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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 24, 2006 MTV Enters Social Networking Game House Bill Mandates Data Sharing at DHS Microsoft to Take On Apple in Music, Player MTV ENTERS SOCIAL NETWORKING GAME MTV is introducing a new cable channel and Web site designed to take advantage of the immense popularity of social networking software. Sites such as MySpace (which was recently purchased by Rupert Murdoch), YouTube, and Bebo have large numbers of loyal users who go to the sites to find others with similar interests, share content, and communicate with friends through various means. MTV's social networking entry, Flux, will combine online tools with a cable channel, allowing users to select the videos that they see on the channel, upload multimedia files, and talk with other users. The site also lets users interact through avatars--animated figures that represent individual users. An official from MTV said Flux puts control in the hands of users, "challenging the status quo in TV programming." CNET, 24 July 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-6097692.html HOUSE BILL MANDATES DATA SHARING AT DHS Last week, the House Homeland Security Committee passed a fiscal appropriations bill for 2007 that would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take several steps that would increase data sharing. Under the terms of the bill, the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate would be renamed the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and would direct efforts to share information among DHS intelligence agencies. The office would be run by officers skilled in the sharing of information and knowledge. If the appropriations bill is enacted, DHS will have one year to submit a plan outlining how it would implement the bill's requirements. Also included in the bill are provisions to set up a national biosurveillance integration system and to create a program run by the National Science Foundation to distribute grant money to train cybersecurity professionals. Federal Computer Week, 21 July 2006 http://www.fcw.com/article95373-07-21-06-Web MICROSOFT TO TAKE ON APPLE IN MUSIC, PLAYER In an implicit concession to the iTunes model developed by Apple, Microsoft has announced plans to offer its own line of digital music players and compatible software. In the market for portable music, Apple's approach of having songs in a proprietary format that only plays on Apple devices has in past few years been much more successful than Microsoft's strategy, which was to build software that would allow other vendors to create products that use those formats. For its Zune line of hardware and software, Microsoft will control the aspects of the service, from the music format to the portable players. Microsoft employed a similar strategy in developing its Xbox game consoles. Aside from talk that Zune players might include Wi-Fi capability, not many details about Zune were released. Wall Street Journal, 22 July 2006 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115351059864913890.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. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2006, EDUCAUSE
