Technology

Computer software engineer and NPR commentator Ellen Ullman. Her book is titled "Close to the Machine" (City Lights). It's her semi-autobiographical account of a computer programmer trying to reconcile her work -- machines and information -- with the need for human contact and the feel of living in the real world. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the problems of navigating the internet.

Author Robert Kanigel discusses his new biography, "The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency." (Viking) Taylor was a nineteenth century pioneer of business management. He developed Taylor's Scientific Management, a system which would encourage higher efficiency by creating more stressful work which was rewarded with higher wages.

Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse talks about privacy in the digital age.

Chess master Garry Kasparov may have lost to Deep Blue, but linguist Geoff Nunberg says there are some areas where humans will beat computers -- at least for now.

Yang is co-founder of YAHOO, a directory to the World Wide Web. YAHOO has an online site, as well as a companion book. YAHOO is one of the most popular sites on the Web. Users can access YAHOO, once in the Web at http://www.yahoo.com. Yahoo's book is YAHOO! Unplugged.

William Ulrich's new book is "The Year 2000 Software Crisis" (Yourdon Press). It is a guide to solving the problems that will arise in the millennium when computer software will translate the two-digit shorthand '00 as 1900, not 2000. For companies world-wide this computer failure could lead to business failure. Ulrich is President of Tactical Strategy Group, Inc. and a strategic Year 2000 advisor for corporations and government agencies.

The Head of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, Michael Dertouzos. Fifteen years ago he predicted an "Information Marketplace" like that of the Internet. In his new book, he continues to look ahead to the future of the information age, and how it will affect our lives: "What Will be: How the New World Information Will Change Our Lives."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "Classics for Dummies" on CD-Rom on the EMI label.

Newspaper columnist and the etiquette expert, Judith Martin, otherwise known as Miss Manners. Her new book is "Miss Manners' Basic Training: Communication" (Crown News) about the social issues of phone answering machines, e-mail, and cyberspace.