Step by Step 2000 第三册 Unit 7 Communications (I)

Unit 7 Communications (I)

Part I Warming up

A.

Tapescript:

1. And British papers report the latest trend when you meet someone in a bar is to get their number, go home, and google them. Yes that gorgeous girl or guy you met the other night is probably patrolling a search engine right now to check you out. So don't even think of trying to tell them you're a famous footballer or brain surgeon or television presenter.

2. The jamming, earlier this month, of several popular Internet sites with a flood of crippling messages sent a wakeup call to those involved with electronic or e-commerce. One recent suggestion is to form an industry-wide group to share information about security issues. High-tech executives want to make a coordinated effort to ensure that the Internet becomes a safe place to conduct business.

3. Now home to some 800 million pages--a figure that's doubling each year- searching the Internet can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But Oslo-based Fast Search& Transfer (FAST) has developed a search engine (www. alltheweb, com) capable of scanning more than 200 million pages. FAST is working on a mega-search engine that searches "all the web, all the time."

4. This week, the Intel corporation held its semi-annual Developer Forum in Palm Springs, California. The gathering draws more than 2,000 hardware and software developers from around the world. Intel executives opened the event with a demonstration of a high-speed chip, code-named "Williamette." The chip, designed to power personal computers, has a speed of one point five gigahertz, making it almost twice as fast as Intel's popular Pentium III chip which runs at 800 megahertz.

5. An online VCR seems like a bright idea but it's been quickly rendered non-functional by the copyright lawyers. Not for the first time, the Hollywood studios objected to re-transmitting network television shows, in this case for users to watch via the web. Programs were being made available for visitors to save remotely or record for subsequent viewing via Windows Media Player.

B.

National Geographic:

n Helping choose the magazine's cover

n Interviewing the photographers

n Showing more pictures

n Providing zip U. S. A.

Hunger Site:

n Helping alleviate world hunger

n Donating contributions to the United Nations World Food Program each time an individual logs on to the site

n Total value of distributed food: approximately $400,000

Ask Jeeves Site:

n Asking questions in simple English

n Getting direct answers

n Starting year: 1997

n Questions dealt with so far: more than 150 million

Tapescript:

1. National Geographic, the magazine, has redesigned its website with some new features. Among them, an opportunity for readers to help choose the magazine's cover, interviews with National Geographic photographers, and lots and lots of pictures. More pictures in fact than there was room for in the print version. There's also Zip U. S. A., the feature you can find both online and in print. It's a focused look at one zip code in the U. S.

2. Now, there's a website created to help alleviate world hunger called the Hunger Site. Contributions, generated when computer users visit the site on the Worldwide Web, are donated to the United Nations World Food Program. "The beauty of the site is that when the web surfer clicks on, they don't pay a penny." This is Abby Spring, a World Food Program official. She says that funds to purchase the food come from corporate donors who make a financial contribution each time an individual logs on to Hungersite -- that's one word -- dot com. Abby spring says that so far, thanks to Hungersite dot com, the World Food Program has been able to distribute food valued at approximately $400,000.

3. The Ask Jeeves Site on the Internet is one of the most useful Internet sites for asking questions in simple English and getting direct answers. Ask most search engines a question these days and they will return a result which gives thousands of pages for you to search. The Ask Jeeves Site gives you half a dozen where you can find the exact answer. The Ask Jeeves Site owners say they have dealt with more than 150 million questions since Ask Jeeves was set up in 1997. Just this month, people were asking Jeeves the following questions: What are the latest scores for baseball? What is the address of the website for Coca-Cola? Where can I find a list of airfare travel bargains? Tell me the names of the top 20 universities and colleges in the U.S.

Part II The Internet

A.

