CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0101, 05/16/2009

Title/Description: New Updates

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 101, recorded May 16th, 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.

This week's CourseCast goes out to Elisa Tapia and her classmates in Coach McCullers Web Design class at North Oconee High School in Bogart, Georgia and to students in Patricia Brown's Intro to Computer Science Class at Wayne County Community College in Michigan and to
students in Debra Theel's Emerging Technologies class at Milwaukee Area Technical College. If you would like a shout out, e-mail me at cousrecasts@gmail.com and let me know how you use CourseCasts.

And now, the news…

• Apple fans should circle June 8th on their calendars as that's the day Apple will make its next big announcement. What will it be? A new iPhone perhaps on Verizon? A netbook or a tablet? As usual, rumors are flying, and Apple is keeping quiet.
  Apple sets tech conference date [Reuters]
• A report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center found over 10,000 online resources sponsored by hate groups that promote racial violence, anti-Semitism, homophobia, hate music and terrorism. These resources include Web sites, social networking groups, portals, blogs, chat rooms, videos and hate games. Such online resources have increased by 25 percent over the last year.
  Hate goes viral on social network sites: group [Reuters]
• Hackers launched an attack on Facebook users last week intended to steal their usernames and passwords. The attack utilized a phishing scam that sent out messages from friends suggesting that they click a link. The link opens a fake Facebook page that asks for a username and password that, when entered, is stolen by the hackers. Facebook is in the process of cleaning up damage from the attack.
  Hackers launch phishing attack on Facebook users [Reuters]
• The French National Assembly has approved a proposal by President Nicolas Sarkozy to punish digital pirates by kicking them off the Internet. Users "accused" three times of illegally downloading copyrighted music or movies will lose their Internet connection. The three strikes law is being heavily criticized around the world by civil liberties groups and is expected to be opposed by the European Union.
  France Approves Crackdown on Internet Piracy [NYTimes]
  France set for showdown with EU after passing 3 strikes law [Ars Technica]
• After being attacked by locals in an exclusive neighborhood in Japan, Google street view cars are going to try again. This time, with cameras mounted lower to provide more privacy to homes that have walls. Google is receiving much more resistance to its invasive photography from abroad than it did in the states. Just last week, Google street view was banned from the country of Greece.
  Google To Reshoot Street Views of Japanese Cities [NewsFactor]
• AirTran has announced that it will be the first airline to equip all of its aircraft with in-flight wireless Internet. AirTran is working to install Gogo Wi-Fi technology in its 136 aircraft by midsummer. Virgin Airlines says it will have Wi-Fi in its 28 aircraft by Memorial Day. Delta, American, United, Continental, and most other airlines are in the process of Wi-Fi installation. Airlines are hoping to increase their revenue with the $10-$13 fees for the service. Thanks to our CourseCast reporter-in-the-field, Jonathan Meersman, for this story!
  AirTran brings Gogo in-flight WiFi to every single flight [Engadget]
  Wi-Fi Slow To Become Ubiquitous Onboard Airlines [NewsFactor]
• Google experiences some turbulence this week as Google News went down causing a ripple of outages across many of its servers. Google says the problem was caused by a "traffic jam" created by a glitch that routed too much of its traffic through computers in Asia. Fourteen percent of Google users were impacted.
  Pressure Builds on Google as Server Problems Continue [NewsFactor]
• Those who are regular listeners to CourseCasts are well aware of the dangerous nature of botnets. We know that millions of computers are infected with malware that allows hackers to use them as a botnet army. We know that botnets are notorious for spewing spam, stealing massive amounts of private information, and launching denial of service attacks. But did you know that soldiers in botnet armies could be killed? This point was emphasized last week when the hacker that controls the Zeus botnet hit the kill switch instantly trashing the 100,000 PCs that made up the army.
  Botnet master hits the kill switch, takes down 100,000 PCs [Ars Technica]
• Craigslist is giving into pressure by states and shutting down its "Erotic Services" section that has been associated with prostitution and recent violence.
  Craigslist gives in, will shut down Erotic Services section [Ars Technica]
• The International Energy Association has released a report criticizing the massive amounts of energy being consumed by consumer electronics. The report forecasts that, unless confronted, the use of electronic gadgets will have a big impact on power consumption, and endanger energy efficiency gains in years to come.
  Power-hungry gadgets endanger energy efficiency gains [Ars Technica]

That's it for this week's CourseCasts. Remember that what you hear in the CourseCast is just the tip of the iceberg! Go to coursecasts.course.com for links to the full stories covered in this CourseCast. There you will also find discussion questions for use in your course, and the CourseCast Archives. E-mail me with your comments and 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!