have an effect on Earth. However, Drs. Olson and Lytle
showed that this effect, too, is a non-starter. While a
graph of solar-tidal stress does show a slight peak in
early May, it also demonstrates that this level of stress
has been reached at least half a dozen times since 1600.

To complicate matters, the sun is currently near the peak
of its 11-year magnetic cycle. That means that we can
expect more solar activity over the next few months,
alignment or no alignment.

"It's quite possible that on May 5 there will be a strong
flare," says University of British Columbia astronomer
Jaymie Matthews, "but it would have more to do with the 11-
year cycle of the sun than anything to do with this
particular arrangement of the planets."

If these planetary gatherings really did wreak havoc on
Earth, we'd have evidence for such disasters from
historical or geological records -- but there is no such
evidence, Dr. Matthews says.

As an exercise, he asked his first-year class to calculate
the largest possible gravitational and tidal forces that
the planets could exert on Earth, and to compare that with
the everyday forces exerted by the sun and the moon.
Crunching the numbers shows that the maximum planetary pull
is 100,000 times weaker that the normal sun-and-moon force,
Dr. Matthews says. "The forces [from the planets] are
negligible compared with the forces we're exposed to all
the time," he says.

On his office door, Dr. Matthews displays a tabloid story
from 1981. The headline asks, "Will you be alive in 1982?" -
- a reference to the last great planetary alignment. This
week's gathering "is not particularly rare in an
astronomical sense," he says. "We have alignments like this
every few decades or so." It will, however, be some time
until the next equally tight grouping of the planets -- due
in 2040.

Dan Falk is a Toronto journalist and amateur astronomer.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:22:19 -0400

*** Israel to use laser to defend border

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel will deploy a laser shield developed with
U.S. technology to shoot down rockets fired by guerrillas after
Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon, the Defense Ministry
said Wednesday. The $250 million defense system will be installed
later this year after tests are completed in the U.S. and Israel,
said ministry spokesman Dan Weinreich. Cleveland-based TRW company,
which is building the THEL or Tactical High Energy Laser, called it
the world's first laser-based air defense system. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2566242148-3b1

*** Plane stopped from landing in Gaza

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israel prevented an Egyptian airplane from
landing at the Palestinian territory's Gaza airport Wednesday,
forcing it to return to Egypt in a dispute over air routes. The pilot
of the EgyptAir plane said he turned back to Cairo when he saw two
Israeli fighter jets approaching. Israel's civil aviation
administration said the pilot was denied landing permission because
he flew an unauthorized route instead of the route agreed upon by
Israel and Egypt. "He approached in a route that is not recognized"
on international flight charts, said Israeli civil aviation director
Avner Yarkoni. Egypt has requested a change in the route its planes
take to arrive at the airport, which is run by the Palestinians but
subject to overall Israeli security control, including regulation of
flight routes. The Egyptian plane flew according to the modified
route that has not yet been approved by Israel. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2566236356-34

*** Possible AIDS crisis seen in Asia

WASHINGTON (AP) - In 10 years, the AIDS epidemic could be sweeping
through Asian and Pacific Rim countries even faster than it's going
through sub-Saharan Africa today, an intelligence official says.
Right now, sub-Saharan Africa led the world in AIDS deaths in 1998
with 2 million - four-fifths of the world's HIV-deaths, said David
Gordon, the National Intelligence Council's national intelligence
officer for economics and global issues. The council advises the CIA
director. "Sub-Sahara Africa ... will continue to remain the most
vulnerable region to infectious diseases over the next 20 years," he
told a Congressional forum on infectious diseases and national
security. However, "Asia and the Pacific ... is likely to witness a
dramatic increase in infectious disease deaths, largely driven by the
spread of HIV/AIDS in south Asia and southeast Asia and its potential
spread to east Asia," he said Wednesday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2566235501-51e

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 13:15:42 -0400

ARABS SET SIGHTS ON WEST JERUSALEM
A new PLO database program has been developed to help residents of Arab
refugee camps identify their pre-1948 homes within Israel. This should
help the public realize the extent of the Palestinian demands, says Israel
Resource journalist David Bedein, who broke the news of a new Palestinian
"right of return" program. "If this becomes known to the Israeli public, a
national crisis of confidence in the peace process would ensue," according to
Bedein.

