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NetHappening Headlines


happy reading,

<karen>

1)

In computer science, a growing gender gap
Women shunning a field once seen as welcoming
<http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/12/18/in_co
mputer_science_a_growing_gender_gap?mode=PF>
By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff  |  December 18, 2005
MEDFORD -- As a young high school teacher in 1982, Diane Souvaine
leapt into graduate school for computer science having taken only one
class in the subject.
Computers, she believed, offered an exhilarating way to apply her math
skills to real-world problems. And because computer science was coming
into its own in the feminist age, she also hoped it would be more
welcoming to women than her undergraduate math department.
Today, Souvaine chairs the Tufts University computer science
department, which has more female professors than male. But few
younger women have followed in her generation's footsteps. Next
spring, when 22 computer science graduates accept their Tufts
diplomas, only four will be women.
Born in contemporary times, free of the male-dominated legacy common
to other sciences and engineering, computer science could have become
a model for gender equality. In the early 1980s, it had one of the
highest proportions of female undergraduates in science and
engineering. And yet with remarkable speed, it has become one of the
least gender-balanced fields in American society.
In a year of heated debate about why there aren't more women in
science, the conversation has focused largely on discrimination, the
conflicts between the time demands of the scientific career track and
family life, and what Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers
famously dubbed ''intrinsic aptitude."
But the history of computer science demonstrates that more elusive
cultural factors can have a major impact on a field's ability to
attract women. <snip>

*********************************************************************
Women In Science
Special Edition
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/womenspecialedition.html

Changing Girls' Attitudes About Computers
Computer Wonder Women
National Women's History Month
What you can do to help GRRLS get into technology!
Best Online Resources For Women and Minorities in Science and Technology
Educating Girls in the New Computer Age
HERSTORIES Classroom Project
*********************************************************************

2)

STUDY: 'DIGITAL DIVIDE' AFFECTS SCHOOL SUCCESS
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5999
Access to a home computer increases the likelihood that children will
graduate from high school, but blacks and Latinos are much less likely to
have a computer at home than are whites, according to a study by a
researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). The study
also found that the so-called "digital divide" is even more pronounced
among children than adults. The study's findings, which have important
implications for schools, seem to confirm the value of computer take-home
programs--such as one-to-one school laptop initiatives, or donating old
machines to students' families as they are replaced--as an effective
instructional strategy. The study shows the persistence of the digital
divide and suggests it has a profound impact on educational outcomes, even
when factors such as income and parental education are taken into
consideration, said Robert Fairlie, associate professor of economics at
UCSC. His findings appeared in the October issue of the Economics of
Education Review. "The digital divide is large and persistent, and black
and Latino children are particularly hard-hit," said Fairlie. "The digital
divide has important implications for educational and economic inequality
in the United States. These findings should be a wake-up call for policy
makers."

*********************************************************************
DIGITAL DIVIDE
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/digitaldivide.html

We have an emerging gap between "connected"
and "well-connected" kids. Statistics on the
Digital Divide recommended by PBS
*********************************************************************

3)
Computerworld First Look December 19, 2005
* Dell Recalls 35,000 Batteries Worldwide
http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/189243/647755/4195/0/


4)
Reinventing Schools the Technology Is Now
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/techgap/navigate.cgi
The eyes of the school children glisten with anticipation. Their fingers arch
lightly over their computer terminals, waiting to tap out solutions to ever
more difficult problems appearing on the screens before them. Any school
teacher would be thrilled by such concentration and receptiveness. But these
children are not in school; they're playing games in a video arcade. <snip>

5)

At Stake: The Net as We Know It
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/ tc20051215_141991.htm>
NEWS ANALYSIS By Catherine Yang DECEMBER 15, 2005
Google et al fear broadband carriers will tie up traffic with new
tolls and controls. Ultimately, it could mean a world of Internet
haves and have-nots
The Internet has always been a model of freedom. Today the Web is
flourishing because anyone can click to any site or download any
service they want on an open network. But now the phone and cable
companies that operate broadband networks have a different vision. If
they get their way, today's Information Highway could be laden with
tollgates, express lanes, and traffic tie-ups -- all designed to make
money for the network companies.
That prospect is the worst nightmare of Internet stars such as Google
(GOOG ) , Amazon (AMZN ), and eBay (EBAY ). They're gearing up for a
clash with the phone and cable giants early next year as Congress
begins to redraft the telecom laws for the broadband era. The
Internet gang fears that unless they get lawmakers to intervene, the
network operators will soon be able to put a chokehold on the Web.
"The issue is about the future of the Internet," says Alan Davidson,
Google's Washington policy counsel.
BLOCKED OUT.  Doug Herring, 48, got a glimpse of that specter last
November. Traveling on business in Tennessee, the General Electric
(GE ) sales manager phoned his wife at their Elberta (Ala.) home.
Herring had just signed up with Web-phone provider Vonage Holdings
and was pleased with the service. But this time, he couldn't get
through. He switched Web-phone providers, but still couldn't make calls.
<snip>

6)

