News 08-02-2002
California Internet Goal: One Gigabit or Bust
The State of California has awarded $2 million to the Corporation for Education
Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) to focus on achieving 1 Gigabit broadband
to all Californians by 2010. CENIC's Next Generation Internet Roundtable and
Centers initiative aims to catalyze industry, public interest organizations
and educational institutions, as well as local, state and federal governments,
to create a technology test bed for "first mile" solutions to speed the deployment
of 1G or 1 billion bit per second networks to Californians in the next decade.
Under the grant, CENIC, a not-for-profit formed by CalTech, Cal State, Stanford,
the University of California and the University of Southern California, will
develop a strategy to define the future of high-performance networking for research,
education, and commerce in California. Said CENIC president Tom West: "The range
of California's population, geographical and economic characteristics makes
it a microcosm of the national challenges in rolling out one Gbps broadband
capabilities across the nation."
For more information, visit: http://www.cenic.org
Sponsor: Plan Now to Present at Syllabus fall2002
Share your expertise with education technology's leaders when you present at
the Syllabus fall2002 conference, November 3-5. At this, Syllabus' 4th annual
autumn visit to the Boston area, faculty, administrators and IT professionals
will gather at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel to explore the latest applications
of information technology in higher education institutions. Compelling technology
topics presented in a collegial atmosphere is the hallmark of Syllabus' Boston
conferences. Be there to set the tone with your presentation. Proposals to present
at the main conference or to lead a full- or half-day seminar during the pre-conference
are due by August 15.
Submission guidelines, content areas and complete details can be found online
at http://www.syllabus.com/fall2002/papers.asp
UCLA Urban Simulation Program Repowered
The Urban Simulation Laboratory at UCLA, which studies city problems through
the use of digital mapping and visualization technology, has boosted the power
of its computing resources. The lab is the first customer of Silicon Graphics
Inc.'s InfiniteReality4 system, which works on SGI's Onyx high performance computers
and has been able to achieve dramatic increases in visual realism. The lab has
created a 3D fly/drive-through of the downtown Los Angeles area, which the new
graphics system will enhance with highly realistic, textured 3D models. InfiniteReality4,
with its 1GB of texture memory, allows UCLA students and professors to use more
photo-based, real-world textures for the buildings and surrounding environments,
in addition to higher-quality textures. The chief benefit is much higher visual
fidelity over larger areas than was achievable before while still maintaining
real-time interactivity.
For more information, visit: http://www.ust.ucla.edu/ustweb/ust.html
IBM, Thomson to Pursue E-Learning Market
IBM and Thomson Corp., a provider of corporate training solutions, formed
a joint venture to go after the $18 billion worldwide market for corporate and
government e-learning. The deal calls for the combination of IBM's e-learning
technologies and Thomson learning products. The two will jointly market and
resell the combined assets to corporate and government customers. They will
also jointly develop next-generation courseware and e-learning solutions based
on open standards. Using Thomson development tools, IBM will customize Thomson
courses to help its customers train employees on company-specific products.
Thomson will support IBM's clients by creating industry and function specific
learning tracks that contain branded content. "While today's e-learning market
is highly fragmented, the pairing of IBM's technologies and services and Thomson's
vast course portfolio is an attractive combination for nearly every industry
and profession worldwide," said Nancy DeViney, general manager for learning
services at IBM.
WebCT, HP, Conduct Performance Testing
Course management system developer WebCT and HP said they finished a performance
test on WebCT's higher-education e-learning software running on HP ProLiant
servers. The tests established benchmark characteristics of WebCT, based on
configuration variables for memory, processor count, active users and number
of identical servers running in a load-balanced configuration. The companies
said the results confirm that higher education institutions can scale reliably
to hundreds of thousands of users without performance degradation. WebCT president
Carol Vallone said tests "...confirm that our joint customers can create thriving,
high-performance Internet learning environments and be confident that their
hardware/software infrastructures can fully and reliably support them."
Sallie Mae Pledges Loan Data Access to All
Student loan financier Sallie Mae said it would make its student-loan data
available beginning this month to all financial aid professionals through the
National Council of Higher Education Loan Program's (NCHELP) Meteor network.
By allowing access to its student loan data, Sallie Mae said it is supporting
development of a non-commercial, universal data access infrastructure. "We believe
in the inherent value of having open data inquiry capabilities within the marketplace
...," said Tim Fitzpatrick, president and chief operating officer, Sallie Mae.
Meteor is a Web-based universal data access point for borrower financial aid
information. When fully implemented, Meteor will display aggregate information
including FFELP, private, Perkins and direct loans and grants. Schools and borrowers
using Meteor can see a complete financial aid package in a single view regardless
of their loan delivery software.
Awards, Deals, Contracts, in Higher Education
-- The University of California picked CyberSource, a provider of electronic
payment and risk management systems, to manage its electronic payment processing.
The payment system enables real-time payments via credit, debit, and procurement
card and/or electronic check. It can be used within the UC system to process
payments accepted over the Internet for tuition, registration and administration
fees, athletic tickets and campus bookstore purchases, among others.
