CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0063, 08/16/2008

Title/Description: A Long Way to Go, Students Gagged

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 63, recorded August 23rd, 2008. This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Story 1 - A Long Way to Go

While every month seems to offer new amazing technologies, bugs and glitches remind us that we are still a ways off from technological nirvana. The iPhone 3G has been experiencing more than its share of customer complaints. Users in some areas are complaining of unpredictable 3G reception, with phones unexpectedly dropping Internet and phone connections. Some experts have suggested that the problem may lie in AT&T's 3G network. Others are suggesting problems with the 3G processor used in the phone. Apple released a patch this past week in an attempt to fix the problem, but it’s questionable as to whether the patch helped or harmed the situation. At the same time, Apple continues to struggle with its new Mobile Me service, recently giving customers an additional 60 days for free to make up for the problems. During this same period, Google's Gmail service has suffered three outages causing panic among users of the free service. Microsoft also had an embarrassing moment when it rolled out a flawed security patch for PowerPoint last week. And then there's the whole Vista fiasco, where a new study shows that a third of new PCs are being downgraded from Vista to XP by stores and customers.

Situations such as these show that when it comes to new and exciting technologies, the leading technology companies are learning as they go, and the public shouldn't be too eager to put all their trust and money in the latest and greatest gadgets and digital services.

Source: Microsoft admits posting flawed update [Computerworld], A third of new PCs being downgraded to XP, says metrics researcher [Computerworld], iPhone 3G Issues: The Plot Thickens [Gigaom], Again? Gmail users report another outage [Computerworld], Apple Grants Two More Free MobileMe Months [Wired]

Story 2 - Students Gagged

Three MIT students discovered a method of hacking the ticketing system used by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, to ride the Boston area subways for free. They intended to share their useful secret at Defcon, a recent hacker convention in Las Vegas, but were stopped by a law suite and restraining order. This week, the restraining order was dissolved by a U.S. District Court judge in Boston who agreed with the student's attorney that the gag order was a violation of the First Amendment guarantee to freedom of speech. The case is considered precedent-setting showing that trying to muzzle software vulnerability disclosures via court order is a bad idea.

Source: Court halts subway hacker talk [Computerworld], Gag order against MIT students dissolved by judge [Computerworld], 3 takeaways from security-flaw legal flap between MBTA, MIT students [Computerworld]

And that brings us to News Briefs.

  • Google has released a new version of the Software Development Kit for Android, its open source smart phone platform; around the same time, the FCC approved the first Android-based handset from HTC, named Dream, expected to be offered through T-Mobile in coming weeks or months. [NewsFactor]
  • Some colleges are providing incoming freshmen with complimentary iPhones or iPod Touches, claiming the wireless devices will assist students with online research, support instant polling of students, assist the schools in tracking where students congregate, and send messages about canceled classes. Also, the devices assist in building a school's high-tech reputation and in drafting students. [New York Times]
  • Intel is refining a technology that will bring us one big step closer to true wireless computing. The technology allows devices to be charged without wires while sitting on a desktop using a magnetic field. The field broadcasts 60 watts of power wirelessly over a distance of two or three feet. [NYTimes]
  • Test-prep firm, the Princeton Review, accidentally published personal data and test scores of tens of thousands of Florida students on its Web site over a seven-week period. [NYTimes]
  • The iPhone was launched in India, New Zealand, South America, and in Poland where it is reported that the service provider hired dozens of actors to line up outside stores and pose as enthusiastic fans. [Reuters]
  • In Mexico, where abductions have jumped nearly 40 percent over the past three years, it is becoming standard practice for affluent parents to spend thousands of dollars to implant tiny transmitters under their children's skin so that they can be tracked via satellite. [Reuters]
  • The first rollout of Sprints WiMax high-speed wireless networks will take place in Baltimore this September. [Technology Review]
  • Toshiba's new Qosmio laptop is the first to incorporate hand gesture recognition technology that utilizes the embedded Web cam to allow users to control applications using three hand gestures from up to 10 feet away. [Technology Review]
  • A popular Philadelphia TV news anchor has lost his job and is facing up to five years in prison for hacking into his co-anchor's email and sharing some of the stolen correspondences with a reported from the Philadelphia Daily News. [Computerworld]
  • After suffering at the hands of Apple and its Mac vs. PC televisions ads, Microsoft will be launching its own mega million dollar ad campaign in September to boost the image of Vista. It is reported that at least one of the ads will feature TV superstar Jerry Seinfeld and be directed by innovative motion picture director Michael Gondry. [Computerworld]
  • At the Intel Developers Forum, Intel CTO once again spoke about computers becoming as intelligent as humans over the next 40 years. He also discussed Intel researchers developing tiny robots that can be programmed to take the shape of anything from a cell phone to a shoe or even a human. [Computerworld]
  • Popular online music service Pandora is talking about closing down due to its inability to make enough money to pay the high royalties it owes the music industry. Could this be the beginning of the end for Internet radio? [Wired]
  • MIT researchers have developed a microscopic biological system that can self-assemble into a nanoscale battery using a virus to handle the intricate wiring. [Ars Technica]

That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. Email us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!