■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