The Palestine Liberation Organization released yesterday a multi-colored 40-
page "Palestinian Refugee" brochure, in which is delineated the
organization's demands for the "right of return" for Arabs who, before 1948,
lived in what is now the State of Israel. Bedein told Arutz-7's Ron Meir of his
visit this week to the Orient House in Jerusalem: "Their new computers help
locate homes owned by Arabs before 1948, and make a connection between
those homes and the Arabs in refugee camps... These neighborhoods, such
as Katamon, Baka, and Talbieh, are in Jerusalem-proper - so proper that
many of my friends and colleagues active in the Peace Now movement live
there." The entire interview with Bedein can be heard on Arutz-7's website at
<http://www.a7.org/engclips/040500/bedein-refug.ram>.

EILAT CRISIS
A crisis has developed in the Eilat talks. The Palestinian delegation left the
room this afternoon after the Israeli team showed the maps of Israel's view of
a final-status arrangement. Likud MK Silvan Shalom, visiting Arutz-7 studios
today, said that Abu Dis is a very important issue, but "why aren't there 1,000
people protesting in Eilat right now, where critical decisions are being made
for the future of Judea and Samaria!?" Yedidya Atlas' entire interview with
Shalom can be heard on "Now Until Midnight" tonight, or, starting tomorrow,
at <http://www.a7.org/English/radio/ram/midnight.ram>

SPECIAL INSERT:
A letter written this week by Rabbi Menachem Porush, head of the World
Agudat Yisrael movement, to Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef

Honorable Gaon of Israel
The Great Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, Shlita [may he live a long
and good life]
HaKablan St. 45, Jerusalem

Shalom and Blessings,

"I was a young man and I have now grown old." I was born at a time when
the Turks controlled this country. I lived through the period of the
British Mandate, and followed the events since the establishment of the
State of Israel. The difficulties we endured are engraved in my memory, as I
was personally involved in the developments.

I am writing this letter with a feeling that I don't recall ever
experiencing before -- a feeling of fear and great worry resulting from the
persistent and firm rumors that the government is planning to change the
status of the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Abu Dis and Azariya, by
handing them over to complete Palestinian civil and military control.

"That which we feared has come." Beyond doubt, the consequences of
transferring Abu Dis and Azariya to Palestinian military control are a
security danger to Jerusalem.

Intense and thorough analysis has led to the conclusion that the
consequences will be the suffocation of Jerusalem with a Palestinian chain.
Surely what we are dealing with is "pikuach nefesh" on a massive scale,
and even when one person's life may be in danger we are required to take
extraordinary measures.

Military personnel who are familiar with the situation view this decision
very gravely. It may result in endangering the borders of Jerusalem.
Shivers shoot up my spine when I realize that the situation may deteriorate
and become similar to that of 1929 and 1936-38, periods when the Arabs were not
controlled by a governing force. They rioted and endangered lives.

There is no doubt that Shas can prevent this by objecting clearly and loudly.

During the last few days, my phone has not stopped ringing. I have
received numerous phone calls from people representing all circles of the
population, expressing their apprehension and worry. Aware of my
acquaintance with and admiration for your Honor, they encouraged me to
write this letter.

I repeatedly ask myself the inevitable question: How can we imagine Shas
sitting tranquilly as the government, with the aid of Shas, will Heaven
forbid return the neighborhoods surrounding Jerusalem?

Since the government will be discussing this issue this coming Sunday, it
is imperative that the Shas ministers state their position clearly, that
they object to any changes in the status of Jerusalem at this stage.

Please, please, we request from his Honor shlita, please do not let anyone
endanger Jerusalem. Do not let anyone endanger the hundreds of thousands
of residents of Jerusalem.

Sincerely yours,
Menachem Porush

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Thursday, May 4, 2000 / Nissan 29, 5760

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Virus Warning
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 12:25:37 -0500

http://cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-1812992.html?tag=st.cn.1.lthdne

"I Love You" email virus sacks computers

By Melanie Austria Farmer and Joe Wilcox
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
May 4, 2000, 8:40 a.m. PT

A computer virus that experts warn could be more
deadly than the notorious Melissa virus has hit computers
in Asia and Europe and is quickly spreading across the
United States via email messages.

