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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 07, 2004 Tribes in Oregon Plan Virtual College AOL Customers to Receive Anti-Spyware Tool Microsoft Releases Worm Detection and Removal Tool Intel Puts Money into Digital Home Technologies TRIBES IN OREGON PLAN VIRTUAL COLLEGE Native American tribes in Oregon are working on plans to establish an entirely online college to serve the state's nine reservations, none of which currently has a college. The Oregon Virtual Tribal College would develop an infrastructure to allow students on all nine reservations to interact with each other and instructors. All of the instruction planned would take place online, unlike some other tribal colleges that provide online programs as well as in-class instruction. Responsibility for the various parts of the curriculum would be spread across Oregon's Native American tribes, and other higher education institutions in the state would provide course content and instructors. Organizers of the project believe it will cost less than a physical institution and hope to fund the virtual college with state and federal grants. Wendell Jim, who is heading the project, said he expects the program to begin with about 100 students and to become an accredited, degree-granting institution. Chronicle of Higher Education, 9 January 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i18/18a03701.htm AOL CUSTOMERS TO RECEIVE ANTI-SPYWARE TOOL AOL is expected to announce that it will include an anti-spyware tool in its customer offerings. The tool, made by Aluria Software, will automatically run once a week and notify users of any adware or spyware it detects, giving users the option to delete the programs. EarthLink began offering its customers a similar tool several months ago, though EarthLink's tool requires activation by the user. Microsoft offers anti-spyware tools as part of its premium services and will include a simple anti-spyware program in the next service pack to the Windows XP operating system. Ed English, CEO of anti-spyware maker Intermute, said that AOL's decision is an important step in educating computer users about adware and spyware programs but that a tool that only checks once per week cannot be effective. "If you wait a week, said English, "your information has already been taken." Avi Naider, CEO of online advertiser WhenU, said his company's program, which is installed on 100 million computers, already gives consumers the option to remove the program from their machines. New York Times, 6 January 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/06/technology/06spy.html MICROSOFT RELEASES WORM DETECTION AND REMOVAL TOOL Pointing out that some home users' computers remain infected with the Blaster worm, Microsoft has released a detection and removal tool to help encourage users to clean their systems. The company has already released two separate patches for the flaw that the worm exploits. Some home users have not applied the patches, however, and their infected computers continue to spread the worm. According to Microsoft, users with infected machines are not likely to notice any difference other than possibly slowed performance of their computers. The new tool works with the existing patches to find and remove the Blaster worm itself as well as common variants of the original worm. Microsoft also has encouraged Windows XP users to use the Internet Connection Firewall that is included in that operating system to provide further defense against Blaster variants. The Blaster worm is widely regarded as the most destructive computer worm released to date. Internet News, 7 January 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3296391 INTEL PUTS MONEY INTO DIGITAL HOME TECHNOLOGIES Computer chip maker Intel has announced a new $200 million fund to support start-up companies in the field of consumer electronics and related products. The Digital Home Fund will make relatively small investments in companies developing products geared toward residential applications of computer networking, music, video, and other digital technologies. Market analyst Kurt Scherf said that the Intel fund could be particularly influential because many higher profile venture-capital funds typically target larger start-ups than will the Digital Home Fund. He noted that many smaller companies that are passed up by big venture capitalists develop important products. The new fund will focus on areas including home networking, consumer-oriented computer applications, and devices such as personal video players. Wall Street Journal, 7 January 2004 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107343114444003900,00.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 "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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