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11/28/2007
A new "Shark Card" has been issued to more than 25,000 students, faculty, and staff at Nova Southeastern University incorporating both contact and RFID-enabled smart chips, plus biometrics, to provide a range of services to the campus community on a single card produced by SmartCentric Technologies International (www.smartcentric.com). That's a lot on one card, but there's plenty of room for more: Benny Mohall, NSU's director of projects, systems, and technical support comments that the new cards offer "a platform for rapid expansion well into the future."Currently, the multifunction cards are being used for numerous purposes: access to meal plans; purchases at retail shops and vending machines; use of photocopying and printing programs; and physical door access are are few common uses. Students and faculty in the Health Professions Division are using SmartCentric's SmartCity Password Wallet application for access and authentication with their Dental Practice/Clinic Management System.
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The College of Southern Nevada (CSN), a community college in Las Vegas with 41,000 students, has adopted the Angel Learning Management Suite (LMS) to support its online course offerings. In Spring 2008 CSN began evaluating alternatives to WebCT, which it currently runs, and made the decision to adopt Angel in the fall. In January 2009, CSN's 865 sections of online enrollment will be delivered using the Angel LMS.
Toshiba has introduced a new USB docking station that incorporates DisplayLink--a technology that allows computers to connect to projectors and other types of displays through USB 2.0.
Mitsubishi has begun shipping a new LCD-based SXGA+ projector aimed at higher education, specifically medical schools. The new MH2850U, according to Mitsubishi, is "specially engineered for projecting DICOM simulation images for use in medical education and training."
Last month, ActiveState released Komodo IDE 5.0, the company's latest integrated development environment (IDE). Komodo supports multiple programming and markup languages, including HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Perl, Java, Python, C++ and more. It does not support some .NET languages at present, such as ASP/ASP.NET, C# and VB.NET.
IBM last week announced consulting services specifically designed to help organizations assess their options in using cloud computing technology. "Cloud computing" is a much argued term, but it typically refers to solutions delivered over the Internet, rather than via customer premises-installed software.
Hollins University, among other higher ed institutions in Virginia, has implemented Omnilert's e2Campus emergency notification system (ENS) just ahead of a state-mandated deadline requiring them at every public institution of higher education by Jan. 1. Hollins itself isn't a public campus, but wished to implement an ENS before the end of the year, the school said in a company statement.