The virus, which includes the message "I Love You" or
"Love Letter" in the email subject line, was first spotted
in Asia early this morning, according to security systems
firm F-Secure. Company executives said that the virus may
have originated in the Philippines.

"This worm spreads at an amazing speed," Mikko Hypponen, a
research manager at F-Secure, said in a statement. "We got
the first report around 9 a.m. GMT (2 a.m. PT) on Thursday
from Norway, and by 1 p.m. GMT (6 a.m. PT) we had reports
from over 20 countries. We estimate that the total number
of infected machines is already in the tens of thousands.
This epidemic might exceed Melissa in both speed and
destructiveness."

The virus arrives in an email that includes an attachment
called "Love-Letter-For-You," according to F-Secure. The
virus targets people who use Microsoft´s Outlook email
program--a widely used default email client at companies--
to send messages with the virus to everyone listed in that
person's address book.

The email virus has infected computer systems across Asia,
Europe and the United Sates and is spreading fast,
according to representatives from many companies.

Sources said a number of government organizations in the
Washington, D.C., area, including the Pentagon, the Federal
Reserve, the Coast Guard and the Defense Department, have
been hit by the email virus.

"We certainly have seen scattered instances of it
throughout the Defense Department, but I don't have any
overall assessment at this time," said department
spokeswoman Susan Hansen. "Our joint task force on computer
network defense has this under consideration. I can confirm
that, like many other organizations, we too...have seen
this virus."

"The FBI is currently assessing any impact this has had
both nationally and internationally," said an FBI
representative, who would not say whether the agency had
been infected by the virus.

The National Infrastructure Protection Center, which has
helped coordinate the investigation into denial-of-service
attacks, today issued a warning about the virus.

Once opened, the email virus overwrites existing local
script and HTML files, as well as picture and music files,
with its own code, F-Secure said. Files with extensions
".jpg," ".jpeg," ".mp3" and ".mp2" are overwritten, the
company said.

Last year, the Melissa virus clogged corporate email
servers across the country, causing more than $80 million
in damage. A New Jersey resident, David Smith, was arrested
and charged with disseminating the original Melissa virus.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Katyushas hit Kiryat Shmona
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 17:57:48 -0400

Thursday, May 04, 2000 18:46

Katyushas hit Kiryat Shmona

(IsraelWire-5/4-18:38-DST) First confirmed reports of Katyusha rockets
hitting Kiryat Shmona have been received. Preliminary reports of five
wounded have also been received in the newsroom. Most of the injured
according to a northern district emergency medical service official
sustained light injuries.

The Kol M´Hashetach News Agency reports the northern area has been
placed on ‘alert´ status and residents have been ordered into bomb
shelters.

IsraelWire will provide additional details as they are made available.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000504/00050435.html
---------------

Thursday, May 4, 2000 19:05

Katyusha rockets continue to pound Israel

(IsraelWire-5/4-19:00-DST) Israel Radio is reporting that at least five
waves of Katyusha rockets have reined down on northern Israel in the past
60-90 minutes, with at least five persons having been injured.

According to an Army Radio report, additional persons are beginning to
complain of “not feeling well”, and are at this time being transported to
emergency treatment centers which are established at times when the
northern area goes to ‘alert´ status.

Israel Radio´s Reshet Bet reports that the Katyushas have landed in Kiryat
Shmona, the Galilee Panhandle, and the areas near Moshav Margaliyot and
Moshav Misgav-Am.

Army Radio is also reporting that there has been damage to property.
Residents of all northern areas have been ordered to enter into bomb
shelters immediately.

The Likud opposition party has called upon Prime Minister/Defense Minister
to retaliate swiftly and forcefully, adding that nonfeasance would be
interpreted as weakness and would result in additional attacks.