Three Technology Companies Join to Finance Research
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/technology/15research.html>
BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 12 - With federal funds for basic computer
science research at universities in decline, three of the industry's
leading companies are joining to help fill the void.
University of California computer scientists plan to announce on
Thursday that the companies - Google, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems -
will underwrite a $7.5 million laboratory on the Berkeley campus. The
new research center, called the Reliable, Adaptive and Distributed
Systems Laboratory, will focus on the design of more dependable
computing systems.
The Berkeley researchers say that under the terms of their agreement
with the three companies, the fruits of the research will be
nonproprietary and freely licensed. Each company has agreed to support
the project with $500,000 annually for five years. Although the
companies are frequently rivals and only occasionally allies, they
have concluded that they can operate most effectively by bringing
technology innovations to market quickly. <snip>

7)

(Secretary of State says the issue is between the election supervisor
and Diebold.
Apparently, hackable voting machines are not sufficient cause for
concern to Florida's sterling electoral system.)

County says electronic voting machines can be hacked
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-15-opticalvoting_x.htm
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Tests on an optical-scan voting system used
around the country showed it is vulnerable to hacking that can change the
outcome of races without leaving evidence of fraud, a county election
supervisor
said.
The voting system maker, Diebold Inc., sent a letter in response that
questioned the test results and said the test was "a very foolish and
irresponsible act" that may violated licensing agreements.
Company spokesman David Bear did not return a phone call from The
Associated Press seeking comment Thursday.
Diebold's letter was written by its senior lawyer, Michael Lindroos,
and sent to the state of Florida, Leon County and
the county election supervisor, Ion Sancho.
Optical-scan machines use paper ballots where voters fill in bubbles
to mark their candidates. The ballots are then fed into scanners that
record the
selections. In one of the tests conducted for Sancho and the non-profit
election-monitoring group BlackBoxVoting.org, the researchers were
able to get into the system easily, make the loser the winner and leave
without a trace, said Herbert Thompson, who conducted the test.


8)
Cato fellow, columnist, Doug Bandow resigns for payments
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/17/politics/17abramoff.html?
ex=1292475600&en=3950d66ca9c97761&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - A senior scholar at the Cato Institute, the
respected libertarian research organization, has resigned after
revelations that he took payments from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff in
exchange for writing columns favorable to his clients.
The scholar, Doug Bandow, who wrote a column for the Copley News
Service in addition to serving as a Cato fellow, acknowledged to
executives at the organization that he had taken money from Mr.
Abramoff after he was confronted about the payments by a reporter
from BusinessWeek Online.
...The revelation caps a year of disclosures about partisan payments
to seemingly independent writers, including Armstrong Williams, the
conservative columnist and television host, who received payments
from the federal Education Department at a time when he was promoting
the Bush administration's education policies in his columns.  The
administration has been under mounting pressure to become more
transparent in its communications after accounts that it paid for and
printed articles in Iraqi periodicals as part of its overseas
propaganda effort. <snip>

8)

Google buys 5% ($1B) stake in AOL
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/16/AR200
5121601892.html>
Google Inc. is buying a 5 percent stake in Dulles-based America
Online Inc. for $1 billion as part of a far-reaching business and
advertising partnership aimed at boosting AOL's financial prospects
as the Internet service struggles with the loss of millions of
subscribers.
...Under the agreement, Google will remain the search engine on the
AOL service for five years and Google will give AOL millions of
dollars of free advertising on the search engine to promote its
network of Web sites.
...While AOL has been losing subscribers, it is still the nation's
biggest Internet service, with about 20 million users who pay for
Internet access; e-mail; and an array of music, news and other content.
...AOL's most popular feature is its free instant-messaging service,
which has about 43 million users who chat online through text
messages and provides an attractive platform for Google to
dramatically expand its presence in free telephone service over the
Internet.
...Icahn, who has been pressuring Time Warner to consider the sale of
a majority stake in AOL, spin off its cable division and use cash to
buy back tens of billions of dollars worth of its stock, criticized
the AOL-Google agreement yesterday.
...The existing arrangement -- under which Google provides text-based
ads and free search results on AOL -- will continue, with AOL keeping
80 percent of those ad proceeds and Google taking 20 percent.
Businesses pay for such ads, which appear to the right of and above
the free Google search results, only when computer users click on them.
<snip>

-NYT- "Finally, around 9 p.m., Richard D. Parsons, chief
executive of Time Warner told Eric E. Schmidt, chief
executive of Google, that he would accept Google's
recently sweetened offer. Google, which prides itself
on the purity of its search results, agreed to give
favored placement to content from AOL throughout its
site, something it has never done before.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/technology/16cnd-aol.html
<snip>

9)

Hi-tech firms censured over China
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4541524.stm
A senior EC official has criticised hi-tech firms for helping China
silence its domestic critics.
In a blog entry, EC vice president Margot Wallstroem said Microsoft,
Yahoo and Google were matching their morals to suit new markets.
In particular she said the firms seemed to have deleted words such as
"ethics" and "corporate social responsibility" from their codes of
conduct.

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