Info Tech Buzz

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Wednesday update, SCSite, Optional books, Mass Storage, Apple news

A couple of you noted you couldn't get to the course.com link, but the
link works for me:
http://oc.course.com/sc/dc2010/index.cfm?action=review&chapter=1

You will need to register for the service here first:
http://login.course.com/login/accountsetup.cfm

Discovering computers is the optional text, you can only order it online:
----
Discovering Computers 2010: Complete, Living in a Digital World
Gary B. Shelly | Misty E. Vermaat
ISBN 10: 032478645X | ISBN 13: 9780324786453

This recommended book is not available in the bookstore and should be
purchased online using the following link:

http://academic.cengage.com/cengage/student.do?codeid=Z406&sortby=copy&type=all_radio&courseid=CKC01&product_isbn=9780324786453&disciplinenumber=201&filter=NewText&optValue=newtext_radio&codeFlag=false
---

Apple is expected to introduce new iPods (Gen3) later today. In a
surprising move, they will continue to sell Gen2 at a reduced price!
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/09/the-incredible-shrinking-ipod-prices-undercut-the-zune-hd/

So Microsoft's Zune will be squeezed here, beat on price by gen2, beat
on features by gen3...

Pics of Gen3 iPod Touch? Looks legit to me!
http://gizmodo.com/5355340/first-pics-of-apples-new-ipod-touch-3g-nano-5g

Engadget will be live at the keynote at 1pm our time:

So will Giz:
http://gizmodo.com/5355097/apple-lets-rock-liveblog

If you just want a cheap Mass storage device, here's a few options:
How does under $5 sound?
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SDCZ6-4096-A11-Cruzer-Micro-Flash/dp/B000NWVAFO/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252500575&sr=8-13

Tiger has all kinds of varieties:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=379&name=USB-Flash-Drives&

Or you could just go to staples / walmart / best buy / PC richard and
see whats on sale.

You could also get a USB hard disk for under $100:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3751572&CatId=2424

Will the Beatles come to iTunes today? Sources say no.
http://gizmodo.com/5355014/beatles-remastered-a-reminder-of-why-it-will-probably-rock

If you are into music games tho, Beatles Rock Band launches today!
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/102/1021831p1.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/arts/television/06schi.html
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/05/review-the-beatles-rock-band/
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2009/09/you-want-a-revolution-ars-reviews-beatles-rock-band.ars

More fun stuff:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/video-hard-rock-cafe-vegas-strip-gets-ginormous-interactive-roc/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/08/dell-packs-intels-lynnfield-cpus-into-studio-xps-8000-and-9000/
http://gizmodo.com/5355170/dallas-cowboys-stadium-continues-streak-of-giant-screen-fails
http://gizmodo.com/5355137/forget-silicon-this-teenagers-solar-panel-uses-human-hair-as-a-conductor
http://gizmodo.com/5355068/internet-distractions-in-order-of-importance
http://gizmodo.com/5354033/stop-5-reasons-to-wait-on-buying-that-laptop/gallery/
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/fcc-report-on-parental-control-devices-why-arent-they-used.ars
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/09/resistance-to-book-deal-builds-as-google-woos-europe.ars

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Earlybird welcome for IT 102-50, Updated

Hello to all who are currently signed up for this section of IT
102-50! Looking forward to seeing you all in class TONIGHT!. Most of
you have seen a version of this email sent out a few weeks back,
please check through this new version as several things have been
updated. I will try to call out the updates with *** notification
symbols

We'll be using a 'Team Teaching' approach. This class will be
primarily taught by myself, but we are fortunate to have Mr. William
"Bill" Reynolds fill in for me a few times throughout the semester
when I will unfortunately be on business travel. Bill happens to be
one of the best and most fun teachers of MS Office you will ever meet.
Between the two of us we will help you explore everything Information
Technology has to offer and take advantage of the extensive IT
resources available to you at Monmouth U!

We'll go over what is required for the class in detail tonight, but a
few of you have emailed me about what books you need to buy as you
budget for the semester. There is a special 'package' of books for
the IT 100/102 class that are bundled together at the bookstore, it
comes with some codes that are needed to get access to our digital
tools for the class. ***All in one shot the books are sold as a
bundle which must be purchased together and runs just under $250.
Please note that the bundle IS required and you must purchase it
directly from our own book store, which has not only worked to get you
a very good price but also bundles in a code which gets you access to
the SAM technology which we use throughout the class. ***

The required bundle is ISBN: 1435468872
***TEXTBOOKS REQUIRED: Bundle ISBN: 1435468872 (also listed as ISBN
9781435468870).***

Bundle includes the following components:

Title Author Component ISBN
SECURITY AWARENESS: APPLYING PRACTICAL SECURITY- 3rd Edition Mark
Ciampa 1435454146
MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007 INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS & TECHNIQUES, Premium
Video Edition (Vista) Shelly/Cashman/Vermaat 0324826842
CURRENT TOPICS IN TECHNOLOGY Paparella/Simko 1439038708
SAM 2007 Assessment and Projects 4.0 Printed Access Card, 1st Edition
Course Technology 1439044058

TEXTBOOK RECOMMENDED:

Discovering Computers 2010: Complete, Living in a
Digital World
Gary B. Shelly | Misty E. Vermaat
ISBN 10: 032478645X | ISBN 13: 9780324786453
©2010

Also be sure to log in to see the details at:
http://ecampus.monmouth.edu
That site will be updated with Drop Boxes, the Syllabus, and forum
questions before the first class.

