From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 15 October 1999
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 08:21:15 -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 October 15, 1999
After Long Decline, Memory Chips Start to Cost More
Microsoft Strengthens Partnership with BT in Mobile-Internet Market
Digital Signatures, Anticybersquatter Bill Approved
CIA Says Y2K May Disrupt Global Supply Chains
ALSO
ITxpo 99: Sun, Novell, and SAS Preview Products
U.S.'s WTO Focus Is Open Markets
Clunky Internet Sites Get Social-Science Treatment
Reps. Wilson, Green Plan Spam Bill
AFTER LONG DECLINE, MEMORY CHIPS START TO COST MORE
RAM chips, the devices that allow a PC user to switch back and forth to
different tasks and account for about 7 percent of a PC's total cost, are
costing a lot more recently after factories in the Far East sharply reduced
production last year (due to record low prices caused by over-production)
and as a result of damage to or total destruction of Taiwanese factories
after the earthquake last month. RAM chips that once cost $40 are now $100
on the wholesale market, and may be on their way to reaching $150. Due to a
strong global economy and fierce competition among PC manufacturers--and
despite the dramatic increase in RAM chip prices--computer chip sales are
expected to increase to over $155 billion for 1999, a growth rate of 14
percent. Dataquest predicts that the growth rate will remain in
double-digit growth until 2002. (Baltimore Sun 10/15/99)
MICROSOFT STRENGTHENS ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH BT IN MOBILE-INTERNET MARKET
Microsoft and British Telecommunications yesterday announced an expansion of
their mobile Internet partnership. The two companies plan to use
Microsoft's Windows CE operating system to develop Internet-capable wireless
devices. The duo intend to roll out consumer-multimedia services for mobile
phones by this summer. Microsoft, which has been unable to equal 3Com's
Palm Computing unit in the handheld computing market, wants to use the
partnership to sell its software to BT partner AT&T, a move that could help
it better compete against its rivals. The partnership is one of many
link-ups in the industry. Palm has recently reached separate agreements
with Nokia and Symbian to develop mobile Internet phones. (Wall Street
Journal 10/15/99)
DIGITAL SIGNATURES, ANTICYBERSQUATTER BILL APPROVED
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee gave its approval to two pieces of
technology-oriented legislation, one a bill that gives digital signatures
equal standing with written signatures in the eyes of the law, and the other
a bill that empowers businesses to take civil action against cybersquatters.
The digital signatures bill, which does not extend as far as similar
legislation passed by the House Commerce Committee, urges the establishment
of a federal standard for digital signatures that would foster the growth of
electronic commerce. States and the parties involved in transactions will
retain the option of using handwritten signatures for some documents,
according to terms of the legislation. The bill may be considered by the
House Rules Committee early next week. The anticybersquatter bill gives
domain name registrars the power to bar people from registering trademarks
if it can be determined that they have unscrupulous motives for doing so.
(Bloomberg 10/13/99)
CIA SAYS Y2K MAY DISRUPT GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS
Global supply chains could be affected by Y2K because many foreign small and
midsize firms are not preparing for the date change, says CIA national
intelligence officer for science and technology Lawrence Gershwin, who
testified Wednesday before a Senate special committee on Y2K. In addition,
Gershwin says the CIA anticipates a "safe havening" of financial assets by
U.S. companies and some foreign governments. Russia, Ukraine, China, and
Indonesia are high risks for large-scale Y2K-related failures, while Germany
and Japan are also at risk, Gershwin says. However, the CIA is confident
that ballistic missiles will not be launched accidentally as a result of
Y2K, Gershwin says. Furthermore, the possibility of a large nuclear accident
is "extremely low," Gershwin says. Although Y2K is unlikely to cause a
major disruption in oil supplies, Gershwin says foreign infrastructure
problems could affect U.S. foreign interests such as overseas businesses and
military installations. (Computerworld Online 10/13/99)
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ITXPO 99: SUN, NOVELL, AND SAS PREVIEW PRODUCTS
Sun, Novell, and SAS are among the vendors displaying unreleased
technologies at this week's ITxpo in Orlando, Fla. Sun is demonstrating a
common management console designed to integrate its Enterprise SyMON
systems-management tool with its Solaris Resource Manager for resource
allocation and server consolidation. Also at the show, Novell is previewing
a product, called Novell Address Book, that will allow end users to access
address book information from directories. The product enables users to
search for address-book data by categories such as name or e-mail address,
and the records that are returned can include the person's photo and live
links to their e-mail address. Meanwhile, SAS is displaying Enterprise
Scorecard, an application based on the Balanced Scorecard concept to help
businesses measure and monitor performance. The Balanced Scorecard idea is
based on improving business by monitoring important indicators. Although 40
percent of the Fortune 1000 are expected to implement a Balanced Scorecard
by 2000, 90 percent of these efforts are expected to fail. (InfoWorld
Electric 10/14/99)
U.S.'S WTO FOCUS IS OPEN MARKETS
President Clinton announced that one of the principle items on the U.S.
agenda during next month's World Trade Organization meeting will be to
protect electronic commerce from being taxed further. U.S. negotiators will
attempt to get assurances from WTO member companies that they will not
obstruct commerce on the Internet. The U.S. will also seek an extension on
the moratorium on electronic commerce taxes. "The lines of communications
should not crackle with interference," Clinton said. (Washington Post
10/14/99)
CLUNKY INTERNET SITES GET SOCIAL-SCIENCE TREATMENT
Web site designers are trying to make their sites more user-friendly by
hiring employees with degrees in social sciences and humanities. Most Web
sites are difficult for average people to use, experts say. Many Web
designers do not understand user behavior, including why users often leave
sites soon after going to them. One technique Modem Media uses is role
playing, in which employees pretend to be users that fit a certain profile
in an attempt to understand a user's experience of a Web site. Modem Media
intends to hire psychologists and anthropologists to expand its efforts to
understand user behavior. Meanwhile, Sapient last month announced plans to
buy E-Lab because of E-Lab's knowledge of "patterns of behavior that reveal
and drive the nature of experience." However, Web site usability expert
Jakob Nielsen says social scientists are not the answer, and that companies
should focus instead on conducting usability tests with actual customers.
(Investor's Business Daily 10/15/99)
REPS. WILSON, GREEN PLAN SPAM BILL
The war on spam will be continued with the expected introduction this week
of the Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act, which will be introduced today in a
press conference by sponsoring Reps. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) and Gene Green
(D-Texas). The act will allow e-mail users "to keep their current e-mail
address and block out all unsolicited e-mail without having to change
providers or get new e-mail addresses," according to a press release from
the two representatives. The act also calls for the establishment of
"virtual gated communities" that prohibit spam, and would allow users to put
"no trespassing signs" on their PCs. Violators of the act's terms would be
subjected to fines of $500 per offense, or $25,000 per day the violation
remains in effect. Another House antispam bill, the Can Spam Act, would
give ISPs the option of suing spammers. (Newsbytes 10/13/99)
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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
SC99: High Performance Networking and Computing Conference
November 13-19, 1999, Portland, Oregon
http://www.sc99.org/
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