Modern Technology

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Current Events and Links Define this term: See also: Technology: Preparing for The Mark The Year 2000 Problem Bill Gates Watch Calculate Internet Time Go to: News articles since Sept. 1, 2000 Robot learns how to reproduce Aug. 31, 2000 - A very simple robotic device has now been created by a robotic machine with a minimum of input from humans. Scientists say this experiment is the beginning of the long-awaited ability of robots to make their own creations and/or reproduce themselves. Source: BBC Government taps Compaq to create supercomputerr Aug. 22, 2000 - Compaq Computer will develop the world's fastest supercomputer for use by the Department of Energy at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The department's National Nuclear Security Administration will use the $200 million computer in a program to study how nuclear weapons age, without resorting to nuclear tests. The computer, called Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative Q, will have more than 11,968 processors, allowing it to perform more than 30 trillion operations per second. That is about 2 1/2 times as powerful as today's fastest supercomputer, ASCI White, which was built by IBM for the Energy Department. ASCI Q will be the size of five basketball courts, or more than 21,000 square feet. The supercomputer is expected to begin working in early 2002. The NNSA has options to upgrade the processors, which could bring computing capacity to 100 trillion operations per second by 2004, Compaq said. Source: Nando Times New Generation of Wireless Technology Bluetooth products roll out June 13, 2000 - A variety of products which employ a new wireless method were unveiled today, including mobile phones, computers and peripherals, and even a refrigerator fitted with a Bluetooth transceiver. The technology uses the 2.4 GHz frequency range, but avoids conflicts with existing users of that range by hopping 1,600 times per second over 79 different channels. As well as doing away with lots of cables the technology could do away with the need for more than one phone. Instead of having a mobile on the move, a landline at home and a modem for your computer a Bluetooth enabled phone could do all three jobs. Source: BBC Computers will disturb heat balance of universe, says Sun's Gage June 6, 2000 - As computing devices move from the present 16-18 million transistor complexity to the 100-120 million transistor complexity in the near future, new problems will be created. Molecular computation could eventually threaten a cosmic meltdown, thinks Sun co-founder John Gage. And he wasn't being frivolous. "In fifty years, computation will be so complex, and so demanding of memory and working on devices of such intricacy" - such as a terabyte-on-a-sugarcube-storage - "that a single calculation could change the heat level of the universe," he says, citing Sun's CTO Greg Papadopoulos. Source: The Register IBM computer to speed genetic studies June 3, 2000 - During the next five years, IBM plans to build it's "Blue Gene" computer which will be 500 times faster than any computer in use today. It will be devoted to the gigantic task of modeling proteins in the study of the genetic code. Yet Blue Gene, 40 times faster than the combined speed of the 40 fastest computers in the world today, will run an entire year to produce an answer for one protein. That will be one down, 39,999 to go. Or thereabouts. Source: Washington Post Superviruses could threaten national security May 30, 2000 - The next generation of computer viruses could be much worse, executing themselves without the user even opening the Emails to which they are attached. Source: CBS Marketwatch Hackers warn of encryption 'beast' May 13, 2000 - According to an organization of computer experts, known as the Lauri Holden Hacking Group, scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have sucessfully developed a new method of encrypting computer data into photons of light. The group, which is opposed to the emergence of a one-world economic system, and especially opposed to the Communist Chinese government, claims that once this technology is fully operational it will be impossible for hackers to fight back against intrusive government controls. A spokesman said: "Our concern is that the Quantum Key technology will be stolen by communist China, if not outright given to them by Bill Clinton or, perhaps, Al Gore some time in the future." "If that were to happen -- if communist China and the PLA get a hold of the Quantum Key, there will be absolutely no way to fight against their agenda of darkness." The National Security Agency and the U.S. Navy Computer Research lab are also involved in development of this new technology. Source: WorldNetDaily New threat from Love Bug copycats May 5, 2000 - Following yesterday's massive computer virus attack, many people are aware not to open mail with the title "I love you," even from a friend's email address, but now there is evidence that several other titles are equally dangerous. The Love Bug is thought to be the fastest-moving and most widespread virus ever seen, affecting tens of millions of computers, according to some estimates, and causing damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars. One of the copycat viruses entices users to