Message-Id: <55206A473154D011924D0020AFF7ACB56A64AC@mail1.oulan.ou.edu>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 08:55:04 -0600
From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu>
Subject: Edupage, 5 March 1998
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Edupage, 5 March 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
UPS Gets Into Electronic Shipping
Lucent Technology Speeds Data Over Light
Computer Sciences Sues To Block Bid
Cell Phones Can Interfere With Auto Systems
ALSO
Girls Will Be Girls
Chip-Tracking Device Could Foil Thieves
Federal Prosecutors Indict Internet Gambling Operators
Corporate Web Sites Need Broad Appeal, Speedy Graphics
UPS GETS INTO ELECTRONIC SHIPPING
United Parcel Service of America is teaming up with Tumbleweed Software
and NetDox Inc. to offer secure electronic document delivery via the
Internet. Tumbleweed and NetDox already offer Internet-based document
delivery, but the new service will be marketed under the UPS name.
(Wall Street Journal 4 Mar 98)
LUCENT TECHNOLOGY SPEEDS DATA OVER LIGHT
New optical technology from Lucent Technologies will give fiber optic
networks a boost, moving the equivalent of 90,000 sets of encyclopedias
per second, according to company sources. The technology, called dense
wavelength division multiplexers (DWDMs) acts like a prism to increase
by an order of magnitude the number of light streams capable of carrying
data. In addition, DWDMs don't need to go through the extra step of
translating the light signal into an electrical signal in order to pass
through switches. "This technology will take off really fast, almost as
fast as Cabbage Patch dolls," says the director of strategy for Lucent's
Optical Networking unit. (Investor's Business Daily 4 Mar 98)
COMPUTER SCIENCES SUES TO BLOCK BID
Computer Sciences Corp. has filed a lawsuit to block a hostile takeover
attempt by Computer Associates International. The suit accuses CA of
illegally obtaining trade secrets about Computer Sciences, including
confidential information about earnings, sales, profits and financial
results, from investment banker Bear, Stearns. CA calls the allegations
"totally unfounded and without merit." Bear, Stearns was involved in
negotiating a client's withdrawal from a seven-year partnership with
Computer Sciences last year. (New York Times 4 Mar 98)
CELL PHONES CAN INTERFERE WITH AUTO SYSTEMS
Carmakers have known for a while that talking on a cell phone while
driving can cause accidents, but now research shows that wireless phones
can disrupt anti-lock braking and other electronic systems. For
instance, Mercedes Benz warns that the electromagnetic radiation emitted
by the microchips in wireless phones can disable its Babysmart toddler
restraint seat, which automatically switches off the passenger side air
bag when a child is sitting up front. "As far as we know, no injury or
death has resulted from interference between wireless phones and other
radio-frequency emitting devices," says an AT&T Wireless Services
spokeswoman, but some late model owner's manuals contain special
warnings regarding the problem. (USA Today 4 Mar 98)
============================================
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
Computer software designer Brenda Laurel says character counts in
computer games for girls: "When we asked girls whether they liked the
computer games that were available to them at the time -- this research
was happening between 1992 and 1995 -- their responses were typically
negative. And when we asked them why, the reason was typically because
they were 'boring.' I had expected a different answer. I had expected
to hear 'they're creepy' or 'they're violent.' When we probed on that,
the reasons we heard were that the characters are not interesting -- in
fact the characters are so uninteresting that you can't even make up
stories about them. You can't fantasize a life for one of the X-men,
for example." (New York Times 5 Mar 98)
CHIP-TRACKING DEVICE COULD FOIL THIEVES
The Electronic Industries Association has adopted technology from Data
Matrix that enables chipmakers to mark each semiconductor with a
microscopic code that identifies the vendor and includes individual
serial numbers. Chip thieves won't be able to remove the code without
ripping off the casings, which in most cases would destroy the chips.
The new technology won't wipe out the black market for stolen chips, but
will give honest makers of PCs and other electronic devices a way of
checking to make sure the chips they use are legitimate. (Business Week
9 Mar 98)
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS INDICT INTERNET GAMBLING OPERATORS
Federal prosecutors in New York indicted 14 operators of offshore
companies for using phone lines for the purposes of illegal gambling
activities. All 14 are American. The government says it is not
charging bettors for using the sites but hopes that the indictment will
serve as warning that such activities are illegal. (New York Times 5
Mar 98)
CORPORATE WEB SITES NEED BROAD APPEAL, SPEEDY GRAPHICS
A recent report by Shelley Taylor & Associates, based in Palo Alto,
Calif., says that only three of the 100 Web sites it inspected -- those
of AT&T, Bell Atlantic and Sun Microsystems -- managed to serve the
needs of diverse groups, including investors, customers and potential
employees. Most corporate Web sites focused too narrowly on one type of
visitor, tarnishing the company's image in the eyes of other visitors.
The group also found that many of the Web sites were painfully slow and
badly organized, and that information took far too long to download.
Often these negatives are the result of trying too hard -- packing the
Web site full of glitzy graphics that may impress a few visitors with
time on their hands, but annoying hundreds of others. (The Economist 28
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 Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), the great
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the fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose hobbies include
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Vane. Her mystery novels were almost comedies of manners, and they
include "Strong Poison," (1930), "Nine Tailors (1934), and "Gaudy Night"
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writer, she thought that "...nothing gratifies one more than to be
admired for doing what one likes." She also said: "Very dangerous
things, theories."
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