My email should you need to get me fastest is: sposten@gmail.com and
Bill can be reached at: WilliamSReynolds@aol.com

I do not recommend you use posten@monmouth.edu tho you can CC that
address and samuel.posten@l-3com.com if you want to be sure I'll see
your mail the first time I go to one of my email clients.

Couple of things we want you thinking about as you come to our first meeting:
-How much do you _really_ know about computers? Do you know just
enough to get your work done or have you looked into ways that
computers are invading every aspect of our lives?
-What applications do you use regularly? Is it mostly Email and Word
processing with a few games thrown in, or do you use a wide variety of
traditional and "web 2.0" type applications?
-How much are you into the "social networks" like old standards of
Facebook and Myspace, or are you on to the new grounds like Twitter,
Friendfeed or something even more cutting edge?
-What are computers doing today that we never expected just a few years ago?
-What is more important to you where technology is concerned:
Flexibility, stability, coolness or ease of use?
-What do you want to get out of this course? Are you here just because
it's a requirement or does technology genuinely really excite you?
***-Now that 'everybody' uses computers how can you be sure who is
really competent in using them versus just someone who knows Word and
Mail and not much more?***
***-If you are someone who excels at information technology, how can
you prove that? How can you "Stand out from the crowd"?***
***How have computers crept into our lives in ways that we don't even
think about any more? Where are computers being used in ways that are
almost invisible to us?***

Did you know you can get the FULL MS office for just $60 as a student?
You can get Windows Vista and maybe even Windows 7 cheaply through
this program too. It's an amazing deal, Microsoft calls it the
Ultimate Steal:
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

We'll make big use of this classwide email capability, tho we havent
really started much on the pre-class email blasts, you should start
seeing random news bits coming in from me, and you can see the links
from previous years if you go to:
http://infotechbuzz.blogspot.com/

If you find good articles about new technology that interests you,
please send them my way. Could be that your story will make it back
to the list for the whole class to talk about. Hopefully you already
have a few favorite sources for technology news. If not, here are a
few links to get you started, we will be discussing current events in
technology quite a bit!
http://www.engadget.com/
http://www.techmeme.com/
http://www.boingboing.net/
http://arstechnica.com/index.ars
http://gizmodo.com/
http://slashdot.org/
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.wired.com/
http://tech.alltop.com/

***For you mac-heads and those looking to learn more about Apple:
http://www.tuaw.com
http://www.macrumors.com
http://www.appleinsider.com
http://www.macnn.com
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/

And of course, http://www.apple.com

We look forward to talking to you all soon! Let us know if you have
any questions that need answering before the first meeting.

Sam

Saturday, September 05, 2009

School demolishes library, replaces it with coffee and Kindles

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/05/boston-prep-school-nixes-all-the-books-in-its-library-replaces/

Probably the first step on a long voyage as we all head in that
direction. DRM still stands in the way of our success in making that
work though...

Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Facebook and twitter revolutionize how parents can stalk their college age children

http://gizmodo.com/5350303/facebook-revolutionizes-how-parents-stalk-college+aged-kids

"Just make sure you misspell a lot of words and swear a lot"

Monday, July 13, 2009

Scoble and Thurrot add to the Office 2010 intros

http://www.winsupersite.com/office/office2010_tp.asp

http://scobleizer.com/2009/07/13/microsofts-new-office-10-brings-office-back-from-the-dead-tons-of-videos/

The changes to the hated ribbon interface look like a good start.
Will see how it plays out.

Sam

On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 8:24 AM, Sam Posten<sposten@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/13/the-complete-guide-to-microsofts-office-2010/
>
> More surely to follow later today during Microsoft's Partner meetup.
>
> Sam
>

What do the Credit Card companies know about you pt. 2

Chilling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/magazine/17credit-t.html?_r=1

Monday, June 29, 2009

The iPod of its day

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm

Hilarious.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Google Wave and Microsoft Bing (Bing is not Google)

If you haven't heard about Google's Wave yet, be prepared to be
impressed, it is a project from Google imagining how Email would look
if it were introduced today and not in the 60s:
http://mashable.com/2009/05/28/google-wave-guide/

The funny thing is today was supposed to be all about Microsoft
relaunching their sad search efforts into Bing, a new and interesting
mashup of search technologies that has the name Bing, which is
jokingly recursive in 'Bing is not Google'. Google totally got the
best PR launch of the day tho!

