7/31/2008
This week, during a summit of researchers in Redmond, Microsoft announced a set of free software tools for helping researchers publish, preserve, and share data. The utilities include an authoring add-in for Word 2007 for capturing document metadata; a Creative Commons add-in for Office 2007; an e-journal service for self-publishing of online-only journals; a research output repository platform; and a collaborative workspace for researchers.
7/31/2008
The Windows Vista operating system has been "rejected," or is not widely adopted in the enterprise segment, according to a Forrester Research report released last Wednesday that describes enterprise software adoption trends for the desktop.
7/29/2008
A KACE-sponsored survey on Windows Vista adoption represents more bad news for Microsoft's flagship operating system, even as Microsoft prepares to pour an estimated $300 million into a new Vista marketing campaign -- news that was announced at Microsoft's 2008 Worldwide Partner Conference.
7/25/2008
Five seconds into reading this story, a Web page somewhere will become infected with malware or some other malicious code. That's one of the conclusions of U.K.-based IT security firm Sophos in an IT security report released Wednesday.
7/24/2008
A first-quarter 2008 survey conducted by Computer Economics suggests a possible slowdown in IT spending and staffing lies ahead.
7/16/2008
Semantics is a sub-field of linguistics that focuses on meaning making in language. Therefore, the Semantic Web we're still reaching for will be based on a set of definitions, languages, and standards that can base a search on the detection of meaning and not just on a simple character string. The Semantic Web will at least be smarter than the current Web.
7/10/2008
Organizations have the desire to reduce their impact on the environment but lack the will to pay a premium for cleaner operations, according to a cross-sector survey released recently by IT hosting solutions provider Rackspace.
6/25/2008
The lightweight, mobile nature of podcasting has the potential of moving education beyond familiar constraints of coursework and promoting a level of networking and input never seen before. But challenges still exist. Can more be achieved with podcasting that would heighten student engagement and maximize knowledge building in instructional contexts? Can we move beyond the obvious in their use?
6/23/2008
Ohio State University in Columbus said it will be installing Smart Technologies products--including interactive whiteboards--in its Digital Union, a four-year-old leading-edge research and education facility. The Digital Union, a joint initiative between the Office of the CIO and the university libraries, offers a place for faculty and students to work with new education technology products in order to assess their potential for enhancing teaching and learning.
6/18/2008
Sun Microsystems is scaling up its high performance computing portfolio and showing within the stratospheric top 5 on the Top 500 Supercomputers list. At the International Supercomputing Conference in Dresden Germany, the company today celebrated its capture of the Top 500's number four spot by a Sun Constellation System-based supercomputer and announced the availability of its newest Sun Blade x64 system.
6/16/2008
The University of Cambridge's High Performance Computing Service (HPCS) has deployed a Panasas parallel storage system to support work being done by university researchers. Cambridge has deployed the Panasas ActiveStore AS5000 solution with the PanFS parallel file system.
6/12/2008
The University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering and Infosys Technologies, a Bangalore-based IT services and consulting company, jointly announced an agreement to set up a research center at USC.
6/11/2008
As Microsoft readies the release of its HPC Server 2008 for later this year, the company is showing signs of an increased presence in the high-performance computing market. Wednesday, Microsoft released details of eight HPC projects in higher education using its Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, al of which launched within the last nine months.
6/11/2008
The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will be opening a new campus in Dubai as part of Dubai Silicon Oasis, a complex that will include a high-tech park, housing, retail, banks, and conference centers. At the announcement, Dubai representatives said their city will invest in building a full-fledged campus for "RIT Dubai," including an academic center, living quarters for students and faculty, and a recreational facility. RIT will provide academic content and manage the university.
6/9/2008
Looking for a little privacy in your life? If so, you might want to leave that cell phone behind. Research released last week by Northeastern University showed not only how easy it is to track individuals by their cell phone usage, but how easy it is to track massive groups of people as well--all without their consent. The research has drawn the ire of those both inside and outside academia for the act of breaching these individuals' privacy and for the implications for further enabling the surveillance culture. But Northeastern is defending the research, saying that the privacy of those studied was of the utmost concern.
6/4/2008
With open source products maturing, Blackboard's ongoing lawsuit with Desire2Learn, and more and more functions linked to learning management systems, it can be a tough time for institutions to standardize on an e-learning platform.
6/4/2008
The Software & Information Industry Association this week issued a final call for its Vision Survey, part of the SIIA's "Vision K-20" effort toward developing a technology-based educational framework for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. The survey runs until June 9.
6/3/2008
A free clickstream recording Web service for researchers has launched, developed by two college graduates who had become frustrated by the inefficiency and redundancy of gathering research. iBreadCrumbs, created by California State University, Fullerton graduates Reuben Fine and Rey Marques, is an online tool that allows teachers, researchers, and students to save and share their research with others.
6/2/2008
Jenzabar, which produces a campus management suite of applications, has created a non-profit foundation to fund student-led community service projects around the world. The mission of the Jenzabar Foundation is to recognize and support the humanitarian efforts of student leaders serving others.
5/23/2008
According to a new survey of 1,547 college students nationwide, debit cards and online tools are the backbone of students' money management. Eleven percent reported they have never been to a physical bank to make a transaction. Seven out of 10 prefer to use a debit card when making a purchase. Only 16 percent are likely or very likely to use a credit card.
5/22/2008
IT auditors examine accounts just like their financial auditing counterparts. Instead of trial balances, they look at system user accounts to determine who signed on when and who did what. But what about who's logging into what account and when? More important, are these people even around anymore?
5/15/2008
IT pros are having a hard time balancing security, software patch management and IT auditing with a host of other duties, according to a survey released Monday by Shavlik Technologies.
5/14/2008
Education consultancy Eduventures has teamed up with The Campus Computing Project to kick off a new study focusing on online operations in higher education.
5/13/2008
Organizations still aren't doing enough to protect their data from Web application vulnerabilities, according to a study released Tuesday by security firm Cenzic. The study, Application Security Trends Report, Q1 2008, identified "1,409 unique published vulnerabilities for the first quarter of 2008, with Web technology vulnerabilities comprising 70 percent of the vulnerability volume...."
5/13/2008
College and university administrators consider personal attention to be the most critical factor in retaining at risk students. But what role should technology play in the effort?