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From: Edupage Editors <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Edupage" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Edupage, 16 April 1999
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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 April 16, 1999
Fake Web Posting Leads to Fraud Charge
Apple's Profit Handily Beats Expectations
New Software Helps Universities Get Wired Easier and Cheaper
AOL to Roll Out Devices That Get You on the Internet Without Requiring a
PC
ALSO
The Y2K Bug Goes to Court
Web Phone: the Next Big Thing?
A Killer App for Computer Chat
I Know What You Did Last Summer--And Fall
Scholarship Aimed at Online Experts
FAKE WEB POSTING LEADS TO FRAUD CHARGE
Gary Dale Hoke, 25, a computer engineer at Pairgain Technologies,
a maker of telecommunications equipment, was arrested for
securities fraud for his involvement in the posting of a bogus
Internet announcement that sent his company's stock skyrocketing.
Hoke allegedly used an account at Angelfire--a service that
allows people to create their own Web pages--to post a fake
article designed to be like a Bloomberg News publication
announcing that Pairgain would be taken over by an Israeli
company, ECI Telecom. Hoke then posted a message and a link
on a Yahoo bulletin board alerting users to the "news" on April 7.
Pairgain stock proceeded to rise as high as $11.125, up from
$8.50 a day earlier, before closing at $9.375. He could face
up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
(New York Times 04/16/99)
APPLE'S PROFIT HANDILY BEATS EXPECTATIONS
Apple Computer's profits in the quarter ended March 27 surpassed
analysts expectations, emphasizing the company's turnaround in
recent years. At $135 million, net income for the company in the
most recent quarter was more than twice the $55 million net
income in the year-earlier quarter. Even without a $42 million
one-time gain, Apple's net income increased 69 percent to $93
million. This is the sixth consecutive profitable quarter for
Apple, which seems to be regaining some market share from
Microsoft- and Intel-based PCs. (Wall Street Journal 04/15/99)
NEW SOFTWARE HELPS UNIVERSITIES GET WIRED EASIER AND CHEAPER
Many colleges are following in the footsteps of the Harvard
Business School by using the Internet to launch effective,
inexpensive online services for their students. Companies
including Blackboard, WebCT Educational Technologies, and WBT
Systems are facilitating this trend by selling their courseware
software packages to the colleges. Electronic Communities is
providing its Palace software to colleges, free of charge, while
CommonPlaces plans to do the same with its course and
community-building tools. The market's potential for growth is
murky, but companies are attempting to establish themselves
as the top dog nonetheless. Some companies, including IBM's
Lotus, are pushing into the market with high-end collaborative
learning programs, while others are taking a distance-learning
approach. (Wall Street Journal 04/15/99)
AOL TO ROLL OUT DEVICES THAT GET YOU ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT REQUIRING A PC
AOL in the next several weeks plans to unveil a range of devices
that can access the Internet without needing a PC. The company
aims to make AOL more ubiquitous in consumers' lives and to
increase advertising and electronic commerce revenue
opportunities. The new devices could be used by AOL members to
quickly access email and Web pages. An example of one of the
gadgets is a screen phone, which is similar in appearance to an
ordinary desk phone, but with a screen and a small keyboard.
Screen phones could fit easily in a living room or kitchen, and
because they lack much of the software that slows a PC's boot-up
process, the devices can access the Internet in seconds.
(Wall Street Journal 04/16/99)
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THE Y2K BUG GOES TO COURT
At least 78 Y2K lawsuits have already been filed, and Lloyds of
London predicts claims could surpass $1 trillion worldwide. In
what may have been the first Y2K lawsuit, the owners of the
Produce Palace sued the makers of their computer system, which
crashed in 1995 when customers used credit cards with expiration
dates ending in "00." The firm that made the system did not want
to replace the computer even after the Produce Palace placed over
200 service calls. The Warren, Mich.-based gourmet grocery store
won a settlement of $260,000. Some lawmakers and industry
lobbyists have been urging legislation that would limit Y2K
litigation. However, trial lawyers, consumer groups, and the U.S.
Justice Department feel that the proposed restrictions would be
unfair to people with legitimate Y2K claims. (Time 04/19/99)
WEB PHONE: THE NEXT BIG THING?
New Internet-capable wireless phones are expected to enter the
market in greater numbers in upcoming months. Analyst Phillip
Redman believes that in the next couple of years practically
every handset will be connected to the Internet. However,
International Data predicts that the number of people of using
their phones to connect to the Web will account for only 5.6
percent, or 6 million, of the 108 million expected to own
wireless phones by 2002. Currently, only a few carriers,
including AT&T Wireless and Bell Atlantic, are offering
Web-capable phones. (New York Times 04/15/99)
A KILLER APP FOR COMPUTER CHAT
The demand for software that enables human-to-computer chat is
increasing as a result of the steady emergence of electronic
commerce and its subsequent requisition of fast technical
assistance. In response, programmers have worked tirelessly to
expand the functionality of so-called "chatterbots," or "bots,"
beyond academic discourse and into the Web-based dissemination of
information. In addition to being unburdened by the human need
for rest, chatterbots are easily upgraded according to demand
once the right questions and responses have been programmed into
the system. Although bots cannot possibly handle every question
lobbed their way, bot proponents maintain that most
technical-support staff spend an inordinate amount of time
answering a rudimentary set of inquiries.
(Economist 04/10/99)
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER--AND FALL
Businesses have recently become interested in privacy protection
because it seems to be good for business and may allow corporate
America to fend off yet more government legislation if it can
exhibit self-regulation. Such regulation would most likely
include a "subject access" provision enabling citizens to
discover what companies know about them and how they use it.
Compliance would be costly for the corporations, which would have
to implement the necessary technology into existing systems. In
addition, people would probably be horrified to learn how much
information big business has about them, says Jason Catlett, of
the privacy-protection consulting firm Junkbusters. Thus far,
the government has dealt with privacy issues as individual cases
arise, but the European Privacy directive puts immense pressure
on the U.S. to establish a policy of its own.
(U.S. News & World Report 04/19/99)
SCHOLARSHIP AIMED AT ONLINE EXPERTS
Florida State University's Online Scholar Challenge awards full,
four-year scholarships to high school students for finding
information quickly and accurately on the Lexis-Nexis database.
Students have 75 minutes to respond to 40 questions, which
include items such as trivia about President Millard Fillmore.
April 15 was the last day to register for the scholarship
program, which is in its second year. Residents of 45 states and
Washington, D.C., have applied to participate in the competition,
which organizers hope will draw about 2,500 students. A final
competition will be held in June at the Florida State campus for
the top five students or two-student teams.
(Associated Press 04/14/99)
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
Networking '99 Conference on Advanced Networking
April 28-30, 1999, Washington, DC
http://www.educause.edu/netatedu/contents/events/apr99/
Information Resources for the 21st Century
May 5-7, 1999, Portland, Oregon
http://www.educause.edu/conference/regional/nwacc/1999/
CUMREC '99 Breaking Through: 2000 and Beyond
May 9-12,1999, San Antonio, Texas
http://www.cumrec.com/cumrec99/
For additional information on these 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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News abstracts Copyright 1999, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD
Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
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