ed PRISM, which he worked with at the University of Birmingham in England, Shukla plans to devise usage strategies for a network of wireless computers. By analyzing usage frequen- cies and probabilities of all the computers in a networked embedded system, Shukla hopes to create a strategy that will reduce power use while increasing performance. "Eventually, companies will use probability design in develop- ing embedded computers for everything from small wireless devices to large- scale computer networks," says Shukla. Shulka also plans to develop graduate and undergraduate courses in embedded computer systems and to support the work of student assistants in a new research laboratory he has founded. 2.6 PROJECT OXYGEN Imagine a world where computers are everywhere and finding someone on a network will be as easy as typing or saying, "Get me Jane Doe at XYZ Corp. in Topeka, Kansas." That's the goal of Project Oxygen, an ambitious venture launched by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that aims to make com- puting and electronic communication as pervasive and free as the air. First proposed in 1999, Project Oxygen was the brainchild of Michael Dertouzos, the late director of MIT's renowned Laboratory for Computer Science. Dertouzos had a vision for replacing the PC with a ubiquitous-often invisible-computing and communications infrastructure. Today, Project Oxygen consists of 30 MIT faculty members who work with two MIT depart- ments, the federal government, and several major technology companies in an effort to make information and communications access as easy to use and omnipresent as a light switch. NUTS AND BITS-TELECOM HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND MORE 2.6.1 The Vision Today's computing and communications systems are high-tech bullies. Rather than fitting into users' lifestyles, they force people to adapt themselves to the technology. Project Oxygen is designed to turn the status quo on its head by making information and communications access a natural part of everyday life. The envisioned Project Oxygen sy