open an e-mail with the word "Joke" in the subject line that unleashes yet another virus masquerading as a "Very Funny" attachment. Source: BBC Microsoft to fight break-up proposal April 29, 2000 - See the article in our Bill Gates section Celera: Genome Map Complete Apr. 7, 2000 - The monumental task of sequencing the more than 3 billion genes in the Human Genome has been completed. The next step in the project will be to piece the fragments of the sequence together according to where they're located in the body. Source: BBC Chip promises telecoms revolution Apr. 6, 2000 - A microscopic "optic chip" is being developed by U.S. scientists to connect fiber optics to electronic devices. They claim these provide such an enormous bandwidth in which to fit information that a single chip measuring little more than a millionth of an inch could handle all a major company's telephone, computer, television and satellite traffic. Yet, crucially, the device requires less than a fraction of a volt of electricity to operate. Source: BBC Microsoft Guilty of Monopoly Apr. 4, 2000 - In his decision that Microsoft was guilty of violating the Sherman Act, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson said that the company used "technological shackles" to keep rival products from effectively competing with its Internet Explorer browser. Another phase of the trial will determine what action will be taken against Microsoft. Source: Wired News See also: U.S. v. Microsoft - ongoing coverage Flaming end for satellites Mar. 18, 2000 - The Iridium satellite system of mobile communications has gone into bankruptcy, and will destroy its 66 satellites, worth $6 billion, by sending them out of orbit to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Source: BBC Why The Future Doesn't Need Us Mar. 14, 2000 - In the April issue of Wired Magazine, Bill Joy, chief scientist for Sun Microsystems warns that at the present rate of scientific innovation, mankind may be threatened with extinction. Three areas of concern are rogotics, genetics, and nanotechnology. He writes, ‘We are being propelled into this new century with no plan, no control, no brakes... 'The last chance to assert control -- the fail-safe point -- is rapidly approaching.’ Joy is a leading computer researcher who developed an early version of the Unix operating system, pioneered the development of Java and was co-chairman of a presidential commission on the future of information technology. See also: New Technologies Imperil Humanity Sources: Wired Magazine, JVIM News, Reuters Nowhere to hide Mart. 10, 2000 - A gene profiling system threatens to reveal your innermost secrets Genostic Pharma of Cambridge, a British biotech start-up, has filed for a patent on a device that can detect variants of over 2500 genes--including genes that affect behavior and intelligence. The device has obvious medical advantages, but raises serious ethical questions about use of the information by unscrupulous employers or insurance companies to reject applicants with "the wrong genes". Source:New Scientist Computer speed barrier broken Mar. 8, 2000 AMC introduced its' expected one-gigahertz computer processor two days ago, and Intel plans to announce its own version of a one-gigahertz chip today. Source: Intel's speedy response-BBC IBM to Unveil New Chip Feb. 8, 2000 - IBM has revealed plans for a new type of processor that could run at speeds up to 3. to 4.5 Gigahertz (billions of cycles per second). A 1 Gigahertz version should be available within a year. To increase speed, IBM researchers decentralized the clock, using locally generated clocks to run smaller sections of circuits. Meanwhile, Intel plans to release a 1 Gigahertz processor later this year. The Itanium chip is one of the biggest engineering feats undertaken at the chip giant, with 25.4 million transistors. It is the first chip to use Intel’s new 64-bit architecture, which crunches data in 64 bits chunks vs. 32 bits in chips today. Vodafone seals Mannesmann deal Feb. 4, 2000 - Agreement for another giant merger-- actually the largest corporate merger in history -- has taken place with Vodaphone Airtouch buying out Germany's Mannesmann, and creating the fourth largest company in the world, worth $365 billion. Its value reflects the bright prospects for the growth of mobile phone ownership around the world - and the prospect that internet services will soon be available through mobiles. Source: BBC Web passes one billion documents Jan. 21, 2000 - A new study has verified that there are over one billion identifiable web documents on the world wide web. Source: BBC Top-Secret Computer Processor Unveiled Today! Jan. 19, 2000 - After at least 5 years of intensive effort by Transmeta Corp, The Crusoe Processor, which has been designed and funded by a powerful group of high-tech leaders was unveiled this morning during a live netcast by ZDTV at 9 AM Pacific Standard Time. Some of the people involved in the project are Transmeta Corp. CEO David Ditzel, a former chip designer for AT&T;'s Bell Labs and Sun Microsystems Inc., Linux creator Linus Torvalds, and investors Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen and billionaire financier George Soros. Source: Yahoo Secret Processor To Be Unveiled New chip is fast mover Two remarkable new chips from Transmeta Corp. were introduced today to enhance