1. Technology is moving from the desktop into our everyday life.

2. The Internet is the world's largest experimenting anarchy.

3. Some languages will disappear.

4. Economies are changing.

Tapescript:

A -- Anchor P -- Ned Potter S -- Specialist

A. We're gonna take a closer look tonight again at the future of the Internet. Not that we have anything but the vaguest idea where it's going in the long run. One of the truly fascinating and somewhat unsettling aspects of the Internet revolution is how many technologists and scientists say that the future may hold any number of surprises. So we're going to inch our way into the future.

P. At the Internet World Trade Show in New York, they see a future when the web is everywhere.

S1. Technology is moving from the desktop into our everyday life.

P. Imagine work, society, economics, relationships, all transformed, when anyone, anytime can get any message or knowledge or amusement they want, anywhere on the planet without so much as a wire.

S2. In many ways, the Internet is the world's largest experimenting anarchy, because all of a sudden, the citizens of the world are in charge, and no single government or governing body is in charge of what they do.

P. Keep in mind that the web, transmitting by satellites, cell phone, cable, goes through no one central location that anyone controls. So many of the boundaries that exist today, political and economic, will be strained as never before. Some scientists say three quarters of the world's languages will disappear as the net connects isolated places. Already English is what you find on most web pages, blending cultures, no matter how much people try to save them. Economies are changing too. As distance becomes meaningless, white-collar clerical, accounting or administrative jobs are being exported to Asia, just as blue-collar factory jobs were years ago.

S3: Imagine, there are 40 or 50 million Indians, not to mention the Chinese, who could deliver office work to the rich countries of the world for two dollars an hour.

P. So this massive web of information is both an asset and a threat, changing cultures, economies, governments, in ways no one can imagine or control.

B.

1. How many people use the Internet in the U. S. ? And what are the first three uses?

100 million, increasing daily by tens of thousands / email, chat, e-commerce

2. Are there people who are spending too much time online?

6% compulsively / millions / 6 - 9 hours a day

3. Have you seen anything like this before?

A new way / addiction

4. Can Internet shopping go too far?

Keep doing it / compulsive pattern

5. What's compelling about the Net?

Feeling closer/more quickly/time passes freely/anonymity/no end

6. How do people know when they've gone too far?

Alter mood on regular basis? / Interfering with life?

7. Is there a personality type that is more prone to compulsive use?

Don't know / tend to be younger / more addiction among people in technical field

8. What should people do if they use the Internet compulsively?

Limit amount of time / write down specific task / clock / limit access / monitor / beef up real-time relationships / go to store / log off

Tapescript.

I -- Interviewer G -- Dr David Greenfield

I: How many people use the Internet?

G: Close to 100 million in the United States. And that's increasing daily by tens of thousands. Email and chat are by far the No. 1 and No. 2 uses. E-commerce sites come in third.

I: Are there people who are spending too much time online?

G: Based on my research, about 6 percent of people online are using the Internet compulsively. Even if we've overestimated, we're talking millions. It's not that they just stay on for two hours. I'm talking about people losing jobs, having marital problems, experiencing a very significant negative impact on their lives. The average among the most compulsive group was upward of six to nine hours online a day.

I: Have you ever seen anything like this before?

G. This isn't a new disease. It's a new way of expressing the same disease: addiction. People get addicted to lots of things that are pleasurable and intense. The Internet gives you that hit, a temporary high feeling, just like exercise or drugs.

I. Can Internet shopping go too far?

G: All addictions are the same, regardless of the stimulus. You shop because you get a high. The problem is, it's so short-lived that you have to keep doing it. And that's where it can become a compulsive pattern.

I: What's compelling about the Net?

G: We don't know for sure. But people feel closer, more quickly to the people they communicate with online than in real life; time passes freely, and people like the anonymity. With every other communication medium- newspapers, magazines, TV shows --there is a beginning and an end. But online, there is always another link, another banner, another person to answer that question.

I: So how do people know when they've gone too far?

G: There are two things to ask. Are they using the Internet to alter their mood on a regular basis? And, is it interfering with their life in any way?