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/what-just-happened-thursday-was-supposed-to-be-bing-day/?awesm=tcrn.ch_2oM&utm_campaign=techcrunch&utm_content=techcrunch-autopost&utm_medium=tcrn.ch-twitter&utm_source=twitter.com

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/the-bing-definition-microsoft-probably-doesnt-want-you-to-get-in-your-fortune-cookie/?awesm=tcrn.ch_2oI&utm_campaign=techcrunch&utm_content=techcrunch-autopost&utm_medium=tcrn.ch-twitter&utm_source=twitter.com

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Ars' guide to the Digital Transition

Most people in our area probably have some form of cable tv. For
those that still rely on antennas tho they will need to be ready by
June 12th.
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/05/gain-the-secret-knowledge-become-a-dtv-transition-guru.ars

Sam

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Readers Digest on Urban Legends

http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rumor-detectives-true-story-or-online-hoax/article122216.html

Hope everyone had a good semester, enjoy the break or graduation!

Sam

Friday, May 01, 2009

Tuvalu is sinking?

According to GoDaddy at least that makes them a bad choice for domain names...
http://gizmodo.com/5235114/godaddy-tells-us-not-to-buy-tv-domains-because-tuvalu-is-sinking

Tuvalu history:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.09/tuvalu_pr.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTuvalu&ei=pPD6SZTMLJCmM-ma1dQE&usg=AFQjCNFHSu-Ht3451LxW7Rp_KmO8thwQIw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu
http://archive.salon.com/tech/view/2000/07/24/dot_tv/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.tv

Thursday, April 30, 2009

When is the right time for kids to get a cellphone?

How old should kids be for their first cell? This is actually a
question my extended family is discussing right now.
http://gizmodo.com/5231392/is-giving-a-child-a-cellphone-a-bad-idea

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

RE: [IP] How the Internet got its rules

Better link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/opinion/07crocker.html

From: Posten, Samuel @ C2S2
Sent: Tue 4/7/2009 10:00 AM
To: 09sp_it10250@monmouth.edu; mpaparel@monmouth.edu
Subject: FW: [IP] How the Internet got its rules

From the IP list

From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
Sent: Tue 4/7/2009 8:30 AM
To: ip
Subject: [IP] How the Internet got its rules

For the record I have known Steve for maybe 30 plus years. djf

and

CERT Technical Symposium on 11 March Reinventing the Internet – Can We
and How Would We? Panelists: David Farber, moderator, Carnegie Mellon
University Lawrence Roberts, Anagram, Inc. Steve Crocker, Shinkuro,
Inc. Paul Mockapetris, Nominum, Inc. Guru Parulkar, Clean Slate
Internet Design Program

mms://wms.andrew.cmu.edu/001/CERT1_Session3.wmv

Begin forwarded message:

From: "David S. Isenberg (isen)" <isen@isen.com>
Date: April 7, 2009 7:40:11 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Subject: How the Internet got its rules

Dave,

I'm sure you know Steve Crocker, who wrote RFC #1
at the dawn of the Internet, long before the
letters IETF stood for anything. Now the NY Times
has published Steve's Op-Ed commemorating the 40th
Anniversary of RFC #1. This history, the story of
how RFC #1 (and the RFC system, the IETF and the
Internet) came to be, is history that those of us
who care about preserving the Internet's most
vital properties should know.

Here are several key paragraphs:

> The early R.F.C.’s ranged from grand visions to mundane
> details, although the latter quickly became the most
> common. Less important than the content of those first
> documents was that they were available free of charge
> and anyone could write one. Instead of authority-based
> decision-making, we relied on a process we called “rough
> consensus and running code.” Everyone was welcome to
> propose ideas, and if enough people liked it and used
> it, the design became a standard.
>
> After all, everyone understood there was a practical
> value in choosing to do the same task in the same way.
> For example, if we wanted to move a file from one
> machine to another, and if you were to design the
> process one way, and I was to design it another, then
> anyone who wanted to talk to both of us would have to
> employ two distinct ways of doing the same thing. So
> there was plenty of natural pressure to avoid such
> hassles. It probably helped that in those days we
> avoided patents and other restrictions; without any
> financial incentive to control the protocols, it was
> much easier to reach agreement.
>
> This was the ultimate in openness in technical design
> and that culture of open processes was essential in
> enabling the Internet to grow and evolve as
> spectacularly as it has. In fact, we probably wouldn’t
> have the Web without it.

Steve's complete Op-Ed is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/opinion/07Brooks.html?ref=opinion
and here: http://bit.ly/UBIWf

David I

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FW: [IP] How the Internet got its rules