TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Gates Announces Schools Project: The Microsoft chairman said in a Washington, D.C., presentation that proceeds from his new book “The Road Ahead” will go toward bringing classrooms on-line. Twenty-two schools would participate in a two-year project aimed at giving all students access to computers, connect them to libraries and resources and give parents on-line access to classrooms. Gates said his Redmond, Wash.-based company is developing software, due next spring, called the Parent-Teacher Connection Server to let students browse the Internet for information and publish their own home pages on the World Wide Web. The software will also allow parents to monitor their children’s education and communicate with teachers via electronic mail, he said. It would be available free to all schools.