I. Is there a personality type that is more prone to compulsive use?

G: I don't know if Internet addicts are different from drug addicts or gambling addicts. We do know that they tend to be younger and there is a slightly higher incidence of addiction among people in the technical field.

I: What should people do if they use the Internet compulsively?

G: One solution is to limit the amount of time they spend online. Have a specific task you are going to do and write that down. Put a clock next to the screen so you can keep track of time. If you find yourself getting over-stimulated by some site, limit your access to it. Ask someone to monitor your use or put the computer in the family room or the living room, where other people can see you. Try to beef up your realtime relationships to compete with your cyberfriendships. If you're shopping too much, go to a store instead. If you can't control your use, you might have to just log off.

Part III Digital McLuhan

Summary:

Marshall McLuhan, a communications expert from Canada, never touched a personal computer. But his research on the media and their effect on people and society remains relevant today. He was the first thinker to really look at television as something that had a serious impact upon our society. Although he was writing about television, an enormous amount of what he said has even more applicability to the Internet age. He said that television was turning the world into a global village. And the notion of village becomes much more meaningful and real in our digital age. He saw a time when everyone would be a publisher with the help of the Xerox machine, and now the web is even expanding and amplifying that.

Tapescript.

I Interviewer L -- Paul Levinson

Marshall McLuhan, a communications expert from Canada, never touched a personal computer. He died in 1979. But his research on the media and their effect on people and society remains relevant today. Paul Levinson, an American high-tech expert knew Professor McLuhan, and discusses his impact in a volume entitled Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information Millennium.

I. Mr. Levinson, why is Marshall McLuhan such an important figure?

L. Well, he did his writing in the 1950s,1960s and 1970s. And those decades, of course, were the first years of television. And he was the first thinker to really look at television as something that had a serious impact upon our society. Interestingly, although he was writing about television, an enormous amount of what he said has even more applicability to the Internet age. For example, he said that television was turning the world into a global village. What he meant by that is when everyone watches the same thing on the television screen, that group that's watching that television program is a community of sorts. It's like the people in a village all hearing and seeing the same thing. In contrast, now in the 1990s, as we move into the new millennium, when people communicate on the web, and through the Internet, they are not only doing and hearing and seeing the same thing, they are also participating, communicating among each other. And so, the notion of village becomes much more meaningful and real in our digital age.

I. TV was a... or is a one-way medium, whereas the Internet is a ... is two-way.

L.. That's right. There is a crucial difference right there. Most media in the 20th century, in fact all the major media of the 20th century radio, motion pictures, television --were and are like newspapers and books, one-way media. The telephone, which of course was invented in 1876, is a two-way medium. But, it's a two-way personal medium. There is nothing public, or there shouldn't be much public about a telephone conversation. What makes the Internet so different is that it is public but it is also interactive and two-way.

I. Marshall McLuhan saw a time when everyone would be a publisher. He was referring to the Xerox machine, the copying machine. Today, we have the Internet which makes everybody an editor, and ... or makes everybody a publisher but not an editor. Isn't this a problem when everybody is a publisher but there is no editor around?

L. The traditional value of the editor is to, in some way, stipulate and vouch for the quality of the publication of the production. So yes, there is a concern that when anyone can put anything on a web page, you know, there is no safeguard for the quality. But, on the other hand, and there is always another hand, I think the reason why McLuhan celebrated first the Xerox, allowing every author to be a publisher, and why I'm now so pleased that the web is even expanding and amplifying that, is ... there is also the danger of editors keeping out of the mix things that are good. What the web does is it removes the middle man and allows the creator to communicate directly with his or her audience and on balance I think that's a good thing. There will be more drivel available. But, there'll also be more gems that would otherwise be hidden from public view.

Part IV Beware hackers!

1. 75%

2. Juveniles, usually in their late teens to early twenties

3. They do it as a challenge.

4. A former hacker, now a security consultant

5. To fight the holes in the firewall -- the protection device between different security systems

6. Because they can bring expertise that only hackers understand, a holistic perception of computer systems

7. Because they are so in-depth within a system.

8. 90% or 95% effectiveness is better than not having anything at all.

