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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 09, 2006 Penn Takes New Approach with Blogs Beer Loses Top Spot to iPod iTunes in Trouble in Europe PENN TAKES NEW APPROACH WITH BLOGS Beginning this fall, all incoming students in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania will keep blogs of their academic interests and development. Unlike typical blogs, the Penn blogs will not be public. Access is limited to the student, the student's advisor, and, under certain circumstances, authorized university officials. Penn has a long-standing practice of requiring students to complete questionnaires to help guide their academic careers, and the popularity of online forums such as Facebook prompted university officials to introduce the blog format for the questions. Students will be required to make a small number of entries. Beyond that, they can keep the blog as current as they choose. The blog entries will be part of a student's academic record and cannot be changed later. The introduction of the blogs follows a pilot program last year involving 300 freshmen. Inside Higher Ed, 9 June 2006 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/06/09/blog BEER LOSES TOP SPOT TO IPOD For only the second time in ten years, drinking beer has been relegated to second on Student Monitor's biannual survey of what is "in" on campus, with iPods slotting in at number one. The only other thing to unseat beer: the Internet, in 1997. Eric Weil of Student Monitor said of the latest results of its Lifestyle and Media Study, "We knew iPods were pervasive on campus as a learning and entertainment device, but we didn't see it rating that high." Between spring 2006 and spring 2006, iPods jumped from 59 percent of students saying they were "in" to 73 percent. Rounding out the top ten spots on the survey are Facebook (which tied beer for second), drinking other alcohol, text messaging, downloading music, going to clubs, instant messaging, working out, and coffee. Dan Updegrove, vice president for information technology at the University of Texas at Austin, pointed out that the speed with which "Internet-based phenomena can emerge" accounts for having so many technologies on the top ten that did not even exist several years ago. USA Today, 7 June 2006 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-06-07-ipod-tops-beer_x.htm ITUNES IN TROUBLE IN EUROPE Government regulators in several European countries are taking Apple to court over the way its iTunes music service functions. Norwegian officials have said that Apple's user agreement violates the country's law and that the inability to play iTunes songs on non-Apple devices likely also is illegal in Norway. Specifically at issue are parts of Apple's user agreement that give the company the right to change the terms without notice and that free Apple from any liability for viruses or other harm caused by iTunes downloads. Bjorn Erik Thon, director of the Consumer Ombudsman's Office of Norway, said his office would hear Apple's counterargument concerning whether iTunes songs should be playable on non-Apple equipment, but he added that he expects the office to rule against Apple. Thon rejected an earlier claim by Apple that limiting the songs to Apple devices discourages copyright violations. If consumers cannot play songs they have bought, said Thon, "they will get a download of it free from Napster," increasing piracy. Government officials in Sweden and Denmark are expected to follow Norway's lead in these affairs, and Britain reportedly also shares the same concerns. New York Times, 8 June 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/technology/08cnd-apple.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2006, EDUCAUSE
