From: Mustafa Akgul (akgul@Bilkent.EDU.TR)
Date: Thu 25 Jan 2001 - 17:17:22 EET
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 16:29:52 -0700
: Edupage, January 24, 2001
To: EDUPAGE@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
*****************************************************
Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit
association dedicated to transforming education through
information technologies.
*****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2001
Senators Review High-Speed Internet Tax Credit Bill
Internet Privacy Law Picks up Steam
Linux Appeal Grows Among Researchers, Corporations
Community Colleges Want a More Eminent Domain
AND
Harvard Draws the Line at Internet Teaching
Software Makes Science 'Visible'
Get up and Go: Cisco Rolls out Wireless Net
A Campus Without Wires
SENATORS REVIEW HIGH-SPEED INTERNET TAX CREDIT BILL
Four senators have introduced a bill that would provide tax
credits to ISPs that provide broadband Internet access to areas
where it is not yet readily available. The bill's sponsors and
its 32 co-sponsors have sent a letter to the White House in which
they ask President Bush to include the bill in his forthcoming
budget. The letter notes that when the bill was submitted last
year, it had the support of 59 senators as well as 115 House
members. The bill would offer a 10 percent tax credit over five
years to ISPs that bring broadband service into rural areas or
urban areas without high-speed access. An ISP that provides
"next generation" access--speeds as fast as 22 Mbps--would get a
five-year tax credit of 20 percent.
(Reuters, 23 January 2001)
INTERNET PRIVACY LAW PICKS UP STEAM
Even presidents can get spooked by the lack of privacy on the
Internet. President George W. Bush says he will not use e-mail as
a communications tool when he is in the White House. Noting that
"presidential e-mail is subject to open records," Bush says he will
use the phone when he wishes to communicate with his father and
other advisers. Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
analyst Andrew Shen says the 1974 federal privacy act does not
cover the executive office. Shen notes that Congress is crafting
several online privacy bills. "The hope is that they will get an
early start in Congress so that something can get out this year,"
Shen says. The American Electronics Association (AEA), which now
supports efforts to introduce a balanced federal online privacy
law, worries that state laws will hinder the growth of
e-commerce. "We need a law that is in the interest of everybody
to ensure consumer confidence online," says AEA's Marc Brailov.
(NewsFactor Network, 22 January 2001)
LINUX APPEAL GROWS AMONG RESEARCHERS, CORPORATIONS
The open source Linux operating system continues to gain
followers in both the business and academic communities.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign officials
announced that the institute would soon introduce 600 IBM
computers running Linux. The computers will compose two
clusters, each with processing power 2,000 times greater than a
desktop PC. Meanwhile, Kemper Insurance reports that its Web
site has yet to go down since the installation of a Linux
operating system. Linux proponents say the software, created by
Linus Torvalds 10 years ago, is very cost-effective, because users
do not have to pay licensing fees. Also, because the code is
open to all, users can modify it to fit their specific needs and
can also catch bugs that may have gotten past the original
developers. (Chicago Sun-Times Online, 23 January 2001)
COMMUNITY COLLEGES WANT A MORE EMINENT DOMAIN
Two-year colleges are continuing to pressure the Commerce
Department to make changes that will permit them to register
edu domain names. Currently, only "four-year, degree-granting
colleges and universities," are permitted to register .edu Web
addresses. After several previous attempts to get the Commerce
Department to do something, community colleges are stepping up
the pressure. The Commerce Department intends to choose a new
company or organization to oversee the .edu domain, and this
administration entity would be responsible for making new .edu
rules and guidelines. EDUCAUSE has been requesting such an
administrative position since 1997 and has the backing of the
community-college association. However, there is still a
possibility other organizations will bid for the position.
ICANN does not consider this a time-sensitive issue and asserts
it is really the U.S. court system's place to decide what policy
changes are necessary. The Commerce Department intends to implement
a new .edu address administrator by November.
(Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 January 2001)
ALSO
======================================================
HARVARD DRAWS THE LINE AT INTERNET TEACHING
In 1998, famed Harvard University law professor Arthur Miller
produced 11 lectures for Concord University School of Law, a
for-profit online school. Although his previous ventures into
television and books had not provoked any response from Harvard,
the Internet deal with Concord University irritated the
university, which subsequently changed the "conflict of
commitment" rule in the faculty manual to include Internet
teaching. In contrast, Houston Community College-Southwest
professor Douglas Rowlett says the focus of Internet teaching
should not be to popularize a subject but to enhance learning.
He spent $500 to set up an Internet radio station for students in
his English composition class. Broadcasting their poetry and
research on the Web has gained worldwide appreciation for
students' work--students have received positive e-mail feedback
from all over--and Rowlett argues that this increases the
students' interest and participation in the course.
(Christian Science Monitor Online, 23 January 2001)
SOFTWARE MAKES SCIENCE 'VISIBLE'
Educational software is both good and bad, according to a report
on children and technology by research firm SRI International's
Center for Technology in Learning. Leading experts analyzed the
use and effectiveness of software in the classroom and found that
the most beneficial software was integrated with content and
teaching method. Assumptions that technology in general enhances
learning were dispelled by the report as some software programs
actually foster negative learning habits among students while
trying to entertain them. Children understood abstract concepts
such as calculus, algebra, and physics better with the use of
technology, and computer software was shown especially to help
struggling students lagging behind their peers. ThinkerTools, a
free software program teaching physics, is one example of
technology as an effective learning tool. Barbara White, a
University of California at Berkeley professor and the creator of
ThinkerTools, continues to update the 20-year-old program and
says it introduces students to the scientific method by
generating curiosity, helping form questions and tests to prove
their hypotheses. (USA Today, 22 January 2001)
GET UP AND GO: CISCO ROLLS OUT WIRELESS NET
University and corporate campuses alike are being outfitted with
powerful wireless local networks provided by Cisco Systems.
Using Cisco's Aironet PC cards, students or employees away from
their desks can access high-speed Internet on their laptop by
connecting to transmitters located around the campuses. Already,
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has rigged its
freshman class with IBM laptops with the Cisco hardware. Vice
chancellor for technology Marian Moore says the school will save
millions of dollars by not having to equip classrooms with
desktop networks. Students participate using their laptops in
online study sessions with professors and classmates while
anywhere on campus. Microsoft, which provided the encryption
software for the system, has implemented the technology, and
hundreds of other colleges and companies are testing it.
Cahners In-Stat says the market for wireless local networks (WLAN)
will grow from $800 million this year to $2.2 billion by 2004.
(USA Today, 24 January 2001)
A CAMPUS WITHOUT WIRES
Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, has installed a wireless
system to allow students and faculty to access the university's
network from nearly everywhere on campus. Using a laptop
equipped with a wireless card, students and faculty can access
the network from one of 48 access points across campus.
Officials say the new system will complement, not replace, the
school's existing network. "We've got so much in place right
now, and everybody loves what they have," says Robert Walker, the
university's IT director. University officials decided to build
the new network to assist its graduate students in preparation
for future employment. Students can purchase laptops and
wireless cards directly from the university.
(IT Support News, January 2001)
Listeden cikmak icin:
unsub linux
mesajini listeci@bilkent.edu.tr adresine gonderiniz.
Lutfen Listeci icin MIME / HTML / Turkce Aksan kullanmayin.
Listeci arayuzu: http://listweb.bilkent.edu.tr/yardim/bilkent/linux.html
Liste arsivinin adresi: http://listweb.bilkent.edu.tr/