As school goes back, it's a fun reminder that the laptop wasn't always the essential piece of tech gear that you need to survive college. And with e-book readers and tablet PCs taking on more and more text-book duties, maybe clam shells in classrooms will soon be old fashioned. Time will tell. [PC World]

The Stingray, with its carbon-fiber hull, is the brainchild of the San Diego iBotics Student Society, a bunch of undergraduates from a variety of colleges and universities in the San Diego area. They and the Naval Academy will be battling it out against teams from Duke, Cornell, MIT and last year's winner, the University of Central Florida. There's a whole bunch of other pics at over at CNET if, like me, you're into hot pool action.

[CNET News]

For current students, you should probably not use the University's bandwidth for your bittorrenting. For prospective students, here's one more place to cross off your list.

Update: Looks like both Giz and Wired misread the email. UM won't be giving up the names without a subpoena. Good for them!

On Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10, the University of Michigan received notification that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) intends to sue or receive settlement from more than a dozen members of the U-M community engaged in unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing of music over the Internet. The RIAA has designated these individuals through IP addresses, and the University is in the process of identifying and notifying them.

This action is part of an increased effort to curtail unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing. As a result, individuals who engage in this practice are more likely than ever to be identified and sued by the RIAA. Most have settled these lawsuits out-of-court, typically for $4,000-$4,500.

The University does not condone unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing. Individuals who engage in it are violating a variety of University policies including Standard Practice Guide 601.7 - Proper Use of Information Resources, Information Technology, and Networks at U-M. This reminder also has been sent to all faculty and students.

Faculty, staff, or students who have installed peer-to-peer file sharing programs on their computers and are concerned that they might be unwittingly sharing files illegally should visit the University of Chicago's useful web page that describes how to disable file sharing on a variety of programs (http://security.uchicago.edu/guidelines/peer-to-peer/).

U-M maintains a web page (http://www.copyright.umich.edu) that describes the University's position on illegal sharing of copyrighted materials and also includes a growing list of FAQs. All members of the University community are encouraged to study the materials on this page.

Lawful downloading of music is possible through sites such as Apple iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Ruckus, etc. Details about a number of these sites are available at:
http://mp3.about.com/od/wheretobuymusic/a/all_profile.htm and http://mp3.about.com/od/freemusicdownloads/tp/freeandlegalmp3.htm.

Paul Howell
Chief Information Technology Security Officer

University of Michigan Identifying Students to RIAA, According to Email [Wired]

They didn't just measure download and upload speed, either. Sure, infrastructure had something to do with it, but the surveys and studies also considered whether professors posted course materials online, what kind of computer training was available, and what sorts of distance learning and high-tech courses were offered. Plus, they've figured in whether the school allows peer-to-peer (cough!bittorrent!cough) connections. How did the schools stack up? We'll go 10 better: jump for the top 20.

1 Villanova University
2 M.I.T.
3 Indiana University Bloomington
4 Swarthmore College
5 Creighton University
6 University of Illinois
7 Michigan Tech University
8 University of Southern California
9 Quinnipiac University
10 University of Oklahoma
11 United States Military Academy
12 University of Minnesota Twin Cities
13 St. John's University
14 Clarkson University
15 Temple University
16 Stevens Institute of Technology
17 Stanford University
18 Eckerd College
19 Pomona College
20 University of Virginia

Hey, where's my beloved alma mater, University of Miami? Oh well, perhaps hardy partying schoolboys are too hungover for online activities. Sigh. – Charlie White

Top 10 Wired Colleges [PC Magazine]

The trick here is teaching computers to understand the geometric context of objects in a scene. And yes, we hear you. Consider the possibilities for porn. Indeed. – Charlie White

Carnegie Mellon Researchers Teach Computers To Perceive Three Dimensions in 2-D Images [Carnegie Mellon University] Thanks, Thomas!

What's to blame? Poker, of course. Well, poker along with other sorts of attention-distracting activities such as surfing, IM'ing or even—ahem—blogging. Entman said that laptops in the classroom were turning students into stenographers and inhibiting classroom discussion. Her students filed a complaint that was quickly dismissed.

I kind of agree with Entman. With universities across the nation getting wireless access everywhere, these distractions could definitely be a problem in some of the more boring...sorry, gotta jet—my geology professor is yelling at me.

More Professors Ban Laptops in Class [Yahoo! News]