California recently adopted a law that stiffens data-security requirements for academic researchers who work with confidential information about human subjects. Some observers predict that other states will follow suit. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

Open-source software being developed at George Mason University is intended to make it easier for professors to organize and cite materials they find online. The program, called Firefox Scholar, will plug into the popular Firefox browser and automatically capture bibliographic data, researchers say. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

After being stung in the past week by a pair of much-discussed mini-scandals, Wikipedia is about to change the way it does business. But the popular online encyclopedia won’t stray far from its open-source ideals.

The Web site’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says he will soon bar anonymous users from creating new encyclopedia entries, leaving that job instead to the site’s legion of registered contributors. Wikipedia will still permit anonymous posters to edit existing articles, though. (CNET News)

The change in policy comes after an ugly week for Wikipedia. First, a former administrative assistant to Robert F. Kennedy wrote a sharply critical op-ed piece for USA Today, complaining that a Wikipedia article falsely accused him of having been a suspect in the Kennedy assassinations. Just two days later, Adam Curry, a former MTV host often credited with inventing podcasting, was accused of...

Finally, a piece of good news for the University of Pennsylvania students photographed having sex against a dorm-room window: They might have been risking their reputations when they chose not to draw the shade, but they weren’t putting themselves in danger of suffering any bodily harm.

In a much-needed piece of investigative work, The Daily Pennsylvanian has tracked down officials at Viracon—the glass company whose window bore the brunt of the couple’s now-infamous amorous endeavors. "It is doubtful," the report concludes, "that two people pressed against the surface—no matter how vigorously—could break the glass." (The Daily Pennsylvanian)

If New Orleans can put together its own wireless Internet network, why haven’t more other cities done the same? The answer, it turns out, is simple: Cable operators and phone companies aren’t too keen on the idea.

Already, the companies have successfully lobbied a number of states to pass laws banning municipal networking projects. Now New Orleans officials say that the BellSouth Corporation, a regional phone-service provider, was so upset by the city’s wireless-networking plan that the company has rescinded an offer to donate one of its damaged buildings to the city’s police force. (The Washington Post)

More than 200 college leaders gathered this fall to talk about the role of technology in higher education and its effect on teaching and learning. This report deals with topics discussed at the forum, which was organized by The Chronicle and the technology-research firm Gartner. You can also listen to several of the sessions in streaming audio. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

Thanks to recent improvements in printing technology, more and more university presses have moved to a new strategy of short initial runs, printing additional copies if and when any new orders come in. That way, older books don’t clog the warehouse, and titles are never out of print. Some say that the process, called on-demand publishing, has been a key to survival for university presses, which face flagging orders from libraries whose budgets have been cut in recent years. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

Say you’re a 19-year-old college freshman, short on cash but desperate to get your hands on an iPod. What would you do: Get a campus job? Beg your parents for a loan?

Jonathan Baldino, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, found an unconventional (and unscrupulous) solution to the problem. With a computer program called "Barcode Magic," Mr. Baldino created a fake bar-code sticker for a pair of headphones that cost $4.99, marched into a Target store, slapped the sticker on a $150 iPod, and checked out.

Unsurprisingly, the store’s security officers thought it fishy that an iPod would sell for less than half the price of a CD. Mr. Baldino now faces a felony charge of forgery along with two misdemeanor counts of theft. (TheDenverChannel.com)

Studio honchos and digital-rights activists can debate the effect of file sharing on music sales, but no one can deny that the Internet has helped at least one group of songwriters: the intrepid souls who compose songs about tricky scientific concepts. Members of the Science Songwriters Association (yes, there is such a group) say the Web has helped their work reach a much wider audience than ever before. For that, the group can thank Gregory J. Crowther, a lecturer at the University of Washington who runs Massive—an archive that collects details on over 2,000 little-known ditties about science and math. (Wired News)

The database includes some real winners, like "Cien, Muy Bien," a Spanish counting song, and Mr. Crowther’s "That’s What Slugs Are For." And for fans of Al Green and the Talking Heads, Mr. Crowther has written "Take Me to the Liver," a soulful ditty about lipids, not...

The University of Pennsylvania has decided to drop all charges against a student who had posted pictures online of fellow students having sex against a dormitory window. University officials released this statement late Thursday:

The University has decided not to pursue disciplinary proceedings. We are disturbed by the photographer’s conduct in this matter. We are concerned about the wide dissemination of the intimate photos in a manner and to the extent that subjected another member of the Penn community to embarrassment and ridicule. We have asked the student photographer to apologize and sincerely hope he does.

The student had been charged with sexual harassment and misuse of electronic resources. No apologies were made, but the charges were dropped nonetheless.