“I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.” Only Groucho Marx (1890-1977) could have said it. He did. And, I agree. Totally. Watching the atrocities they air these days makes me sad and turn to books which of course is a blessing in disguise. The other day, I had the misfortune of watching the final of Indian Idol. Not belonging to the tribe of idol worshippers, I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about. Earlier, not being a Mammon worshipper made it difficult for me to understand the hubbub they made of the wannabe crorepatis. To my simple mind, a sportsperson excelling at her chosen sport rightfully gets adulation. Ditto an actor who does a super role and a singer who sings divinely. But pray tell what does an Idol (no matter of whichever nationality) do? In my cloud of unknowing, I’m moved to confess much like ol’ Groucho of the bobbing eyebrows fame (“Either she's dead or my watch has stopped.”) that either the world is bonkers or my remote has acquired a mind of its own behind my back. But then, after all: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." And, to dodge all responsibility of what I’ve said here: “Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." – although I’m no denizen of Page 3.

http://www.quotesplace.com/info/browse/Groucho_Marx. P.S.: Finally, as Marx loved to sing in Animal Crackers, “Hello, I must be going”. P.S. to P.S.: And here’s something from A Night at the Opera that fits American Idol to a T: Groucho: “Do you know that America is waiting to hear him sing?” Chico: “Well, he can sing loud, but he can’t sing that loud.” Amen.

http://members.tripod.com/Cleo256/marx/songs.html.

VIRUS. Straight from the FBI?

Recently, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning/ the warning was against opening the attachment to an e-mail apparently coming from it. The fake e-mail is disguised as a warning to the recipients saying that their Internet use had been monitored by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center alleging that they had "accessed illegal Web sites". The rogue e-mail then directed the targets to open the virus-laden attachment to answer a series of questions. This malicious e-missive is a perfect example of “spoofing”. This term describes the practice of sending unsolicited e-mail disguised to appear as if it were generated by a reliable or known source. The problem continues to plague everyone from the world's largest financial services companies to government agencies to individual e-mail users. The FBI, believed to be currently investigating the origin of the malicious e-mail, said it would never send unsolicited messages to the public. Earlier, in February though, Justice Department officials had complained, after an audit of the agency's computing infrastructure, that “the FBI has failed to adequately address problems identified after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks”. The chief bone of contention seemed to be the FBI's inability to install its Virtual Case File system – the software “meant to improve the manner in which FBI workers share information”. http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-10595_11-5588750.html?tag=nl.e019.
 
OUTRAGE! Hotmail outage.

In late February, some Hotmail users were hot under the collar. They simply could not use their Hotmail accounts on account of an outage. A faulty server was apparently at the root cause of the problem, claimed a Microsoft customer service representative who confirmed the occurrence. What the spokesperson did not divulge was the nature of the problem, the exact time of its start and how many of Hotmail's 187 million users were affected. Intermittent access to Hotmail accounts for some consumers and, more alarmingly, erased new and saved messages from in-boxes were the outrageous outcome according to the complainants. “Customers, especially paying ones, are starting to lose patience,” reports Alorie Gilbert (‘Hotmail outage peeves some e-mail users’), citing Dwight Foster, a $20 a year Hotmail subscriber in Orinda, Calif., who says: "For a company the size of Microsoft, which bills themselves as a progressive, consumer-friendly organization, they're really taking a long time to fix this. I'm about to blow a gasket."
“Angry Hotmail customers are bad news for Microsoft, which faces fierce competition from Google and Yahoo in the free e-mail services market,” concludes Gilbert sagely. http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-10588_11-5588764.html?tag=nl.e019.

KNIGHT MOST EXCELLENT. Our Bill, that’s who.

In the meanwhile, back in the Buckingham Palace, the Queen, apparently not a Hotmail user, is pleased with Bill Gates “for his outstanding contribution to enterprise and for his charitable activities”. She conferred on him the title of a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He cannot used the ‘Sir’ prefix, though. That privilege is reserved for Britons and citizens of the Commonwealth, you see. "I am humbled and delighted," said our Bill in a statement. "I'm particularly pleased that this honor helps recognize the real heroes our foundation supports to improve health in poor countries." He is referring to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that funds research into infectious diseases and reproductive health and also has initiatives in the area of education. http://techrepublic.com.com/2100-10590_11-5594659.html?tag=nl.e019.

SEARCH. Many use many search engines.

A new study by Nielsen//NetRatings shows that a majority of Internet searchers use multiple search engines. The finding underlines the volatility of the search market as the major players intensify their competition for user loyalty. Broadly speaking, the study found 58 percent of Google searchers also visiting at least one of the other top two search engines, Yahoo! and MSN Search. The use of multiple search engines also holds true for Yahoo! and MSN searchers. Approximately 71 percent of Yahoo! searchers also went to one of the other top two engines and 70 percent of MSN searchers used one or both of the other two, too. As for the individual shares of the top three among US searchers (January 2005), the list goes like this: Google (47%); Yahoo! (21%) and MSN (13%). http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/search_tools/article.php/3486206.

FIREFOX CRAZE. Now on a slow burn.

Like all good things, the Firefox hunger too seems to have lost its earlier fire. “According to WebSideStory, Firefox adoption in the U.S. across all operating systems reached 5.69 percent as of February 18, 2005, an increase of 0.74 percent in market share since January 14. After gaining 1.03 percentage points of market share from November to December, adoption of the new Mozilla browser cooled slightly to a 0.89 percent increase from December to January. It slowed further between January and February.” Also: “Microsoft's Internet Explorer, meanwhile, now commands an 89.95 percent share of the market, a decline of 0.43 percent from the preceding month.” http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/traffic_patterns/article.php/3486696.

WHAT’S A BLOG? Journalism not as lecture but a conversation.

"People are tired of journalism as lecture; they want a conversation. Blogs present an opportunity for newspapers to reconnect with their readers and restore a sense of trust and community that was lost a generation ago as papers became more corporate and monolithic," opines JD Lasica, one of the five (the other four are Shayne Bowman, Dan Gillmor, Chris Willis and Steve Outing) interviewed via e-mail by Guillermo Franco, Editor (ElTiempo.com) and Professor (New Media), Colombia. Do read ‘Re-blog-lution’ here: http://enter.terra.com.co/ente_secc/ente_inte/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-1001940-1991981.html. A significant achievement attributed to a blog that Franco mentions in the article is the Eason Jordan dismissal. This was triggered by the revelation by the blog called Captain's Quarters of his statement at the World's Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) in which he accused the United States Army of murdering 12 journalists in Iraq. Also, blogs played a major role in forcing Dan Rather to resign as the host of CBS Evening News, it appears, due to statements about President George Bush's military record.