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DEAR ABBY: On a recent trip to Europe I learned firsthand the meaning of the term “ugly American,” which stems partly from the loud, obnoxious voices we sometimes use in public.

When Europeans are out in public they converse in low, modulated tones. They carry cell phones as we do, but rarely did I see Europeans use them, and never loudly. On trains, they walk out of the train car and answer their phones between the cars, so they won’t disturb other passengers. And only once did I see someone answer a cell phone in a restaurant.

For some reason, Americans seem to need to be constantly on their cell phones. It’s almost as if they have a compulsion to prove to those around them they are important or have friends. Well, they would gain far more friends if they turned off their phones and smiled or spoke quietly to the human seated next to them. — TRAVELER IN SAN DIEGO

DEAR TRAVELER: Here we go again on the subject of cell phone manners. People who plan to travel outside the country need to keep in mind that once we cross the border we become unofficial representatives of the U.S.A., and first impressions can have a lasting impact. That’s why it’s wise to ask a travel agent or read up on your destination before leaving to learn what the local customs are in the place you are visiting — and this applies not only to the use of cell phones, but also to how you dress and whether or not it’s appropriate to take photos.

DEAR ABBY: I am a student intern in a small laboratory. I like my job and get along with everyone who works here. However, there’s one woman I can almost never understand. She has an accent, does not articulate her words well and speaks in a low tone of voice.

When I say, “What?” or “Excuse me?” she will repeat what she said, but I still cannot hear her. I have resorted to just laughing when she laughs and trying to avoid her. Luckily, I don’t have to work directly with her very often, but I feel bad because I’m not as friendly to her as I am to everyone else. How should I handle this? — HUH? IN ORLANDO

DEAR HUH? Tell her the truth, that you need her to speak more clearly because you have difficulty understanding her. But do it privately so you won’t embarrass her.

DEAR ABBY: I have been dating an amazing girl, “Nina,” for two months, and have fallen madly in love with her. Although contemplating marriage at this point might seem presumptuous, I’m convinced that this is where we’re headed.

My concern is Nina’s mother, “Joan.” Although Joan is fully capable of working, she has chosen to “guilt” Nina into supporting her. She makes little or no financial contribution and works as little as possible. Nina is convinced that her mother is helpless, although Joan has never been diagnosed with a physical or psychological chronic illness.

I’m afraid that if I marry Nina, she will insist that we take care of her mother for the rest of her life. This would take a heavy toll on both the marriage and our finances. How can I make Nina recognize that my concern is valid without having her think I’m heartless? — THREE’S A CROWD IN NEW YORK

DEAR THREE’S A CROWD: A step in the right direction would be to have a long engagement, and insist that before you tie the knot you have premarital counseling to ensure the two of you are in agreement about what the marriage will involve.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more attractive person, order “How to Be Popular.” Send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds only) to: Dear Abby Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - It’s not just concern for the squeamish biology students who wince at the feel and smell of cutting into a formaldehyde-soaked animal.

Think about the frog. The pig. Or even the rat.

That’s what animal rights activists in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle had in mind when they donated interactive software that replicates a frog dissection to Wheeling Park High School.

Marilyn Grindley, a member of the Ohio County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said dissecting animals “desensitizes kids. It tells them that we do not have any respect for any animal.” She wants to end the practice.

Mandates in 14 states, including Virginia and Maryland, that allow biology students to opt out of dissection without jeopardizing their grades are fueling interest in virtual dissection as an alternative tool for teaching anatomy.

Grindley and fellow SPCA member Rebecca Goth say virtual dissection software such as the The Digital Frog, the version they donated, offers an alternative to students who find dissection repulsive, and can even save schools money.

But some educators, like Christopher Perillo, a science teacher in Kenosha, Wis., don’t buy it. He says nothing can duplicate the smell, feel and texture of cutting into a real frog.

“It’s not the same as the real thing,” Perillo said. “To actually cut through the tissue, see how the skin layers feel, the textures, the way the organs look inside the body, I think that can’t be duplicated.

“Its like trying to become a gardener without touching the dirt.”

West Virginia is not one of opt-out states for dissections. But now that biology is a required class in West Virginia, virtual dissection is becoming an attractive option to some educators there.

Patrick Durkin, science department chair at Wheeling Park High School, said the number of students enrolled in biology will increase to about 400 this fall. Before, about 150 students studied biology each year.

With a single pig costing upward of $25 and a frog around $6, the program has the potential to save the school some money, though not a lot. Wheeling Park spends about $1,000 a year on frogs alone, he said.

By comparison, digital dissection software can be purchased for less than $1,500 from numerous companies.

In addition to The Digital Frog, schools have plenty of software to choose from, including Froguts, developed by Froguts Inc. founders Richard Hill and David Hughes, and V-Frog, developed by Tactus Technologies.

Goth and Grindley worked through the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine, which negotiated with Digital Frog International in Ontario, Canada, for the SPCA to buy the software at a reduced price of about $500.

The committee has brokered similar deals for school systems in New York and California, said Dr. John Pippin, senior medical and research adviser for the nonprofit group that promotes alternatives to animal research.

Pippin said the move away from dissecting real animals mirrors what’s been happening on college campuses over the past 25 years. In 1982, 107 of 124 medical schools across the country used real animals to teach anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and surgery. Today, eight of 154 accredited medical schools still do.

Wheeling Park’s Durkin said it wasn’t saving cash or sparing the lives of animals that appealed to him. With plans to phase out the use of real frogs over the next couple of years, Durkin said the program will enable students to spend more time on dissection outside of class.

Using a digital scalpel, students make cuts on an image on a full-screen video. Animations and interactions also allow students to see how the body works — from blood pumping through the heart to building joints that move.

