CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0084, 01/17/2009

Title/Description: Steve takes a break, YouTube Gags Videos, and other big stories

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 84, recorded January 17th, 2009. 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.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Story 1 - Steve Takes a Break

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has announced that he is taking a 6-month leave of absence to recuperate from health problems – the health issues he described two weeks ago as a minor hormonal imbalance. Most tech analysts are reporting that Steve's health issues are probably more than minor, and perhaps a reoccurrence of the pancreatic cancer he battled in 2004.

Apple shares plunged 10.8 percent upon the announcement, with some speculation as to whether Jobs will be able to return to his job at all. Most analysts believe that Apple will be able to sustain its momentum even if Steve is unable to return. Still, Apple and the tech industry would suffer a grave loss if the man that brought us the Mac, the iPod, and the iPhone were no longer driving innovation. Get well soon, Steve!

Apple prepares for six months without Jobs [c|net news]
Apple shares plummet on news of Jobs' medical leave [c|net]
Steve Jobs' cancer may have recurred: doctors [Reuters]

Story 2 - YouTube Gags Videos

Did you know that adding your favorite song to the background audio of a video you post on YouTube is illegal? It is, if the song is protected by copyright. While some such use may be covered under Fair Use exceptions, it is typically too costly to have a judge make that determination. YouTube receives a continuous stream of takedown notices from the recording industry asking it to remove videos with copyright-infringing music. In the past, it would simply remove the videos as requested. This week, it announced a new policy for dealing with this issue. Now, owners of videos that receive takedown notices due to background music, will have the option to have the audio muted, leaving the video without sound, or have the entire video removed.

Users, not labels, silence YouTube music videos [c|net]

And that brings us to News Briefs.

  • Barrack Obama plans to continue the use of his Blackberry as president, despite concerns expressed about security and privacy. In an interview with CNN he said that he wants to be able to remain accessible to people other than those that are directly working for him. In regards to the requirement to keep a record of every White House communication, Obama stated that he'll make sure to think before pressing send.
    Obama plans to keep his BlackBerry [Computerworld]
  • The Downadup worm, also called the Conficker worm has infected 9 million Windows PCs in just over two weeks, making it the largest and fastest spreading worm in years. The worm takes advantage of a security hole in the Windows operating system that was patched by Microsoft last October. With one in three Windows PCs falling victim to the worm, it would appear that many Windows users haven't patched their PCs. See the Computerworld article linked in the show notes for instructions on how to disinfect and protect your Windows PC from this attack.
    'Amazing' worm attack infects 9 million PCs [Computerworld]
  • What are your Facebook friends worth to you? Apparently over 23,000 Facebook users dropped 10 of their Facebook friends in exchange for one free Burger King Whopper. A Burger King promotion, which took the form of a Facebook App called the Whopper Sacrifice, provided a free Whopper coupon for those that sacrificed 10 of their friends. Facebook management, bothered by the promotion, "negotiated" with Burger King to discontinue the campaign.
    Facebook has Whopper of a problem with Burger King campaign [Computerworld]
  • President Obama is the first president to have his official portrait captured with a digital camera. Check it out at Engadget by clicking the link in the show notes.
    President Obama's official portrait: the first ever taken with a digital camera [Engadget]
  • MIT is replacing its large lecture classes with small, technology-driven classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive collaborative learning. Failure rates in its Intro Chemistry class have dropped by 50 percent under the new model.
    At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard [NYTimes]
  • Yahoo! has a new Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz brings years of executive business experience to the position and has Yahoo! stock-holders feeling a little less pessimistic.
    Bartz as Yahoo CEO? New job, but strong resume [c|net news]
  • A long-awaited report on Internet safety has been released by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force. The report surprised many by stating that threats to minors by sexual predators online is less prevalent than previously thought. Such threats occur online about as frequently as they do offline. The report did express concern over the increased threat of bullying on line.
    Net threat to minors less than feared [c|net]
  • A 17 your old has been convicted of Murder in Ohio after shooting his parents for taking away his copy of Halo 3. The teen planned the murder for weeks, placing the gun in his father's hand to make it look like a murder suicide. The teen fled the murder scene carrying only his copy of Halo 3. His father survived but his mother died from a wound to the head. The teen's defense attorney pleaded insanity stating that the boy was dangerously addicted to Halo 3.
    Murder conviction for teen in 'Halo' case [c|net]
  • Microsoft has lifted the download limit for the beta release of Windows 7. The software is free for anyone to download and try at www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7. Reviews of the beta have been overwhelmingly positive.
    Microsoft lifts download limit for Windows 7 beta [c|net]
  • The good news? Global digital music sales were up by 25 percent in 2008. The bad news? 95 percent of music downloads in 2008 were illegal.
    Global digital music sales up 25 percent [Reuters]
  • The recession continues its squeeze on the economy and the tech industry. This week Circuit City announced that it is going out of business, chip maker AMD is laying off 1100 employees, NVIDIA saw a 50% drop in revenue, Intel saw a 90 percent drop in profits, Apple suffered a 16 percent drop in computer market share, and Microsoft is contemplating major layoffs. Obviously everyone is feeling the pain.
    Circuit City to Shut Down [NYTimes]
    AMD to cut 1,100 jobs [Reuters]
    Slow PC market slams NVIDIA, will see 40-50% 4Q revenue drop [ArsTechnica]
    Apple loses U.S. market share as sales slide 23% [ITWorld]
    Report: Microsoft considers major job cuts [ITWorld]

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 coursecasts.course.com. 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!