- Broadband Internet access through power outlets in our homes could be available
in some areas as early as late 2004. Work has been in progress for several years. St.
Louis-based Ameren and other utilities already are testing the technology. Because
virtually every building has a power plug, it "could simply blow the doors off the
provision of broadband," Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael
Powell said last month. Existing providers of broadband through cable TV lines or
phone wires consider the technology intriguing, but stress that talk of it has been
around for years, with nothing to show for it, at this time -
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0%2C1282%2C57605%2C00.html

- Pennsylvania State University has cut off access to the university's high-speed
network for 220 students accused of illegally trading copyrighted material on the
network. Penn State issued a warning to all students in March regarding trading
copyrighted work, and the university has added information and tutorials to its Web
site to educate students about the legal issues involved. (Recently the Recording
Industry Association of America filed lawsuits against four university students for
copyright violations.) Network access for the Penn State students will be restored
after the students remove any "publicly listed copyright infringing materials" from their
computers. Penn State has a stringent copyright agreement -
http://www.aa.psu.edu/cc/swat/copyright.html

- Some managers still think that artificial intelligence (AI) has been less than
successful. But most companies in the BW50 know better. Companies in health care,
finance, and retail are using AI systems to filter huge amounts of data. The technology
boosts productivity by monitoring equipment and signaling when preventive maintenance
is needed. The Pentagon uses AI to coordinate its immense logistics operations. And in
the pharmaceutical sector, it is used to gain new insights into the tremendous amount of
data on the human genome -
http://www.businessweek.com/bw50/content/mar2003/a3826072.htm (CIO Insight/
Business Week, Spring, 03)