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October 15, 2001
The Back Page
By Amy Poftak and Kristen Kennedy
Watch Words
Cam Girl n. Teenage girls who have created Web sites that display anything from photos and diaries to live shots of themselves; several have set up an online registry of gifts they'd like their fans to buy them.
Frankenbrowser n. Spotted in the August issue of PC World, a term for applications (such as NeoPlanet and CrystalPort) that "freakishly" change the appearance and functionality of your Internet Explorer browser.
Rain Dance n. Rituals thought to fix recurring computer problems, such as clicking the mouse three times to thaw screen freeze or spinning your monitor to help reboot.
Real Reality n. Once known as just plain reality, real reality is everything that is not virtual reality.
Yeardisc n. Replacing those gold-trimmed hard copies of yore, these are school yearbooks on CD-ROM.
Sources: PC World; Salon; The Word Spy
Gleanings
The Kids Are Alright
When asked if they could choose either to be rich, smart, or beautiful, 66 percent of surveyed high school students chose "smart." Surprisingly-and laudably-only five percent opted for beauty, according to research gathered for the 2001 State of Our Nation's Youth report sponsored by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
About-Face
Does heavy Internet use trigger loneliness and depression? New research from Carnegie Mellon University professor Robert Kraut concludes that it does not. If the name Kraut sounds familiar, it should: he's the social scientist whose 1998 study found that the Net was associated with feelings of increased isolation from others.
From an Alternative Source
"I want to be clear in stating the problem: by extending their lock on the educational system, the proprietary software vendors have restricted choice, institutionalized inefficiency, and imposed artificially high prices (even after discounts) that hurt taxpayers."
-Matthew Szulik, CEO of Red Hat, speaking at the LinuxWorld Conference in San Francisco, August 30, 2001
Bringing Teachers Back to School
Faced with the need for 2.2 million new teachers within the next eight years, and the reality that almost one quarter of new recruits leave teaching after three years, school systems are scrambling to find and retain new hires. In New York City alone, 8,000 teacher vacancies needed to be filled over the summer-at press time, the city had recruited 7,043.
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