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You don't have to look too far into the past to find a time when automakers didn't see car safety as a "selling point." But over the last 30 years, car safety has become a prime factor in the minds of car buyers.

Teaching to the test is a mistake, Harvard's Tony Wagner reminded the audience of his Nov. 18 keynote address to the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), because it interferes with transmitting the seven "survival skills" every student should acquire before graduating.

The failure of Virginia Tech's text-messaging alert system has raised questions about the effectiveness of such systems to warn faculty and students of an emergency -- an important consideration as schools nationwide continue to invest in these technologies.

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Warning: Standing in line can cause extreme boredom, annoyance and even rage, which is precisely why there is a fascinating science devoted to what makes people tick -- and ticked off -- when forced to wait. Meet the little-known field of queuing psychology.

News Item added by Beth Miller

The InCommon Federation announces an open call for nominees for three open seats on the governing Steering Committee, each for three year terms. The InCommon Steering Committee will consider a broad roster of senior leadership for its open seats. InCommon Steering is responsible for the federation's activities and its fiduciary decisions regarding the operation and direction of the federation. The Steering Committee is selected as a representative body of the broadest community of higher education institutions and its many partners. For a current list of Steering Committee members, please see www.incommonfederation.org/about.cfm.

To nominate an individual, including yourself, please send your recommendation to
incommon-nom@incommonfederation.org by 7 December 2008. Questions and comments may be sent to the  ncommon-nom email address above or to John Krienke at jcwk -at- internet2.edu. Additional information may be found at www.incommonfederation.org/sc/.

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America's attic is back.

News Item added by Lauren Rotman

Internet2, ESnet, Infinera, Juniper Networks and Level 3 Communications announced this week at the annual SC08 conference that they have agreed to work together to aggressively develop and test 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) technologies. The initiative will build on fresh-from-the-laboratory technologies to create a 100GbE testbed on the Internet2 and ESnet networks with an operational network capability soon after.

Details in this press release.

For more info, check out the newsclips below:

Internet2, ESnet Want Their 100-Gig
Light Reading - 11/18/2008

Forces Align Behind 100GbE's
Internet News - 11/19/2008

Big brains converge on Austin for Supercomputing 2008
Austin American Statesman - 11/19/2008

Carriers, vendors, partner for 100GbE services development
Lightwave Fibre Systems - 11/18/2008

Alliance to Advance 100gigE
Xchange - 11/18/2008

Forces Align Behind 100GbE's High-Speed Promise
Earthwebnews.com - 11/18/2008

SC08 supercomputing event where the action is this week in network research
Network World - 11/18/2008

The research networks are pressuring their vendors for a 100GE answer, and the vendors are seizing the chance eagerly
Light Reading - 11/18/2008,

Networking Leaders to Develop 100 GbE Services
HPCwire - 11/18/2008

100 Gigabit Ethernet on the horizon
Government Computer News - 11/18/2008

Coalition to Tackle 100 GigE
Light Reading - 11/18/2008

Infinera, Juniper, Internet2 team on 100-GigE test bed
Telephony Online - 11/18/2008

Level 3, Internet2, others team on 100G testbed
Fierce Telecom - 11/19/2008

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States are making progress in building longitudinal data systems to track students' academic growth over time, and now they must use the information available to them through these systems to raise student achievement, a new report says.

Some critics of distance learning say face-to-face classes give students a better learning environment, but a recent Indiana University study found that online learners reported deeper approaches to learning than classroom-based learners.

Things didn't go quite according to plan for astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper during her spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tuesday.

Urging policy makers and school leaders "to take bold steps ... to improve education for America's 21st-century leaders," the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has issued new guidance for reforming the nation's schools with the help of technology.

A Harvard Law School professor has launched a constitutional assault against a federal copyright law at the heart of the music industry's aggressive anti-piracy campaign, which has wrung payments from thousands of online song-swappers -- including many college students -- since 2003.

The iPhone is more than a smart phone for some users -- it's a portable entertainment system. It's also become a gold mine for entrepreneurs like Steve Demeter, developer of the popular puzzle game "Trism," which earned him $250,000 in two months.

Being in space is like being Superman every day, says Clay Anderson, a NASA astronaut from Omaha, Nebraska. But floating around in zero-G can have some serious consequences for the human body, NASA's experts have learned.

In the constant struggle to keep kids safer online, a new solution is emerging that enlists the help of schools in age-verification techniques to ensure that online predators are kept off child-friendly web sites. But some critics say this puts schools in a questionable role, because the information they provide can be used to target age-appropriate advertising to their students.

Enrollment in online college courses in the United States outpaced overall growth in higher education last year, and officials predict a sustained increase in online enrollment as the economy slumps and good jobs become scarcer, according to report published this month.

With the new 13-inch MacBook looking and feeling more like the more expensive 15-inch MacBook Pro line than ever, it's harder to tell the difference between the two laptops.