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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 04, 2005 Hacker Exposes Admissions Records Undergrad Biologist Creates Database for Epilepsy Research New York Public Library Unveils Online Archive Library Experiments with iPods for Audio Books HACKER EXPOSES ADMISSIONS RECORDS A hacker who was able to access admissions records for dozens of business schools posted instructions online for how applicants could access those records. Among the universities whose records were exposed were Harvard University, Stanford University, Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Dartmouth College. All of the affected schools use an online application and notification system called ApplyYourself. The vulnerability that allowed the unauthorized access has been fixed, but during the nine hours in which the systems were exposed, several hundred students attempted to find out if they had been accepted to schools to which they applied. Final decisions and notifications of acceptance are not expected for several more weeks. School officials have been able to identify at least some of the applicants who gained access to the records systems, and officials from some schools said such activity would factor into the admission decision. Steve Nelson of Harvard's MBA program said, "Hacking into a system in this manner is unethical and also contrary to the behavior we expect of leaders we aspire to develop." Even if a student saw a decision, said Nelson, that decision isn't final until March 30. San Jose Mercury News, 3 March 2005 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11044063.htm UNDERGRAD BIOLOGIST CREATES DATABASE FOR EPILEPSY RESEARCH An undergraduate student in the biology program at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa has received accolades for a database he created for epilepsy research. Cody Locke created the database, CarpeDB, on the advice of one of his professors. CarpeDB, which has been acknowledged by Science magazine and the National Institutes of Health, aims to serve as a single source for information on the numerous genes and DNA that might be responsible for epilepsy. Locke continues to add to CarpeDB, which also allows other researchers to submit new information that, after review by Locke, goes into the database. Locke is a junior in the university's Computer-Based Honors Program, which encourages students to put technology skills to use in innovative ways. Inside Higher Ed, 3 March 2005 http://insidehighered.com/insider NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY UNVEILS ONLINE ARCHIVE The New York Public Library this week unveiled an online archive of 275,000 images, available to the public for free. The project, called the NYPL Digital Gallery, is supported by a $7 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies and includes Civil War photographs, illuminated manuscripts, Japanese prints, early American maps, and photographs of New York City buildings and streetscapes. Paul LeClerc, president and chief executive officer of the library, noted that while other libraries are digitizing texts, few are putting materials such as photographs and maps online. Images in the collection are either in the public domain or are owned by the library and can be downloaded and used for noncommercial purposes. The NYPL Digital Gallery project, which is unrelated to the library's arrangement with Google to digitize content, is expected to add another 225,000 images to its database in the coming months. Chronicle of Higher Education, 3 March 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/03/2005030307n.htm LIBRARY EXPERIMENTS WITH IPODS FOR AUDIO BOOKS The South Huntington Public Library on Long Island, New York, has begun a program of loaning iPod shuffles to library patrons to listen to audio books. Ken Weil, director of the library, said that the introduction of Apple's newest iPod device, the shuffle, made the program economically viable. "It's the right product with the right price," he said. Although currently the selection of books available in MP3 format is relatively limited, Joe Latini, assistant director of the library, said patrons can request new titles to be added. He also noted that because books in MP3 format cost just $15 to $25, compared to about $75 for books on CD, the savings will likely pay for the iPod devices over time. The library has ten of the devices available for checkout, four of which store 512 megabytes while the other six hold up to 1 gigabyte. Wired News, 3 March 2005 http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66756,00.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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