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Provides an introductory piece for a three‐day workshop (and this special issue) by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers – United States Activities Board Committee of Communications and Information Policy (IEEE‐USA CCIP), held in Ithaca, New York, USA. Closes by stating the editors were happy to offer opportunities for reflection and debate on images of a broadband future and how that future will be shaped.

The future scenario presented in this article offers a view of true facilities‐based competition in 2010. By this date, the continued investment in infrastructure development had ensured an increased rate in bandwidth provision and gradual extension of broadband service to the home across the USA, while end point technologies and conduits to the desktop proliferated. This scenario envisions two types of entrants: new forward‐thinking green‐field entrepreneurs and facilities owners who had previously not been involved in the communications provision (eg gas, water, electrical utilities). The main conclusion of the article is a recognition that competition requires open standards and interoperability. Facilities‐based competition requires clearly defined interface points where new competitors can connect customers. In this scenario two physical points of interconnection (at the curb and at the IXC/IAP) are envisioned. A policy prediction which is embedded in the scenario as an enabler of open interconnection is that economic necessity spurs democratic leaders to shorten the extension of copyright, and declare overly broad software patents void. An understated assumption is that political and economic leaders address the conflicts between information as property, as privacy (private information), and as speech (political information) in a timely and balanced manner. Luckily only the provision of interconnection is necessary for the scenario to be feasible. The well‐noted reality that the information industry will not approach its potential until issues of security, reliability and privacy are adequately addressed underlies this scenario. Some battles will remain in 2010: concepts of ownership and autonomy with respect to information adequate to the information revolution are being challenged by the genetics revolution.

I begin with a discussion of code and its primary types: embedded, source, binary and interpreted. I then consider three measures in which code is fundamentally different than print. In particular I speak of the trust inherent in connectivity, the organizational difficulties of information, and the problem of archiving information that may change rapidly. Following each of these explanations I offer my own hypotheses about how code and ubiquitous digital media might alter society and the sensibilities of its participants.

Consumers have an important role to play in preventing food‐borne disease. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that consumers could be segmented successfully based on their food safety knowledge and practice.

Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied to data on food safety knowledge and practice, collected by individual face‐to‐face questionnaires with domestic food preparers (n=1,020) and refrigerator swabs (n=726).

From the food safety questionnaires four factors were identified as important for inclusion in the HCA. This analysis identified three groups of consumers based on the knowledge factors; they were “Conscientious” (21 per cent), “Cavalier” (25.4 per cent) and “Careful” (53.3 per cent) food handlers. In terms of food safety knowledge, the higher risk consumers were found to be in the Cavalier food handler group. This group of food handlers also engaged in less hygienic food handling practices. This group were more likely than the other groups to be less than 45 years of age, male, living in urban environments and those with higher levels of formal education.

The identification of consumer groups with respect to food safety is important as it can inform more effective tailoring and targeting of food consumer safety education programmes to reach higher risk groups and individuals. This is the first study to not only identify the demographic characteristics of higher risk groups, but also to relate the levels of food safety knowledge/practice to levels of contamination in the fridges of such at risk groups using HCA and PCA.

The purpose of this research paper is to segment US consumers based on their attitudes towards food safety and to demographically characterize each segment so that effective risk communication strategies and outreach programs may be developed to target vulnerable groups.

Factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to data on consumer food safety attitudes of a probability sample of US adults, collected by telephone questionnaires (n=1,014).

The diversity of consumer attitudes was based on five factors; concern, trust, desire for a high level of regulation, acceptance for the number of people who are ill, hospitalized or die from foodborne illness, and preference for the right to purchase foods that are not guaranteed to be safe. The consumer segments identified on the bases of these factors can be classified as “confident,” “independent”, “trusting”, “cautious”, or “apprehensive” consumers. Socio‐demographic characteristics; education, income, person with allergy in the household, and person under the age of six living in the household, varied significantly between each consumer segment.

This study can inform effective food safety intervention strategies and target consumers most in need of food safety education that may enhance overall food safety knowledge and/or lead to changes in their behavior.

