News Update 06-10-2003
U. Calgary Course Teaches Virus Writing, Prevention
A new course this fall at the University of Calgary will teach students
how to write viruses and worms, along with the legal, ethical, and
security issues related to creating malicious code. Developing more
secure software requires this firsthand understanding, according to
professor John Aycock. But two groups representing IT security pros
condemn it. Says Russ Cooper of the security firm TruSecure Corp. and
moderator of security mailing list NTBugtraq, "We already have more
than 60,000 viruses to dissect and study."
For more information, visit: http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/story/9496
SPONSOR: Hands-On IT Solutions at Syllabus2003
Syllabus2003 celebrates its 10th annual summer conference July 27-31 in San
Jose, Calif., and on the campus of Stanford University. In addition to cutting-edge
keynotes, breakout sessions and panel discussions, attendees will see the latest
products for campus technology during designated exhibit hall hours. Some of
the companies attending include: CyberLearning Labs, developer of ANGEL, the
enterprise course management system that combines an open, flexible architecture
with a complete set of easy-to-use features; Ektron, providing flexible, scalable,
and affordable Web content management applications and Web authoring tools to
meet the needs of Web/IT professionals and non- technical end users; Insight
Public Sector, a leading provider of technology solutions offering a single
source for technology products, services, integration, configuration, deployment,
installation, and networking design, and Mitsubishi Presentation Products, manufacturing
an extensive line of LCD and DLP projectors for educational use. To view the
entire exhibitor list, as well as to register for Syllabus2003, go to http://www.syllabus.com/summer2003/hall.asp.
Early Bird registration ends June 27—save up to $200 now!
http://www.syllabus.com/summer2003
Texas Tech Laser Scanner in Service to Posterity
A team of 15 students and two faculty advisers at the Texas Tech
Architecture Research Center are using a laser tool called the Cyrax
scanner to create exact 3-D models of buildings and structures. The
results are then modeled in Autocad to document the entire JA Ranch
near Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. Plans are underway to model several other
cites in Texas and New Mexico in an effort to preserve historical sites
in the event that they are lost or damaged.
For more information, visit:
http://www.universitydaily.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/06/03/3edbd7e89c2c3
Ball State Completes Secure, 10,000-User Wireless Network
Ball State University finished installing a 10,000-user wireless
network, which covers more than 30 buildings and areas in between.
Users are able to choose to connect with or without encryption. The
university collaborated with Avnet Enterprise Solutions and Bluesocket
to install and administer six wireless gateways to secure the network.
"On our campus, we need to have a wireless presence that allows our
students and faculty to have the flexibility to communicate without
limitations," said O'Neal Smitherman, Ball State's
vice president for information technology.
For more information, visit: http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1370,11429--,00.html
Innovative University Wireless R&D Group Bolsters Resources
A company formed from the research partnership of three Michigan
universities has now formally joined the team as a full-fledged
partner. Discera Inc., a provider of low-power microcomponents for
wireless applications, said it joined the University of Michigan's
Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS), a National Science
Foundation Engineering Research Center. WIMS was formed by the
University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Michigan
Technological University to merge micropower circuits, wireless
interfaces, and advanced packaging to create generic microsystems. The
goal is a family of wristwatch-sized microsystems capable of sensing
non-electronic variables with high accuracy, interpreting those
signals, and communicating over distances from a few centimeters to a
few kilometers.
For more information, visit: http://www.wimserc.org
McGraw-Hill Education Group Tags eCommerce Content
McGraw-Hill's education subsidiary said it finished the first phase of
"tagging" its education content with digital object identifiers (DOIs),
which are aimed at managing online transactions between the company and
its customers. The DOI is a system for identifying and exchanging
intellectual property of all kinds (physical books as well as eBooks)
via the Internet. It is like the UPC (bar code) in the physical world,
but on the Internet it functions as a kind of "super URL," linking
users directly to where they can buy the book, see additional
information about it, find other books by the same author or on the
same subject, and access related services, etc. It also facilitates
online transactions of all kinds, including eCommerce, rights
management, and digital distribution.
To see an example of DOIs applied to four different McGraw-Hill imprints, click
on the following URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/0071395938
and place your mouse over the "DOI" link (right under the ISBN).