Published by rwatstein November 23rd, 2008
in social sites and technology.
From Facebook to smartphones, advances in technology are changing the way we work and communicate. Professor David Yoffie led three experts in a recent panel discussion on “The Technology Revolution and its Implications for the Future” at the HBS Centennial Business Summit. Key concepts include:
• A lot of growth potential remains worldwide.
• The sticking point for business is spanning the gap between the physical and digital worlds. For example, it remains difficult to figure out consumers’ specific intent on the Web.
• What people want most of all is technology that is simple to use, said one panelist.
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Published by rwatstein November 23rd, 2008
in digital and technology.
In Life 2.0, people move into a shared network space that drives work, research, education, entertainment, social activities—essentially everything they do. They use digital tools—PDA, MP3, laptop, cell phone, camera, PC—to tell their stories and interact with the world. They are always online, connected to one another and to the Web.
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Published by rwatstein November 23rd, 2008
in corporations and technology.
The latest and greatest technologies always get the attention and accolades, but it’s the unsung and unheralded technologies that are often the unsung workhorses that keep your business running — functional trumps flash and fancy every time. Here, bMighty reviews nine technologies that have been overlooked, underhyped, or taken for granted.
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Published by rwatstein November 23rd, 2008
in Generation Y, information and technology.
By 2010, the Millennial generation—those now 14 to 28—will outnumber their Boomer parents. Also known as “Generation Y,” the “Net Generation” or “Echo Boomers,” this group of approximately 76 million people have been described as “thinking and processing information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.” Information services that match their information-seeking habits will be more relevant to this group. In fact, the term ‘Screenagers’ has been used to refer to the youngest segment of this group (14–19-year-olds) because of their affinity for communications technology.
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Published by rwatstein November 15th, 2008
in innovation, corporations and technology.
Tools like prediction markets and online voting can’t replace internal innovation processes. But they can open a new channel. Few things matter more to a company. Think of the impact a single product, whether the iPod or New Coke, can have on a company’s fortunes. IT needs to make itself part of that process, and one way is by providing tools to help their companies make better decisions. Like blogs, wikis, and other social software, these tools tap into a free exchange of ideas. Unlike other social software, they lead to a definitive outcome and measurable results.
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Published by rwatstein November 15th, 2008
in education, technology and Apple.
Students now expect to use interactive, Web2.0 applications in their education environments. As part of a strategy to meet such expectations, Delta College in Michigan launched an online Delta iTunes U environment this fall.
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Published by rwatstein November 15th, 2008
in education and technology.
Today’s wired student, bud in ear, studies on an ever-evolving campus, one where administrators continually roll out services for the internet-immersed. Over the years, distance learning, podcasts, and high-tech classrooms have transformed academics and the way students learn. But the innovations also have had a wider reach, affecting aspects of everyday campus life — from allowing freshman to pick their own roommates through a web-based social network to changing the way they do laundry.
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Published by rwatstein November 15th, 2008
in innovation, technology and Apple.
It has been seven years since Steve Jobs announced the first “perfect thing” in the fall of 2001. Since then, very few products have come to exact total domination in their respected fields like the iPod has. And really, no other gadget in recent memory (save for maybe the iPhone) has exploded onto the cultural cache with the same impact. Here, take a scroll down memory lane with us and see the evolution of the product from its initial rocky conception to its current button-free touchscreen interface. Come on, it’ll be fun.
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Published by rwatstein November 15th, 2008
in internet, technology and hardware.
With unprecedented access to network hardware, researchers have the chance to remake the Internet. For decades, the physical Internet has been in a state of suspended animation. It was designed in the 1960s to transmit files and e-mail, and even the advent of YouTube, Internet phone calls, streaming music, and networked video games have done little to change it. In part, that’s because the only network big enough to provide a test bed for new hardware tricks is the Internet itself; in part, it’s because the routers and switches that make up the Internet are closed technologies, sold by a handful of companies.
A project led by Nick McKeown of Stanford University, however, has begun to open up some of the most commonly used network hardware, from companies such as HP, Cisco, NEC, and Juniper. Allowing researchers to fiddle with Internet hardware, McKeown says, will make the Internet more secure, more reliable, more energy efficient, and more pervasive.
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Published by rwatstein November 9th, 2008
in users and technology.
