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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2002 Federal Court Approves Increased Surveillance Cybersecurity Comment Period Ending AND California Unveils Plans for Optiputer Lindows Operating System Now Available .Net Server Postponed FEDERAL COURT APPROVES INCREASED SURVEILLANCE A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court ruled Monday that the increased surveillance measures indicated by the USA Patriot Act are not unconstitutional. The ruling overturns a decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in May, ordering that court to issue a new ruling approving the surveillance. The intelligence court was created in 1978 to monitor federal government surveillance done for law enforcement reasons. The American Civil Liberties Union, which had sought restrictions on the new governmental powers, was disappointed with the ruling, saying it suggests that the intelligence court "exists only to rubber-stamp government decisions." Wired News, 18 November 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56454,00.html CYBERSECURITY COMMENT PERIOD ENDING Monday is the deadline for submitting comments on the Bush administration's cybersecurity draft plan, but there is no word yet on when the final plan will be released to the public. The final was originally scheduled for release on September 18, but at the last minute the plan was declared a draft, and a 60-day comment period followed. Public comments will be added to the plan, with names removed, and the final report will be delivered to the White House next month. A date for the public release of the report, however, has not been announced. Washington Post, 18 November 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6152-2002Nov18.html AND ***************************************************** CALIFORNIA UNVEILS PLANS FOR OPTIPUTER The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology will use optical connections to build a supercomputer in which communications lines are faster than the processors--the opposite of traditional supercomputing designs. The idea for the new computer came from the San Diego Supercomputer Center, a research partnership between the University of California at San Diego and the University of California at Irvine. The "optiputer," which will be located at the University of California at San Diego, will initially consist of 500 processors connected with the optical router, which is a product of Chiaro Networks in Richardson, Texas. The system is based on Intel processors running the Linux operating system. New York Times, 17 November 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/technology/18OPTI.html LINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM NOW AVAILABLE Previously only available installed on low-cost PCs, such as those from Wal-Mart, the Lindows operating system 3.0 is now available separately. For about $129, customers can get the Lindows operating system, Sun Microsystems's StarOffice 6.0 word processor, and access to other applications, such as MP3 players, through a Click-N-Run service. Users can install Lindows on multiple machines for the same price. The Lindows company hopes that its low price will allow it to make some headway into the desktop market, which is still largely dominated by Microsoft despite significant progress for Linux in the server market. CNET, 18 November 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-966183.html NET SERVER POSTPONED First scheduled for release in the second half of 2001, Microsoft's Net server has been put off again and will be available in April 2003, according to comments from Bill Gates at Comdex. The new server software is an important part of the company's .Net strategy; four versions will reportedly be available. Plans and dates for successors to Windows 2000, including systems named Longhorn and Blackcomb, have changed several times, and Microsoft will no longer commit to dates for those systems. Some analysts pointed out that this latest delay isn't a significant problem because currently there is not strong demand for high-end servers. ZDNet, 18 November 2002 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-966174.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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