Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1997)
■k «r • / f a ' • 4L» • ■ P age B5 T he P ortland O bserver • A prii 2, 1997 TECHNOLOGY The filthy world called Cyberspace Every few days, it seem s, telev i sion new scasts and new spapers carry reports o f u n sp eak ab le acts c o n ducted o ver the Internet. Pedophiles and m aybe even prisoners trade por nography and tips on kidnapping, w hile trying to seduce children in electronic chat-room s. Right-w ing lunatics post recipes for explosives and rouse their m em bers with para noid visions o f im m ense conspira cies that only they can overthrow . E arlierth isy ear, the United States P aro leC o m m ission, alarm ed at the flotsam sifted from the data gu r gling through the fiber optical pipes, added a new item to the list o f things federal parolees can be kept from doing: ow ning firearm s, drinking to excess, consorting w ith crim inals, and now , using a com puter to access the Internet. T h e h o rro r s to rie s a b o u t th e crim es m ade possible by this p o w er fu lly a n a rc h ic te c h n o lo g y p ale ag ain st the new s last w eek that a cult o f S ou,hern C alifornia co m puter enthusiasts, w ho supported them selves m aking W eb pages for businesses, com m itted mass suicide in preparation for a science-fiction version o f the R apture, in w hich they w ould be beam ed aboard a IJFO hiding behind the H ale-B opp com et. T aking phenobarbital like C o m m union w afers, and follow ing the drug w ith vodka chasers, they rested, sh ro u d ed in p u rp le, and quietly aw aited the ultim ate trip. A nyone w ho spends m uch tim e random ly w andering the W eb may have found their delusion eerily fa m iliar. For m onths rum ors about the U FO and the com et have festered in Diversity discussion groups and on W eb pages all over the N et, sharing space with speculation about military plots to blow up TW A Flight 800 and the federal building in O klahom a City, or to destroy Z airians with Ebola virus engineered in governm ent labs. The com puter cult, with the sappy nam e H eav en 's G ate, added to the group hallucination, using its own W eb site to spread an ideology that com bined C hristianity and gnosti cism with scenarios that could have com e from w atching too m any X- F ile s re ru n s w h ile re a d in g the W eekly W orld N ew s. But the weirdest thing about their cut-and-paste religion w as that it w asn’t really so w eird at all — at least not on the Internet, where one can leaf through digitally "enhanced” photos show ing pyram ids on Mars and a second Sphinx linked, through some ethereal connection probably involv ing resonating crystals, with the monu- in e n tso f Egyptfw hich may have been built with the help o f enlightened extraterrestrials). N ev er m ind th a t m ost o f the Internet's acreage has been staked and furrow ed for such respectable activities as collab o ratin g on the H um an G enom e Project or trading recipes for G erm an chocolate cake. Real or im agined, such feelings are ripe for political exploitation. This becam e clear when Congress debated and hastily passed the C om m unications D ecency Act o f 1996, w hich m akes it a crim e to leave indecent m aterial out on the Net w here children can find it. Earlier this m onth, the Clinton A dm inistration the very same A dm instration that prom ised to put every child on line — w ent before the S uprem e C ourt to defend the act, w hich was held unconstitutional by low er courts. A law yer for the adm inistration described the Internet as "a rev o lu tionary m eans for displaying sex u ally explicit, patently offensive m a tional killing night after night m ight help create a clim ate in w hich vio lence is m ore likely to occur. The effect is nonlinear, like the rever- berative how l arising from a m icro phone held too c lose to a loudspeaker Som ehow the slick design o f Web pages so easily accom plished with a few dabs o f Java and a cursory tt From listening to some people’s fears, one would think that Internet bandwidth had increased to the point where a distant evil hacker could download your mind. terial to children in the privacy o f their ow n hom es,” o f giving “every child a free pass to every adult b o o k store and video sto re.” In the m eantim e, the H eav en 's G ate suicides can only am plify fears that, in som e quarters, may be al ready bordering on hysteria. The Internet, it seem s, m ight be used to lure children not only to shopping m alls, w here som e sicko aw aits, but into jo in in g UFO cults. Front listening to som e p eo p le's fears, one w ould think that Internet bandw idth had increased to the point w