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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2005 MCAT, GMAT Go Electronic Legal Downloads at California Universities Photography Museums Developing Online Database The Home of the Future: 100 Mbps MCAT, GMAT GO ELECTRONIC Officials with the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) announced that both tests will move to electronic-only format. The electronic version of the MCAT is being offered on a trial basis in selected locations currently and will be available widely in 2007. The GMAT has since 1997 been offered as a paper-based or computer-based test, but the paper test will be discontinued next January. The Association of American Medical Colleges said the electronic format of the MCAT will streamline the process, both for those taking the exam and those grading it. The check-in process will be faster and will include security measures to prevent individuals from taking the test in place of someone else. The electronic GMAT is an adaptive test, giving test takers a harder question after they answer a question correctly or an easier one if they answer incorrectly. Officials with the entrance exam for law schools have no plans to switch from their paper-based exam. Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 July 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/07/2005071901t.htm LEGAL DOWNLOADS AT CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITIES Two university systems in California have signed deals with Cdigix Inc. to provide legal downloads of songs and movies as part of their efforts to discourage illegal file trading. The 13 campuses of the University of California system and the 23 campuses of the California State University system are covered by the deal, though each campus must separately decide if it will participate and, if so, how to pay for it. The two systems are also negiating with other providers of online music and movies, including Sony, Napster, and Mindawn. David Walker, director of advanced technology at the University of California, said, "We're doing this because we do recognize that there is illegal file sharing of intellectual property." The two university systems include approximately 600,000 students across the state. CNN, 19 July 2005 http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/07/19/campus.downloads.ap/index.html PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUMS DEVELOPING ONLINE DATABASE Two prominent photography collections have announced a joint project to create an online database of images from both collections. The George Eastman House and the International Center of Photography said the Photomuse.org site will contain nearly 200,000 images when it is launched, which is projected to be in the fall of 2006. Between them, the two organizations have some of the most complete archives of photos, including work from the early days of cameras. Photos in the database will be assigned a range of keywords so that users can locate images by more than simply photographer's name or title of the photo. A photo of an immigrant couple, for example, will be included in search results for terms such as "immigration," "Italian-Americans," or "Ellis Island." Photos in the database, all of which will be publicly available online, will be of modest resolution, though higher-resolution images will also be available. Organizers still must sort out copyright questions for photos not in the public domain. Owners of some photographs are happy to have the exposure from including their work, while others are concerned about potential lost revenue if their work is included. New York Times, 20 July 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/arts/design/20east.html THE HOME OF THE FUTURE: 100 MBPS A company in Finland is developing technology it says will provide Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbps to residential users. Representatives of Teleste said the company's product works over existing cable TV hardware, allowing it to provide speeds otherwise only seen on fiber networks, at a price home users are able and willing to pay. Pekka Rissanen, an executive with Teleste, said the cost of connecting a home with the new technology could be between about $60 and $240. Rissanen said that company research indicates that the home of the near future would need a minimum of 30 Mbps, given that a single TV program would use 10 to 20 Mbps. Teleste's technology is currently undergoing a pilot test in the Netherlands, but the company does not expect to offer the technology widely until the second quarter of 2007 at the earliest. CNET, 20 July 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1035_3-5796054.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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