the development of mobile computing devices. The TM3120 is for portable web browsers. It runsat 400MHz, has 100kb of on-chip RAM, and a power management system called Deep Sleep which allows the device to run in standby mode for weeks. The second chip is the TM5400, which is designed for laptop computers. It runs at 700MHz and has 400kb of on-chip RAM. Source: BBC Breakthrough as scientists 'clone' monkey Jan 14, 2000 - Tetra, a rhesus monkey is the first primate to be "cloned" using a method that splits the original cells in an embryo to make multiple identical animals. Source: BBC Reaction to the AOL/ Time Warner Merger AOL Announcement- Their plans BBC Yahoo Yahoo: AOL Full Coverage AOL, Time Warner to Merge Jan. 10, 1999 - America Online has announced plans to buy entertainment colossus Time Warner. The merger will create the world's largest media and online services company. Source: Wired News Information about Lucent Technologies New name for Bell Labs -- 153,000 people in 90 countries - Revenues soon to reach $500 billion -- Seventy percent of the top 500 U.S.-based businesses rely on their network services. The largest telecommunication company in the world with historical roots back to the original telephone! Lucent has patents on many smart card technologies and smart card applications. Inferno - Lucent's operating system for smart cards and other applications (1996). It used their "Limbo" computer language, and "Styx" communications protocols. In 1999 it was turned over to a separate company, Vita Nuova. 1999: The Year Of The Net Dec. 29, 1999 - Experts are predicting that there will be a 10-fold increase in online consumer spending during the next 5 years. Source: BBC IBM to build supercomputer Dec. 7, 1999 - IBM has committed $100 million to build a new type of supercomputer. The computer, called Blue Gene, will originally be used to study the function of some of the body's most complex molecules. Blue Gene will be capable of more than one million, billion mathematical operations per second (one petaflop). This will make it 1,000 times more powerful than the Deep Blue supercomputer that beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, and about two million times more powerful than today's best desktop PCs. Source:BBC America's E-Christmas Boom Dec. 6, 1999 - Online stores are expecting their first "dot com" Christmas with $4 billion in Internet sales! Source:BBC Net hits exceed 1B per day Nov. 24,1999 - In October the Internet achieved a new milestone with an average of 1 billion hits per day in the United States. Media Metrix recorded 63.9 million unique users for October: a 12.5% increase over last year. Source: USA Today Best of Comdex Nov. 22, 1999 - Fox's pick of the ten best products from the gigantic Comdex electronic conference this year includes Internet appliances, free or inexpensive Linux applications (don't require Windows operating system), home entertainment systems connected to the Internet, and new products to enable e-commerce, security and mobility. Source: Fox News Satellite Firm Offers Detailed Global Photos Nov. 6, 1999 - In the near future, Space Imaging Corp. will begin selling images of certain cities around the world to the general public for $10 each. Custom photos may be ordered showing objects as small as three feet across. The price for custom images will start at $1000. Source:Yahoo Microsoft Declared A Monopoly Microsoft vs US Justice Dept Nov. 6, 1999 - "Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson has issued a preliminary ruling: Microsoft's operating system is a monopoly." Source: BBC - Many links from this site Global spy network revealed Nov. 3,1999 - By Andrew Bomford of BBC Radio 4's PM programme Dubai launches cybercity Oct. 30, 1999 - According to Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktouma, 'Dubai Internet City,' costing $200 million is now being built, and operations will begin in one year's time. This facility will be the world's first free trade zone for business done over the internet. It will include a research and development centre, a science and technology park, and the world's first internet university. Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates. Source:BBC Luminous tree to brighten Christmas Oct. 25, 1999 - It is possible to produce a genetically modified Christmas tree with glowing needles. Two genes found in jellyfish could be inserted into a tree's DNA. One of them produces an enzyme called luciferase, and the other produces a substance called green fluorescent protein (GFP). Source: South China Morning Post Net turns 30 Oct.20, 1999 - From humble beginnings in 1969, the Internet has become a vital part of everyday life for millions today. More than 200 million people around the world now log on and the net has become the fastest-growing communication tool ever invented. Source:BBC News Plunging PC Prices and Rising Internet Use Oct. 11, 1999 - An article entitled Are you ready for the $200 PC? shows that an entry-level computer will soon be available for $229, and various companies are trying to bring the price to $200. These computers will not have Intel processors or Windows operating systems, but they will still be quite functional and adequate for Internet use. Source: Excite/ ZDNet Caught on camera Sept. 24, 1999 - Stores on Regent Street in London are using