CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0024, 11/18/2007

Title: New P2P Bill, Linux in the News, IBM's Blue Cloud, Data Centers go Underground, Yahoo Settles in China Law suite

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the WEEK, Episode 24, recorded November 18th, 2007.

This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information.

This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Story 1 - Colleges Recruited to Front Lines of P2P Battle

An education bill introduced into Congress this week includes a provision that requires colleges and universities to “develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.” Universities are fighting the legislation arguing that it is not the responsibility of schools to develop technology systems to assist profit-making industries such as the Music and Movie industry in making more revenue from students. “It makes no sense. That’s not what we’re in the business of doing.” said Matt Owens, assistant director of federal relations at the Association of American Universities. If the bill passes, schools that do not comply are at risk of losing Federal financial aid for students.

Source: Bill Would Make Colleges Copyright Cops (NYTimes), Anti-P2P college bill advances in House (c|net)

Story 2 - Linux is on the Move

A new breed of low-priced PC is exposing more users to the open-source Linux operating system. These PCs are different in that they are designed to support open-source software and cloud computing. You won't find Windows, Microsoft Office, and Internet Explorer on these PCs. But you will find Linux, OpenOffice, Firefox, and shortcuts to today's popular online applications from Google and others. By taking advantage of rich internet applications and open source software, manufacturers are able to reduce the price of a PC by more than half. Two examples of this trend made headlines this week, Wal-Mart's $200 Everex gPC and a $400 sub notebook from Asus called the Eee PC. The gPC at Wal-mart is classified as a Google-friendly, Linux-based desktop that has been so popular that Wal-Mart is currently sold out. The Eee PC, spelled E-e-e, which stands for easy to work, easy to learn, and easy to play, represents a new type of PC that is ultra mobile, about the size of a small hardcover book, inexpensive, and powerful enough to do most anything you would need to do on a notebook PC. An Additional bump for Linux is the recent release of an update for the Ubuntu Linux distribution. The update includes dozens of applications, and an interface approaching the aesthetic beauty of Windows Vista and Apple OS X. It's free to download from ubuntu.com, and can be run from a CD on any PC for those that want to take it for a test drive. As people become less dependant on installed software and move to rich Internet applications, Linux will be poised to move into the mainstream PC market.

Sources: New Day Dawning for Desktop Linux? (TopTechNews)

Story 3 - IBM's Blue Cloud

Cloud computing is the latest technology buzz word, and a technology that many feel will be the future of computing, In a cloud computing environment applications and data are stored on an array of servers and accessed over the Internet. It enables users to access services and data from "the cloud" using desktop and mobile computers, cell phones, and other devices. Cloud computing has evolved as a solution for users that need to access software and data from numerous devices in various locations and environments.

IBM has announced a new cloud computing initiative it calls Blue Cloud. Blue Cloud will be incorporated in the many products and services IBM provides to its corporate cients.The technology will provide robust services to mobile business users while offering more efficient operations on its servers. IBM refers to the technology as Internet-based supercomputing.

Source: I.B.M. to Push ‘Cloud Computing,’ Using Data From Afar (NYTimes), Cloud computing hardware seeded by IBM set for Q1 release (ComputerWorld)

Story 4 - Data Centers go Underground

Data centers are large computing facilities that manage a business's data and information systems. Today's corporations invest millions even billions of dollars in data centers. One of the largest expenses of running a data center is the cost of cooling the servers and equipment. The tens of thousands of processors in these facilities generate a lot of heat. Not only is cooling a major expense, but there has also been pressure placed on businesses to cut energy costs in order to reduce coal-power plant emissions, and slow global warming. Data centers have also become a potential target for terrorists who know the importance of these systems to the economy. Sun and a consortium of other businesses are experimenting with installing data centers underground to save on cooling and increase security. Sun has acquired an abandoned coal mine in Japan and is installing 30 Blackbox self-contained data centers containing a total of 10,000 servers, which can grow to 30,000 over time with demand. Building the data center underground is expected to reduce power consumption by 50 percent for a savings of up to $9 million a year. The subterranean data center will be easier to secure against attacks and can withstand earthquakes up to a magnitude 6.7.

Source: Sun to set up underground data center to save on power (ComputerWorld)

Story 5 - Yahoo Settles in China Human Rights Law Suite

Yahoo has suffered some bad press recently when it was accused of illegally helping the Chinese government jail and torture two journalists. The Chinese government heavily censors Internet use. When Chinese government officials discovered that two Chinese journalists had posted information about government memos on Internet blogs, it asked Yahoo's China office to turn over the names of the individuals. Yahoo complied, and the result was 10 years imprisonment and torture for the two journalists. Yahoo executives explained that failure to comply with the Chinese government may have meant imprisonment for its own employees. Yahoo finally caved in to pressure from Congress, and the legal challenges, and agreed to settle the law suite filed against it by Human Rights USA. The case serves as an example of the complexities of managing a global corporation especially in Communist China.

Source: Yahoo and Jailed Journalists Settle Lawsuit (NYTimes), Yahoo Settles Jailed Journalist Case (CIO Today)

New Briefs

  • The supercomputer Blue Gene/L has once again claimed the number one place as the worlds fastest supercomputer hitting a record-breaking 478 teraflops.(Newsfactor)
  • Paul McCartney has strongly hinted that the Beatles music library will finally enter digital distribution in 2008. (NYTimes)
  • According to 7 Digital Media Ltd., DRM-free music downloads are outselling other formats by 4-to-1, certainly a motivating statistic to get music companies to give up the limiting technology. (ComputerWorld)
  • A study by security researcher David Litchfield, indicates that there are nearly half a million database servers accessible on the Internet without firewalls, open to security threats.(ComputerWorld)
  • The number of malware-infected web sites has risen to 66,000. Even cautious Internet users are at risk of infecting their PC just by visiting a legitimate Web site. If a Web site wants to install software on your PC, just say NO! (ars technica)
  • Intel unveiled a new generation of processors based on 45 nanometer technology which allows Intel to double transistor density for smaller processors and faster processing. (TopTechNews)
  • "Now that more than 1 billion people use the Internet, international policymakers and computing experts are struggling with how to link the world's other 5 billion to the increasingly crucial network.” This was a central topic at this week's UN sponsored Internet Governance Forum held in Brazil. (CIO Today)
  • Also at the event, there were several calls for the UN to move Internet governance to an international body, Currently the Internet is governed by the US, and other countries are becoming resentful of the fact. (TopTechNews)

That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. Until next time have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!