From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 10 September 1999
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 14:44:00 -0500
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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association
dedicated to transforming education through information technologies.
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TOP STORIES for September 10, 1999
North America's Electric System Passes Y2K Test
Study: High Cost for Windows 2000 Transition
Cholera Outbreak Could Be Coming
Back to School Online
ALSO
You Just Can't Beat This Price
Buying Texts: In Line vs. On Line
Y2K Global Picture to Unfold on Internet
Free College Notes on Web: Aid to Learning, or Laziness?
NORTH AMERICA'S ELECTRIC SYSTEM PASSES Y2K TEST
The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) performed year 2000
(Y2K) computer bug drills between Wednesday and early Thursday morning, with
much success. Over 500 utilities, electric cooperatives, power pools, and
power plants across the continent participated in the simulation. Most of
the tests were for backup communications systems and to assess contingency
strategies. Only a few minor problems were reported; in fact, the biggest
problem was caused by a computer hacker who tried to penetrate the
communications system at the Bonneville Power Administration, where DOE
Secretary Bill Richardson was stationed to observe the Y2K tests. The
hacker's presence was detected before problems were caused, but the hacker
is still on the loose and being sought by the FBI. Other minor setbacks
included storms that caused some power losses to a substation in San
Francisco and the New York Power Pool. However, Richardson cautioned the
utility industry from being overly confident after the drill, pointing out
that there is still a small percentage of power companies that are not
compliant. (Wall Street Journal 09/10/99)
STUDY: HIGH COST FOR WINDOWS 2000 TRANSITION
The migration costs of Microsoft's Windows 2000 are so high that companies
implementing the operating system would be unlikely to see a return on
investment for at least three years, according to a recent Gartner Group
study. The report indicates that the migration cost for Windows 2000 could
amount to as much as $3,100 per PC. Gartner vice president Michael
Gartenberg says by the time a company would see a return on Windows 2000, it
would be time to switch to another operating system. Microsoft has
advertised Windows 2000 as offering "increased reliability, availability,
and scalability with end-to-end management features that reduce operating
costs." Microsoft studies indicate companies migrating to Windows 2000 will
see benefits immediately. Microsoft concedes that migration can be
expensive, but says Windows 2000 can significantly reduce operating costs by
streamlining help-desk operations, improving PC manageability, and offering
businesses greater control over software
applications. (C|Net 09/09/99)
CHOLERA OUTBREAK COULD BE COMING
A new virus and worm combination called Cholera has appeared on a hacker
site in Germany, and experts are now working to prevent the virus from
spreading. Computer Associates International discovered the virus and
labeled it a medium threat, but will raise its warning to a high threat if
Cholera shows up on user systems. Like the earlier Worm.ExploreZip virus,
Cholera is able to transmit itself through e-mail, targeting all e-mail
addresses found on a system. For this reason, the virus could overload
e-mail servers, causing them to fail. Cholera is also able to work with any
e-mail platform. Although experts have learned that Cholera leaves a virus
file on the systems it attacks, they are still trying to determine the
virus' payload, if any. Users that receive the virus see a smiley face in
the text and an attachment called setup.exe that appears to be a
self-extracting setup program. When the user reboots, Cholera infects the
system, inserting keys into the win.ini file and the Win9x registry. (PC
World Online 09/09/99)
BACK TO SCHOOL ONLINE
As online learning becomes increasingly popular, Canada is working to gain
its share of the market. About 17,000 courses are currently available over
the Internet, and about 2,700 of these are offered by Canadian schools.
International Data estimates that in the U.S. about 2.2 million people will
be registered for online courses by 2002. Experts say Canada must move
quickly into the online market or it will lose out to other countries.