a face recognition system to monitor customers and detect the presence of known criminals. Source: New Scientist Is your government an Internet spy? Bob Evans - Dr. Internet Sept 24, 1999 - Government monitoring of Internet usage is increasing, leading to a likely goal of computer monitoring of all our activities, and identifying those who use certain words in their Email, or who visit certain sites, for more intense human surveillance. Source: WorldNetDaily How to prevent an attack on your computer 'A Flaw Worse Than Melissa' Aug. 26, 1999 - Get a Microsoft patch to avoid an attack which could be caused by simply reading Email. Source:Wired News Smart Dust? Aug. 28, 1999 - Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have developed extremely small "motes", self-contained electronic communication packages with their own batteries and solar cells. The prototypes are 5 mm. in diameter, but in the future these devices will be small enough to float in the air like dust. They will be able to transmit kilobits of data per second via optical transcievers. They will be ideal for spying and for monitoring hazardous environments. Source: New Scientist Office 97 hole can allow code to take over July 30, 1999 -There is a flaw in Microsoft's data access software, called Jet, which allows code contained in an Excel 97 worksheet, hidden in a Web page or sent via email, to plant viruses, delete data, or read files. A free online upgrade is available from Microsoft to fix the problem. Source: ABC News Big Bang machine could destroy Earth July 18, 1999 - A new nuclear accelerator on Long Island has begun testing, and may be up to full speed by the turn of the millennium. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has been designed to replicate the Big Bang by causing particles traveling near the speed of light to collide with each other head-on. The device is under investigation by international physicists because they fear that it might cause "perturbations of the universe" that could destroy the Earth. It is possible that it could create"strangelets" - a new type of matter made up of sub-atomic particles called "strange quarks", and that they could start an uncontrollable chain reaction that could convert anything they touched into more strange matter. There is also a theoretical possibility that it could create a "black hole" right here on Earth! John Nelson, professor of nuclear physics at Birmingham University who is leading the British scientific team at RHIC, said the chances of an accident were infinitesimally small - but Brookhaven had a duty to assess them. "The big question is whether the planet will disappear in the twinkling of an eye. It is astonishingly unlikely that there is any risk - but I could not prove it," Source:The Sunday Times (UK) Friendly ATM July 7, 1999 - A new type of ATM has been shown in London, following a successful trial in Canada. It uses iris recognition to identify the customer, and talks to him or her, asking how much they wish to withdraw, and even wishing them a happy birthday. Keyboards and PIN numbers are not needed. The system, called Stella is safe: the chances of making a mistake are said to be 10 billion, billion to one. Chris Hughes from NCR Financial Solutions said of the new development: "In future, it will be able to provide you with information on car loans, mortgages or sort out your personal financial affairs." Source: BBC News Making books obsolete? July 3-10, 1999 - World Magazine's article says that half of Americans are on the Internet now, and we are moving toward a combination TV-Telephone-Internet integration where printed information will be more easily accessible through the Internet than through the library. This may lead to the decline of libraries and even of printed books. Techno Haven June 29, 1999 - Read this CBN article for visions of the latest in home technologies: These devices include Digital TV that is as good as the theater, and Integrated Internet, so one can just click on something on the television program to link to a related website, shown on a portion of the same screen. Lights, music and other settings can change when you walk into a room as the area senses your presence. Smart refrigerators keep inventory of contents, let you know when expiration dates come up, even order supplies automatically if you so desire via the Internet. Reach Out and Target Someone June 23, 1999 - Two industry giants will soon merge, creating a marriage of DoubleClick's on-line information about Internet use and Abacus Direct's giant off-line data base of consumer's catalog buying habits. The move "set off alarm bells in the privacy community that are now ringing across Washington." Once acquired, DoubleClick could link Abacus' offline database profiles with previously anonymous tracking "cookie" files that are stored on the hard drives of millions whenever they search on AltaVista or visit any of hundreds of other sites. AOL Invests in Hughes Satellite June 22, 1999 - AOL will invest $1.5 billion in Hughes Electronics to speed development of Direct TV and AOL TV with high speed Internet access. they hope the new system will be operational next year. Bar Codes for the Body Make It to the market June 21, 1999 - Without an ATM Card or PIN number, customers of the Bank United in Houston, Texas are now able to obtain cash from