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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2002 WordPerfect Gets New Lease on Life AOL Launches Netscape 7.0 AND Auburn University Offers New Degree in Wireless Technology Jones to Give Away Course Management Software Doing Laundry Online Technology to Evaluate Higher Education Facilities WORDPERFECT GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE New deals announced by Corel Corporation give WordPerfect a new lease on life, saving the word-processing software from what seemed to be its imminent extinction. Corel, which bought WordPerfect from Novell in 1996, has made deals with Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard to install WordPerfect on certain low-end and small-business computers. Corel said that these deals, as well as a similar one made with Sony this year, would result in five million copies of the software being installed over the next year. Corel's strategy is to offer the application to computer makers for lower royalties than competing software from Microsoft, and then try to encourage users to upgrade to other Corel products. At least one analyst questioned whether buyers of low-end computers could be persuaded to pay for such upgrades. New York Times, 28 August 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/29/technology/29CORE.html AOL LAUNCHES NETSCAPE 7.0 America Online on Thursday officially launched the new version of Netscape, which has seen its share of the browser market fall from its leading position in the 1990s to just 3.4 percent. Netscape 7.0 includes new features such as click to search, which will perform a Web search on any highlighted word or phrase; tabbed browsing, which keeps several sites open at once; and quick launch, which loads the application more quickly. AOL uses Netscape software in its new OS X client, and a spokesman from Netscape said that AOL's significant user base will give Netscape 7.0 a boost in market share. Still, AOL has so far declined to replace Microsoft Internet Explorer with Netscape in AOL's new access software, due out this fall. NewsFactor Network, 29 August 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19232.html AND ***************************************************** AUBURN UNIVERSITY OFFERS NEW DEGREE IN WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY Beginning this fall, Auburn University will offer a bachelor's degree in wireless technology. The program is funded in part by a $25 million donation by Samuel Ginn, graduate of Auburn and former chairman of Vodafone. The degree program is part of the departments of electrical engineering and computer engineering and has an advisory board that includes members from Verizon Wireless, Nortel Networks, Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, and Vodafone. Despite a current wireless market that many on the board admit is a "little shaky," officials from those companies expect the industry to rebound and remain interested in graduates of the program. Victor Nelson, a professor at Auburn, said that between 30 and 50 students have already signed up for the program and that many more are expected to register during the fall semester. Wired News, 30 August 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,54536,00.html JONES TO GIVE AWAY COURSE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE Heather O'Mara, president of Jones Knowledge, Thursday said the company will give away its e-education course management software, which currently costs $75 per student per course. Details of the change were not released, but the company said it would be complete by the end of the year. Currently 125 institutions use the e-education software, which Jones said cost $35 million to develop. The software that Jones will give away will be an older version because the current version includes code from other companies. An official from the American Distance Education Consortium praised the move, though she expressed concern over maintenance of the software. Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and chief executive of eCollege, which also sells course management software, said the software will not be very useful because it will be unsupported. He said it will "very hard to get running and very hard to keep running." Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 August 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/08/2002083001t.htm DOING LAUNDRY ONLINE New technology from IBM and USA Technologies will allow college students to do laundry without hunting for quarters or sitting around in the laundromat waiting for their clothes to be done. The eSuds system will connect 9,000 washers and dryers at U.S. colleges and universities to the Internet. Students can check a Web site for available machines and add detergent that the machines dispense. When the laundry is done, the machine sends an e-mail notifying the student. Swipe cards are used to pay for the laundry instead of cash, and laundromat owners can use the system to monitor machines and perform limited maintenance. The system might also cut down on vandalism, since cash won't be collected by the machines. Reuters, 29 August 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1017-955973.html TECHNOLOGY TO EVALUATE HIGHER EDUCATION FACILITIES So-called "expert systems" are helping facilities personnel evaluate the condition of higher education buildings in Connecticut. The software systems were implemented by the Connecticut Department of Higher Education to allow officials to gather and present better information to the state legislature and other authorities in charge of budgets. Connecticut has invested $3.8 billion in new and renovated facilities for higher education, and the new systems have so far identified $141 million of preventive maintenance that should be done within five years to avoid more costly repairs later. A similar system was used by officials in North Carolina to provide data supporting a $3.1 billion bond issue for higher education facilities. Voters passed that issue in 2000, funding construction and renovation of buildings at 16 public universities and 59 community colleges. Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 August 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/08/2002082901t.htm ***************************************************** 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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