Archive for January, 2008

Research in the News - January 1-6, 2008

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 7, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Update ons: Generation Y the most frequent visitor of libraries, nearly half of Americans create content online

248594239_b89377fa49_m.jpgOf the 53 percent of U.S. adults who said they visited a library in 2007, the biggest users were young adults aged 18 to 30 in the tech-loving group known as Generation Y, according to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project said. The survey reveals that Internet users were more than twice as likely to patronize libraries as non-Internet users. Public libraries now offer virtual homework help, special gaming software programs, and some librarians even have created characters in the Second Life virtual world. — Reuters

535876554_487b6d1ec8_m.jpgDeloitte’s 2008 State of the Media Democracy survey found that 45 percent of survey respondents are developing Web sites, photo albums, blogs and music online to share with friends, family, peers and total strangers. The demand to access content “on the go” is also reflected strongly in the survey, with 36 percent of all respondents stating that they view their cell phone as an entertainment device - a rise from 24 percent in Deloitte’s previous survey - with digital cameras, text messaging, and games ranking highest as the applications consumers are most frequently using on their phones. — Reuters

IT News - January 1-6, 2008

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 7, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Wikia Search release, Lenovo computers enter US markets, Intel leaves One Laptop Per Child project, Netflix and LG team up on Internet-connected TV, Creative Commons dual-license option, the fight between HD DVD and Blu-ray format, San Francisco’s free wi-fi

More than 20,000 new gadgets and technologies from more than 2,700 companies will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 7-10 in Las Vegas. The round-up so far: robot toys by Wowwee; radio for the deaf project by National Public Radio, technology firm Harris Corporation and Towson University; wireless High-Definition Television (HDTV); and technology allowing users to control their homes remotely. — BBC News

Wikia Search, an open source search engine promising to offer transparency, will go public in rough form next week. Co-founder Jimmy Though Wales has expressed a fondness for Google but has also criticized the search engine and said he wants to encourage Web communities to produce something better. He believes search should be open, transparent, participatory, and democratic. — Information Week

441430573_80cae3d7ae_m.jpgChina’s Lenovo Group Ltd introduced its first consumer computers in the United States, expanding in a region it entered in 2005 with the purchase of IBM’s PC business. The unveiling of three new notebook computers with advanced features is part of a broader expansion by Lenovo into the global consumer PC market. The company also plans to sell the new consumer computers in France, Russia, South Africa, India, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, among other markets. — Reuters

Citing “philosophical” differences, Intel has withdrawn its funding and technical help from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. Intel joined the OLPC in July 2007 and was widely expected to work on a version of the project’s laptop that used an Intel chip. Many expected this machine to be unveiled at the CES technology fair which opens in Las Vegas on January 5. The first versions of the OLPC or XO laptop were powered by a chip made by Intel’s arch-rival AMD. — BBC News

DVD-by-mail service Netflix Inc. will begin delivering movies and other programming directly to televisions later this year through a set-top box, made by LG Electronics, that will stream entertainment over a high-speed Internet connection. — CNN

The Creative Commons foundation recently released the CC+ protocol, which allows authors and other content makers to release their work for free (under the Creative Commons noncommercial license) and charge a fee for commercial use at the same time. CC+, an extension that may be applied to the existing Creative Commons license, is an option for those who wish to dual-license their work. — Campus Technology

Toshiba Corp has insisted that its HD DVD high-definition video format is far from dead despite being dealt a major setback by Warner Bros studio’s decision to exclusively back Sony Corp’s rival Blu-ray technology. Toshiba’s defiant remarks were the latest salvo in a long-running battle over which format will dominate the next generation of technology for delivering high-definition movies to consumers. The rivalry has been compared to the video-cassette-recorder format war of the late 1970s and early 1980s which ultimately Sony’s Betamax lost and JVC’s VHS won. — Reuters

san franciscoMeraki Networks‘ plan to cover San Francisco with free Wi-Fi, with residents’ help, could be a way around the political and business barriers some municipal wireless projects have run into. The startup, partly funded by Google, believes it will succeed where EarthLink and Google did not: Building Wi-Fi access throughout San Francisco at no cost to the city. It expects to finish by year’s end, filling the whole city with 1M bps (bit per second) coverage. — PC World