IsraelWire will provide additional details as they are made available.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000504/00050436.html
----------------

Katyusha Update – 19:10-DST

(IsraelWire-5/4) Army Radio is reporting that between 5-10 persons have
sustained light-to-moderate injuries in at least five waves of Katyusha
rocket attacks in northern Israel. Some of the injured are being treated
in frontline emergency medical stations while others are being transported
by EMS ambulances to the Rebecca Ziv Hospital in Safed.

All residents of northern areas have been ordered into bomb shelters.

Earlier Thursday, and elderly Lebanese woman and her daughter were killed
in the Jezzine area by a 155mm shell fired by either IDF or its allied SLA
forces. Over the past 24-hours, the air force has also carried out a
number of sorties including one on Wednesday afternoon in which 14
civilians were injured when a pilot mistakenly released a rocket against a
civilian target. Israel has taken responsibility for the unfortunate
incident in which the persons sustained light injuries.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000504/00050437.html

-----------------

Update from northern Israel – 19:33-DST

(IsraelWire-5/4) The IDF has confirmed that the air force following waves
of Katyusha attacks has taken to the skies, launching sorties against
Hizbullah targets. Israel Radio reports that IDF artillery units are also
retaliating for the Katyusha rocket attacks in Kiryat Shmona, Galilee
Panhandle and other areas.

Hizbullah has claimed responsibility for the Katyusha attacks, which it
said was in retaliation for the continued Israeli aggression and the death
of an elderly woman and her child on Thursday morning. Israel reports the
two were killed by a shell fired by the Israel-allied Southern Lebanese
Army.

The director of the Magen David Adom Emergency Medical Service in
northern Israel, Shimon Abutbul, stated that at least 15 persons have been
treated for shrapnel injuries and/or hysteria.

OC IDF Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted by Israel
Radio as saying he is certain the attacks are not yet over. Residents are
required to remain in bomb shelters until further notice. IDF Chief of
Staff Lt.- Gen/ Shaul Mofaz is currently conferring with senior commanders
and he will then make recommendations vis-à-vis a response to Prime
Minister/Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000504/00050440.html
---------------------

Thursday, May 4, 2000 20:30

Damage in Kiryat Shmona from Katyushas reported to be heavy

(IsraelWire-5/4-20:23-DST) The number of casualties from the evening´s
Katyusha rocket attacks in Kiryat Shmona has risen to nineteen according
to emergency medical service officials. Some of the injured were hit with
shrapnel while others were being treated for hysteria. IDF OC Northern
Commander Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted as saying he believed
the attacks have not yet ended.

The 122mm rockets fell on the northern city between 6:00pm-6:30pm
Thursday evening, causing heavy damage to homes as well as businesses,
public and private structures. The rockets also hit an unspecified number
of cars.

Emergency responders, including military, civil defense, police and
medical personnel are deployed throughout the city. Firefighters are
responding to many calls for assistance to extinguish blazes which
resulted from direct hits by the rockets. Many of the injured have been
treated in frontline emergency stations while others have been transported
to a hospital in Safed.

The air force has already taken to the skies and IDF artillery units have
launched an offensive against Hizbullah which has claimed responsibility
for the evening attacks.

Residents in all northern area communities remain in bomb shelters as the
IDF General Command is convening to weigh options for a response. Most
senior military analysts believe that even with the many dovish cabinet
ministers, Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ehud Barak will not be able to
refrain from a serious military response in light of the many citizens
that have been injured and the heavy damages to Kiryat Shmona.

In a related matter, at least two Hizbullah guerillas have been killed by
IAF aerial assaults over the eastern sector of the security zone on
Wednesday according to the IDF Spokesman´s Office. The guerillas were
killed in a joint effort by the air force, providing cover for infantry
units. The guerillas were on their way to carryout an attack in the
northern portion of the eastern sector when they were detected and killed.
The guerillas had a large quantity of unspecified weaponry with them.