their ATM machine. The machine uses an iris scan to determine the identity of the person, and dispenses with the older methods of identification. The scan is not harmful, and only takes about three seconds. Most customers prefer the new method. Source: Washington Post First cloned human embryo revealed June 18, 1999 - It has now been revealed that American Cell Technology succeeded in cloning a human embryo last November using a cell from a man's leg and a cow's egg. They destroyed it on the 12th day, claiming it is not yet a person since in a normal pregancy, an embryo implants into the womb wall after 14 days. Source: BBC News Earlier stories: U.S. Scientist Ready to Clone Humans and Cloned Lambs Have Human Gene Icon For Sale: The Original Apple 1 June 17, 1999 - The original Apple I prototype is up for auction, at a starting price around $40,000. Source:Wired News Personal Note: This is just like the one on which I did my first programming - one of 200 hand-made by Steve Wozniac and Steve Jobs. It sold for $666.66! I rented it for $60/month to develop software for Christian Education. When the Apple II came out in early 1978 I could have bought the Apple I for $200, but never dreamed it would become so valuable. Now I have a small Microcomputer Museum of my own, but no Apple I! Pictures of the Apple I Free Computer For E Commerce Users June 9, 1999 - E-Commerce must be coming of age when a person can pay a monthly subscription service of $39.99 for his Internet service and E-commerce package and get a nearly state-of-the-art computer to use the service for free. Wave Systems provides metered service for users, and PC Free will provide the hardware. PC Free will provide its worldwide customer-base computer systems for a single monthly charge of $39.99, with no contract to sign, including: computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, color printer, TV tuner card, hard and software metering solutions, digital broadcast reception capability, game playing console, and Smart Card technology, coupled with unlimited internet access. The company will begin rolling out the program on a market-by-market basis starting this summer through its national advertising agency, The Mesa Group, located in New York City. This is a commercial news release. We have no financial interest in the companies involved and do not endorse what they offer, but we think it is a very interesting development in the move to bring together the Telephone, Computer, and Television and to provide electronic commerce to everyone, using Smart Card technology. Biological computer born June 2, 1999 -US scientists have developed a computer made of neurons taken from leeches. So far, the device can perform simple sums, but this is the beginning of what they hope will be a generation of fast and flexible computers that can solve their own problems the way the living nervous system does. This first version of the computer uses electrons attached to leech neurons in a petri dish. Source: BBC News See also: Computers that run without electricity Gigalapse due in '00 May 13, 1999 - In his keynote address at the Eighth World Wide Web Conference, Robert Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet, founder of 3Com Corp.,and syndicated columnist, made predictions about the Internet. He predicted what he calls a "Gigalapse" in 2000 - a time when the Internet will crash, causing the loss of a billion hours of user's time before it can be restored. He had made the same prediction for 1996, but feels that it is more likely now because, "The Internet still depends on seven root name servers, which are maintained by volunteers, crabby volunteers scattered around the world." On the bright side, Metcalfe also predicted great strides in the power of the Internet: While the Internet does not currently have the ability to support telephone and video service, Metcalfe said, it will, and the ultimate move will be toward the "tele-present Internet," where the goal will be to make the experience as close as possible to actually being there, and being there via the net may actually be better than being there physically. Source: Newsbytes News Network (Requires subscription) Earlier colulmn by Metcalf on the subject Microsoft Joins Internet2 April 28, 1999 - Microsoft joins the effort for the next generation Internet, which will be 45,000 times faster than the best telephone modems now in use. Steve Jobs' Job For Life April 27, 1999 - During the past two years Steve Jobs has helped Apple out of the dumps while retaining his role as CEO of Pixar Corp. He likes the job which was meant to be an interim position. Melissa Virus Spreads Across Internet Mar. 31, 1999 - Articles on this Yahoo Full Coverage Site explain the extent and suspected origin of the virus or "worm" that has quickly spread itself to tens of thousands of computers, listing pornography sites, and automatically sending new copies of its message to addresses found in each infected computer's address book. The title of the Email message is "Important Message from..." The name included in the title is that of the infected user - often a name recognized by the recipient as a valid correspondent. Genetically Modified Chickens and Humans Wings Become Legs March 12, 1999 - Scientists at Harvard have produced a genetically modified chicken which grows legs in place of wings. Hawking Predicts 'GM Humans' Mar. 12, 1999 - A Cambridge professor who is personally opposed to genetic modification (GM) of humans thinks it is inevitable. He predicts that within one hundred years we will produce modified humans which do not resemble normal people very much. Source: BBC Go to: News articles before Mar. 1, 1999

