Message-Id: <55206A473154D011924D0020AFF7ACB56A652F@mail1.oulan.ou.edu>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 08:56:19 -0600
From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu>
Subject: Edupage, 19 March 1998
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Edupage, 19 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
Crossing That Bridge To The Year 2000 Problem
Students Are Slowpokes On Using High-Speed Networks
Distinction Fuzzy Between Cyber World & Walk-Around World
Feds Prosecute Teenager For Computer Crime
ALSO
Auto Society Addresses Mobile Gadget Concerns
Principal Financial Opens Internet-Only Bank
Modem On The Desk Earns A Pink Slip At Sun
Video Gamers Use Their Heads
CROSSING THAT BRIDGE TO THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM
With $4.7 billion budgeted this year and next for solving the "Year
2000" problem (when many computers will be unable to distinguish in
which century they are crunching numbers), the current progress report
from federal agencies is: only 35% of computer software systems
critical for agencies to perform their missions have been checked and
fixed, with 3,500 critical systems remaining in need of attention. In
testimony before two subcommittees of Congress, an official of the
General Accounting Office
summed up the situation by saying: "It is unlikely that agencies can
complete this vast amount of work in time." No one knows the full scope
of the problem, because it is not possible to identify which systems are
in fact critical: a seemingly minor system will be critical if major
systems will not run without it. (New York Times 19 Mar 98)
STUDENTS ARE SLOWPOKES ON USING HIGH-SPEED NETWORKS
After several years of pressuring colleges to install high-speed
networks in dormitories, it turns out that students aren't racing for
the chance to log on at lightning speed. The information comes from an
online discussion sponsored by CAUSE, where one participant complained
about "how few students elect to participate in residence-hall
networking." Some attempted to explain the apparent contradiction,
noting that in some cases, students must pay "subscription" fees to hook
up to networks. Others say they hope the low usage is a "short-term
phenomenon" and that once students get online at these new speeds,
they'll be hooked. But as one participant put it, you want a stronger
argument than that when you're asking your college president to pay for
major networking projects. (Chronicle of Higher Education 20 Mar 98)
DISTINCTION FUZZY BETWEEN CYBER WORLD & WALK-AROUND WORLD
In a move to broaden its product line and offer customers software to
handle both conventional and online commercial transactions, CyberCash
Inc. of Reston, Virginia, whose software allows merchants to accept
payments over the Internet, is buying Oakland, California-based Icverify
Inc., whose software is used to process credit card transactions.
CyberCash's chief executive explains: "The sharp distinctions between
the Internet world we live in and the walk-around world that Icverify
lives in -- those distinctions are starting to get real fuzzy."
(Washington Post 19 Mar 98)
FEDS PROSECUTE TEENAGER FOR COMPUTER CRIME
A Massachusetts teenage computer vandal found guilty of disrupting phone
service to about 600 homes and a small airport's control tower now faces
two years of probation, forfeiture of his computer, 250 hours of
community service, and $5,000 in restitution. The government hopes that
bringing charges against the young man will send a clear warning to
others. "To the extent that juvenile hackers out there think that they
somehow have a pass, think that it's fun and games, think that they're
not going to be prosecuted, they're wrong." (New York Times 19 Mar 98)
=============================================
AUTO SOCIETY ADDRESSES MOBILE GADGET CONCERNS
The Society of Automotive Engineers, in cooperation with the Big Three
U.S. automakers and a number of federal regulators and independent
researchers, is studying the harmful effects of new automobile gadgetry,
such as Global Positioning System-based navigation systems, cell phones
and dashboard-mounted PCs. "The bottom line is we're very cognizant of
driver overload and driver distraction," says the director of advanced
engineering at GM's Delphi Automotive Systems. The SAE is drafting
voluntary guidelines for the manufacture and installation of such
devices in the hope of staving off federal regulation. The National
Highway Transportation Safety Administration recently issued a 300-page
report on safety problems related to cell-phone use. (Wall Street
Journal 18 Mar 98)
PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OPENS INTERNET-ONLY BANK
Principal Financial Group, a financial and insurance firm, has opened an
all-electronic Principal Bank. By July 1, customers will be able access
and transfer funds between accounts, file loan applications, pay bills
and view cleared checks, all on the Web. "The number of people who are
using the Web is growing, and this is a way for them to micromanage
their affairs," says the bank's CIO. Later on this year, a start-up
group in Houston plans to open Compubank, an all-electronic bank. More
than 200 electronic-banking Web sites have opened in the past two years,
according to Seattle-based Online Banking Report, and the number of
households handling at least some banking duties over the Internet rose
to 4 million in 1997, up from 2.5 million in '96 and only 250,000 in
'94. (Investor's Business Daily 18 Mar 98)
MODEM ON THE DESK EARNS A PINK SLIP AT SUN
Citing users with dial-up Internet access as the No. 2 biggest security
risk after internal hacking, Sun Microsystems has made it a firing
offense to have a modem on the desk. Many crackers use a technique
called "war dialing" in which their computer tries hundreds or even
thousands of phone numbers in search of an idle modem. If that PC's
owner is not using the machine, the cracker can effectively "capture"
the PC, and gain access to the network it's connected to. If a senior
manager at Sun discovers an infraction, that employee is "gone the same
day," says one of Sun's security managers. "Any dial-up line is a
tremendous risk." (Network Week 18 Mar 98)
VIDEO GAMERS USE THEIR HEADS
Italian PC maker Video Computer is marketing a headset that can be used
in place of the joystick in any video game to perform the commands that
control movement through the 3D space on the screen. To look left in
the game, the player simply needs to slightly rotate his or her head in
that direction. The UR Gear device, which uses infrared transmitters and
receivers to detect movement and translate it into on-screen motion, was
initially designed for disabled PC users. It will be available in the
U.S. in the second quarter, and will retail for $99. (Business Week 23
Mar 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 great French warrior-saint Jeanne
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Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
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