January 9, 2001 Volume 2, No. 1 1. Upcoming Meetings 2. Technology Central 3. Research News 4. New and Different 5. Spring GPN Meeting Upcoming Meetings  Ken Bishop and Leonard Krishtalka of KU will be participating with Ted Hanss of Internet2 in a panel on the "Impact of Computer Networking Technologies on Scientific Research" at the annual American Associatian for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in mid-February.  More details about the meeting and links at http://research.greatplains.net. The Association of Internet Researchers (A.(o).I.R.) wants you to host a future annual conference, held each year in September/October. Sites are sought for the 2002 conference and beyond.  The first conference was held in Kansas, the 2001 conference is being hosted by the University of Minnesota.  Can the GPN states make it a threepeat?   The conference web site is http://www.cddc.vt.edu/aoir/. Technology Central  I was flying to Chicago and happened to sit next to Lisa Czubak, who works in the Kansas City, Missouri Communications Office.  She began to tell me about the TV shows the city produces for the city government cable channel (I once hosted an arts show here in Topeka, KS on the government channel).  Lisa told me about the partnership the city has with UMKC to develop some of these shows.  And, unaware that I know him, Lisa complimented Tom Brenneman, several times, for his expertise and assistance.  Tom Brenneman is the Director - UMKC/MTS.  Tom made it possible for us to broadcast the November meeting in Kansas City over the Internet.

Research News  Doctoral students whose research involves the digital divide?????  The Alliance for Community Technology at the University of Michigan will host an international conference of doctoral students whose research includes the digital divide -- the gap between technology haves and have-nots -- or its social implications.  Modest travel grants will be available.  Email Kate Williams (katewill@umich.edu) for more information. Send your research news, funding news, and recommendations for GPN Research site of the month to greg@greatplains.net. New and Different  From Linda Roos:  INTERNET KARAOKE Giving evidence to how new technologies often find unanticipated uses, karaoke singing has taken a prominent place among Internet activities on sites such as Yahoo and Excite. One site, Paltalk, has about a thousand karaoke rooms active at times, allowing people to queue up for their turn at the microphone. One enthusiastic participant says: "There are some absolutely awesome voices out there. When you get on Paltalk, you're hearing people from everyplace -- Australia, England, all kinds of foreign countries. Music is universal... There are instrumentalists. There are operatic rooms in there -- just basically whatever kind you want to sing. There are gospel rooms. They even have church services in there...[It] would be an honor, to sing on an Internet wedding.'' (Philadelphia Inquirer/San Jose Mercury News 3 Jan 2001). Spring GPN Meeting  The Program Committee for the GPN Spring Meeting held the first planning session.  Proposed areas to be covered include Technical Update on GPN Mission and role of GPN in facilitating collaboration Emerging Technologies Internet2 Update Research and Funding Make suggestions to GPN Program Committee.

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