Message-Id: <55206A473154D011924D0020AFF7ACB55E6A84@mail1.oulan.ou.edu>
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 08:20:27 -0600
From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@ou.edu'" <it-fyi@ou.edu>
Subject: Edupage, 12 February 1998
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Edupage, 12 February 1998. Edupage, a summary of news about information
technology, is provided three times a week as a service by Educom, a
Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities
seeking to transform education through the use of information
technology.
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TOP STORIES
Computer Associates Makes Hostile Bid For Computer Sciences
Sprint Teams With EarthLink
QuickTime Accepted As Standard
ALSO
Intel Launches 3-D Chip
Media Companies Eye Technical Training Business
Kodak Invests In Internet Photo Business
Virtual TV Studios
COMPUTER ASSOCIATES MAKES HOSTILE BID FOR COMPUTER SCIENCES
Computer Associates, a leading supplier of software to Fortune 500
companies, is making a $9 billion bid for Computer Sciences, which
supplies consulting services to the same kinds of companies. If the
takeover succeeds, Computer Associates will be surpass Oracle in revenue
and become the No. 2 independent software maker after Microsoft. CA
chief executive and founder Charles Wang, who built the company through
more than 60 acquisitions and many large layoffs, says there were won't
be large layoffs
this time. (USA Today 12 Feb 98)
SPRINT TEAMS WITH EARTHLINK
Sprint has acquired a 30% stake in Internet access provider EarthLink,
and the two companies are combining their Internet services. In
addition to receiving $24 million in cash and $100 million in
convertible debt financing, EarthLink will gain access to Sprint's
network, marketing and distribution channels. EarthLink will provide
services to Sprint's Internet Passport customer base, and Sprint has
pledged to deliver a minimum of 150,000 new customers a year for five
years. (TechInvestor 11 Feb 98)
QUICKTIME ACCEPTED AS STANDARD
The International Standards Organization has selected Apple's QuickTime
file format as the basis for developing a new specification, called
MPEG-4, to create digital, audio, and video content. MPEG stands for
Motion Picture Experts Group. The final specification of MPEG-4 is not
expected to be completed until 1999, so products based on the
specification are not expected until at least then. Apple does not
expect big revenues from the licensing of the QuickTime file format.
(Wired News 12 Feb 98)
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INTEL LAUNCHES 3-D CHIP
Intel Corp.'s new 1740 chip is designed to bring sophisticated
3-dimensional images to desktop PCs. It includes 2-D graphics and video
features from Chips & Technologies, Inc., which Intel recently acquired,
as well as 3-D circuitry developed by Real3D, a spinoff of Lockheed
Martin (Intel controls 20% of Real3D). An analyst at Micro Design
Resources notes that while the 1740 is the fastest chip of its kind
currently on the market, that situation won't last for long. "By the
standards of what is coming out this spring,
it's not that impressive. At least two or three rivals will be faster."
Other companies working on 3-D chips include startups Nvidia Inc.,
Chromatic Research Inc., 3Dlabs Inc. and 3Dfx Interactive Inc. (Wall
Street Journal 12 Feb 98)
MEDIA COMPANIES EYE TECHNICAL TRAINING BUSINESS
A new study out from Queensland University of Technology in Australia
says that major media companies don't really want to replace colleges
and universities as educators of students, but are more interested in
supplying the technology needed for distance learning programs. The one
area where corporations such as Microsoft, McGraw-Hill and News Corp.
might want to compete is in technical training, where many of them have
already established programs for employees. Meanwhile, technical
training is also
attractive to academics, because it tends to be more profitable than
undergraduate teaching. The study is available at
http://www.deetya.gov.au/divisions/hed/ (Chronicle of Higher Education
13 Feb 98)
KODAK INVESTS IN INTERNET PHOTO BUSINESS
Eastman Kodak Co. is acquiring a majority stake in closely held
PictureVision Inc., which provides an online posting service for digital
photographers in direct competition to Kodak Picture Network. Both
services allow consumers to store and send their pictures over the
Internet, but PictureVision's service is typically faster than Kodak's.
Kodak plans to join the two services, and benefit from PictureVision's
quicker turnaround time. The company also plans to expand the service
so that it's available to people without computers via networked kiosks.
(Wall Street Journal 12 Feb 98)
VIRTUAL TV STUDIOS
If you're like most people, you haven't really noticed that a number of
TV anchorpersons are now posed in front of sets that don't exist, except
in the mind's eye of computer graphics. Some examples: Discovery News,
WCBS-TV's 11 pm newscast, and ABC's 1996 election coverage, which was
produced in its entirety on a virtual set. Designer Dan Devlin, whose
set-design style tends to feature decoratively painted walls in mottled
colors, says: "The viewing audience at home should not be able to tell.
That's the key to good design." (New York Times CyberTimes 12 Feb 98)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) and Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu). Telephone: 770-590-1017
Technical support for distributing Edupage is provided by Information
Technology Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Today's Honorary Subscriber is the American composer Alan
Hovhaness,born in 1911 near Boston, from Scottish and Armenian parents.
Hovhaness received his early musical training at the New England
Conservatory. Neil Stannard writes: "Early in his eclectic education,
Hovhaness developed a passion for the mysticism of sound, which was fed
by exposure to Armenian, Indian,
Japanese and Chinese cultures. When combined with his formal studies at
the Conservatory, the result was a compositional synthesis of both
Western and Eastern music, fashioned in such a way as to be uniquely
accessible to listeners of all musical tastes." A Fulbright Research
Scholar Grant took him to India in 1959, and in 1962 he studied Japanese
music on a Rockefeller
grant.
He never wanted to become a "composer", but rather to set down his
ideas, feelings and philosophy in music. He has written a huge number of
works, including more than 100 symphonies. His music has enjoyed a
renaissance in the last decade or so, resulting in many new recordings.
Especially popular was the "Mount Saint Helen's Symphony," written after
the 1980 eruption, and
his second symphony, "Mysterious Mountain." Many of his symphonies have
an Eastern flavor, with unusual harmonies, innovative use of percussion,
and an underlying energy accompanied by a serene peacefulness.
Perhaps his best known work is the Symphony #2, "Mysterious Mountain."
Writing for the classic recording by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, musicologist Oliver Daniel says: "The title,
Mysterious Mountain, while an afterthought, was not something contrived,
for to Alan Hovhaness, mountains are not just physical masses of stone
and earth that thrust themselves skyward. He tells us that 'Mountains
are symbols, like pyramids, of man's attempt to know God. Mountains are
symbolic meeting places between the mundane and spiritual worlds. To
some, the Mysterious Mountain may be the phantom peak, unmeasured,
thought to be higher than Everest, as seen from great distances by
fliers in Tibet. To some, it may be the solitary mountain, the tower of
strength over a countryside -- Fujiyama, Ararat, Monadnock, Shasta or
Grand Teton.' But whatever visions may be conjured in the mind of the
listener, the subject matter of his music is beyond any physical place."
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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