here a distant evil hacker could dow nload your mind. A country w here m urder is fright eningly com m on naturally gives rise to TV dram as about violence. And exposing m illions o f m inds to Fic- Call (503) 288-0033 To Advertise In (Elie JJovtlanb © b scru cr Community! know ledge o f the com puter language called H TM L adds credence to outlandish ideas. In late February, w hen a N obel prize-w inning scientist. Dr. Daniel C arleton G ajdusek, pleaded guilty to a charge o f child m olestation, new s accounts zeroed in on the fact that he w as snared in a federal inves tigation o f child pornography on the Internet. G ajdusek d id n ’t meet the boy he adm itted m olesting in a cyberspace chat-room But investigators appar ently becam e suspicious o f the sci entist after they noticed Internet p ed o p h iles d isc u ssin g jo u r n a l s - published by the N ational I n s t i - tutes o f H e a lth -in w hich he m en tio n e d h is s e x u a l e n c o u n te r s w ithboys in M icronesia. Slight as the Internet connection really w as, it seemed to add to the seediness o f the situation one more shred in an accum ulating pile o f evidence that there are netw orks o f people lurking out there with alien values, and that anyone, any age, m ight stum ble onto them with a m ouse click. As early as 1975, the leaders o f H eaven's G ate. Bo and Peep, w ere recruiting lost souls. And back then. Yourself Intel. Opportunities at Intel in Oregon The future at FSI is limited only by imagination, join us, and help fulfill itl Operations Engineering Senior Mechanical Engineer Technicians Structural, thermal, mechanisms and optom echanical analysis, optical and electronics packaging, tooling design, solids modeling. test and calibrate analog and digital electronic systems to component level. Electrical Engineer(s) - 2 Product Enhancement Procurement tor majority of capital and maior service Sr. Supplier Business Manager items for FSI. Optical Technician(s) - 2 Fabrication, assembly and Inspection of orectslon optics by performing grinding, blocking and polshlng operations. Sr. Electrical Engineer Analog and Interconnects Optics Engineer Apply analog circuits used In IR detector subsystems from the layout, manufacturability, noise. EMI and agency approval perspective wh<le providing knowledge In all aspects of battery technology. Design of mid-wave and long-wave IR lens systems and assessment of lens-detector suitability. Sr. Electrical Engineer(s) 2 Digital Determination and specification of test equipment, operation methods, process sequences and toolng requirements, working with new product design teams In optimizing of new product designs tor manufacturabllty. Manufacturing Engineer Supporting conceptual design of visual and IR Imaging systems through design specifications, system build and integration, test HW and requirements for test SW. Supplier Quality Engineer Product Architect - Embedded Qualftcatlon and maintenance of materials supplers based upon process controls and capabilities of vendor bare board processes and fabrication. System level design of em bedded microprocessor Imaging systems Including functional and design specifications, trade off analysis, definition of product architecture and Interface control. Production Planner Respond to forecasts, sales order and service dem and by interpreting master schedule and converting Into dem and (or production and materials requirements. Sr. Embedded SW Engineer - DSP Embedded SW Engineer Developing em bedded software for IR Imaging systems in new product team. their origins at Intel. Software Engineer(s) 2 - Windows We’re looking for talented professionals to join us in the following areas. 1C Engineering IC Manufacturing Hardware Systems Engineering Hardware Systems Manufacturing Software Engineering Information Technology Intel offers excellent salaries and benefits that include employee profit sharing, stock ownership plans, tuition reimbursement and periodic paid sabbaticals. Join Intel in Oregon. If you'd like to join our team in Oregon, please e-mail your ASCII text resume to. jobs» intel.com. referencing Dept. 0262. You may also mail your letter quality resume to our central electronic resume processing center: Intel C orporation, Oregon Opportunities, Staffing Dept. 0262, P.O. Box 1141, Folsom, C A 95763-1141. For more information about these and other opportunities with Technical Marketing Engineer Pre and Post sales support through technical applcation Information, guidance and solution evaluation. Promoting the company and its product technology through published articles, presentations, multimedia materials. Software Architect - Windows