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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2005 Purdue Turns to Podcasts Google Presses Forward Scanning Books Judge Sides with Cell-Phone Carriers Army on the Lookout for Sensitive Info Online PURDUE TURNS TO PODCASTS Purdue University has begun providing podcasts of lectures for certain courses. Purdue offers recordings for students who miss a class or who want to review specific lectures. Previously, recordings were available for about 100 courses but only on audio cassettes. Starting this fall, recordings for lectures from some courses are availble as MP3 files, allowing students to download the recordings rather than going to the library to check out tapes. Michael Gay, manager of broadcast networks and services, said faculty who agree to have their courses added to the podcast service need only submit an online request form and wear a microphone while they lecture. So far, almost 50 courses are part of the podcasting service, and Purdue officials hope that number rises next semester. Currently, podcasts are available publicly, though in the future they may be restricted to campus users. Users of the service can download a specific lecture or all of the lectures from an entire course. As for the notion that some students might decide simply never to attend lectures in favor of listening to the downloads, Gay commented that "most instructors agree that any student who thinks an audio recording is a surrogate for class is doomed to failure." Critics said podcasting programs favor students who can afford portable music players, but Gay noted that the podcasts are in a format that can be played on any computer. Chronicle of Higher Education, 31 August 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/08/2005083101t.htm GOOGLE PRESSES FORWARD SCANNING BOOKS Google is moving ahead with its plans to digitize vast numbers of books and make them available online. The search engine this week expanded its book search service to 14 countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia, where users can now search English-language books. Although laws in each country dictate small differences in how the service works, according to Jim Gerber, director of content partnerships, in all countries the service offers three types of results: for books in the public domain, the entire text is available online; copyrighted works whose publishers have signed agreements with Google are available to the extent that those agreements allow; for copyrighted books whose publishers have not made agreements with Google, only selected portions will be available online. This last group of results has raised the ire of publishers, who argue that Google has no right to display any part of copyrighted works without permission. Google has offered publishers the opportunity to identify specific titles that will be excluded from the service, but most publishing groups have said that approach is inherently backwards, giving Google blanket authority until and unless publishers complain. Internet News, 31 August 2005 http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3531221 JUDGE SIDES WITH CELL-PHONE CARRIERS A federal judge has ruled in favor of five cell-phone companies in a case brought by consumers who said the companies violated antitrust laws by tying their phone services to particular brands of handsets. The lawsuits, filed in April 2002, named AT&T Wireless, Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, and Sprint as defendants. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote dismissed all five suits, saying that no carrier had enough power over the market to limit competition. She noted that of the five defendants, Verizon had the largest share of the market, at 24 percent, with the others holding between 8 and 18 percent. Cote also pointed out that of the five defendants, only AT&T directly ties cell-phone service to the purchase of a handset. San Jose Mercury News, 31 August 2005 http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/12525194.htm ARMY ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SENSITIVE INFO ONLINE U.S. Army officials have said they will take a closer look at blogs and Web sites maintained by soldiers. Many such blogs and Web sites include photographs or other information that inadvertently exposes classified or sensitive information to anyone with access to the Internet. Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Armys chief of staff, noted that soldiers routinely post pictures online that include "tactics, techniques, and procedures" for weapons systems. According to Richard Cody, Army vice chief of staff, "The enemy is actively searching the unclassified networks for information, especially sensitive photos." Schoomaker issued a memo saying that the Army will work to closely monitor Web sites and blogs to avoid operational security violations, which "needlessly place lives at risk and degrade the effectiveness of our operations." Federal Computer Week, 30 August 2005 http://www.fcw.com/article90522-08-30-05-Web ***************************************************** 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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