In The News

Globalization with Few Discontents?

June 3, 2003
As a sub-section of the Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, "View of a Changing World," this article examines the global public's attitudes towards globalization in the past five years. Generally, peoples of the world agree - albeit to different degrees - that after experiencing globalization through trade, finance, travel, communication and culture, they favor an interconnected...

Shop Online? Security’s Still a Worry for S'poreans

Natalie Soh May 28, 2003
According to Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), less than 25% of Internet users in Singapore shop online. The need to touch and fee are important reasons why consumers prefer to shop at stores. Online security and the relatively long period it takes for products to ship to Singapore also deter consumers looking for instant gratification. However, IDA anticipates that as...

Remake Man

Tad Friend May 26, 2003
In a telling commentary that combines capitalism in Hollywood with the American Dream, a contributor to the New Yorker magazine, Tad Friend, takes the reader through the making of Roy Lee as the "remake king." Lee, a Korean-American, whose parents moved from South Korea to the United States in the late 1960s, has carved out a unique role for himself in Hollywood: It is one that...

The Rise of the Net Dissidents in China

Frank Ching May 22, 2003
In a society where sensitive topics are avoided, virtual space has provided the Chinese people an online civil society where they can be more anonymous and enjoy more freedom of speech. However, the government is also catching up on it, employing tens of thousands of people to monitor web forums and chat-rooms all over China. While most governmental websites are still strictly controlled, more...

Technology Gap Forces Flexibility in Teaching

Lori Aratani May 21, 2003
Andrew Hill High School in northern California, USA, which serves some of the area's poorest students and immigrants, has brought technology into its daily teaching, with wireless network installed and laptops equipped in classrooms. Computer use is integrated into the education. With a third of the student-body still in a struggle to master the English language, teaching methods that...

America's Broadband Dream is Alive in Korea

Ken Belson May 5, 2003
According to a vision of Internet technology, one would be able to watch television programs, attend training workshops, sing karaoke, shop, and play interactive games – all of it online. Although Internet has changed patterns of consumption and sociality in the US, it has not yet realized its full potential. But that is not to say it has not happened anywhere. South Korea is a remarkable...

The SARS Virus is Going High-Tech

April 23, 2003
A new SARS-related computer virus might become troublesome for computer users. The virus sends itself to random e-mail addresses from users’ address books, and modifies the recipients’ Internet browsers to display WHO’s webpage describing SARS outbreak. Because it spreads via Windows e-mail programs by hiding in messages regarding SARS, the virus does not affect users of other operating systems....