ISRAELWIRE will continue to bring real-time updates from northern Israel
as events unfold.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000504/00050441.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Ten 5+ earthquakes in last 2 days
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 18:14:54 -0400

http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Current volcanic activity
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 18:23:18 -0400

On the chart:
1996 10 eruptions
1997 14ish
1998 16
1999 18
2000 already 17

http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/current.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - EU takes Israeli position on UN group
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 18:41:59 -0400

Thursday, May 4, 2000

EU takes Israeli position on UN group

By Aluf Benn
Ha'aretz Diplomatic Correspondent

Portugese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama, whose country holds the rotating
presidency of the European Union, announced in Jerusalem yesterday that
Israel had in principle been accepted to the Western European and Others
Group (WEOG) in the United Nations and other international organizations.
The details of its membership, Gama said, would be worked out later. In so
doing, Gama has adopted the Israeli position, which sought to put off the
discussion of its membership terms.

Talking to Foreign Minister David Levy, Gama said that admitting Israel to the
WEOG was, for the Europeans, "a very significant step."

Gama came to Israel for the opening ceremony of the EU-Israel Forum,
intended to increase dialogue and improve Europe's image in Israel.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/htmls/kat10_6.htm

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - FM Levy and the FM of Portugal launch the Israel-EU Forum
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 18:44:03 -0400

FM Levy and the FM of Portugal launch the Israel-EU Forum

(IsraelWire-5/3) The Foreign Minister of Portugal, Jaime Gama, in his
capacity as the current President of the European Union, arrived in Israel
Wednesday for a two day visit.

He and Foreign Ministry David Levy will together launch the Israel-EU Forum.
The decision to establish the forum was adopted last year. The forum is
composed of entrepreneurs, economists, academics and diplomats, who will
discuss matters of common interest, with the aim of enhancing and
institutionalizing bilateral relations.

The Israel-EU Forum is the first of its kind in the Mediterranean basin. The
President of the forum is former President of Germany, Roman Herzog; the
Israeli Chairman is Mr. Michael Federman. The Deputy Director General for
Western Europe, Mr. Ehud Gol and Deputy Director General for Economic
Affairs, Mr. Victor Harel are the Foreign Ministry representatives on the
Board of Directors of the forum.

After the meeting of Foreign Minister Levy with his Portuguese counterpart
on Wednesday evening, the two Ministers launched the activities of the
forum with a short ceremony.

http://www.israelwire.com/New/000503/00050335.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Coral collapse in Caribbean
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 18:52:11 -0400

Thursday, 4 May, 2000, 11:05 GMT 12:05 UK
Coral collapse in Caribbean

Belize: Host to the Northern Hemisphere's largest barrier
reef Soaring ocean temperatures in the Caribbean have
caused the first mass die-off of coral in the region for
3,000 years.

Scientists suspect that the record temperature of 31.5 deg
Celsius, recorded in 1998 off Belize, was the result of
global warming and the El Nino climate phenomenon.

The raised heat level lasted for several months and caused
virtually all the Belize coral colonies to bleach and die.

Serious coral bleaching has been previously reported in
both the Pacific and Indian oceans, but this is the first
such occurrence in the Caribbean.

Loss of colour

"There is growing concern that global climate change is
degrading coral reef ecosystems, with coral mortality
increasing as a result of bleaching and emergent diseases:
our results from Belize appear to justify this concern,"
said Richard Aronson of the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory
in Alabama, US.

The Belize barrier reef is the largest in the Northern
Hemisphere.

Scientists believe high temperatures cause the little
organisms that live in coral reefs to expel the microscopic
algae that share their home. This weakens the colony and
further stress leads to the death of the reef.

The loss of the algae also robs the reef of its colour,
which is why it is called bleaching.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has experienced bleaching
for the past 20 years and severe bleaching occurred there
in 1998.

Coral history

But Dr Aronson and his colleagues said there was no record
of mass bleaching along the Belizean barrier reef before an
episode in 1995 when most coral colonies recovered.

But in 1998 sea temperatures in the central section of the
reef, which rarely exceed 29 deg C were greater than 30 deg
C for months.

Surveys done in 1999 and 2000 showed the most abundant
coral on the reef, Agaricia tenuifolia, was killed and
other species were also damaged.

The researchers then used radiocarbon dating on 12 coral
cores to determine historical events on the reefs. This
showed no similar bleaching had happened for more than
3,000 years.

The research is published in the journal Nature.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_735000/735941.stm

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

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