Filter looks at the day's top technology news through snapshots and analysis of what the world's media outlets are covering. Washingtonpost.com's new Mon.-Fri. feature is penned by technology reporter Cynthia L. Webb. If a technology story breaks, a company falters or triumphs, or there's a new trend in technology, Filter wants you to know about it.
The resurrected Napster is doing its best to be
ingratiating, and there are few better ways to try to re-earn Web
credentials than by letting a bunch of college students have you for
free to do what they want with you. That's what's going on at
Penn State, which finally made a few headlines that
didn't include the name "Paterno" in them.
The Boston Globe pegged the deal's significance: "In the first deal
between a university and a major Internet music service, Pennsylvania
State University yesterday said it would soon begin delivering digital
music to thousands of its students through a deal with Roxio
Inc., which acquired the name of the shuttered file-trading
program and relaunched it last month as a legitimate business. Penn
State and music industry officials said the service will be the first
of its kind on college campuses and provide a model for other
universities struggling to prevent their students from downloading and
distributing copyrighted songs and movies."
•
The
Boston Globe: Penn State, Roxio link to let files flow
The New York Times reported that Penn State will cover the cost of
the service... or maybe not. The article notes that it's the usual
cheapskate college approach -- the money will come from the $160
information technology fee that students pay the college each
year.
"About 18,000 students in the university's residence halls will be
the first to get the service in January, university officials said. By
next fall, it is to be made available to all 83,000 undergraduate and
graduate students on campuses across the state, as well as faculty and
staff," the Times also wrote.
Not content with its wunderkind status in the search engine world,
San Jose, Calif.-based Google has developed free
software that lets people browse the Internet... without launching a
browser. According to the Associated Press, "Google Deskbar, released
Thursday, appears as a search box in the Windows toolbar. After the
search words are entered, a resizable mini-viewer pops up with the
results. Users can jump to the site within the mini-viewer or launch
their browser. Unless a program is filling the screen or the user has
set the taskbar to automatically hide, the search box is always
visible. With a keyboard shortcut, the cursor can be moved to it
without moving the mouse." The point? We're still waiting for one, but
it sounds cool enough.
•
The Associated Press via washingtonpost.com: Google
Unveils Web-Searching Without Running Browser
Let's Destroy the Internet!
This ought to appeal to anyone whoever wished that the city where
Pinocchio and his buddies could wreck and break things to their
hearts' content wasn't a cartoon. "A team of professors from
the University of California-Berkeley and
University of Southern California has received a
$5.46 million grant to build one of the most realistic models of the
Internet -- and then wreck it with debilitating hacker attacks.
Working with researchers from Network Associates
Laboratories and other institutions, the team is trying to
answer questions with major national security implications: What would
really happen if the Internet were hit with an attack bigger than the
Nimda or Slammer worms? Could we
fight it with existing technology? Or would everything connected to
the Internet, from private e-mail boxes to automatic teller networks
to power plants, topple like a house of cards?" I don't know about
you, but I'd pay to take a couple cracks at that pinata.
•
The
San Francisco Chronicle through The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Researchers to build model of Internet -- to destroy it
An 'A' for Effort?
It must be difficult for chief executives to find the fine line to
walk between being incompetent enough that the board wants you gone
but not so incompetent that you warrant a criminal probe. You can ask
departing Motorola chief executive Chris
Galvin for lessons. "Mr. Galvin, who announced in September
that he would step down after disagreements with the struggling
company's board, will receive a two-year consulting position for
unspecified work with the company worth at least $3.8 million.
According to a 10-Q report filed with the SEC, Mr.
Galvin's consulting fee will be based on an annual base salary of $1.4
million, plus an average of his bonuses for the past three years. Mr.
Galvin's 2003 bonus isn't yet known, making it impossible to calculate
the full consulting fee. However, he received a bonus of $1.5 million
in 2002 and no bonus for 2001, so even if he receives no bonus in
2003, he would receive $1.9 million per year as consulting fees."
Positively Galvinizing, you say? But there's more! Some analysts
are questioning why Galvin, who by most accounts did little to help
his company, is getting such a good deal. Consider these additional
perks: office, secretarial support, company aircraft,
company car, home-security system, retirement benefits, vested stock
options (800,000 in
restricted shares worth about $11.1 million), and on and on and on.
•
The
Wall Street Journal: Motorola CEO to Receive Generous Exit Package
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We know you miss her, but Cindy Webb is off today, leaving Robert MacMillan as your news-taster. Cindy will be back on Monday. Filter is designed for hard-core techies, news junkies and technology professionals alike. Have suggestions, cool links or interesting tales to share? Send your tips and feedback to cindyDOTwebbATwashingtonpost.com.
