🚀 go-pugleaf

     OCTOBER 23, 1998

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     T&D Extra is an information service of Training & Development
     magazine, published by the American Society for Training &
     Development, www.astd.org.
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     THIS WEEK:

     1. MIT: More Innovative Technology
     2. U.S. Grants
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     MIT: MORE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
     Robots that "think" and "smart" furniture that responds to hand
     gestures are just two creations that the Massachusetts Institute of
     Technology Media Laboratory is spawning. Also in the works are money
     that can't be counterfeited and computerized sneakers that can
     transfer a digital business card from one wearer to another when they
     shake hands.

     The lab's vision is to "think outside the box," almost literally.
     Simply put, it's looking for ways to make computers disappear or
     perhaps be banished to the dark corners of basements like hot water
     heaters.

     Not possible? In its first decade of operations, the lab created the
     standards by which photos now appear on computers and are sent along
     the Internet. It also provided the technological basis for Apple
     Computer's Quicktime, the industry standard for video on computers,
     and the Sony-Xybernaut Corporation's soon-to-market wearable computer.
     Its screen is built into a high-tech eyepiece linked to a powerful,
     pocketsize computer that feeds information to the wearer.

     The lab's "communal brain" consists of students and professors in
     engineering and sciences, and creative outsiders such as Penn and
     Teller, a comedic magician duo. Says the lab's director, Nicholas
     Negroponte, "We're in the business of creating bandwagons, not
     climbing on them."

     The not-for-profit MIT Media Laboratory is funded to the tune of $25
     million annually by sponsors such as Disney, Eastman Kodak, and
     Gannett, the parent company of USA Today. For an in-depth look at the
     lab's work, read the book The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at
     M.I.T., by Stewart Brand.
     (Source: News You Can Use, www.astd.org/virtual_community/td_magazine)
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     U.S. GRANTS
     The American Association of Community Colleges and Microsoft
     Corporation are collaborating on a project that will help build IT
     training programs in U.S. community colleges. It's called Working
     Connections.

     Microsoft will fund $7 million in cash grants over five years for
     community colleges to develop IT curriculums, train faculty, recruit
     disadvantaged people, and form partnerships with local businesses. The
     project awarded grants totaling nearly $2.7 million to 13 schools in
     February 1998. Microsoft is also supplying software grants to
     participating colleges. For more information, go to
     www.aacc.nche.edu/spcproj/connections.
     (Source: Get With IT, www.astd.org/virtual_community/td_magazine)

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     T&D EXTRA point of contact is Donna Abernathy, dabernathy@astd.org.
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