ARMY UNVEILS KNOWLEDGE PORTAL - The U.S. Army recently unveiled its Army
Knowledge Online Portal. This portal allows all active and retired personnel to access
hundreds of Army internal sites, servers and resources. It's storage capacity is three times the
size of the Library of Congress', uses six servers and three document management servers to
provide access for its approximately 1 to 3 million users, expected to sign up. Information
will be customized to a person's rank, experience, location and duties. Capabilities will include
instant messaging, e-mail, relevant military information and more. The network will be
integrated with software that detects different types of connections and chooses the appropriate
version for downloading. (Wired News, 15 Nov 01)

CUTTING THE CORD - Neighborhood wireless Internet networks are emerging in San
Francisco and Seattle communities as activists see free high-speed Internet access as a way to
improve society and get cheaper connections. The networks are built on nodes of broadband
access, which then broadcast wireless signals over the 802.11b standard, which usually travels
half a block in an urban environment. Anyone with a wireless 802.11b networking card can
access the network for free. Telecommunications engineer and community organizer Tim
Pozar set up one of the first ISPs in his San Francisco neighborhood in the early 1990s and
now is setting up a similar wireless broadband network. He and other free wireless
broadband advocates see the movement as worthy of the type of government subsidy
endorsement that was given the telephone when that technology emerged. (Los Angeles
Times, 15 Nov 01 - Edupage 19 Nov 01)

NCS PEARSON TO MANAGE NAVY COLLEGE PROGRAM - NCS Pearson has
announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, KEI Pearson, has been selected as the
contractor to manage the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education (NCPACE)
Program. The company will be responsible for delivering post-secondary education to U.S.
Navy sailors deployed worldwide. The five-year contract will extend through 2006 with a
value of $75 million. Navy personnel will be able to access course material through a
centralized e-Learning web portal or through other electronic media, such as CD-ROMs.
Sailors also will have the capability to attend "virtual" online and instructor-led classes. For
the full story see: http://www.elearningmag.com/news/ncs1114.asp (e-Learning NewsLine,
14 Nov 01)

MBA AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS TO BE PROVIDED IN INDIA - ONE TOUCH
and Apollo Group announced that they will provide both MBA and Certificate Programs in
India. They will use the fully integrated video, voice and data-enabled ONE TOUCH Front
Row solution. See the full story at: http://www.elearningmag.com/news/onetouch1031.asp
(e-Learning NewsLine - 31 Oct 01)