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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2003 Survey Shows Growing Interest in, and Suspicion of, Internet Microsoft Agrees to Change Passport for EU Clarke to Quit Cybersecurity Post AND MIT Chooses Six Universities to Work on DSpace Program Cheating with Cell Phones Report Recommends Security Practices Units of Measure SURVEY SHOWS GROWING INTEREST IN, AND SUSPICION OF, INTERNET A study conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles shows that users increasingly see the Internet as a vital resource but also consider information available online as increasingly suspect. The UCLA Internet Report shows increasing numbers of Americans spending their time surfing the Internet, even at the expense of watching television. Growing numbers of users consider the Internet as a valuable source of information, more valuable than newspapers, television, or radio. At the same time, there is more skepticism than in previous years that the information available on the Internet is credible. According to the report, trust in the credibility of online information is expected to fall over the next few years. CNET, 31 January 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-982882.html MICROSOFT AGREES TO CHANGE PASSPORT FOR EU Responding to concerns from the European Union (EU) over its .NET Passport authentication system, Microsoft this week agreed to various changes including "a radical change of the information flow." EU members had expressed concern that Microsoft's system, which is designed to share authentication information with affiliated sites so users are not required to re-enter names and passwords, did not adequately protect personal information, such as addresses, ages, phone numbers, and credit card numbers. The changes agreed to will allow users to see information that would be shared among systems and to decide which of those pieces of personal data they will allow to be shared. A spokesman for Microsoft said the company welcomes the changes and that the process of deciding on the changes was an example of "necessary collaboration between government and industry in order to achieve a common goal." New York Times, 30 January 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/business/worldbusiness/30CND-SOFT.html CLARKE TO QUIT CYBERSECURITY POST Richard Clarke, the special adviser to the president on cybersecurity, plans to resign from his position in the coming weeks. Some see Clarke�s resignation, and his earlier decision to decline a position in the Department of Homeland Security, as responses to the Bush administration�s level of support for his initiatives to address Internet security, though others contend he simply wants to pursue different challenges. Although criticized for being alarmist, Clarke�s concerns about the threat of terrorism were shown to be reasonable by the 9/11 attacks, after which he was appointed head of a new White House Office of Cyberspace Security. Some analysts view Clarke�s efforts to secure cybersecurity as ineffectual and too soft on corporate responsibility. Clarke is the author of the draft of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace; his resignation is expected to follow the report�s upcoming release. Washington Post, 31 January 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3285-2003Jan30.html AND ***************************************************** MIT CHOOSES SIX UNIVERSITIES TO WORK ON DSPACE PROGRAM In November, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released DSpace, an open-source, academic archiving program that was funded by a grant from Hewlett-Packard. Since its release, DSpace has become extremely popular, offering researchers a simple tool to archive academic materials in a searchable repository. DSpace has been downloaded by about 2,000 organizations since its release, but, as officials from MIT noted, it does not come with explicit instructions. MIT has chosen Columbia University, Cornell University, Ohio State University, the University of Rochester, the University of Toronto, and the University of Washington to become the DSpace Federation, which will test the software and offer suggestions about how to improve it. The DSpace Federation is supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 January 2003 http://chronicle.com/free/2003/01/2003013001t.htm CHEATING WITH CELL PHONES Officials from the University of Maryland confirmed that six students have admitted to using cell phones to cheat on an accounting exam, and another six students have been implicated. The university had set up a sting in which answers to test questions were posted on the Internet as soon as the test began. Mixed in with correct answers, however, were several bogus answers. The students involved in the cheating had friends look up the answers online after the test began and then send those answers by cell-phone text messages to students taking the test. Officials then looked to see who had included the bogus answers on their exams. An official from the university said he had seen instances of cheating but never from so many students at once. The university is looking for the students who sent the answers to those taking the test. A similar scandal at Hitotsubashi University in Japan saw 26 students flunked for using their cell phones to cheat. Wired News, 30 January 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,57484,00.html REPORT RECOMMENDS SECURITY PRACTICES A report released by the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection presents a set of recommendations for colleges and universities to increase computer security. The "Cyber Security Research and Development Agenda" argues that security does not receive adequate attention on many campuses and calls on higher education to focus on identifying the sources of online attacks, securing systems that have been hacked, and simulating attacks to assess network infrastructure. Michael Vatis, chairman of the group that wrote the report, said many of the report's recommendations could be enacted if Congress funds the Cyber Security Research and Development Act. President Bush signed the act into law in November, but Congress must appropriate spending to fund the $902.8 million the act calls for to study cybersecurity. Chronicle of Higher Education, 31 January 2003 http://chronicle.com/free/2003/01/2003013101t.htm UNITS OF MEASURE Russell Rowlett, director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, is a master of obscure measurements. Rowlett decided to post information on unusual units of measure--originally compiled as notes for a calculus class--on the Internet to help students and to satisfy his curiosity about building a Web site. Rowlett�s site, "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement," has proved surprisingly popular, with contributions coming from around the globe. The dictionary covers the gamut, from land measurements to grit sizes to intervals of time. Visitors can discern the meaning of a salmanazar, "a large wine bottle holding about 9 liters, 12 times the volume of a regular bottle," or learn why a bridge in Boston is measured in smoots. Nando Times, 30 January 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/742362p-5394009c.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 "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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