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Describes efforts to develop computer systems which can control an entire house. Details about Microsoft's home of the future; Networking home appliances; Use of voice commands; Home operating system work by IBM and Sony; Views of Sony's Jim Bonan; Joint corporate venture called the Open Service Gateway Initiative; Desire to avoid needing to rewire a home. INSET: Round 5 and not much new, by Susan Gregory Thomas.

Discusses the punitive damages against Exxon for the 1989 oil spill by the Valdez in Prince William Sound. Impact of the spill on the environment, including the herring population; Delays caused by Exxon's appeal of the $5 billion verdict; Views of Exxon lawyer John Daum; Other reasons the Alaskan fishing industry is hurting.

Describes efforts to crack down on the hiring of illegal immigrants in Yakima, Washington. 562 people fired at the Northwestern Fruit & Produce plant; Investigation of the plant by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); Increasing pressure from the INS to hire only legal residents; Prevalence of illegal workers in agriculture.

Discusses the installment of media rooms in homes in the United States. Technology included in such rooms; Example of the room of Microsoft executive John Purrier; Costs involved; Need to hire experts to design media rooms; Centrality of television.

Reports on a conflict of interest that may arise from the appointment of Peter Pronovost, a patient-safety expert at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, to the advisory board of the for-profit company DocuSys. Role of Pronovost in the company; Response of the specialist to the issue; Information on deals secured by the company from 1999 to 2005.

Discusses Hemp B.C. and the adjoining Cannabis Cafe in Vancouver, British Columbia, an establishment that allows any adult to smoke marijuana openly. Description of the interior; Comments by owner Marc Emery; Reaction of patrons.

Focuses on Seattle, Washington physician Suzanne Poppema. Her worry that patients are failing to absorb the unpleasant realities about RU-486, or mifepristone, the so-called French abortion pill; Her clinic which was selected for a trial of the drug; Facts about how RU-486 actually works.