December 31, 2001 - Inspired by September 11th, electronic surveillance powers are now given to the government in order to keep Americans safe. The Patriot Act allows the government to get into any email account or phone account.
December 19, 2001 - The US war in Afghanistan has been a showcase for advanced technology and there will be new technology coming out.
December 13, 2001 - The 6th annual video game report card will be released later today in Washington, D.C. This is Future Tense for December 13th, I'm Jon Gordon. The National Institute on Media and the Family, along with U-S Senators Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl will deliver mixed grades to the six billion dollar video and computer game industry. Institute director David Walsh says the industry is marketing violent games to children less than it used to, and has stepped up education about game ratings. On the other hand, most retailers are selling M, or Mature, rated games to kids. And Walsh says more parents disagree with the ratings of many games.
December 12, 2001 - Kids and young adults use the internet in order to get the majority of their information and entertainment.
December 11, 2001 - A Massachussets congressman is proposing legislation that would crack down on Web sites that sell cigarettes to minors. This is Future Tense for December 11th, I'm Jon Gordon. The bill would require companies to verify a buyer's age on Web sites and again when the cigarettes are delivered. A new study by the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina counts more than 88 companies in 23 states using the Web to sell discount cigarettes online. Kurt Pribisl is the study's author. ((q/a)) Tobacoo control policy expert Kurt Pribisl of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A companion study, co-authored by Pribisl, found that 2 percent of 17,000 California high schoolers surveyed have attempted to by cigarettes over the Internet.
December 3, 2001 - Minnetonka-based Visionics Corporation is on a roll. The company, which makes tools for identifying people through their physical features, has seen its stock price soar since September 11th. Visionics has found many new customers for its fingerprint and facial recognition software. Its contoversial Face-It product is being tested in major airports like Boston's Logan International, and is being installed right now in two undisclosed U.S. international airports. But privacy advocates don't like Face-It; other critics say it just doesn't work well enough to identify terrorists in public places like airports. Computer security consultant Richard Smith did his own tests on Face-It and found it easy to fool.
November 30, 2001 - Thomas Stewart says Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda is like the Internet. Both are intricate , hard-to-bring-down networks with built-in redundacy. Stewart is a writer who penned the cover story in the most recent issue of Business 2.0 magazine. That story, called "America's Secret Weapon," detailed a new military strategy called "Netwar." Stewart says when you understand how Al Qaeda is like a computer network, you can begin to understand how to attack it.Thomas Stewart writes for Business 2.0, and Fortune, and has written several books on intellectual capital and knowledge management.
November 29, 2001 - A Hollywood studio from revealing how to make unauthorized DVDs. What to do after you buy a digital camera.
November 28, 2001 - Microsoft's plan to settle private anti-trust class action lawsuits by donating computers to the poorest schools is receiving more criticism than praise. Would it make Microsoft a monopoly in the schools and education?
November 27, 2001 - The ad campaign is not doing much for selling Windows XP. Windows XP was created to boost sales for PC sales, but the industry is not seeing that.