Research in the News - December 24-31, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 1, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: survey on how Americans use technology, high points in artificial intelligence, universities team on virtual worlds research

A new consumer survey conducted by Deloitte & Touche called “State of the Media Democracy” highlights how Americans are embracing technology in their everyday life. According to the survey, some 38 percent of U.S. consumers reported watching television shows online, 54 percent report making their own digital content, and 36 percent use their mobile phones as entertainment devices. — Digital Trends

Scientific American’s article “The Year in Robots” recaps the advancements of artificial intelligence throughout 2007. The highlights include robotic technology that provides surgical care for astronauts in outer space, autonomous vehicles that drive in an urban setting guided only by sensors, computers, and global positioning systems, humanoid robots that socialize with children, Toyota’s violin playing robot, and even robots that infiltrated a community of cockroaches and changed their behavioral patterns. — Scientific American

Appalachian State University and Clemson University are partnering in research, development, and implementation studies related to 3-D virtual worlds through the newly established Carolinas Virtual World Consortium. The Clemson team represents disciplines from across the campus, such as computer science and educational technology, as well as communication, rhetoric, industrial engineering, psychology and sociology. Research from the consortium will help inform regional, national, and international policy makers of the educational and economic impact of virtual worlds and similar social and immersive technologies. The consortium also will promote and support policies related to employing and implementing virtual worlds in educational settings. — Asheville Citizen Times

IT News - December 24-31, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 1, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: Russia’s satellite navigation system, Google Reader’s privacy issues, Microsoft’s security blog

Russia successfully launched a rocket on December 25 carrying the last three satellites to complete a navigation system to rival America’s GPS. The military-run GLONASS mapping system works over most of Russia and is expected to cover the globe by the end of 2009, once all its 24 navigational satellites are operating. — Reuters

In its attempts to add social elements to products, is Google pulling a Facebook? Google Reader has allowed people to share items they are interested in with others since 2006 with hyperlinks, clips on blogs and storing them on a public page. Last week, Google tweaked Google Reader so that your shared items are automatically made available to your Google Talk contacts. But, as anyone who uses instant messaging knows, not all of your IM contacts are friends. Many are acquaintances or people you barely know and with whom you may not want to share a reading list. — CNet News

Microsoft has launched a security blog that provides more technical details about the vulnerability research behind the patches and security updates the company releases each month. The Security Vulnerability Research and Defense blog provides in-depth technical information and ways security professionals can protect an organization from vulnerabilities. The blog will be updated the second Tuesday of every month, called “Patch Tuesday,” which is when Microsoft releases security updates for Windows and other software. There also will be debugging techniques and information on how to triage security vulnerabilities, and overviews on some of the challenges the company faces when fixing specific security bugs. — Information Week

Schools and Programs in the News - December 24-31, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 1, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Updates on: mobile virtual classroom in Arkansas, graduate program in educational technology offered through Michigan State University

“Aspirnaut Initiative,” a partnership project between Vanderbilt University, the Sheridan district and the Grapevine Historical Society, turns a schoolbus in Arkansas into a mobile virtual classrom, using wireless router and antenna. Students in the bus use their laptops to connect to a satellite classroom where a teacher helps them with after-school work. They can also take courses while traveling, independent from the classes during the school day. — Education Week

A graduate-certificate program in educational technology is being offered in Kalamazoo County this winter through Michigan State University. The program targets teachers for grades kindergarten through 12 who need to earn graduate credits toward licensure renewal or who seek to learn new ways to use technology in educational settings. — Kalamazoo Gazette

Awards in the News - December 24-31, 2007

Published by Zornitsa Vodenska on January 1, 2008 in In the News. 0 Comments

Curriki, the Global Education and Learning Community, was awarded the King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of Information and Communications Technology in education at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Curriki was one of two winners chosen from among 68 projects from 51 countries and one international nongovernmental organization focusing on the theme of open access to education. Curriki also announced a new initiative in Canada with LEARN, a non-profit educational foundation supported by the Quebec-Canada Entente for Minority Language Education. — PR-USA.net