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The ever-present, ever-improving personal computer has become the primary tool of creativity. Practically everything that was once done by pencil and paper, drafting tools, and artistry is now being done faster, easier, and better with the help of the computer. A person of average income may now own a computer which is more powerful than the million dollar main-frames of just a few years ago. Beautiful color, digital stereophonic sound, CD ROM libraries of knowledge, modem connectivity to the entire world via information services and the Internet, and an exploding source of helpful, inexpensive software all make this device a necessity for many people today. Smaller, more powerful laptop and notebook computers make it possible for people to take this essential productivity tool with them wherever they go.

Interactive Television is on its way. Many experimental programs are in place even now. This technology will allow people to view what they want, when they want to see it, and do the same with educational programs, shopping, simulated travel, and whatever else people will want in the future.

Information service companies, such as Compuserve and America On Line provide an amazing assortment of "on line" information, such as news and historical data bases, games and other entertainment, down-loadable software, literature, and art, electronic mail, special interest data bases and "chat" rooms where one may type messages to one another in real time. Shopping on-line is becoming very popular as well.

Another aspect of what is often called cyberspace is the Internet. It has been around for several decades. It is a high speed data transmission system, now often called the information "super highway". It was used by major corporations and universities to connect their main-frame computers together. It is just now becoming very popular and extremely useful. Education, businesses, government, and even churches are rapidly turning to this medium of information exchange. Easy navigation of this world-wide network is being made possible by such innovations as the "World-Wide Web." Color, sound, animation, and even video have been added to the capabilities of the "net." Connection to the Internet is one of the options on many information services. Individuals may also choose to subscribe to local Internet services which do not provide their own information, but simply connect the user's computer (via the phone lines) to the Internet. It should be noted that this technology is also potentially very dangerous because of the lack of control and monitoring of pornography ("Cyberporn"), and dangerous communications especially between children and unprincipled adults. Many of the Internet providers are now including automatic blocking of known questionable destinations, but it is virtually impossible to know all of the dangerous paths that can be taken.

There is another, even more important computer network. This is the world of financial transactions, including the ATM (Automatic Teller Machines), Credit and Debit cards, and even smart cards which are able to "store electronic money" to be used by appropriate devices such as vending machines, public telephones, and transportation services. This network now includes most retail stores, automobile service stations, and even fast food outlets in many areas. These "sellers" employ scanning devices and pay point card readers. All of this is moving us closer to a "cashless society" which may be easily controlled by a world dictator. The coming Antichrist will be such a dictator. The technology is now in place for him to accomplish his evil plan of economic control. See Economic Dictatorship. (Read about the Allcard, a smart card used by the University of Rochester in Peter and Paul Lalonde's, Racing Toward The Mark of the Beast, pp. 36-37.)

All of this is connected by telephone and cable systems which have greatly upgraded the capabilities of their systems with Fiber Optic cables replacing ordinary wires and the extensive use of communications satellites which effectively link the entire Earth together. One small Fiber Optic cable can replace 10,000 ordinary telephone lines! ("Telecommunications", New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia). Many phone services now employ the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) system. This concept not only perfects the quality of the voice on the phone, but allows the connection of several devices to the outside world simultaneously, including television, FAX, copier, computers. It also adds the capability of "smart phones" which will transmit digital data about the users along with the voice or video connection. With such a system, the business you are calling could conceivably answer the phone using your name, and already having your account information on the screen in front of them. The potential for transmission of unwanted information is an obvious danger to this emerging technology.