Internet
DOES ENGLISH DOMINATE THE INTERNET?
At the Francophonie summit in West Africa, French President Jacques Chirac contended the info-highway imperils the French language and culture and warned that the English threat on the Internet applies to Arab nations, Russia, India, China and Japan. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien countered, however, that the French language "must make its own way or be left by the wayside." Microsoft CEO Bill Gates dismissed fears that the Internet will be dominated by English, emphasizing that pluralism is guaranteed by the nature of computer-information networks.
Advertising Age
LSI LOGIC'S "INTERNET ON A CHIP"
LSI Logic has developed a new computer chip it's calling "Internet on a chip," which combines a Silicon Graphics microprocessor with electronic circuitry for digital signal processing, high-speed communications modems, video and audio transmission and 3-D graphics. The company hopes its new $50 chip will be used as the brains for the so-called "$500 Internet device" that's recently been touted by Oracle and Sun Microsystems. "I think companies will be rolling out boxes in the third quarter, and they will be the Cabbage Patch Doll sensation of Christmas 1996," says LSI's executive VP for product strategy.
WEB Week
NRC CALLS FOR NEW BUDGETING PROCESS FOR R&D
The National Research Council released a report Nov. 29 calling for a single budget that combines all sources of federal funding for science and technology projects, saying such a change is necessary if the U.S. is to remain the world leader in R&D. "Such a process would allow trade-offs to be made across agencies, programs, and research institutions, freeing funds for new initiatives by reducing or ending projects that have become a lower priority or for which there are better alternatives," says the report. For starters, NRC calles for changes in accounting procedures: "Almost half (of the annual federal R&D budget) is spent on activities -- such as establishing production lines and developing operational systems for new aircraft and weapons systems -- that do not involve the creation of new knowledge or technologies." Eliminating funding for these activities would free up $35- to $40-billion a year for R&D.
NewMedia
INTUIT TO OFFER BANKING SERVICES OVER THE INTERNET
Financial software company Intuit, maker of Quicken, will offer banking over the Internet -- a shift from its previous strategy of using private networks to facilitate customer transactions with their banks. Microsoft is expected to announce a competing Internet banking strategy.