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Net Gains (Jun 23, 98) |
As it is, there's never a dull moment on the Internet, but last
week was extra hyperactive, both nationally and internationally.
On the home front, our dear Mr. Syngal, CMD of VSNL, who's tenure
ends on June 30, went ballistic in an exclusive interview with
Rediff On The Net (http://www.rediff.com/computer/1998/jun/17syngal.htm).
Besides his explosive statements, there are excerpts from a report
by the reputed global head-hunting firm Heidrick & Struggles
about Mr. Syngal. Very, very captivating reading … Had this
been the US, Jay Leno would have verbally taken the pants off
the people in this controversy, just as he regularly does with
Bill Clinton.
Last week, Leno poked fun at the US President in connection with
another Net event that made headlines all over the world - the
Netcast of a childbirth. While what he said is unprintable, the
first online delivery can be written about. A 40-year-old Florida
woman gave birth to a boy last Tuesday in what was billed as the
first-ever live birth on the Internet before an estimated audience
of 2 million people. Well, unknown to Sean (the bonny boy's name),
people all around the world have seen his mother give him birth
thanks to the technology and reach of the Internet. To manage
the traffic, America's Health Network site (http://www.ahn.com)
moved most of its content to another server. The event is archived
at the site, so do take some time out to discover more about this
history creating event.
It's nice to occasionally see the progress other countries are
making and see where we stand. In what will be a fantasy come
true a few months from now, 1,000 Internet-ready, multimedia pay
phones will be deployed across Britain. These pay phones will
be sleek and feature sophisticated MMX multimedia processors,
offering a high-speed ISDN connection to the British Telecom network.
The flat panel, touch-screen pay phones will have a handset, printer,
and smart card capability to allow access to multimedia services
such as street maps, news, weather, sports, stock reports, hotel
bookings, theatre reservations, and other services such as email.
That's taking the Internet to junta - something we won't
be able to talk about for a long time to come if status quo is
maintained on the Internet front here.
With Father's Day atmosphere in the air, the Net had plenty of
excellent Father's Day cards to offer - both electronic and traditional
cards. From those that I came across online, one stood out. Written
on the cover : "Happy Father's Day to my husband, the head
of the house!". The text inside said, "With lots of
love from the C.E.O., Chairman of the Board, President and Manager
of the House."
And finally, for those of you who haven't participated in the
5 second online poll as yet, time is running out. Log onto my website
and share your opinion before the 26th, and get freebie
links by the end of the month.