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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2002 Graphics Developed to Add to Real Life Sun Puts a Price on StarOffice Copy Protection Causes Problems for Macs AND Government to Track Foreign Students Online Higher Education and Government Team Up on Technology New Project Pools Resources to Fight Cybercrime Military Project Supports E-Learning Standards GRAPHICS DEVELOPED TO ADD TO REAL LIFE Researchers at Columbia University are developing graphics technology applications that work in conjunction with the real world rather than replacing it. The technology involves a display worn on the head and a computer in a backpack. Users can see through the head piece, while the computer adds information that can augment the user's perception and understanding of his surroundings. For example, a construction worker might wear the device working at a construction site to "see" locations of pipes and wiring that are behind walls or underground. Funding for the research comes in part from the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation. NewsFactor Network, 14 May 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17735.html SUN PUTS A PRICE ON STAROFFICE Sun Microsystems has announced that when it starts charging for StarOffice, formerly available free, the price will be $75.95, still significantly less than competing Office software from Microsoft. Sun announced earlier this year that it would start charging for the package of software and would provide improved user support. Sun's move is aimed directly at Microsoft's Office suite, which currently holds 95 percent of the office software market. Officials at Microsoft said customers are willing to pay for the quality of Office, and analysts at Gartner noted that switching software involves costs beyond the purchase of the application, including file migration and staff retraining. Still, Sun is optimistic that customers will be drawn to the open-source nature of the StarOffice code, and that Microsoft's recent move to subscription services for its software will push other customers to Sun. CNET, 14 May 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-913812.html COPY PROTECTION CAUSES PROBLEMS FOR MACS New copy protections included in some audio CDs are causing problems for Mac users. Some copy-protected CDs, especially those from Sony, cause Macintosh computers to freeze and not to eject the CD. Although some CDs have warnings indicating the disc won't play on a PC or Mac, many do not, and Apple's exclusion of problems caused by these CDs from its warranty coverage has upset many users. Julian Midgley of the Campaign for Digital Rights (CDR), however, defended Apple, as did Ted Landau, operator of the Web site MacFixIt. Both blamed the recording industry of making products that are not always clearly labeled, saying that Apple should not be responsible for the difficulties that result. Wired News, 14 May 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,52513,00.html AND ***************************************************** GOVERNMENT TO TRACK FOREIGN STUDENTS ONLINE On Friday Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the intention of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to use a Web-based system to track foreign students studying in the United States. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) will replace the current paper-based system for keeping tabs on students who are granted visas, which is slow and extremely outdated. Work on SEVIS began several years ago, though it was routinely delayed. The events of September 11 urged federal officials to jump-start work on the system, which will reportedly be available July 1. Mandatory participation is scheduled to begin January 30 of next year. ITWorld, 13 May 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_860807_1794_9-10000.html HIGHER EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT TEAM UP ON TECHNOLOGY A new administrative information system in North Dakota will be shared by the state's public institutions of higher education and the state government. The system will replace aging systems that have become expensive and time-consuming to maintain and keep compliant with changing regulations. Government and higher education will use the system to manage financial, human resource, and student information. Officials said they already are close to having uniform "charts of accounts," the records of information and associated codes, which is necessary for the system to work for all participants. The South Dakota Board of Regents, which is beginning its own migration to a central database for the campuses in its system, is closely watching the North Dakota project as an example for some aspects of its project. Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 May 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002051401t.htm NEW PROJECT POOLS RESOURCES TO FIGHT CYBERCRIME The Critical Infrastructure Protection Project, a joint program of George Mason University and James Madison University, will address the technical, legal, and policy issues surrounding efforts to protect critical technology infrastructure from cyberattacks. The George Mason School of Law in Arlington will host the project, which takes as one of its first subjects the disputes over the legality of increased sharing of personal information between governmental and private organizations. A $6.5 million allocation from the National Institute for Standards and Technology will fund the project. Newsbytes, 13 May 2002 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176552.html MILITARY PROJECT SUPPORTS E-LEARNING STANDARDS A new set of standards developed by the Department of Defense for e-learning allows applications and content from various vendors to work together. The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) project began in 1997 because, according to the director of training at the Defense Department, "every time you changed a chip or part of the system, we'd have to recreate all of the content." The new set of unofficial standards has the support of many leaders in the e-learning market, effectively shutting out other standards. Elliot Masie, president of a N.Y.-based think tank and a consultant to the project, said that the effort has brought comprehensive standards to the e-learning industry 10 years sooner than would have happened otherwise. Washington Post, 14 May 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11555-2002May13.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html 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] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EDUCAUSE Quarterly" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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