The “technology revolution” is mis-named. Instead, we are in a human revolution… humans have learned to think with their fingers, to imagine that a flat screen is really as big as the world, to create new personae for themselves, to expand their social interactions in number and kind, to write and design in new ways, to visualize complex concepts, to find information in seconds, and incorporate that information into a constantly evolving awareness.
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Published by rwatstein November 9th, 2008
in education and technology.
We all know the routine–all the world has changed but the classroom is the same as it was a millennium ago. Faculty feel guilty but don’t know what to do… Ideas are powerful, especially when they have become beliefs and have been unquestioned for generations. Three in particular may be standing in the way of more faculty using our new learning tools in enlightened ways.
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Published by rwatstein November 2nd, 2008
in education and technology.
In its fifth study of undergraduate students and information technology, the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) seeks to more fully understand today’s undergraduate students’ varied use of skills and experiences with IT. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008 analyzes the responses of 27,317 freshmen, seniors and community college students at 98 colleges and universities from a Web-based survey, as well as findings from focus group discussions. Among the findings: Respondents report spending an average 19.6 hours per week actively doing online activities for work, school or recreation, and 7.4 percent spend more than 40 hours per week doing so. Almost all students surveyed use the college or university library Web site (93.4 percent) and presentation software (91.9 percent). Also used by most students are spreadsheets (85.9 percent), social networking sites (85.2 percent), text messaging (83.6 percent) and course management systems (82.3 percent).
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Published by rwatstein November 2nd, 2008
in innovation and technology.
Boston University’s College of Engineering is launching a program, under a National Science Foundation grant, to develop the next generation of wireless communications technology based on visible light instead of radio waves. Researchers expect to piggyback data communications capabilities on low-power light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to create “Smart Lighting” that would be faster and more secure than current network technology.
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Published by rwatstein November 2nd, 2008
in technology and politics.
Three experts, Ernest J. Moniz, John D. Halamka, and Charles M. Vest, suggest technology policies for the new president.
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Published by rwatstein October 19th, 2008
in technology and writing.
Why tech writers use so much jargon, I don’t know. Maybe it’s self-aggrandizement; they want to lord their knowledge over everybody else. Maybe it’s laziness; they can’t be bothered to fish for a plain-English word. Maybe it’s just habit; they spend all day talking shop with other nerds, so they slip into technospeak when they write for larger audiences. In any case, I’m making available to all, for the first time, my list of pretentious pet-peeve words to avoid. I used to consider plain-English writing a competitive advantage, so I’ve never leaked this list to potential rivals. But at this point, forget it; any tips that might contribute to clearer writing deserve to be free.
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Published by rwatstein October 19th, 2008
in internet and technology.
Your broadband connection screams compared with the dial-up days of yore, but it could be faster. These days, your internet connection can’t be fast enough. The Wired How-to Wiki suggests some ways to tweak the hardware and software you are using, find data download shortcuts, and manually offload your connection to a less-burdened server.
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Published by rwatstein October 19th, 2008
in innovation, technology and hardware.
Catch phrases like “easy to use” and “no installation required” are music to a nontechie’s ears. In the case of Aluratek’s USB Internet Radio Jukebox, that music can literally be heard on more than 13,000 Web radio stations worldwide.
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Published by rwatstein October 19th, 2008
in web 2.0, education and technology.
We are seeing trends in higher education, good and maybe otherwise, that reflect the re-structuring of knowledge systems that seem to come with a point in time we’re calling Web 2.0. Educational leadership in this environment means reform at an institutional level, not just technology adoption.
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Published by rwatstein October 19th, 2008
in education and technology.
Students see campus technology is a key factor in selecting a college or university and consider it critical for their professional development. Yet higher education institutions on the whole aren’t keeping up with student needs in this area, according to a new report released by CDW Government (CDW-G).
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Published by rwatstein October 12th, 2008
in technology and Library of Congress.
If you had the chance to see Thomas Jefferson’s hand-edited draft of the Declaration of Independence up close and personal, how much do you think you could take away from the experience? Simply viewing the dimly lit rough draft on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., could amount to little more than words scrawled on a very old page. To really learn about the document, visitors would have to speak onsite with a guide or independently research the document. The library is working to create a completely different experience, however, by deploying new technologies that enrich the exhibits for both on-site and online visitors, allowing anyone in the world to learn more about many of the treasures displayed at the library.
