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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2002 Security Expert Says Many Airport WLANs Are Insecure Sun Gets Behind Linux No Compromise on DVD Standard AND Breaking the Speed of Light, on a Budget University of Pittsburgh Plans Digital Astronomy Archive StarOffice Free for Schools SECURITY EXPERT SAYS MANY AIRPORT WLANS ARE INSECURE Based on an informal audit conducted by AirDefense Inc., Richard Rushing, vice president of the company, said that the wireless local area networks (WLANs) used in some airports lack even basic security protections. Rushing traveled through four major airports earlier this month and found that only 32 of 112 access points detected were using the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol. Many access points also did not have Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) turned off. Rushing was able to gain access through WLANs to sensitive data in airports in San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Diego. WLANs are used in some airports for activities such as passenger check-in and baggage transfers. An analyst at Gartner said the security problems noted by Rushing were the result of "sloppiness" on the part of network operators. ComputerWorld, 16 September 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_949304_1794_9-10000.html SUN GETS BEHIND LINUX Sun Microsystems plans to pursue development of Linux-based desktop applications as another alternative to Microsoft. Linux products have already established a following in the server market, but the desktop market, particularly among nontechnical users, has remained firmly in the grip of Microsoft. Because of recent changes in the price structure for Microsoft products, many observers--and officials at Sun--think the climate may be right for an open-source assault on Microsoft's dominance of the desktop market. According to Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice president for software at Sun, "There is a great opportunity for a major systems company to commercialize a full Linux desktop." New York Times, 17 September 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/18/technology/18SUN.html NO COMPROMISE ON DVD STANDARD Two industry groups supporting conflicting standards for rewritable DVDs have apparently given up on resolving their differences and settling on a single standard. The DVD+RW Alliance and the DVD Forum support different formats, and there are at least four types of discs, causing headaches for consumers and device manufacturers. The result is an alphabet soup of formats and media that consumers must keep straight: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+RW, DVD+R. Observers note that the market for rewritable DVDs depends largely on resolving the conflicting standards, making the discs and the formats fully compatible on PCs as well as home and portable DVD devices. Sony reportedly will release new drives that work with different formats, but pressure from companies including Intel may eventually push the two DVD organizations to find a compromise. CNET, 18 September 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958352.html AND ***************************************************** BREAKING THE SPEED OF LIGHT, ON A BUDGET Researchers at Middle Tennessee State University have created a device that can send electric signals at four times the speed of light, and they did so with commonly available components costing $500. This is not the first time electric signals have exceeded the speed of light, but it is the first time it's been done without extremely expensive equipment. The device, which one researcher was able to assemble from parts in just 40 minutes, can create a pulse of energy that, measured by an oscilloscope, moves at 4 billion kilometers per hour. Bill Robertson, one of the researchers, hopes that students and other researchers can use the device to cheaply test some of the basic theories of modern science. New Scientist, 16 September 2002 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992796 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PLANS DIGITAL ASTRONOMY ARCHIVE A new project from the University of Pittsburgh will create a digital archive of astronomical data for researchers and the public to access. The Parallax Project (http://digital.library.pitt.edu/parallax/) will offer still-relevant data from the Allegheny Observatory dating back to 1910, including many of the observatory's measurements of parallax, the apparent difference in motion of a celestial body when viewed from different points. The observatory's parallax data are still regarded by the scientific community as accurate and useful. The project will also digitize many scientific journals in the school's collection. This will make complete sets of many journals easily available and will help preserve the university's printed copies, which have begun to suffer from the amount of use they receive. Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 September 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/09/2002091801t.htm STAROFFICE FREE FOR SCHOOLS Sun Microsystems announced that it will be giving software worth more than $650 million to ministries of education in Europe and South Africa. The move comes after Sun made similar donations in Asia and announced plans to give software away to U.S. schools. According to Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun, the company hopes the donations will bring StarOffice to students from elementary school to college and unseat Microsoft Office as the prevalent software in schools for such tasks as word processing and using spreadsheets. The move may find favor with the many school administrators who were upset at Microsoft's recent price changes, which will end up costing some schools significantly more for their software. Wall Street Journal, 17 September 2002 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1032211962474404435,00.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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