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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2006 Universities to Develop Assistive Technologies Google Launches Site Catering to Visually Impaired University Supercomputer Enlisted in Bird Flu Research Bill Would Require Notice of Security Breaches UNIVERSITIES TO DEVELOP ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will use a five-year, $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a research center focused on developing technologies to help the elderly and people with disabilities. The Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center will work to develop technologies that can improve the quality of life of older people and those with disabilities, help them live longer and more independently, and allow them to start or keep working. Organizers of the new research center demonstrated examples of the kinds of technologies they hope to develop. The examples included a robotic walker, a bar code reader to help visually impaired persons shop, and an "eWatch" that monitors the wearer's health while keeping track of his or her location. Jared Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon, said the new research center is also expected to attract start-up companies with an interest in similar assistive technologies. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 18 July 2006 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06199/706633-85.stm GOOGLE LAUNCHES SITE CATERING TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED A new service from Google Labs promises easier searching for users with visual impairments. Web sites full of graphics and animations are fine for sighted users, but screen readers and other technologies that assist the blind or visually impaired have considerable difficulty rendering such sites in a way that can easily be understood. The new service, called Google Accessible Search site, will evaluate how easily assistive technologies are likely to be able to parse and present the content of a Web page and moves those sites higher in the listing of search results. According to T.V. Raman, research scientist in charge of the service, the service is an "early-stage experiment" that he hopes can be further developed and refined based on user feedback. CNET, 19 July 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6096169.html UNIVERSITY SUPERCOMPUTER ENLISTED IN BIRD FLU RESEARCH Researchers looking into how to avoid widespread outbreaks of the avian flu will take advantage of upgrades to a supercomputer at Swansea University in Wales to perform complex modeling calculations. The processing power of the computer, known as Blue C, has been upgraded to more than two teraflops. The improvements also lowered the energy usage of the machine, cutting its electricity bill by 50,000 pounds per year, according to officials from the university. Researchers will use Blue C to create computer models of outbreaks of the bird flu in the United Kingdom, looking for ways to stop the spread of the disease through culling and quarantining birds. A spokesperson from Swansea said that the power of Blue C means researchers can have results within hours or even minutes, which will facilitate improvements in forecasting and coping with the disease. BBC, 21 July 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/5202730.stm BILL WOULD REQUIRE NOTICE OF SECURITY BREACHES Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has introduced a bill that would outline requirements for federal agencies to disclose computer security breaches that put individuals at risk of identity theft or fraud. The introduction of the bill follows several instances where government computers were compromised but the agency responsible for the system took a long time to notify those affected. In one case, the Energy Department did not make public a security breach until more than a year after it happened. "Sadly, this legislation is necessary to ensure that federal agencies are taking the proper steps to notify the public, the potential victims, and appropriate government officials," according to Davis. Under the legislation, the Office of Management and Budget would implement policies and procedures concerning notification when personal information is lost or stolen. Federal Computer Week, 19 July 2006 http://www.fcw.com/article95339-07-19-06-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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