The reporter quoted Republican consultant Royal Masset as saying the video is "kind of goofy." "What are you supposed to do -- not hang around Democrats at all? Unfortunately, we live in an age when anyone can e-mail anything," Masset told the paper. Maybe it would work in the 22nd District.
That story pairs nicely with a report from the BBC, which says e-mail is underused in British politics. "The survey, commissioned by Telewest Business, found that only 1 percent of people have contacted their [member of Parliament] via e-mail," the Beeb reported. "Nearly half of the 3,000 people interviewed had home Net access and 38 percent said they would e-mail their MP if they knew their address. But 50 percent did not even know who their local MP was."
| ___About Random Access___ Random Access is a daily column by Robert MacMillan that explores the latest trends in technology and how they are changing daily life. Random Access won't tell you why a new gizmo will revolutionize your ad server. It will tell you about episodes from daily life -- exasperated waiters who use blogs to vent about their customers, whole runs of salmon injected with nanoparticles for individual tracking in Norwegian fjords and the growing number of DJs who are sick of being sidelined in favor of iPods. (Only one of these stories is fake.) Most of what you see will be culled from news sources and blogs from around the world, though we will supplement Random Access with original files on the novel, unusual, bizarre and reactionary happenings in the world of technology and society. E-mail: Send links and comments. | | |
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Here's more from the news service: "In a separate study, conducted at Strathclyde University, it was found that access to the Internet has failed to make people less cynical about the government and is not encouraging people to get involved in the political process." See? Even after almost 229 years of separation, we still take after our friends across the pond.
Vonage Invited to Texas Two-Step
In an emergency, most Americans immediately think to dial 911. They might have to think differently if they're using Internet telephone service. The state of Texas yesterday sued Vonage, claiming that the Net phone company failed to disclose that it does not include access to traditional emergency services. State Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) filed the lawsuit after Houston resident Joyce John tried and failed to reach 911 when two men attacked and shot her parents last month, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"When ... John's mother yelled to her to call 911, her effort was met with a voice recording that told her no emergency access was available on that line and she must use another phone," the paper reported. "Greater Harris County 911 Emergency Network Executive Director John Melcher ... said the problem is that Vonage and some other Internet-based telephone providers don't interconnect with the 911 network. Their customers do not pay the 50-cents-per-phone-number fee that traditional phone and cell phone customers are charged to support the 911 system."
A Vonage representative told the paper that the company displays its 911 policies on its Web site, and that it wants to work with Texas to address the state's concerns. The spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times that the company requires customers to set up 911 service separately, but does not charge extra to do it. And in case you were wondering, both parents survived, the Times reported.
Reuters reported that Internet phone service is experiencing problems with identity theft too: "The emerging scams underline the lower level of security protecting Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, the Internet-calling standard that has upended the telecommunications industry over the past several years. Traditional phone networks operate over dedicated equipment that is difficult for outsiders to penetrate. Because VoIP calls travel over the Internet, they cost much less but are vulnerable to the same security problems that plague e-mail and the Web."
Beaten by Singapore
The United States has fallen from first to fifth place in making the best use of information and communications technology, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum. The new leader, according to the AP: Singapore, where your options as a young boy are the computer or the cane (search for "Michael Fay"). Now there's a way to whip up performance ... "Augusto Lopez-Claros, co-editor of the report, praised Singapore for its ability 'to make, in a relatively short period of time, enormous progress in putting [the technology] at the service of improved living standards.'"
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