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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2002 Tech Job Market Remains Flat, Despite Projections Developers Show Support for California Bill AND Internet2 Adds IPv6 to Abilene Students, Faculty Upset at New Course Requirement Electronic GRE Draws Heavy Criticism Super Fast Network at Case Western TECH JOB MARKET REMAINS FLAT, DESPITE PROJECTIONS Many analysts had predicted a rebound for the technology economy by now, with a commensurate increase in hiring of high-tech workers. A recovery has not materialized, however, and, according to placement agency Challenger Gray and Christmas, the technology sector has lost more than 243,000 jobs this year. The market is especially bad in Silicon Valley, which registered the highest unemployment rate of all U.S. metropolitan areas. Continued weakness in the market is blamed on several factors, including large-scale, high-profile corporate collapses, such as WorldCom, and persistent uneasiness in the stock market. NewsFactor Network, 15 August 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19029.html DEVELOPERS SHOW SUPPORT FOR CALIFORNIA BILL A group of computer programmers attending the Linux World Conference and Expo gathered outside City Hall in San Francisco to show support for a bill that would require the state to buy more open-source software. The Digital Software Security Act has drawn support from those who believe open-source products can save business and government huge sums of money compared to commercial products and those who believe Microsoft's dominance of the software market should be challenged whenever possible. Critics of the proposal include the Computing Technology Industry Association, which says the proposal would decrease innovation in the industry and would lead to "unintended repercussions for California ... and its citizens." Associated Press, 15 August 2002 http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/500550p-3988580c.html AND ***************************************************** INTERNET2 ADDS IPV6 TO ABILENE Abilene, Internet2's high-speed backbone network, now runs Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). The new protocol was designed to address many of the shortcomings of IPv4, which dates from the 1970s and has had difficulty keeping pace with the growth of the Internet. For example, IPv6 allows vastly more unique addresses than IPv4, avoiding the potential problem of running out of addresses. IPv4 allows about 4 billion. The new protocol also provides more efficient routing of data packages, as well as improvements in security and multicasting. Officials from Internet2 said the new protocol is running on all of Abilene's Cisco Systems 1200 routers and will be on the Juniper Networks routers when the network is upgraded. For now, both protocols are running side by side on Abilene. Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 August 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/08/2002081601t.htm STUDENTS, FACULTY UPSET AT NEW COURSE REQUIREMENT The Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft this week launched the Microsoft Canada Academic Innovation Alliance to support technology research at Canadian universities. Its first grant, however, has some students and faculty upset about apparent influence from Microsoft. The $2.3 million grant went to the University of Waterloo, which agreed to institute a new class on Microsoft's C# programming language and make the course a requirement for entering students in the electrical and computer engineering departments. Many at the university, including the Federation of Students, object to what they perceive as Microsoft's buying influence. The vice president of education for the Federation of Students said it "sets a dangerous precedent." One graduate of the university said it shows that the administration "will do just about anything for money." CNET, 15 August 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-949945.html ELECTRONIC GRE DRAWS HEAVY CRITICISM Despite predictions that migrating from pencil-and-paper testing to computer-based tests would result in more efficiency and convenience, evidence of significantly increased cheating has prompted officials to return to a pencil-and-paper version of the GRE in some countries. An investigation discovered Web sites in China, Taiwan, and Korea that posted answers to GRE questions. Officials from the GRE Board and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) said that for now, the only way to administer the test in these countries with adequate expectations for security is with pencil and paper. Critics of computer-based testing said this is simply the latest in a series of problems that have plagued the system since computer testing began. Officials from GRE and ETS remain committed to electronic testing, though, saying that its promise can be realized when the bugs are worked out. Wired News, 15 August 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,54459,00.html SUPER FAST NETWORK AT CASE WESTERN The new facility for the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University is an example of technology in action, including a network reported to be the fastest on any campus. The network operates at one billion bits per second, a speed that Lev Gonick, the university's CIO, says is 10 to 100 times faster than that of any other educational institution. The result, says Gonick, is not simply faster e-mail but a computing environment without the typical problem of latency--the gap between executing an action, such as asking a question, and having that action seen or heard by other people in different locations. The system is expected to yield huge benefits for such applications as videoconferencing and three-dimensional modeling. When the building officially opens this fall, 1,400 data ports will be available to access the network. Later in the year, another 16,000 should be available campus-wide, said Gonick. New York Times, 15 August 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/15/technology/circuits/15NEXT.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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