For "Net-genners," Microsoft learned that using the Internet for socializing is a way of life.

Microsoft aims to tap 'Net generation' | CNET News.com

] Approved just two months ago, the program represents a
] significant departure from the traditional method of
] drawing a simple circle around a target to show a bomb's
] estimated blast effect and determine what civilians might
] be at risk nearby, Air Force officials said.
]
] Instead, Bugsplat generates blob-like images --
] resembling squashed insects -- that military officials
] say more precisely models potential damage by a
] particular type and size of bomb dropped by a particular
] aircraft flying at a given altitude. This enables
] commanders to fine-tune attacks and, in some instances,
] can embolden them to order bigger bombs than they would
] have employed relying on less sophisticated modeling
] methods, the officials said.

Military Turns to Software to Cut Civilian Casualties (washingtonpost.com)

] "What we're seeing now is the weaving of electronic
] warfare, psyops and other information warfare through
] every facet of the plan from our peacetime preparations
] through execution," said Maj. Gen. Paul J. Lebras, chief
] of the Joint Information Operations Center, a secretive
] military agency based in Texas that has sent a team of
] experts to join the Central Command info-warfare team for
] the Iraq campaign....

] "We are trying very hard to be empathetic with the Iraqi
] military," said a senior American information warfare
] official. "We understand their situation. The same for
] the Iraqi population. We wish them no harm. We will take
] great pains to make those people understand that they
] should stay away from military equipment."

Firing Memes, US Wages Information War

] addam Hussein indicated on Monday that he does not intend
] to follow U.N. orders to destroy his Al-Samoud 2
] missiles, and challenged President Bush to an
] internationally televised debate via satellite linkup.
]
] In a three-hour interview with CBS anchor Dan Rather, the
] Iraqi leader said he envisioned a live debate with Bush
] along the lines of those in a U.S. presidential campaign,
] according to the network.
]
] Rather reported on the interview during the evening
] newscast. CBS said it planned to broadcast excerpts on
] Tuesday and the entire interview on Wednesday.

I would love to see a Bush/Saddam debate. I seriously doubt that will happen though.

Newsday.com - In Interview, Saddam Challenges Bush to Debate

] So the secret is well and truly out.
]
] Despite this a London Court judge last week granted an
] injunction preventing experts in the case (including the
] Cambridge security researchers) discussing anything
] likely to become testimony in the trial. Citibanks'
] petition can be found here.
]
] A counterargument by Anderson arguing that the
] injunction, while appropriate for the bank experts
] involved, contravened academic freedoms and was bad for
] security was rejected, the Sunday Times reported
] yesterday. Citibank's court victory is yet to be recorded
] elsewhere, at least as far as we can see.

Citibank obtains an injunction against distribution of research paper!

] (AP) Federal authorities charged 55 people Monday with
] trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia from coast to
] coast, using both traditional stores and the Internet.
]
] A federal grand jury in western Pennsylvania handed up
] indictments against 27 people as part of "Operation Pipe
] Dreams," an investigation stretching from Pittsburgh to
] Phoenix to southern California, Attorney General John
] Ashcroft said.

CBS News | Feds Smoke Out Paraphernalia Peddlers | February 24, 2003 15:30:54

] Camfield Estates, a rebuilt 102-unit public housing
] development, has trimmed bushes and groomed grounds. What
] also sets it apart from other low-income complexes lies
] hidden behind its walls, atop its roof and in the
] airwaves.
]
] For the past two years, Camfield has been the site of a
] project aiming to span the "digital divide" between
] impoverished Americans and those with easy access to
] technology.
]
] Called the Creating Community Connections Project, it has
] given residents free computers to connect to the Internet
] using high-speed cable lines wired into every home.

CNN.com - Low-income housing goes wireless - Feb. 24, 2003

] Academics do need to pay more attention to the role of
] religious belief in American public life, not only in the
] past, but also today. Without close attention to the
] prophetic scenario embraced by millions of American
] citizens, the current political climate in the United
] States cannot be fully understood.
]
] Leaders have always invoked God's blessing on their wars,
] and, in this respect, the Bush administration is simply
] carrying on a familiar tradition. But when our born-again
] president describes the nation's foreign-policy objective
] in theological terms as a global struggle against
] "evildoers," and when, in his recent State of the Union
] address, he casts Saddam Hussein as a demonic,
] quasi-supernatural figure who could unleash "a day of
] horror like none we have ever known," he is not only
] playing upon our still-raw memories of 9/11. He is also
] invoking a powerful and ancient apocalyptic vocabulary
] that for millions of prophecy believers conveys a
] specific and thrilling message of an approaching end - not
] just of Saddam, but of human history as we know it.

Quick! Take a drug, get laied, go skydiving, drive your car real fast, write a novel, climb Mt. Everest, learn to swim, code that program, ask her out, run a marathon, get that peircing, write that song, go to that club, move to a city, move to the woods, eat sushi, do whatever the hell you gotta do, because the end times are here and George Bush is driving..

Umm.. Yeah.

AlterNet: When U.S. Foreign Policy Meets Biblical Prophecy

] "By doing this we were taking a couple of baby steps down
] the road of what some have called the semantic Web -- a
] Web ... where computers can understand, at some level,
] the meaning and context of a Web page or blog post," he
] explained in an e-mail.
]
] Cleveland said in addition to using RSS metadata, the
] company planned to add ways to factor in Web traffic
] statistics. "We would look not only at what was written,
] but what was viewed and how people got there," he said.
]
] Cleveland said the technology could allow Web surfers to
] find not just breaking news stories, but those highly
] ranked by the weblogging community. In addition, those
] stories could be accompanied by the best comments made by
] popular webloggers, or those writing in a certain
] language or from a particular country.
]
] "You could search for 'U.S. invades Iraq' and get instant
] worldwide reaction," Cleveland said. "And then you could
] search, sort, filter or group (those posts) using
] metadata. Here's what people in France are saying."

Wired News: Why Did Google Want Blogger?

] I'm starting to wonder if were aren't watching something
] like the same strategy again. In other words, it's
] possible Cheney and company are actually bluffing. This
] time, instead of trying to terrify the Soviets into
] collapse, the objective is even grander. If I'm right
] about this, they have two goals. Neither involves actual
] war, any more than the MX missile did.

The thought had occurred...

John Perry Barlow provides a personal perspective on Dick Cheney