CourseCast of the Week

Episode 108, 07/05/2009

Title/Description:

Welcome to Course Technology's Coursecast of the week, Episode 108, recorded July 5th, 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.

Visit 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: U.S. IT Spending Revealed

In efforts to be more transparent, the Obama administration introduced online tools at USASpending.gov that track and analyze the more than $70 billion the government spends on information technology annually. The site has claimed many news headlines this week with analysts astounded at the volume of spending. For example the site shows that the Justice department has 16 IT projects in the pipeline at an average cost of $125 million each. The Energy Department has 27 IT projects in the works at $52 million each. The list goes on and includes the names of the recipients of the federal IT dollars. Lockhead Martin tops the list having collected over $20 billion from the fed over the past six months.

• Online Tool Will Track U.S. Tech Spending [NYTimes]
• How U.S. Government Spends $200M Daily On IT [information week]

Story 2: China Requires Filters on All PCs

China is requiring all computers sold within its borders to include an Internet filtering program called Green Dam Youth Escort. The software is designed to protect children from what China calls "harmful" online information including pornography and also politically sensitive issues such as that which criticizes the government. PC manufacturers are rushing to install the software on machines being shipped to China, even though the requirement has been temporarily postponed due to pushback from foreign industry groups and the U.S. government who are concerned over issues of security, free speech and privacy.

• PC makers voluntarily supply Web filter in China [USA Today]
• China will still require Green Dam Web filter program [Computerworld]
• US to China: Green Dam Won't Pass Muster With WTO [Ecommerce Times]

Story 3: Sugar on a Stick

Remember the $100 laptop from OLPC? It was the tiny laptop computer designed to bring affordable computing to school children in developing countries. Well, Sugar Labs, designer of the Sugar open-source operating system used on the OLPC XO Laptop, has refined the OS and all of the educational software it includes so that it can run from a 1 GB USB stick. The technology called "Sugar on a Stick" is being used to revive old PCs and Macs that have been retired due to their inability to run modern operating systems.

• $100 Laptop Becomes a $5 PC [Technology Review]

News Briefs

• A recent study has revealed that over 80 percent of spam delivered last month was sent from infected PCs acting as agents in a botnet.
  Report: botnets sent over 80% of all June spam [Ars Technica]
• Comcast has announced a new service it calls "Comcast High-Speed 2go." The service utilizes WiMAX wireless technology to extend Comcast Internet access beyond the walls of the home to laptops and netbooks wherever the subscriber roams.
  Comcast rolls out wireless Web [Reuters]
• This month the U.S. government begins releasing $4 billion in loans and grants to expand broadband access to underserved areas of the country. www.broadbandusa.gov has been set up to provide information and accept applications.
  U.S. gov't to release $4 billion soon for broadband [Reuters]
• The world most famous illegal file-sharing site, Pirate Bay, will be sold to a Swedish software company called Global Gaming Factory for $7.75 million. The new owners say that they plan to redesign the Pirate Bay to allow users to share files legally, by paying the owners of the property being traded. The founders of Pirate Bay are currently carrying out their one year prison sentence as they become millionaires.
  Buyer of Pirate Bay, a File-Sharing Site, Plans to Go Legal [NYTimes]
• Microsoft Bing is the first search engine to include up-to-the-minute search results from Twitter Tweats. Bing was unveiled only a month ago, and in that time has managed to increase Microsoft's market share in the search arena by one point.
  Bing Searches Up-To-the-Minute Tweets on Twitter [NewsFactor Network]
  Microsoft's Bing Search Wins Share From Google [NYTimes]
• Facebook has been under fire for overcomplicating the process that users must go through to control their privacy. The company will soon be updating the settings to make them easier to find and use.
  Facebook to Offer New Features to Allow Users to Control Privacy of Information [NYTimes]
• In its effort to bolster the security of its networks, the U.S. federal government is running into issues with privacy. The federal cyberspy defense system, known as Einstein, is being held back from its peak capabilities by the Obama administration until concerns over user privacy can be addressed.
  Troubles Plague Cyberspy Defense [The Wall Street Journal]
• Google Voice has begun sending out invitations! The new phone routing service provides users with a Google phone number which is routed to any of the users’ regular phone numbers. It includes innovative voice messaging and filtering capabilities. Some analysts are calling Google Voice the future of voice communications. Sign up for an invitation at voice.google.com
  Google voice to set standard in business telephony [Computerworld]
• Microsoft Windows 7 is coming October 22, and pricing has been revealed - kind of. If you preorder prior to July 11, the Home Premium upgrade will cost around $50 and the Professional upgrade around $100. The price after July 11 has not yet been announced, but most analysts are expecting a price hike. Also, this "special deal" may not last until the 11th since Microsoft is using a "while supply lasts" campaign, with no indication of how much supply is available. So the general advice is that if you know you will be upgrading, invest now for the best deal.
  FAQ: How much will Windows 7 cost you? [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!