9. A good security policy will protect you from an employment level up to a system administration level.

Tapescript:

H -- Holmes T -- Teresa B -- Bevan

H: Let's talk about how widespread the problem is. Many people think the number of companies or government agencies whose security is breached is small. Is that the case or not?

T: No, I think anybody who has information online ... it's gonna be a huge concern for anybody. Mostly because if you've got information on these websites, anybody can actually get into them. The thing that you need to know is how to be careful. It's kind of like think of it as a security system in a building, let's say. If you have a security guard in the front, you're protected in that area. You need to do that all around the entire circle, let's say, to make sure that your entire information on these websites is completely protected.

H: I ... I read a statistic that said that something like 75 percent of companies online have been hacked, whether they know it or not. Is... is that ... That's huge.

T: That is huge. And, in fact, it can be minor to major. Most of them are usually on the minor scale -- that being, some information getting in. And at this point in time, a lot of experts are saying that the hackers that are going into these sites are juveniles, usually in their late teens to early twenties. And most times, they're really just doing things as a challenge, as a way to get in, because it's something that they can do.

H: Now, Mathew Bevan, who's a ... who's a former hacker, who became a security consultant. Now ... now, tell us about that. This happens a lot?

T: This ... right now, this is happening a lot. Mostly because these hackers that are young, juvenile children, or teens, as we have said, really know the industry. They know the computer so well, even more so than a lot of the security, you know, computer systems that are already in place. They've really become kind of an asset, or they could be a consultant, as ... as Mathew is, because they really know how they've got into them. And these are the people that a lot of corporations can actually use, because what they're doing is they're fighting the holes in the firewalls which are the protection device between the different security systems -and they're really kinda getting into the loopholes or the niches there. By doing that this is great information that companies can use, because they may know, "Okay, that ... part of that ... our website is not, you know, protected."

H. You were a hacker. And how important is that for you in your current job, which is as a consultant for companies who fear hackers?

B. Well, in my current job, what I can do is bring expertise that perhaps only hackers will actually understand. It's kind of a perception of computer systems, sort of a holistic overview. And sometimes you get people who come from perhaps a sales background, and they move into IT in a company, or, you know, they.., they may just be programmers... turned security experts. I'm not diminishing the expertise that they have, but sometimes there are very tiny things that they can overlook, just because they're so in-depth within a system.

H: So, on that same issue then, are you often surprised when you go in and speak with the companies? Are you surprised at how little some of them know about the dangers?

B: Quite horrified. Just recently when I was out in Singapore, there was a ... a company which had just been hacked. Their website had been changed -- mentioning no names -- but they told me that they weren't going to install a firewall because they didn't work. And I thought, well, at least something like a 90- 95 percent effectiveness of keeping people out surely is better than not having anything in there. I tried my best to explain to them, but sometimes these words fall on deaf ears.

H. The question is, what is the best way to convince non-technical managers of the importance to invest in effective information security technologies?

B: One of the good ways that you can do is, obviously, what people do is show them statistics. Now people get blinded by statistics, and they can be manipulated to a certain advantage. However, just show people maybe a trawl around the Internet: show them some of the hacker sites, some of the security sites which are available. Show them exactly the information that you can find and how it's pertinent to your own company. Security management isn't just about what hardware and software you have installed. It's all about policy management as well. If you have a good security policy covering all aspects of your company, then this will protect you from employment level up to, obviously, a system administration level.

Questions:

1. How many companies online have been hacked?

2. Who are the hackers usually?

3. Why do they want to be hackers?

4. Who is Mathew Bevan?

5. What do the hackers do actually?

6. Why would companies employ hackers to be their security consultants?

7. Why can't programmers be good security consultants?

8. Why is it still necessary to install a firewall though it may not always work?

9. Why is policy management so important to security management?