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Published by rwatstein October 12th, 2008
in technology and computer science.
The world’s largest computing grid is ready to tackle mankind’s biggest data challenge from the earth’s most powerful accelerator. Today, three weeks after the first particle beams were injected into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid combines the power of more than 140 computer centers from 33 countries to analyze and manage more than 15 million gigabytes of LHC data every year. The United States is a vital partner in the development and operation of the WLCG. Fifteen universities and three U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories from 11 states contribute their power to the project.
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Published by rwatstein October 12th, 2008
in technology, OLPC and hardware.
In 2005, Mary Lou Jepsen joined Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT’s Media Lab, to build a $100 laptop for each of the poorest children of the world. As CTO of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, Jepsen discovered that a laptop could be many times cheaper and more power efficient if the display was made differently. Thus, she designed a liquid-crystal display (LCD) that consumes only a fraction of the power of normal displays. And to ensure that it could be manufactured cheaply, she made certain that it could be built using existing LCD manufacturing technology. Earlier this year, Jepsen cofounded Pixel Qi (pronounced “Pixel Chee”), a startup based in San Francisco that will make displays using her 48 patents on display technology. Next year, she says, displays from Pixel Qi will be on the market. Jepsen recently spoke at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Keystone, CO, where Technology Review caught up with her.
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Published by rwatstein October 12th, 2008
in education and technology.
It may be getting at least a little harder for students to plagiarize from websites, text-message answers to friends during tests, or get others to do their homework, as professors are using new technologies to detect or prevent cheating.
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Published by rwatstein October 5th, 2008
in technology, Firefox and Mozilla.
Logan Kugler writes: “The latest version of Mozilla’s popular open-source browser enjoyed one of the most successful launches in software history, with a record-setting 8.2 million downloads the first day it was available. With the ability to drastically expand the browser’s functions using plug-in extensions and Greasemonkey scripts, many of Firefox 3’s built-in features are overlooked. Here are eight handy things you can do, ranging from tiny tweaks to hugely powerful capabilities, all with nary an extension to install.”
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Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008
in innovation and technology.
A USB drive can be used for much more than just porting data — it can carry entire bootable apps, lock down a PC, encrypt data, run Windows, and even call for help when lost.
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Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008
in online resources, technology and e-books.
Freebookcentre.net contains links to thousands of free online technical books. These Include core computer science, networking, programming languages, Systems Programming books, Linux books and many more.
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Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008
in education and technology.
Looking to produce their next generation of employees (and customers), technology giants such as Cisco Systems, Intel, and Microsoft are setting their sights beyond just the United States and are investing heavily in global education reform initiatives. Developing nations such as India, Jordan, and Kenya are among the beneficiaries of these efforts, which underscore the need for U.S. schools to prepare their students for an increasingly global, information-based workforce.
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Lisa A. Ennis writes: “Often in interactions between library folks and IT folks, I’ll suddenly find myself in the role of Capt. Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation as I try to get two very different delegations to see eye to eye on any number of topics. The delegations, like the alien cultures of Star Trek, have very different world views, belief systems, mores, and even languages—in short, the groups just have different ways of viewing the world. What I’m offering here is a recommendation for one book that has helped me the most and 10 tips to help you make your life with IT a bit easier.”
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Published by rwatstein September 7th, 2008
in innovation, information and technology.
Gina Trapani writes: “Technology is supposed to make life easier, but it doesn’t seem that way when you’re struggling to wrangle 289 new email messages, dealing with a hard-drive crash, or suddenly realizing that you left an important file on the office computer. Thankfully, plenty of tools can help,” among them the “inbox zero” philosophy, using a camera phone to remember things, and cable proliferation controls.
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Imagine waking up to find your morning newspaper on the night stand each day without ever having to get out of bed. Or say you want another book to read while soaking up some sun on the beach. And voila! Michael Connelly’s latest book appears in the palm of your hand. Amazon.com wants consumers to go even more digital with their reading habits with its 8-month-old Kindle reading device. Visit Amazon.com, and it’s the first thing you see.
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Published by rwatstein July 26th, 2008
in technology, publishing and e-books.
With the market for electronics books still relatively sleepy, Sony Corp. is trying a new tack: untethering the latest model of its e-book reading device from its own online bookstore. On Thursday, Sony will provide a software update to the Reader, a thin slab with a 6-inch screen, so the device can display books encoded in a format being adopted by several large publishers. That means Reader owners will be able to buy electronic books from stores other than Sony’s.
