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METAFORIX MAIL Volume 1, Issue 10 September 21, 2000 CONTENTS AT A GLANCE: ON
MY MIND: Privacy, Continued ON MY MIND [From the Editor] Privacy, Continued More developments on the privacy front. They just keep on coming fast and furiously, but I still find myself startled by them. This time, the objects of my amazement are two recent articles from the New York Times. The first is seasonal -- as in the political "silly season" that precedes every national election. Aristotle International, a San Francisco consulting firm, has devoted nearly 20 years of legwork to assembling the most comprehensive voter database in existence. Until now, the process of assembling voter registration lists has required time-consuming visits to innumerable state, county, and municipal office buildings. Aristotle's years of labor have resulted in a single repository of data on 150 million registered voters. The database blends the voter information Aristotle has retrieved from various jurisdictions around the nation with data assembled or purchased from other public and commercial sources, ranging from motor vehicle registrations to credit bureaus. As a result, Aristotle can provide political candidates with more highly targeted voter lists than were ever before possible -- "Democrats in your district between the ages of 45 and 55, who have Hispanic surnames, children, own their own homes, and annual incomes of more than $75,000," say, or "Republican women ... older than 65 who have made campaign contributions and voted in at least three primaries." Such lists can become the basis for "pop-up" political ads delivered over the Internet. Privacy advocates are concerned the ads may contribute to the exisiting decline in voter participation. If citizens fear that a vote or a political donation invites an invasion of their privacy, voting rates may plummet even further. The second article may not be seasonal at the moment, but with the holiday shopping frenzy fast approaching, it will be a seasonal story soon enough. The recent highly-publicized theft of credit card numbers from the cash-transfer site operated by Western Union has heightened concerns about online credit-card fraud and identity theft. Experts claim that online shopping by credit card is far less vulnerable to fraud and abuse than online auctions or securities trading, for example. Most security breaches result from inadequate protection of the merchant's files against invasion by hackers. That said, however, a sidebar to the main article offers "Tips on Avoiding Credit Card Fraud Online." Has an uncannily precise political pop-up ad ever appeared on your screen? If so, how did you react? As far as you know, has your credit card information ever been compromised online? Please share your comments -- anonymously or otherwise. Cordially, Lois C.
Ambash, Editor IN THE MEDIA [a recent news article, feature, or opinion piece] "Medical
Schools Collaborate on a New Web Site for Doctors" A consortium of six American medical schools has launched a new subscription-based service designed to speed diagnosis and testing in today's fast-paced medical environment. UPCMD gives physicians immediate access to expert, up-to-date content, increasing the chances of accurate diagnosis and treatment at a time when the average office visit is eight minutes long, the typical physician sees 30 to 40 patients per day, and medical literature is increasingly likely to be obsolete by the time it appears in print. To read the full article, click here. INFORMATICON CYBERSPEAK [the vocabulary of the Internet age] "Hypertext" is a nonlinear system for connecting one document or piece of information to another. On the Internet, HTML or "Hypertext Markup Language" is the code used to create hypertext. When the user clicks on a piece of HTML code with a mouse or other input device, he or she is connected to a linked document or piece of information, like this. SITE OF THE DAY [a nice place to visit] The Mysterious Home Page Mysteries are my escapist literature of choice. If you're a fan as well, you'll want to visit this "guide to mystery resources on the Internet." It's a treasure trove of links to everything mysterious. In addition to searching by author, theme, and setting, you can link to specific events and formats: conferences, awards, mystery magazines, online mystery games, newsletters, and many more. Although the Mysterious Home Page is hosted on an American server, its creator, Jan B. Steffensen, is Associate Professor at The Royal Librarian School in Aalborg, Denmark. How to explain his fascination with locked rooms, Sherlock, and Hitchcock? It's a mystery to me. To visit this site, go to: www.webfic.com/mysthome/mysthome.htm THE FINE PRINT Subscribing and Unsubscribing: You received this mailing because we received a subscription request. Feel free to forward this e-mail to colleagues and friends. To be added to our mailing list, e-mail us at subscribe@metaforix.com. If your e-mail address was submitted without your knowledge or if you wish to unsubscribe for any reason, e-mail us at unsubscribe@metaforix.com. Privacy Policy: We respect your privacy. We will never share your e-mail address with any third party unless we have your explicit permission. For more information on our privacy policy, go to http://www.metaforix.com/privacy_policy/index.html. VISIT US ONLINE at www.metaforix.com. Metaforix Incorporated Reinvent
yourself for the Information Age. Feel free to forward this e-mail to colleagues and friends. To be added to our mailing list, e-mail us at subscribe@metaforix.com. Copyright 2000, Metaforix Incorporated. All rights reserved. Please note that the links contained in Metaforix Mail are current as of the time of publication. Some of them may no longer be operative at the time you access past issues. To
Volume 1, Issue 9
September 15, 2000
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