Canada now has three leading universities that specialize in online
offerings, including Alberta's Athabasca University, British Columbia's Open
University, and Tele-Universite du Quebec. In addition, online learning in
Canada will gain from this fall's launch of Canadian Learning Television,
which will provide programming connected to Canadian online courses. Like
the U.S., Canada is increasingly linking its universities and colleges to
corporate interests. This trend alarms teachers who believe that commercial
interests will result in a need to reduce costs and increase profits, which
in turn will lead to a loss of teaching jobs. (Maclean's 09/06/99)
=======================================
YOU JUST CAN'T BEAT THIS PRICE
Although Linux has been the focus of much recent publicity, other free
programs called FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD have quietly helped keep the
Web running for years. The three Unix-based operating systems originated at
the University of California at Berkeley, emerging from code written in the
late 1970s and early 1980s. A recent survey found that BSDs are used on
almost 15 percent of servers connected to the Internet. Yahoo!, which owns
the world's most heavily trafficked Web site, relies on FreeBSD to serve
close to 80 million users per month. After trying a number of different
operating systems, Yahoo! chose FreeBSD and has since become a key sponsor
for the program. Meanwhile, Microsoft uses FreeBSD rather than its own
Windows NT for the Hotmail e-mail service. FreeBSD continues to gain new
users, and is sometimes favored over Linux because its license allows users
to include the software in commercial products, while the Linux license
requires users to make all uses of the software available for free. (Wall
Street Journal 09/10/99)
BUYING TEXTS: IN LINE VS. ONLINE
A growing number of textbook Web sites are trying to lure college students
away from campus bookstores by offering convenience as well as low prices.
Companies such as Varsitybooks.com, Ecampus.com, CoreText.com, and
Textbooks.com are launching huge marketing campaigns, enlisting the help of
students as campus representatives. These sites offer textbooks that are in
some cases half the price charged at the campus bookstore. College students
seem receptive to the idea of buying books online, provoking concern among
campus booksellers. In response to the online threat, campus bookstores
have reduced prices, and MIT's bookstore has even offered to match the
prices of textbook sites. Booksellers note that buying online involves
several drawbacks, such as complications with delivering and returning
books. However, some traditional bookstores are now teaming with online
sellers in an effort to retain a share of the $3.6 billion college textbook
market. (Boston Globe 9/10/99)
Y2K GLOBAL PICTURE TO UNFOLD ON INTERNET
The International Y2K Cooperation Centre, supported by the United Nations,
will monitor the effects of Y2K in New Zealand at midnight on New Year's
Eve, keeping other time zones that have not yet made the date change
informed of the impact. New Zealand will be the first industrialized nation
to change over to 2000, with Greenwich Mean Time 13 hours behind, and the
U.S. East Coast 17 hours behind. The group will gather data from 170 or
more national Y2K coordinators, and will use its Web site to report on the
status of energy, communications, financial services, government services,
and transportation. The group's site will allow Net users to follow the
effects of Y2K region by region. In the event of Y2K-related problems, one
possibility is that the group will establish regional help desks using
experts who will be able to talk others through necessary repairs. (Reuters
09/08/99)
FREE COLLEGE NOTES ON WEB: AID TO LEARNING, OR LAZINESS?
Internet startup StudentU.com is paying students at 62 U.S. universities to
take notes in up to 50 core classes per campus as part of a free note
offering at the company's Web site. The notes taken by the students are
posted on StudentU.com's Web site, within 24 hours. The service launched
yesterday and notes from some university courses are already available. The
site's creator, Oran Wolf, says he will depend on advertising to provide
revenues. Although Wolf says the site is meant as a service to students, he
acknowledged the potential abuse, such as students skipping class, it could
cause. Critics are assailing the site as another affront to a proper
education. Boston University professor Peter Wood says the university could
file a lawsuit to keep Wolf's site from using its classroom notes. Wolf is
offering students up to $300 per semester to take the notes that are posted
on the site. (New York Times 09/09/99)
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
EDUCAUSE '99
"Celebrating New Beginnings"
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
October 26-29, 1999, Long Beach, California
http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/
The EDUCAUSE '99 information technology conference promises to be one of
higher education's preeminent educational events. The conference will shape
and define the agenda for the transformation of education through
information technologies for the 21st century.
For more information on EDUCAUSE '99, please visit the conference Web site
at http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/, or contact us at
conf@educause.edu or 303-449-4430.
THE LEARNING MARKETPLACE: NEW RESOURCES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
Presented by the Leadership Forum of the Center for Academic Transformation
(An EDUCAUSE Affiliate)
November 11, 1999, Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.center.rpi.edu/LForum/LMWkshp.html
For additional information on all EDUCAUSE conferences see
http://www.educause.edu/conference/conf.html
For information on other technology related educational conferences see
http://www.educause.edu/ir/events.html
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OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS
EDUCOM REVIEW is a bimonthly print magazine on information technology and
education. U.S. subscriptions are $18 a year.
CAUSE/EFFECT is a quarterly practitioner's journal about managing and using
information resources on college and university campuses. U.S. subscriptions
are $52 a year.
For additional information on these and other EDUCAUSE publications see:
http://www.educause.edu/pub/pubs.html
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Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
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EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to transforming
education through information technologies