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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2005 USC Creates Endowed Chair of Gaming Fighting Computer Distractions Movie Industry Continues Antipiracy Campaign FCC Won't Force Cable Companies to Carry All Channels USC CREATES ENDOWED CHAIR OF GAMING Video game maker Electronic Arts and the University of Southern California (USC) this week created the nation's first endowed chair for the study of interactive entertainment. Bing Gordon, chief creative officer and cofounder of Electronic Arts, will serve as the first holder of the new chair at the USC School of Cinema-Television. Electronic Arts, which launched in 1981, is the leading producer of computer games, and Gordon was involved in nearly every game the company has produced. Gordon previously co-taught a class at Stanford University on video-game design. The endowed chair will rotate every one to two years among leaders in the field, and each chair will serve as a visiting professor at USC. The USC School of Cinema-Television currently offers degrees in programs including writing, directing, and animation and digital arts. CNN, 8 February 2005 http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/08/technology/ea_chair/ FIGHTING COMPUTER DISTRACTIONS A number of academic and commercial researchers are working to limit the distractions that computer users continually face. Activities such as reading e-mail, checking the weather online or surfing other Web sites, or simply fiddling with electronic music files can prove to be significant impediments to productivity for many people. Researchers often speak of "cognitive flow," a state of strong focus on a particular task. Some projects, including one involving researchers at Microsoft and the University of Maryland, study flow with the goal of designing applications that attempt to discern such a state in computer users. Software can then assign priority levels to potential interruptions, such as a new e-mail message, and determine whether to alert the user or to wait until the flow has ended. Alon Halevy, a professor of computer science at the University of Washington, is also working on e-mail systems that can decide when best to interrupt the user. Other efforts focus on understanding the types of functional structures that cause or promote distractions. New York Times, 10 February 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/technology/circuits/10info.html MOVIE INDUSTRY CONTINUES ANTIPIRACY CAMPAIGN The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) continues its legal efforts to prevent movie piracy and prosecute those who engage in illegally sharing movie files. The trade group filed another undisclosed number of lawsuits against individuals for alleged copyright violations, and it succeeded in closing down LokiTorrent, one of a number of sites that use the BitTorrent application to help file traders find desired files on the Web. Although sites that use BitTorrent do not host files--instead providing "trackers" that locate requested files--a court in Dallas said the movie industry could access LokiTorrent's server records to identify individuals who traded copyrighted movie files. The permanent closure of LokiTorrent follows similar closings of Supernova.org and Phoenix Torrent in the past two months. BBC, 11 February 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4256449.stm FCC WON'T FORCE CABLE COMPANIES TO CARRY ALL CHANNELS The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided not to force cable companies to carry all of the stations offered by local broadcasters. At the government's insistence, broadcasters are upgrading their signals from analog to digital, which, aside from improving the quality of the picture and sound, allows broadcasters to add new channels. The FCC compels cable companies to carry local broadcasters' primary signals, and broadcasters had sought similar requirements for the new digital channels, arguing that otherwise they have little incentive to put programming on those channels. Commissioners rejected that request, siding with cable companies, which argued that they should be allowed to pick and choose the particular channels most appropriate for their subscribers. Kevin J. Martin was the sole dissenting vote among the commissioners, saying he believes "the public would benefit more from more free programming." Washington Post, 11 February 2005 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15539-2005Feb10.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 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] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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