Product research, planning, architecture and design of PC based machine vision systems. Field Service Engineer Systems Analysis Engineer - SW Acting as part of cross functional team to write functional speclflcations/perform system performance frode off analysis. Product Validation Engineer Working with project engineering personnel to develop system validation plans with an emphasis on mechanical and electrical designs. Troubleshoot and repair systems and participate In systems Installations both on site and In global locations. Administrative Assistant Administrative support tor department of 4 through report generation, customer proposals, travel and schedule coordination Experience with any of the following: Focal Plane Array/lnfrared Technology, Veribest for schematic capture and simulation, Veribest Verilog, Veribest layout for ECB design. FPGA's in Xytinx Exact Step and Altera MAX+Plusll. DSP's. PSPICE. Able. C/C++ VxWorks reaKime OS. Assembly. SDRC, Z-Max fcr optical design. W hat w e offer is a Competitive Compensation Package, Exciting Challenge within a Progressive Corporate Culture. Cutting Edge Technology, The Latest in Development Tools Technical Growth with the opportunity to lead, empower and team with the industries mosi talented engineers in the development of state of the art products. YOU want to be at the forefront of cutting edge technology, acting as a key innovator within the industry..... X o i/ w a n t to com e to FS Please respond by referencing position to: ÛFSI FUR SYSTEMS* The Intel k t » » . t i e r e d trademark of Intel < nrpora,™ Intel ( orpo».,on t . an equal npjxttfum.y employer and fully support« affirmativcactHm pncttees Intel aho tuppnn» ■ drug-free »orkplace and requite, ihM all offer, o f employment be umtingem on ,altsfactory pre-employment drug teat rt,u ll, t Marketing and Sales Design and Implementation of hardware test and evaluation softwore for internal use and software written (or PC platforms. Intel, visit our WWW server at: http://www.intel.com in y trol. FUR Systems, Inc. ¡soworldwide From our inception, Intel has been as innovative about how we work as we are in what we make. Many benefits found in high technology companies today have as an asset to the communities where we live and work. their strange religion. In the end, m aybe the uneasy feelings about the 1 nternet com e from seeing all the old plagues and sins recast in an unfam iliar new form. An ancient accum ulation o f incho ate fears has becom e focused inside th is h ig h -p ro file m edium , m ade m ore easily touchable and, it s tem pting to believe, easier to co n I leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of visual and Infrared (thermal) imaging systems. FSI supplies infrared cameras. PC-based systems and software widely used in critical industrial applications including R&D. process control, quality assurance, and predictive maintenance. Airborne applications include law enforce ment, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and maritime patrol. In addition, we are successfully building on our core competencies in visual and infrared imaging to address burgeoning opportunities in the machine vision and stabilized broadcast camera markets. FSI is enjoying outstanding growth supplying infrared and broadcast systems both in the U.S. I and Internationally. Work with IR detector prototype team to a d a p t DSP software prototypes to specific applications. Our culture is results-oriented. We challenge all of our employees and project teams to set goals, take responsibility and solve problems. We encourage our work force to keep learning, to continue improving and to be proud of their work. We pride ourselves in being open and direct. We work as a team, manage fairly, and reward achievement. We’re committed to maintaining a safe work environment and to serve and wood. M aybe the Internet, with its ab il ity to rapidly and efficiently bring together a hodgepodge o f m iscre ants, w as an im portant part o f the g ro u p ’s later devolution But it may be just as reasonable to blam e the phenobarb and vodka cocktails they sipped like w ine from the chalice o f ENGINEERING Specification and design of electronic circuits and system Interconnections within existing system architecture. Picture then m ost pow erful personal co m puters available w ere Texas Instru ment pocket calculators. "T h e T w o,” as they also called th em selv es, drew the cu rio u s to m eetings by posting notices with thum btacks on bulletin boards m ade the old-fashioned Way, with cork Corporate Recruiter 16505 S.W. 72nd Avenue • Portland, OR 97224 Fax: (503)684-5452 • email: ljnolan@llir.com
