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Dear readers,
Most of us never heard of Claude
Shannon, which is a pity. Because Shannon,
who passed away last weekend at the age of 84, had an idea that
changed the world forever. The year was 1948. Shannon, a young Bell
Labs scientist, reached the startling conclusion that all
information could be expressed in binary format--as a series of 1s
and 0s. Though the technology of the day wasn't advanced enough to
take advantage of these findings, they eventually became the basis
for digital technologies as diverse as modems, magnetic storage, the
Internet, and satellite transmissions. Other impressive
contributions in mathematics and cryptography followed. Yet Shannon,
a distant relative of Thomas Edison, was perhaps best remembered
within the scientific community for his wacky inventions, such as
the rocket-powered Frisbee, and his freewheeling antics, such as
riding his unicycle through the halls while juggling. Consider this
an appreciation of a true original. Thank you, Claude Elwood
Shannon, for all you've given us.
--Steve Fox, editor in chief, CNET
Networks
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O
Brother, why is thy laser printer so fast?
Like
black-and-white TVs, monochrome laser printers are slowly being
edged out by color models. CNET tested the Hewlett-Packard Color
LaserJet 4550n and the Brother HL-2400CeN. Which kicked the most
butt? Find out in our review. In Hardware
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10
must-have PC reference books
Next time your PC
goes on the fritz, you need to build a Web site, or you want to
outfit your PC with all the latest components, make sure you have
these 10 books on hand. They could help you save time and money.
In Software
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Future
Tech: Hotels in space
Are you ready to book your
vacation to an orbiting hotel? One company hopes to reuse old space
shuttle fuel tanks to build large space stations for tourists.
Should we expect to see signs reading, "Gas, food, lodging, oxygen?"
In Electronics
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pcAnywhere
10
Just because you're on the road doesn't mean
you can't keep your office PC up-to-date. This remote control app
shares files with another machine while you're traveling or working
from home. Learn more in our review. In Internet
Multimedia
match: Director vs. Flash
Many developers don't
know the difference between Shockwave content and Flash movies.
David Emberton takes you through the fundamental benefits and
limitations of authoring with both Director and Flash. With our
handy decision maker, you can then pick the right product in less
than a minute. In Web Building
Top 10
highlights of an outer-space vacation
Ever dreamed of taking a vacation
in space? By 2004, you may just have a shot. The Space Island Group
is working on plans for a low-gravity, orbiting hotel,
fashioned primarily from discarded NASA space shuttle fuel tanks.
Vacationers would hitch a ride up on a shuttle, spend four or five
days lolling about in orbit, then head back to Mother Earth. Sounds
like fun, despite the $25,000 price tag. But aside from bragging
rights, what are the benefits of an out-of-this-world getaway? Glad
you asked:
| 1 |
Weightlessness
Just love that
all-you-can-eat buffet. |
| 2 |
Leave your mark
It sure is fun to slap a "Gravity Sucks"
bumper sticker on the back of the space
shuttle. |
| 3 |
Spy satellite
"Dude, there's my
car." |
| 4 |
Endless love
1,440 romantic
sunsets per day. |
| 5 |
Two words
Captain
Stubing. |
| 6 |
Three words
Floating Jell-O
shots. |
| 7 |
Packing light
Just a tube of
SPF 3,000 sunscreen and a vat of Crisco. |
| 8 |
Let it all out
In space, nobody
can hear you scream "I'm the king of the world" from the nose
cone of the space shuttle. |
| 9 |
Eat your heart out, Jack La
Lanne
Bench-press 20 tons in the Zero-g
Gym. |
| 10 |
Free souvenir T-shirt
"I went
on a vacation in space and all I got was this lousy
incremental bone
loss." | |
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