e-Clippings 15 August 2003
"Legero. Cogito. Scribero."

"Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more
uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is
right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been
the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men
who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly
civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in
all others. His culture is based on 'I am not too sure.' "
- H.L. Mencken

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Windows worm starts its spread, tips off defenders

A worm that takes advantage of what some security experts
have called the most widespread Windows flaw ever has started
spreading, fulfilling the predictions of many researchers.
Dubbed "MBlast," and also known as W32.Blaster and W32/LuvSan,
the worm is spreading quickly. The worm contains two messages:
the first says "billy gates why do you make this possible?"
"Stop making money and fix your software!!" The other message
is "greet"--an underground programmer greeting.
A patch is available for the flaw, which involves the remote
procedure call (RPC) process, but as usual many have not
applied the patch.
http://ct.com.com/click?q=c8-2lPnQWOJMbAAinLLno8nTlFthoFR

> Alert Level 7: Worm exploits known Windows RPC flaw
http://ct.com.com/click?q=52-LUXoIrJaIRbzUM9PLg.A9O6sQEuR
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The Future of e-Learning Models and the Language We Use to Describe
Them:
The objectives of this study are to establish a baseline of current
e-learning models from all sides of the equation – producer,
purchaser and consumer. The research will explore:
How valid are our current models of e-learning and how do they
limit/enable us in thinking about the future?
Based on those models that are valid – what are some models we
can expect to be prevalent in 3-5 years?
Where are the connections and gaps in our current set of language
that we use to describe the overall environment of e-learning?
Research Blog at:http://www.teleworks.com/blog/markoehlert/
http://www.masie.com/researchgrants/#future
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discussion of a product, company or person does not represent any
official endorsement or criticism of the same. All authors and
organizations retain complete copyright.
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NEWS

Jury Rules for U of California Research in Microsoft Patent Case -
The New York Times:A federal jury awarded a former U of California
researcher $521 million today in a lawsuit against Microsoft that
asserted its Explorer Web browser infringed a patent for sending
software applications over the Internet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/technology/12SOFT.html?
ex=1061265600&en=e3f49b8bc460c3aa&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

SCT Teams with Blackboard
Blackboard Inc., known for its course management system, and SCT, an
education technology company, have agreed to link the Blackboard
Learning System with SCT's student information and portal system
products.
http://www.sct.
com/Corporate/News_Media/PressReleases/content/2003-08-04_2.html

Two Universities Win Battle Against RIAA Subpoenas: A federal judge
ruled that MIT and Boston College don't have to hand over the
identities of students who could be illegally sharing music online.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,83903,00.html?nlid=PM

from UBDaily (and incredibly scary):
The Perils of Cutbacks in Higher Education - The New York Times
(requires free registration)
Forced to cut spending to balance state budgets, legislatures are
coming down hardest on higher education, an odd move for a nation
that believes its special advantage in global competition is its
"knowledge workers," who are billed as so well educated that they are
capable of turning out products and services other nations cannot
match. This year, the downward pressure is unmistakable. So far, 43
states have approved budgets for the 2004 fiscal year, the National
Conference reports, and higher-education outlays have dropped by 2.8
percent, to a total of $37.7 billion, from $38.8 billion last year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/10/business/yourmoney/10VIEW.html
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TRENDS / RESEARCH SECTION

Microsoft sets corporate IM pricing
http://ct.com.com/click?q=5d-JN.bIK0y8smtOMoVi7Pmvn2JMVyR

Working Knowledge: CHEAP, FAST, AND IN CONTROL: HOW TECH AIDS
INNOVATION "We need to appreciate that new knowledge comes as much
from failure as it does from success. Innovators learn from failure:
Understanding what doesn't work may be at least as important as
understanding what does, provided these failures are revealed early
in a project and are swiftly reexamined. Learning from failure is a
boon at this point: Few resources have been committed and decision
making is flexible, meaning that other approaches can themselves be
tested. Thus, experiments that result in failure should not be viewed
as failed experiments."
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/pubitem.jhtml?id=3627&t=technology

Flash Mobs: Viral Distribution Matters: by Mark Redetzke http://www.
clickz.com/media/agency_strat/article.php/2247061

Med Students to Make Mouse Calls - Wired
When a colleague proposed a plan two years ago for teaching medical
students online, Dr. Stephen Smith admits he was a bit taken aback.
"I thought, wow, this is a crazy idea," says the associate dean at
Brown Medical School. Outlandish as it initially appeared, Brown and
more than 30 other higher ed institutions have joined together to
back
the International Virtual Medical School, a pilot program for
delivering medical education online.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59927,00.html
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EMERGING TECH SECTION

WebEvent View is New Calendaring Solution
WebEvent, a technology company that provides calendaring solutions to
the education market, has created a new product to combine personal
and public calendars, resource reservations and project calendars.
http://www.webevent.com/

Start-ups tackle Web services management: The new world in which
dozens or thousands of Web services are passing messages to each
other is a good candidate for catastrophic traffic jams. MetiLinx and

Digital Evolution are among the first to offer tools for handling
the forthcoming Web services congestion problem. The two companies'
products work together in a way that detects congestion and, in
somewhat of a self-healing fashion, dynamically reallocates the
load to other servers and fires up new instances of the overwhelmed
Web services components if necessary.
http://ct.com.com/click?q=83-U.BXQYJY_ZSQjz0vHE1ApwUWps9R

Is VoIP ready for prime time?: For several years VoIP has been
evolving to meet the demands of business usage. Telecom operators are
starting to offer VoIP services, but the uptake has been slow in
this economic climate. However, VoIP can offer cost savings
and more functionality than traditional telephony solutions. In
this Webcast the VOIP landscape, what's driving demand, key
features to look for, and the benefits and risks
of implementing VoIP today.
http://ct.com.com/click?q=45-fNkJIKBCj6qxZ0pCPKSz0UbmJeyR
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MOBILE COMPUTING SECTION

T-Mobile Launches RIM's Color BlackBerry in U.S.: T-Mobile and
Research In Motion (RIM) have brought the BlackBerry 7230 wireless
handheld to the United States.
http://www.thinkmobile.com/Content/Detail.asp?CTID=1&ID=7009

Wi-Fi To Ride California Passenger Rails: The California Department
of Transportation has approved a three month test of on-board Wi-Fi
service on a train route that connects Silicon Valley with Oakland
and Sacramento.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,83930,00.html?nlid=AM

Real, Sprint Push Mobile On-Demand Audio: Looking to jumpstart the U.
S. market for mobile audio-on-demand content, Seattle-based
RealNetworks has inked a deal with Sprint to shuttle audio streams to
Sprint's PCS Vision subscribers. (internetnews.com)
http://www.thinkmobile.com/Content/Detail.asp?CTID=1&ID=7006
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GAMING SECTION


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SECURITY SECTION

Blaster Shows IT Departments The Need For Speed On Patches: The
constant patching needed to stay on top of vulnerabilities is
becoming an increasing burden on companies, users said.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,83968,00.html?nlid=SEC2

Microsoft Patch Process Called Into Question: Microsoft's patch
management program has a critical shortcoming that could let users
think their systems have been properly patched when they haven't,
according to a security analyst.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,83989,00.html?nlid=SEC2
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HUMOR AND MISC. SECTION


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