IT Trends :: Thursday, May 18, 2006

IT News

PC, Mac, and Linux Junkies Can All Be Happy in U. Pittsburgh Labs

University of Pittsburgh students are charged an annual $260 technology fee. This may seem a little hefty to some. However, students have access to computer training courses, seven computer labs staffed by professional lab technicians, 110 quick e-mail kiosks located through campus, 900 sheets of printing paper, a Gigabit Ethernet connection, a 24-hour help desk, free software toolkit CDs loaded with plug-ins and antivirus software, free Microsoft programs like Word and Excel, discounted purchases of computer accessories from the campus store, and more… (TMCnet)

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Fear the Phone, Not the Doorknob, Germ Expert Says

According to this report, a campus computer lab may be more germ-ridden than a dormitory bathroom. Most of the common infections (like colds, flu, diarrhea) you get environmentally transmitted either in the air or on surfaces you touch. The germ expert quoted here says, "Keyboards are a lunch counter for germs. We turn them over in a lot of studies and we are amazed at what comes out of a keyboard." Break out the bleach… (Reuters)

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Internet Freedom for Some Chinese Students

New Jersey's Kean University is opening a college in Zhejiang, China. Classes will be taught in English, they will use English language textbooks, and the Chinese government has even agreed to allow students unrestricted access to the Internet via United States servers. "Out-of-state" tuition for Chinese students is less than $10,000 per year. The first U.S. college in communist China will open in 2007 and will be fully functioning by 2010... (CNET News)

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More Than 200,000 Identities Exposed in Ohio University Data Breaches

The attacks, which occurred during the end of April and beginning of May, were first noticed by the FBI and then reported to Ohio University's IT department. Hackers in this particular incident gained access to social security numbers of both students and faculty. According to a statement on the institution’s Web site, the school has formed a security SWAT team to both inform potential victims and to take "aggressive steps to improve the security of data and IT resources on all Ohio University campuses.”… (InformationWeek)

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Featured

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    Maricopa Community Colleges Adopts Platform to Combat Student Application Fraud

    In an effort to secure its admissions and financial processes, Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with A.M. Simpkins and Associates (AMSA) to implement the company's S.A.F.E (Student Application Fraudulent Examination) across the district's 10 institutions.

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    OpenAI to Launch AI-Powered Jobs Platform

    OpenAI announced it will launch an AI-powered hiring platform by mid-2026, directly competing with LinkedIn and Indeed in the professional networking and recruitment space. The company announced the initiative alongside an expanded certification program designed to verify AI skills for job seekers.

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    New Nonprofit to Work Toward Safer, Truthful AI

    Turing Award-winning AI researcher Yoshua Bengio has launched LawZero, a new nonprofit aimed at developing AI systems that prioritize safety and truthfulness over autonomy.

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    Hacktivism Is a Growing Threat to Higher Education

    In recent years, colleges and universities have faced an evolving array of cybersecurity challenges. But one threat is showing signs of becoming both more frequent and more politically charged: hacktivism.