<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<div class="Section1" style1="">
<p align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">OPLIN 4cast #67 -
August 14, 2007</span></b></p>
<table align="center" bgcolor="#f5f5f5" border="0" cellpadding="5"
cellspacing="5" width="90%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p>The <em><b>OPLIN 4cast</b></em> is a weekly compilation of
recent headlines, topics, and trends that could impact public
libraries. You can subscribe to it in a variety of ways, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>RSS feed</strong>. You can receive the <em>OPLIN
4cast</em> via RSS feed by subscribing to the following URL: <a
href="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2">http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Live Bookmark</strong>. If you're using the <a
href="http://www.mozilla.com/" target="_blank">Firefox</a> web
browser, you can go to the <em>4cast</em> website (<a
href="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/">http://www.oplin.org/4cast/</a>)
and click on the orange "radio wave" icon on the right side of the
address bar. In <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/"
target="_blank">Internet Explorer 7</a>, click on the same icon to
view or subscribe to the <em>4cast</em> RSS feed. </li>
<li><strong>E-mail</strong>. You can have the <em>OPLIN 4cast</em>
delivered via e-mail (a'la OPLINlist and OPLINtech) by subscribing to
the <em>4cast</em> mailing list at <a
href="http://mail.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast">http://mail.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast</a>.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="style4">This week’s <em>4cast</em><b>:</b></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">1. <strong>Don't Be Afraid of the
Internet...</strong></span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>A new report from the <a href="http://nsba.org/" target="_blank">National
School Board Association</a>
finds that in spite of widespread fears about predators, porn, and
potty language, social networking websites are actually pretty safe for
children. Furthermore, teachers should be creating more educational
opportunities for students to use them.</p>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070808-study-fears-over-kids-online-safety-overblown.html"
target="_blank">Study: Fears over kids' online safety overblown</a>
(Ars Technica) </li>
<li><a
href="http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/08/07/schoolboards-net-dangers-over-rated-bring-social-networks-to-school/"
target="_blank">Schoolboards: net dangers over-rated; bring social
networks to school</a> (TECH.BLORGE) </li>
<li><a
href="http://blogs.ala.org/yalsa.php?title=teach_your_children&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1"
target="_blank">Teach Your Children</a> (YALSA)</li>
<li><a
href="http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2007/08/a_timely_report.html"
target="_blank">A Timely Report in Time for School</a> (Stephen's
Lighthouse) </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">2. <strong>... Unless You're Running
for Office </strong></span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>A U.S. Senate Committee recently approved the <a
href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-602"
target="_blank">Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007</a>, which would
require the development of <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-chip" target="_blank">V-chip</a>-like
filtering technology for the Internet, cell phones, and just about any
device that displays or relays electronic content.</p>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN0223366920070803"
target="_blank">It's super V-chip to the rescue of kids</a> (Reuters)</li>
<li><a
href="http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/senate-committe.html"
target="_blank">Senate Committee Votes to Expand TV Ratings Technology
To Internet</a> (Threat Level) </li>
<li><a href="http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001237.html"
target="_blank">"Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007" ("V-chip 2.0")</a>
(Infothought)</li>
<li><a
href="http://lisnews.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/10/1719205&from=rss"
target="_blank">Mr. Rogers (not <em>that</em> MisterRogers) Dirty
Neighborhood on the Web</a> (LISNews) </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">3. <strong>Anything You Can Do, I
Can Do More Privately </strong></span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>All
of the major search engines are aggressively engaged in a so-called
"privacy war" as they try to win over customers. According to a <a
href="http://www.cdt.org/privacy/20070808searchprivacy.pdf"
target="_blank">report by the Center for Democracy and Technology</a>
(PDF), each one has made recent, significant policy changes that allow
users to search the 'Net more anonymously.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135672-pg,1/article.html"
target="_blank">Study: Search Engine Privacy Policies Improving</a>
(PC World)</li>
<li><a
href="http://pressesc.com/news/97208082007/privacy-winning-search-engine-war"
target="_blank">Privacy winning search engine war</a> (Press Esc)</li>
<li><a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1029-6202068.html"
target="_blank">How search engines rate on privacy</a> (CNET)</li>
<li><a href="http://blog.hakia.com/?p=150" target="_blank">Privacy
and Alternatives</a> (hakia Blog)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">4.<strong> Woe is Broadband?</strong></span></p>
<blockquote>
<p>In
recent months, observers have begun to realize that when compared to
much of the industrialized world, broadband Internet access in the
United States is expensive, slow, and still unavailable to far too many
people. </p>
<ul>
<li><a
href="http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html"
target="_blank">The $200 Billion Rip-Off: Our broadband future was
stolen.</a> (I, Cringely. The Pulpit.)</li>
<li><a
href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070803-fcc-commissioner-us-playing-russian-roulette-with-broadband-and-internet.html"
target="_blank">FCC Commissioner: US playing "Russian roulette with
broadband and Internet"</a> (Ars Technica) </li>
<li><a
href="http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2007/08/broadband_comme.html"
target="_blank">Broadband Commentary from the Pew</a> (Stephen's
Lighthouse) </li>
<li><a
href="http://www.librarian.net/stax/2099/why-the-digital-divide-is-a-library-issue/"
target="_blank">why the digital divide is a library issue</a>
(librarian.net)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</div>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Joel Husenits
Managing Editor
Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN)
2323 W. 5th Avenue, Suite 130
Columbus, Ohio 43204
Phone: (614) 728-5252
Fax: (614) 728-5256
E-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:editor@oplin.org">editor@oplin.org</a>
Web: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.oplin.org">www.oplin.org</a></pre>
</body>
</html>