***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. *****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2002 Bush Urges Senate to Ban Simulated Child Pornography IBM Raises the Bar on Computer Smallness Report from Harvard Exposes Filtering at Google AND Teleconferencing Will Save Money, Improve Access NIST Unveils Device for Blind to Understand Images IDC Says Don't Hold Your Breath for Web Services BUSH URGES SENATE TO BAN SIMULATED CHILD PORNOGRAPHY President Bush this week called on the Senate to pass a bill outlawing computer-generated simulations of child pornography. In April the Supreme Court ruled that a 1996 law doing the same was unconstitutional and not covered by a 1982 law that excluded child pornography from First Amendment protection. The House of Representatives has since passed a new law prohibiting such simulations, attempting to address the Supreme Court's objections to the earlier law. Bush's comments came after a White House conference earlier this month. At that conference, Bush noted that a University of New Hampshire study indicates that 20 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 were propositioned online last year. Wall Street Journal, 24 October 2002 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1035420227312827511,00.html IBM RAISES THE BAR ON COMPUTER SMALLNESS New research from IBM purports to make it possible to create computer logic elements 260,000 times smaller than they are today. The so-called "molecule cascade" technique relies on movements of individual molecules to perform computation, compared to the process of silicon-based computing, which moves electrons through materials. Researchers have built several circuits using the technique, which one researcher compared to putting tennis balls in an egg carton. The balls are too large for the spaces, so they touch each other, with each ball's motion affecting the others'. The most complex of the experimental circuits is 12 by 17 nanometers in size, allowing 190 billion of them on a standard pencil eraser. Researchers admit that the technology is many years away from real-world implementation but said that it represents a fundamentally new approach to computing. NewsFactor Network, 25 October 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19781.html REPORT FROM HARVARD EXPOSES FILTERING AT GOOGLE A report written by a law student and a professor at Harvard University identifies more than 100 Web sites that are included in search results from Google.com but that have been deleted from the search engine's French and German sites, Google.fr and Google.de. The excluded sites include content that is anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi, or otherwise racially or ethnically intolerant. A spokesman from Google confirmed that the company excludes sites whose content may be in violation of local laws. He said sites are not removed unless a specific complaint is filed, and only then after a careful review by lawyers, management, and engineers. Ben Edelman, one of the authors of the Harvard report, said some of the delisted sites appear not to violate any German or French laws. He expressed concern that Google is being unnecessarily secretive about what sites are excluded. CNET, 24 October 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-963132.html AND ***************************************************** TELECONFERENCING WILL SAVE MONEY, IMPROVE ACCESS A new teleconferencing system will connect all of the California Community Colleges' 108 campuses and will provide access to users with disabilities. Community colleges in the state are having to work with significant budget cuts, with more expected, and the new system is expected to allow substantial savings in travel budgets. The system also satisfies accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, according to officials from Palomar College, which is heading the project. Colleges will initially use the system for virtual meetings, though the technology could be used later for online courses and other functions. Chronicle of Higher Education, 25 October 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/10/2002102502t.htm NIST UNVEILS DEVICE FOR BLIND TO UNDERSTAND IMAGES Functioning like a sophisticated, novelty-store "bed of nails," a new device developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) allows the blind and visually impaired to "see" images. The device has 3,600 pins, about 10 per square inch, that are raised and lowered to mimic images, allowing users to feel what the image looks like. Officials from the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), which will test the device, praised it, saying that it has the potential to empower blind people in ways that were previously unavailable. Other devices function similarly but cost around $40,000, said John Roberts of NIST. Early versions of the new device should cost about $2,000, and the price should drop later, he said. A representative of the NFB said the device could prove especially beneficial for educational purposes because of the wide gap between written and image-based information. United Press International, 24 October 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/590039p-4591647c.html IDC SAYS DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR WEB SERVICES A report released Thursday by IDC says that despite the potential of Web services to save time and money by providing software as a service, the reality of Web services is still at least 10 years away. The goal of Web services is to establish standards of interoperability so that software from various vendors can share data and work together. The IDC report, however, says that "most of the Web services vision is just pure speculation." IDC says that for Web services to succeed, corporations must address significant technological challenges and businesses will have to revise long-standing tenets of intellectual property and cooperation with other vendors. ZDNet, 24 October 2002 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-963179.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. For information on EDUCAUSE publications see http://www.educause.edu/pub/ ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information about EDUCAUSE conferences and other professional development opportunities, visit http://www.educause.edu/conference/ ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2002, EDUCAUSE
