Front lines

Whiie those of us in the U.S.A. battle Y2K misintormation, exaggeration, and paranoia, the British government has taken the sensible path: issuing an instruction booklet to every household in the country, Action 2000, the government group created to dole out advice on how to combat the millennium bug, has sent 26 million homes a copy of "What Everyone Should Know About the Millennium Bug," One thing they should know. according to Action 2000: The U.K,'s key services (transportation, emergency services, telecommunicatons utilities, food, and cash supply) have all been assessed as ready for the date change.

Oscar the Grouch should have patented the talking trash can, Instead, Atlanta-based WasteCare has muscled n on Oscar's territory with the deveiopment of the Smart-Pack, an automatic compacting trash receptacle It's got the same capacity as 10 33-gallon trash bags, yet it requires much less space than conventional trash bins, and saves money in reducing waste hauling and labor. Plus: its messaging capabilities offer an additional advertising venue, presenting computerized sound bytes to customers.

When Marc Andreessen makes a move, it's worth paying allenton, and now the cofounder of Netscape Communications has announced the formation of a new company called Loudcloud. The firm will deliver technology and services hgh-growth Internet companies need "New companies are being formed at a faster rate than ever, due to the enormous business opportunities created by the Internet and the massive influx of venture capital investment, At the same time. internet sites themselves are becoming incredibly sophisticated and complex, and every company is under Intense pressure to move as fast as possible to address increasing competitive challenges."

Those who thought synergy between phones and traveling culminated in the ab lity to place calls from aircraf in-flight must have been impressed by recent announcements from Motorola and Sprint, each of whom announced plans to offer travel information and services over wireless phones, Motorola parTnered wih on-line travel reservation system WORLDSPAN, and Sprint PCS teamed with GetThere.com, a provider an Internet-based travel solutions primarily for bus nesses and travel suppliers

As it's not enough to fix the roof and turn the basement into a rec room now you're probably going to feel pressure to begin "digital remodeling" in your home. That's according to the Yankee Group, which predicts that as many as 10 mil ion U S. homes will undergo digital remodeling by 2003 ushering in the era of the networked home. The increasing adoption of home networking technology and high-speed broadband Internet access services will spur the desire for homes that are able to realize the benefits of new applications and content.

Lucent has signed an agreement with Brazil's Embratel, the country's long-distance carrier, to build the first nationwide highspeed advanced multiservice data network It will allow Embratel to offer its customers next-generation high-speed services and respond to a demand that is "exploding" in Brazil, according to Guilherme Ceotto Metello, director of network services at the company.

A few years ago Microsoft made a quick shift in business strategy to focus on Internetrelated opportunities. Expect the software behemoth to make a smaller, but no less crucial, redirection of its efforts toward the wireless market Microsoft doesn't want to get left behind in the craze to make things smarter, and its plans go beyond powering handheld gadgets, according to a recent Reuters interview with Jonathan Roberts, general manager for market development of Windows CE. "We are taking our core business... and making sure that wireless is a built-in part," he said,

And for those who like their technology news at the micro level IBM researchers have developed the first hybrid organc-inorganic transistors, Meaning, get excited, because this creates the possibility of inexpensive flexible or curved displays on plastic, glass, and other materials. You might told or rail up that electronic newspaper the same way you would a regular paper without getting newsprint all over your hands, The new materials combine the useful electrical properties of the inorganic materials commonly used in many transistors with the easier handling of organic materials, This development, of course coincides with the increasing demand for inexpensive pervasive computing devices.