NewsScan Daily, 15 September 2003 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 15 September 2003 ("Above The Fold")
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NewsScan Daily is underwritten by RLG, a world-class organization
making significant and sustained contributions to the effective
management and appropriate use of information technology. NSD is
written by John Gehl and Suzanne Douglas, editors <at> NewsScan.com.
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        IBM Lays Out Plan for Intelligent Bricks
        E-Books Take a Hit, But Don't Count Them Out
        Microsoft and Motorola Cellphone Deal
        Anti-spam Effort Would Pay Spammers to Stop
        Sharpton Calls Internet Voting a 'High-Tech Poll Tax'
        Signs of Tech Recovery?

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Percival Lowell

IBM LAYS OUT PLAN FOR INTELLIGENT BRICKS
Researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center are proposing a new type of 
computer configuration -- one that involves Lego-like stacking of so-called 
Collective Intelligent Bricks to build a customized data storage center. 
The bricks are really cubes with edges measuring 20cm and inside each brick 
are 12 disk drives, each of which can store 80 gigabytes of data. The 
bricks house a processor to run the disks and a chip that enables the 
connectors on the outside of the brick to link to other bricks for data 
exchange. The transmission rate between connectors is now relatively slow 
-- 3 gigabits per second -- but lead scientist Jai Menon is hoping to boost