And unlike a real dissection, mistakes can be easily corrected and steps repeated to reinforce lessons.

While only those students who go on to medical school will likely ever work with human cadavers, Pippin said he doesn’t expect virtual software to ever replace medical schools’ use of human cadavers “unless we get to the point where cadavers are not available.”

“Hands-on experience with a human being burns in your brain all the things you need to learn … but it gives you a profound respect for human life,” he said. “When you kill an animal for a lab, you’re wasting a life, and that’s not a message you want students to learn.”

TUCSON, Ariz. - A spokeswoman for the Phoenix Mars Lander mission says a hacker took over the mission’s public Web site during the night and changed its lead news story.

Spokeswoman Sara Hammond says a mission update posted Friday was replaced with a hacker’s signature and a link redirecting visitors to an overseas Web site.

Hammond says the site hosted by the University of Arizona has been taken off line while computer experts work to correct the problem.

The Mars Lander vehicle touched down on the Red Planet last Sunday to search for traces of organic compounds that are the basic building blocks of life.

___

On the Net:

Phoenix Mars: http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/

MONTREAL (AFP) - Students at the University of Ottawa have filed an official complaint against Facebook, accusing the social networking website of violating Canada's privacy laws, Radio-Canada reported Saturday.

In a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the students said the popular US-based site sends users' personal information to third parties for advertising and marketing activities without the users' knowledge or consent, according to the report on the public broadcaster.

The students, many of whom are dedicated Facebook users, filed the complaint after studying the company's policies and business practices in their university course, Radio-Canada reported.

Launched in 2004 and now claiming 70 million active users worldwide, including seven million in Canada, Facebook is the globe's second most popular networking site after MySpace.

A spokesperson for the privacy commissioner, who is responsible for monitoring compliance with Canadian privacy laws and investigating complaints of possible violations, was not immediately available for comment.

While notebooks with embedded wireless broadband capability aren't yet ready for everyone, organizations should consider buying them for moderate to extensive travelers in 2009.

The recommendation is a change for the analyst firm, which had said that up-front purchase costs, monthly subscription fees to wireless operators, and the expense of asset protection made it difficult to justify the use of the service in notebooks. However, new pricing plans and better technology prompted Gartner to revise its position.

“Our standing recommendation against embedding wireless WAN (WWAN) cards in notebooks — except for applications with a clear return-on-investment justification — has been based on lack of global coverage, high costs, and poor asset protection,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said in a statement released Thursday. “However, new technologies and pricing due by the end of 2008 have the potential to eliminate the problems of embedded, wireless 3G notebook purchases.”

Historically, average service costs of $600 a year were difficult to justify, given that an embedded wireless wide area network card could become obsolete within two years inside a notebook with a three-year expected life, Gartner said. In addition, roaming charges could drive service costs even higher, if an alternative carrier was even available.

This year, however, new notebook chipsets provide nearly universal geographic coverage and asset protection by promising a three-year useful life, Gartner said. At the same time, carriers are starting to go beyond two-year contracts to include daily and monthly rates, as well as programs that let international travelers use local rates on pay-per-day plans.

Another concern with embedded wireless broadband that's due to be removed is carrier lock-in. “With the new chipsets supporting an array of wireless frequencies and technologies, movement among carriers is limited by the contract terms negotiated by the buyer,” Gartner analyst Leslie Fiering said. “This means that buyers no longer have to be locked into one carrier during the life of the notebook, which was the case in the past.”

With all the expected changes, 3G, or third generation, cellular networks will become superior from a cost perspective to alternatives, such as Wi-Fi hotspots and hotel-provided broadband connections, Gartner said.

See original article on InformationWeek.com

NEW YORK - DISH Network and EchoStar said Friday they had filed a lawsuit against TiVo and asked a Delaware court to find that their new DVR software does not infringe a TiVo patent.

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals said DISH, a satellite television provider, had infringed a TiVo patent in building digital video recorders, and upheld a lower court's damage award against DISH of $74 million plus interest.

The appeals court in April denied DISH's request for judges to rehear arguments related to the patent dispute.

DISH was formerly known as EchoStar Communications. It recently spun off its technology assets, including its set-top box division, to create EchoStar.

TiVo said it could not comment as it had not seen the filing, but added it was confident in the outcome.

TiVo shares closed up 1.1% at $8.41, while EchoStar shares fell 1.2% and DISH shares fell 0.9%. (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Braden Reddall)

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See original article on InformationWeek.com

Research in Motion sold the most smartphones in the United States for the first quarter of 2008, more than doubling the nearest competitor's market share, an IDC report found.

The report found RIM grabbed 44.5% of the market for the first three months of 2008, up from 35.1% in the previous quarter.

RIM has successfully been able to broaden the appeal of the BlackBerry to more than just professionals, said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas. With new consumer-friendly devices like the BlackBerry Thunder and the BlackBerry Bold, RIM is well-positioned to be a strong presence in the “prosumer” segment.

Apple's iPhone came in second place with 19.2% of the market in the first quarter, a drop from 26.7% the quarter before.

One reason may be that the fourth quarter included the holiday shopping season. More recently, consumers may be wary of purchasing an iPhone when there's reportedly a 3G version right around the corner (although, there's a report of a delay).

Palm found itself in third place with 13.4% of sales, up from 7.9% in the fourth quarter. One key factor was the release of the Centro in February, IDC said.

Samsung was in the fourth slot, with 8.6% of the market, up from 5.1% the previous quarter.

Things weren't as positive for Motorola or High Tech Computer. Continuing on a downward trend, Motorola dropped from 7.5% share in the first quarter to 2.6% in the first. HTC's share fell to 4.1% from 7.9% in the previous quarter, the report found.

IDC did not reveal the total number of smartphones sold in either quarter.

See original article on InformationWeek.com