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Letter to the editor

The Buzz

Experts, passengers support cell phone ban on planes

By wire services
Published June 6, 2005

Dear Federal Communications Commission,

Flying is bad enough these days without spending the trip next to someone talking on a cell phone.

That seems to be a common opinion among the 7,696 people and businesses who responded to the FCC's proposal to allow cell phone conversations on commercial flights.

Comments included arguments from the National Academy of Sciences about interference with astronomy equipment, lots of diatribes about the extreme rudeness of cell phone yappers and a 174-page doctoral thesis from Graham W. Strauss of Carnegie Mellon University.

Strauss explored whether passengers knew that cell phones currently are banned for safety reasons and tried to show that passengers already use wireless devices on planes despite prohibitions against it.

"Limiting passenger electronics use on board should continue and is the only method available to ensure the near-term safety of the flying public," he wrote.

The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security chimed in as well, telling the FCC it should "carefully examine public safety and national security-related concerns before modifying, relaxing or lifting its current ban." Any rule change also would have to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and individual airlines.

Online shopping may seem like the hassle-free alternative to trudging to the mall, but a new survey shows that buying items over the Internet can be more expensive, complicated and dangerous than most people realize.

For example, the survey by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center found that nearly two-thirds of Internet users don't know that online stores can charge different prices to different shoppers for the same item during the same time of day.

Three-fourths of U.S. Internet users think that if a Web site has a privacy policy, the site won't share data on its shoppers with other Web sites.

In fact, a privacy policy often spells out how a Web site will share data with other companies, the survey said.

Joseph Turow, professor of communication at the Annenberg Center and lead author of the report, said in a news release it was "startling to find that 65 percent of respondents said they "know what I have to do to protect myself from being taken advantage of by sellers on the Web.' "

"Judging by their scores on the factual questions in the survey, their self-confidence is mistaken," he said.

The survey of 1,500 Americans 18 or older had a margin of error of 2.51 percent.

Internet users were asked 17 true or false questions about both online and offline shopping.

The test and correct answers are available at www.appcpenn.org

Despite trade industry claims that many companies respond to their customer service e-mail inquiries within 24 hours, a test by the Wall Street Journal found quite the opposite.

A query to Colgate-Palmolive Co. went unanswered for a week, as did a question to Best Western International Inc. (The CEO at CP blamed an "Internet outage.")

Responses from Microsoft Corp. and Cingular Wireless were better. The telephone company answered within 30 minutes, while Microsoft responded and also sent followup e-mails to ensure satisfaction.

The Journal quoted the Customer Respect Group, a consulting company that sends thousands of test messages a year, saying at least 25 percent of consumers' e-mails to companies are ignored.

Microsoft Corp. says the next version of its Office software will use Internet-friendly XML technology as the default file format for documents created in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

The new format will make it easier for other programs to read Office documents, an improvement the software titan says is aimed at boosting workers' productivity.

XML, short for extensible markup language, is designed for sharing diverse data across different systems with a uniform appearance. Previously, Office saved files in a format that doesn't always translate well when opened in other programs.

The current version, Office 2003, already supports XML, but some users have complained that it is clunky and that documents don't always translate well from that format.

Skeptics say Microsoft traditionally hasn't had a great reputation for openness, and they're not sure if that will change.

A new version of Spybot Search & Destroy has been released, according to the developers of the antispyware software. Version 1.4 (www.safer-networking.org/) promises faster scans, a new look and other improvements.

Software that lets you record Internet music streams from services like RealNetworks' Rhapsody or Napster Inc.'s Napster To Go are drawing attention from lawyers and music companies. They say the software may violate digital copyright laws.

"Technology's way ahead of the law," Jay Cooper, an entertainment lawyer, told Cnet News. He cited Replay radio, Software from Applian Technologies, as one of the culprits.

"There's certainly a lawsuit waiting to happen because they're basically enabling consumers to record, and the recordings are not authorized," added Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, Cnet reported.

A co-owner of Applian, Tom Mayes, said he thinks the horse is out of the barn. "We've been doing this for a long time. It's too late for these (record) companies to try to put a stranglehold (on technology).

We're looking for blogs written by Tampa Bay area residents or written about the area. If you write a blog or even read a local blog, send us the blog's name and Web address. The Times Web site plans to post a directory of local interest blogs in the coming weeks. E-mail us at smspears@sptimes.com or go to www.sptimes.com/talkback/blog.shtml

Readers with questions and comments about tech news of the day also can submit them to Times personal technology editor Dave Gussow there at the Times' Talkback site (www.sptimes.com/talkback)

Compiled from staff and wire reports.

[Last modified June 3, 2005, 10:17:02]