This paper uses exploratory factor analysis to identify the factors that underlie consumers' attitudes towards food safety. It is the first study to segment US consumers based on these factors and to demographically characterize each segment.

The International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene's (IFH) approach to infectious disease prevention is “targeted hygiene”, which means identifying the routes of transmission of infection in the home and community, and targeting hygiene measures at “critical points” (CPs) to break the chain of transmission. This paper aims to identify and prioritise CPs in the home kitchen environment during food preparation in order to inform food safety campaigns.

This study involved: filming participants (n=60) while they prepared a meal according to a specified recipe (30 beef/salad burgers and 30 chicken salads); swabbing key potential contamination sites in the participant's kitchen for microbiological testing; sampling the meat and salad components of the cooked meal for microbiological testing; visual inspection and temperature check of the meat after cooking; and administering a survey of knowledge, attitudes and demographic factors.

This study has identified the critical points (CPs) during domestic food preparation as: CP1: correct cooking practices; CP2: prevention of cross‐contamination; and CP3: correct food storage practices. Statistically significant links were found between food safety knowledge and behaviour as well as between food safety attitudes and demographic factors.

This is the first study to link all aspects of observed consumer food safety practices in the home to food safety knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, psychosocial and demographic factors to identify these CPs.

This study aims to investigate whether nutrition knowledge impacts on the credibility and purchase behaviour of foodstuffs that make health claims.

The UCD Food and Health Survey is a monthly online survey, which began in November 2008. In March 2009, participants were asked a series of questions pertaining to nutrition and health claims and 665 completed questionnaires were included for analysis. Participants' level of nutrition knowledge was measured using a combined and modified version of Parmenter and Wardle's General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (1999) and that of Hawkes and Nowak (1998). Perceived credibility was gauged using a semantic differential scale and the questionnaire was designed to also assess participants' purchasing behaviour of functional foods.

Females scored significantly higher than males for nutrition knowledge (p=0.004) but there was no significant difference in nutrition knowledge between age groups. “Reduces feelings of hunger” was deemed the most credible claim. With the exception of “This yogurt drink will strengthen your bones and teeth”, there was no difference in credibility between high and low nutrition knowledge groups. Health claims were more credible to participants when found on yogurt and breakfast cereal when compared with pasta and chocolate. Products claiming to reduce cholesterol were purchased more in the previous month than any of the other products and the same product was purchased statistically more often by those participants in the older age group.

A limitation of this study was that the panel were younger and more formally educated than the general public. They were also more likely to be female. The gender bias may be because the survey was food and health‐based and therefore may not have appealed to men as a more generally themed survey might have done. The results of this study should be considered therefore with this limitation in mind.

People do not consider products with health claims to be a uniform category of foodstuffs and participants' level of nutrition knowledge does not have a significant impact on their behaviour towards products carrying health claims.

Knowledge of nutrition does not impact on people's reactions to products with health claims and different foods demonstrate different levels of credibility as carriers for health claims.

This paper aims to determine the potential for the spread of bacteria from raw meat and poultry during home food preparation to the surrounding kitchen environment, hands and prepared food due to unsafe handling practices, which are predicted by consumers' knowledge, behaviour and attitudes.

The potential for transfer of E.coli and C. jejuni was monitored in a simulated domestic kitchen environment while food preparation was filmed (n=60 respondents). A survey was also administered.

The results of the study show that transfer of bacteria around the kitchen environment and onto prepared meals are predicted by a lack of thoroughly washing contaminated hands, knives and chopping boards both during and after meal preparation. A higher level of perceived importance of correct food handling behaviour is associated with higher levels of educational attainment and age and food risk perceptions are positively associated with age.

The results highlight the importance of promoting preventative measures and the means of employing them specifically to the young and less educated public who do not frequently cook and prepare food.

This paper is the first to include a verifiable audit of consumer food safety behaviour, microbiological sampling of surfaces, food and hands as well as a consumer survey of knowledge, behaviour and attitudes.

While the terms theatre and drama are often used synonymously, they are marked by distinct differences. Drama is concerned with the literature of the theatre, the written basis for theatrical presentations. Theatre refers to the art of presentation, and includes the creations of the playwright, the designer, the architect, and the actor.