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Reference librarian Shannon Bohle says that with the constant bombardment of new twists on technology, “we need to take a step back and consider how librarians in the last decade have found themselves on the fast track from the sequestered content villas of subscription databases to the sprawling information architecture of our new socially networked digital environment.” Moreover she conflates digital awareness with social awareness, even pointing to the digital divide “among us as librarians and among our own institutions.”
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Earlier this week Google launched Lively, a new social network where anyone can create an avatar and virtual room that can be embedded anywhere on the Web. 3D services such as Lively are popping up more and more online thanks to the popularity of virtual worlds like Second Life , Meez , and more. So are your skills up to snuff? We’ve gathered over 20 3D creation tools so that you can create your own avatar or virtual world. Whether you’re a 3D pro or just starting out, we’ve got tools for everyone. Try them out and let us know what you think.
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Published by rwatstein July 12th, 2008
in innovation and technology.
More people than ever are setting up impressive home theaters with high-definition plasma displays, Blu-Ray players, and surround-sound speakers. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D, opening today, exemplifies Hollywood’s best hope for luring people back to the theater: lots of action, big stars–and the option of full 3-D. But as the first feature-length, live-action digital 3-D film, Journey posed an unprecedented technical challenge. Today’s 3-D movies are a far cry from those of the 1950s, commonly considered the golden era of 3-D.
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Published by rwatstein July 12th, 2008
in innovation, technology and disabilities.
Web technologies and mobile devices have created many new ways for sight and hearing-impaired consumers to find information and connect with friends. But as entertainment and communications tools increasingly take digital form, some people with disabilities feel left behind. Online videos are not required to have captions, for example, and ticker-style emergency messages are not narrated
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Published by rwatstein June 21st, 2008
in innovation and technology.
Your IRS tax rebate check can buy more tech fun than you think. A search for goodies from Apple, Asus, LG, Magnavox, Garmin, and others turns up computers, flat screens, a Blu-ray DVD burner, and more.
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Social networking technologies, web mashups, multicore and hybrid processors, and cloud computing are among the 10 most disruptive technologies that will shape the IT landscape over the next five years, according to research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc. David Cearley says that business applications will start to mirror the features found in popular consumer social software, such as Facebook and MySpace, as organizations look to improve employee collaboration and harness the community feedback of customers.
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Published by rwatstein June 21st, 2008
in innovation and technology.
John Foley writes “Pittsburgh is known for its sports teams, three rivers, steel-manufacturing heritage — and increasingly for its technology innovation. The Penguins’ championship bid just ended and the Pirates are in last place, but there are other reasons for “the Burgh” to cheer. A startup incubator has just opened on the city’s South Side, and the Gates Center for Computer Science is under construction to the east.”
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Published by rwatstein June 21st, 2008
in video games, innovation and technology.
Cardiac surgeons have borrowed a 3-D stereoscopic imaging technology from the video-game industry to help them guide their tools during intricate beating-heart surgeries. In tests of the new imaging device, a surgeon was able to more accurately navigate into pigs’ hearts and then to more quickly repair the hearts’ torn walls. Eventually, the stereoscopic system may make beating-heart surgery more efficient and less dangerous, perhaps expanding its use into relatively complicated heart repairs.
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Published by rwatstein June 21st, 2008
in technology, Amazon and Kindle.
Is the Kindle about to catch fire? Could Amazon.com’s seven-month-old wireless e-book reader - a rectangular wonder in antique iPod white, able to download any of 125,000 books adapted to its format - be the tipping point that marks the decline and fall of the paper book? If those two questions continue to dominate techno-talk in the book-publishing industry, it’s because book folk, being weaker in gizmo-related prognostication than, say, the devotees of a consumer electronics show, aren’t sure. But earlier this month here at Book Expo America, the yearly meeting of the American publishing business, they ran into one man who seems absolutely sure: Jeff Bezos, founder and master marketer of Amazon,
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Published by rwatstein June 21st, 2008
in innovation and technology.
The problem with to-do lists and schedules is that you need to fill them out. Now, a new generation of free online schedulers promises to end that drudgery. These new Web applications use natural-language processing to interpret spoken commands and ordinary written sentences to build calendars and personal organizers.
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