The book, The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon computer-science professor and a Wall Street Journal reporter is proving very popular, according to a blog post today on Librarian and Information Science News. Barnes and Nobles, and Amazon bookstores have sold out of the book, and Amazon’s Web site states that the book will be in stock again May 7. It is based on Mr. Pausch’s inspirational “last lecture” he gave at the university after discovering he had terminal pancreatic cancer. The book offers advice on how to live life to the fullest. —Andrea L. Foster

Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford University law professor and cyberspace activist, said today that he has decided not to run for Congress, saying that a successful campaign in California’s 12th District against Jackie Speier, a popular former state senator who is already in the race, would be too difficult. Only last week, Mr. Lessig said he was considering a run.

Mr. Lessig said the money people raised for his candidacy would go to his effort to reform Congress.—Andrea L. Foster

Growing rumors about Lawrence Lessig running for Congress from California’s 12th District—encompassing Silicon Valley—are more than idle speculation. On Tuesday the Stanford University law professor and cyberspace activist announced that he is forming an exploratory committee to decide whether to seek the office. He says he will probably make a decision by March 1. The political action committee ActBlue, which raises money for Democratic candidates, says 392 people have contributed $30,666 to his candidacy. And a Web site that is pushing Mr. Lessig to run says his campaign warchest already exceeds that of Democrat Jackie Speier, a former California state senator who is seeking the congressional seat and earned the endorsement of Tom Lantos. Mr. Lantos held the seat before he died this month of cancer.

Mr. Lessig even has his campaign platform ready. As depicted in the 10-minute video …

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Legislation pending in the House of Representatives that would require a paper record of each vote cast in every election is being promoted by computer-security researchers, including Edward W. Felten, of Princeton University.

But at a news conference today in Washington, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation urged the public to oppose the bill (H.R. 811), called the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act. It stalled in the House this month over concerns raised by groups representing the disabled and state and local governments.

“We support verifiable audit trails, but we disagree that paper is the best solution or should be mandated to the exclusion of other technology,” the foundation says in a report released at the event. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, a Michigan Republican, supports the foundation’s efforts and was scheduled to appear at the event to promote his …

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Life for scholars was lonely before the Web, says the philosopher David Weinberger, a fellow at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and author of Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder (Times Books, 2007). In a debate with Andrew Keen, a Web 2.0 critic and author of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet Is Killing our Culture (Doubleday/Currency, 2007), Mr. Weinberger says that before the Web grew ubiquitous, “ideas were scarce…because space, time, and the limitations of paper made it hard to hear what others were saying and well nigh impossible to talk with them about it.” Now, he writes, “I am in contact with people who come up with ideas I’d never have encountered, who are sources of wide expertise.” —Andrea L. Foster

After Walt Mossberg called IT departments at large organizations “the most regressive and poisonous force in technology today,” he became subject to some venomous comments himself.

Mr. Mossberg, personal-technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, made the remarks in a speech to 250 college presidents and administrators at The Chronicle’s Presidents Forum on Monday. His belief is that large IT departments centralize the technology of their organizations too much, preventing people from pursuing their own choices of computers and software.

That comment seems to have peeved many college technology chiefs. On the Educause CIO listserv today, one person wrote, “It occurred to me that Mr. Mossberg may never have enjoyed the financial challenge of providing services to several thousands or tens of thousands of users, each of whom is free to select his or her favorite brand of…

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Walter S. Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal’s personal-technology columnist, picked up his review copy of the Apple iPhone this morning, and he gave his initial impressions of the much-anticipated gadget to college leaders during a speech at The Chronicle’s Presidents Forum.

As he pulled the phone from his pocket and explained what it was, oohs were heard from several audience members.

“I don’t know whether I’ll give it a good review or not,” he said, noting that he will use the phone for the next couple of weeks before writing his review. “I can already see some things I don’t like about it. I see some other things that I do like a lot about it.”

He said a crucial question was whether the iPhone’s touch-screen keypad is an adequate replacement for the keyboards on BlackBerries and other advanced cellphones.

“They are claiming that through clever software they have figured out a…

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