Archive for the ‘universities’ Category.

Corvigo MailGate “intent-based filtering”

More aggressive email tokenization and parsing from commercial vendor corvigo;
Purdue
is an early evaluator.

RIT’s new master’s degree program in computing security and information assurance

RIT launches computer security program:

In response to this emerging technological area, the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences is preparing a new master’s degree program in computing security and information assurance. The program will consist of a half dozen core courses dealing with technical, business, ethical and administrative aspects of security. Additionally, areas such as risk management and the cost of security will be analyzed.

While similar programs in computer security already exist at a handful of universities, the GCCIS program will differ by focusing on the complete spectrum of computing.

“Our program is unique in that it will be offered at the college level and utilize faculty from the computer science, software engineering and information technology departments,” explains Jorge Díaz-Herrera, GCCIS dean. “The cross-disciplinary nature of the program will qualify graduates for a wide range of computer security related careers in both the private and public sectors.”

To better hone the curriculum, three members of the GCCIS faculty recently took part in a month-long training session. Hans-Peter Bischof, associate professor of computer science; Stephanie Ludi, assistant professor of software engineering; and Luther Troell, associate professor of information technology, traveled to Carnegie Mellon University to present the college’s plan to a diverse group of experts. The resulting exchange of ideas offered some useful feedback.

Penn State students revolt against Napster, DRM invasion

Buying into some digital right management scheme or another is a little tricky, especially when you’re doing on behalf of diverse student body. Penn State students react, see The Register:

At the heart of the Penn State/Napster service is something the organizations are calling a “tethered download.” As romantic as that sounds, it’s not all that convenient. Students can download – or stream – all the songs they like for free but can only use or play the tunes while at Penn State. After their four tuition-paying years are up, their tethered downloads disappear.

Student can opt to pay 99 cents to burn the songs on a CD, but even then there is another catch. Napster is a Windows-only service, so all the Mac fans out there receive squat for their $160 contribution to the IT fund.

“They are throwing the labels what is left of our IT fee and then once you leave Penn State, you won’t even be authenticated as a user,” he said. “They are deciding for us what service we want, and we are paying their bills.”

Ubiquity Breeds Utility

Andrew Anker on wireless networks at Dartmouth: VentureBlog: Ubiquity Breeds Utility:

The wireless revolution is possibly over-hyped, but don’t tell that to the good folks at Dartmouth. They have gained wireless ubiquity, and are completely re-thinking how they use cellphones, PDAs, computers, newspapers, instant messenger, printers, power outlets, and most importantly, their time.

University of Florida squashes P2P

Wired News: Florida Dorms Lock Out P2P Users:

The University of Florida has developed a tool to help extricate the school from the morass of peer-to-peer file trading, and early results show that it’s succeeding.

Integrated Computer Application for Recognizing User Services, commonly called Icarus, debuted over the summer on the network that links all the residence halls on the UF campus.

Dartmouth Offering Voice Over WiFi Phones To Students

Case Western Opens Its WiFi Network to Cleveland

Wi-Fi Networking News:
Case Western Opens Its Network to Cleveland:

It’s an ambitious project that allows the public to take advantage of an expensive, but bursty and abundant service. The university has over 1,200 access points, and unless it’s a unique case, there must be businesses, apartments, and houses sprawled all around and on top of it that can take advantage, as well as visitors to the campus. The project is labeled OneCleveland.

OCR regulations do not require speech codes

Office of Civil Rights letter regarding speech codes and the First Amendment:

OCR has consistently maintained that schools in regulating the conduct of students and faculty to prevent or redress discrimination must formulate, interpret, and apply their rules in a manner that respects the legal rights of students and faculty, including those court precedents interpreting the concept of free speech. OCR’s regulations and policies do not require or prescribe speech, conduct or harassment codes that impair the exercise of rights protected under the First Amendment.

See also a deeper analysis of the letter from
Eugene Volokh.

Court Rejects Music Sharing Subpoenas Sent to MIT, Boston College

EFF: Federal Court Spurns Recording Industry Enforcement Tactics:

“Today’s ruling requires the recording industry to file subpoenas where it alleges that copyright infringement occurs, rather than blanketing the country from one court in D.C.,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer, in a statement.

Grinnell College’s travails over a virtual community

Grinnell Plans lives! after being shut down by college administrators and their newly-issued Academic Computer Use Policies.
Grinnell faculty include some analysis of
Why Did Osgood and Francis Take Down Plans?

[via Lawrence Lessig]