Word: chip
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Until last week I thought the V chip was a zesty new snack food, and according to a recent survey, I'm not alone. A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation reveals a lot of confusion among parents about use of the V chip, which is designed to let us block objectionable shows from our TVs. By law, starting July 1, half of all new TVs sold in the U.S. with screens of 13 in. or larger must have a V chip installed. By Jan. 1, all new sets must contain one. So last week I attended a demonstration...
...chip works with the TV rating system, represented by that little wad of letters and numbers that looks like an eye chart and periodically pops into the corner of your screen. Since 1997, shows have been rated in seven categories, ranging from TV-Y, suitable for all children, to TV-MA, which I originally assumed indicated programs suitable for mamas, but which in fact stands for "mature audiences." Rating icons appear on the screen during the first 15 sec. of a program and are also noted in some TV listings...
...Rich kid from the Chicago suburbs. Six feet tall, 135 pounds, chip on his shoulder. Played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid and scrawled "Sic Semper Tyrannis" ?- the stale John Wilkes Booth motto ?- in his high school yearbook. Insisted on going by "August" because Benjamin sounded too Jewish, and told the cops once to call him "Erwin Rommel." Distributed racist and anti-Semitic literature at home and at school, had a girlfriend who does not remember him fondly. Scary? Sure. But he could have been on "Seinfeld," too. As a malcontent, Smith was little more than a caricature ?- until...
...software that allowed Nicole to shine represents a promising application of recent and remarkable discoveries about the power of the brain to learn new tricks. Scientists are finding that the brain is "massively plastic"--not rigidly fixed like a computer chip--and can rewire itself throughout life with the help of rigorous training. The Fast ForWord games are like mental aerobics--designed to strengthen weak connections in those parts of the brain that support language skills...
...Nazis. Swiss officials are convinced that such revelations ?- and the stonewalling that came between facts and reparations ?- cost them the 2006 Winter Olympics, which last weekend were awarded to the Italian city of Turin rather than Swiss front-runner Sion. So they?re bargaining with their only chip ?- the secrecy of their banks. In the last few years, the world?s most discreet bankers have blown the whistle on former prime minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and kleptocrat Mobutu Sese Seko of the former Zaire. The Swiss are only too glad to add Milosevic to that distinguished list ?- but considering...