CourseCast of the Week

Episode 106, 06/021/2009

Title/Description: Tweeting Iranians and other tech news headlines

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 106, recorded June 21st, 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.

Also check our the CourseCasts Website at CourseCasts.course.com where you will find links to the full stories covered in this CourseCast, related discussion questions for use in your technology courses, and the CourseCast Archives. And now the news…

Story 1: Tweeting Iranians

If you've been following the mainstream news you are aware of the unrest that has developed in Iran over what many believe was a rigged election that resulted in the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Many individuals protesting the election have utilized Twitter as the primary tool for expressing dissatisfaction, and organizing Iranians around the issue. Twitter has been used by Iranians to organize protests, and also to organize cyberattacks directed at Iranian Web sites.

Twitter has also served as an important tool for journalists in Iran who are confined to hotel rooms and offices. Twitter has become a lifeline to many people in Iran during a harsh government crackdown that has intermittently blocked or shutdown phone lines, and wireless services, along with access to Internet sites including Facebook and YouTube. Reporters and analysts are calling this "Twiitter’s finest hour."

The US State Department recognized the importance of Twitter for Iranians and asked that Twitter postpone a scheduled upgrade in order to avoid any possibility of an interruption to service.

• Twitter becomes a lifeline to an Iran in turmoil [Computerworld]
• @Twitter from StateDept: delay upgrade to aid Iran protests [Ars Technica]
• Twitter plays key role in DoS attacks in Iran [Computerworld]

And that brings us to news briefs

• Adobe has officially launched Acrobat.com to challenge Google Docs. Acrobat.com provides an impressive suite of online applications that includes word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software along with tools for working and collaborating in the cloud.
  Adobe challenges Google Docs with launch of Acrobat.com [Ars Technica]
• Microsoft has announced that it will offer the beta release of its new free security software named Microsoft Security Essentials to the general public on June 23rd.
  Microsoft announces free antivirus, limited public beta [Ars Technica]
• Watch what you put on that Facebook page! Especially if you apply for a city job in Bozeman Montana! Applicants are asked to provide any and all current personal and business websites web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs, or forums including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube, and MySpace. If that weren't scary enough, applicants also asked to provide their usernames and passwords.
  City to job applicants: Facebook, MySpace log-ins please [Ars Technica]
• Disney has partnered with the ASUS computer company to design a Web-safe, kid-friendly netbook for kids ages 6 - 12.
  Disney Will Offer Kid Computer with Parental Controls [NewsFactor]
• 15-year-old Kate Moore has won the title of the fastest texter in the nation. Her 14,000 text-messages a month habit, put her in good shape to type the required complicated phrases in record time to win the $50,000 grand prize provided by LG Electronics.
  How Fast R U? Teen Iowa Girl Wins U.S. Texting Title [NewsFactor]
• Well, competition in the search arena certainly has picked up lately. A new search engine named Collecta joins the growing number of new search technologies with a unique ability to search high-velocity sites like Twitter and WordPress for hot topics and return a live stream of search results.
  Collecta Joins Search Wars with Real-Time Results [NewsFactor]
• The new iPhone 3GS has been released across the country and around the world. The new phone drew long lines of enthusiasts at AT&T and Apple stores wanting to be the first to get their hands on the new faster handset.
  Update: Apple fans flock to buy iPhone 3G S [Computerworld]
• It's official, independent benchmark tests have shown the new Apple Safari Web browser for Macs and WIndows to be faster than IE, Firefox and even Chrome.
  Review: Apple's Safari 4 Web browser zips past rivals [Computerworld]
• Jammie Thomas who was sued by the RIAA, and fined $220,000 for illegally sharing 24 songs on Kazaa, has concluded her retrial and was once again found guilty, and this time fined nearly $2 million.
  Jury orders music swapper to pay $1.92M [Computerworld]
• China has ordered Google to block all search results from outside its border complaining that the search engines filtering of pornography is too weak.
  China orders Google to suspend foreign site searches [Computerworld]

That's it for this week's CourseCasts. Email me with your comments and suggestions for the show at CourseCasts@gmail.com. Let me know how you use CourseCasts in your classes and I'll give you and your school a shout out on my next CourseCast. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!