No. 8

October 12, 1999

 

Technology:

VNC

The acronym VNC stands for "Virtual Network Computing". This server-client application with a footprint of a Chinese princess (it fits on a floppy - a rarity these days!) offers functionality similar to Symantec's famous PC Anywhere but... for free and for multiple operating systems, including the often forgotten Mac. It is, in essence, a screen sharing system that allows users to see and manipulate the desktop environment of a remote computer.

Here are two examples of how this may be used:

  • I launch the VNC server on my Windows NT workstation at work and set a password to it. Next day I decide to work from home, so I start the VNC viewer on my Macintosh Powerbook, enter the IP address of the NT machine and the password, and within seconds I am working away as if I were sitting in my office, albeit with some latency introduced by the Internet.
  • A colleague wants me to show him how to subdue a particularly annoying feature of Microsoft Outlook 2000. He uses his VNC viewer to watch what's happening on my screen while I'm going through the steps of making Outlook snap out of its default "I-know-better" mode. All the time we're talking on the phone, so that I can attach some verbal explanations to my actions. I've instructed my VNC server to disregard his keyboard and mouse commands, so that they will not interfere with my demonstration.
VNC lacks some of the features of PC Anywhere, most notably the file transfer mechanism, but it is mighty useful as it is, and far, far easier to use. The small size of the program and its minuscule use of system resources mean, that one can have multiple instances of the VNC server running concurrently on a single machine, thus allowing more that one person to participate in a demo or remote-control session. Visitors can be prevented from taking control over the host machine and allowed access only as passive viewers. Use of password can further prevent unathorized intrusions. Combined with standard phone conferencing, VNC can be a pretty good alternative to usually pricey online conferencing tools.

VNC screenshots (click on a thumbnail):
Server activation
Client activation

For more information please visit the VNC Web site.

Initiatives:

Open Studio: the Arts Online

From the About Us section: Open Studio: The Arts Online is a national initiative that funds organizations to train the arts community to use the World Wide Web for gathering resources, sharing information, and building new audiences. Open Studio's nationwide network of technology training sites provides free access and training to artists and nonprofit arts organizations.  Information technologies offer artists and arts organizations powerful new opportunities to network with one another, strengthen ties to the communities they serve, and build new audiences. Through its combined access and training efforts, Open Studio ensures that the online world thrives as a source of creative excellence and diversity. As one program participant put it, Open Studio empowers the arts community to "give the Internet a soul."

Funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Benton Foundation,  AT&T, Ford Foundation and Microsoft supports services such as: creation of public access sites, development of mentoring centers (training), national advisory group, online discussion groups, and online magazine

More information about Open Studio can be obtained by calling (202) 638-5770 , faxing (202) 638-5771, sending e-mail to
 openstudio@benton.org , or writing to: Open Studio: The Arts Online, Benton Foundation, 1800 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 USA

Conference:

Research Foundations on Successful Participation of Underrepresented Minorities in Information Technology
  • Cyberconference
  • Held online, October 7-November 4 (Phase I) and November 4 - 24, 1999 (Phase II)
  • The purpose of this NSF-sponsored cyberconference is to identify research directions for the best approaches to increasing the participation and success of underrepresented minorities (Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans) in the mainstream educational,  research and job opportunities in Information Technology. The emphasis is on needed research that leads to solutions, soundly  established on solid scientific bases. The underrepresented minority population in the United States,  while increasing in numbers, is decreasing in people entering the computer field, at a time when the bounty of new opportunities is on the rise. Large segments of the population, on the basis of gender and ethnicity, are notparticipating in proportional numbers in  defining and supplying the information technology needs of the nation. Why? What can be done with reasonable scientific certainty about it?
  • Proposed initial topics for Phase I:
    • Outreach (how to bring minorities to IT education)
    • Teaching, K-Ph.D. (how to prepare teachers to provide IT education to minorities)
    • Research (how to involve minorities in graduate, industrial and government research environments)
    • Mentoring (how to guide, stimulate, and exemplify the dreams of minorities)

©1999 Vlad Wielbut and the Alliance for Community Technology