DID YOU HEAR -- GCN

DID YOU HEAR

Oct 19, 2001

Good call. On Sept. 11, Federal Aviation Administration controllers safely landed several thousand commercial flights in unscheduled places in a hurry, almost certainly forestalling more terrorist hijacks. Who gave the order? He's gotten no applause for it, but an FAA spokeswoman confirmed that the man was Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. He gave the credit to others, reportedly including a note of thanks with recent FAA paychecks.

Spooky coincidence? During a security panel at the Industry Advisory Council's Executive Leadership Conference in Hershey, Pa., last week, AT&T security guru Ed Amoroso posed a question: Would frequent electrical failures increase the risk of cyberterrorism'say, for example, if terrorists knew a group of government managers were gathered in one hotel? The lights stayed on'but moments later there was a fire alarm. The alarm was false, and everyone soon filed back in'all except session leader Amoroso. Ooooooo.

You've got religion. The Protestant Church in Germany now sends text highlights of services via cell phone. But one German bishop told Reuters news service'via cell phone'that a cell service couldn't substitute for the communal experience of attending mass. Meanwhile, the Vatican said it will not approve Internet confessions.

Who gets the cell phone? Courts are grappling with virtual visitation in divorce cases. The issue: Should e-mail, instant messaging and videoconferencing count as visitation? Meanwhile, a man in Dubai divorced his wife by typing the traditional 'I divorce thee' three times on his cell phone. A court upheld the divorce. The couple reportedly reconciled. Reconcile with us at buzz@postnewsweektech.com.

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