ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered)"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} h2 {mso-style-link:"Heading 2 Char"; margin-right:0in; margin-left:0in; font-size:18.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight:bold;} p {margin-right:0in; margin-left:0in; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} span.Heading2Char {mso-style-name:"Heading 2 Char"; mso-style-link:"Heading 2"; font-family:"Cambria","serif"; color:#4F81BD; font-weight:bold;} .MsoChpDefault {font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} /* List Definitions */ ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --> </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=WordSection1> <div> <div link=blue vlink=purple> <h2><strong>CourseCast of the Week </strong></h2> <p><em><b>Episode 237 12/27/2011 </b></em></p> <p><em>Title/Description:</em> <strong>European Businesses Curtail Email </strong><b>and Other Tech Stories</b>. </p> <p>Welcome to Course Technology's Coursecast of the week, Episode 237, for December 27th, 2011. I'm Ken Baldauf keeping you up to date with this week's technology headlines. </p> <p>This Coursecast is brought to you by Course Technology. Visit <a href="http://www.cengage.com/coursetechnology" target="_blank">www.cengage.com/<wbr>coursetechnology</a> for innovative textbooks and creative digital learning solutions. </p> <p>& and now, the news!</p> <p><strong>Today's headline story:</strong> <strong>European Businesses Curtail Email</strong></p> <p>There is a new trend among European businesses to save their employees from email overload. European carmaker Volkswagen has just adopted a policy for about 1,200 of its employees that prohibits them from sending business-related email outside the 9 hour work day. Deutsche Telekom has a policy that allows its workers to have a communication-free time when they're not at work. Communication overload is becoming a serious issue for many companies. Thierry Breton, CEO and Chairman of international IT services company Atos Origin, says that the volume of work-related e-mail in his company is &quot;unsustainable for business.&quot; His managers spend five to 20 hours a week on e-mail, using 25 percent of their time searching for information, and finding that only about 15 percent of the e-mail received is actually useful. His goal is to completely do away with internal corporate email within three years. Breton's philosophy is that just as businesses took measures to reduce environmental pollution after the industrial revolution, businesses now must take steps to eliminate information pollution after the information revolution. Replacing email at Breton's company is a new social media-based information system that supports convenient communication between employees, and easy access to corporate information. According to initial feedback, the new system has already reduced e-mail within the company by 10 - 20 percent.</p> <p><a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81513&amp;full_skip=1" target="_blank">European Companies Limit Always-On Communications</a> [NewsFactor]</p> <p><strong>And elsewhere in Tech News...</strong></p> <ul type=disc> <li class=MsoNormal>IBM has released its 6th annual &quot;5 in 5&quot; report in which the company lists five innovations that have the potential to &quot;change the way we work, live, and interact over the next five years.&quot; According to IBM, over the next five years, you can look forward to human motion to generate power for devices, biometrics to replace passwords, mind-controlled computers, the end of the digital divide, and no more junk mail. Read about these technologies using the link in the show notes at <a href="http://coursecasts.com" target="_blank">coursecasts.course.com</a>.<br> <a href="http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibm_predictions_for_future/ideas/index.html" target="_blank">IBM's 5 in 5</a> [IBM]</li> <li class=MsoNormal>Research firm comScore says that online sales surpassed $6 billion during this year s busiest shopping week, up 15 percent from last year.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81425" target="_blank">Online Holiday Shopping Climbs 15 Percent</a> [NewsFactor] </li> <li class=MsoNormal>Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed &quot;self-healing circuits.&quot; When a crack appears in circuit wiring, microcapsules rupture and release liquid metal that repairs the break. It's anticipated that the technology will be especially useful for mission-critical systems such as the miles of wires in aircraft and spacecraft.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81488&amp;full_skip=1" target="_blank">Researchers Develop Self-Healing Electronic Circuits</a> [NewsFactor] </li> <li class=MsoNormal>A USA TODAY investigation reveals that, contrary to growing suspicion, using electronic devices during aircraft take off and landing can indeed interfere with cockpit instruments and electronic equipment and systems on aircraft. The investigation also found that an increasing number of passengers are ignoring flight attendant instructions and sneakily using devices during takeoff and landing.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81503&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Why Fliers Really Do Need To Turn Off Gadgets</a> [NewsFactor] </li> </ul> <p><strong>And in Information Security news this week...</strong></p> <ul type=disc> <li class=MsoNormal>The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese hackers broke into the network belonging to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, gaining access to everything on the system including information on about 3 million of its members. The hackers seemed most interested in the communications of four members who worked on Asian policy.<br> <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9222924/Update_Chinese_hackers_breached_U.S._Chamber_of_Commerce?source=rss_latest_content&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:+computerworld/news/feed+(Latest+from+Computerworld)" target="_blank">Update: Chinese hackers breached U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a> [Computerworld] </li> </ul> <p><strong>And in Tech Industry news...</strong></p> <ul type=disc> <li class=MsoNormal>Firefox users know that the search box in Firefox uses Google as the default search engine. If you want to use Yahoo or Bing, you have to change Firefox settings. You might think that Firefox does this because Google is by far the most popular search engine. The reality of the matter is that Google PAYS Firefox for the privilege. In fact it pays A LOT! Google just quietly renewed its annual contract with Firefox for $300 million.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81509" target="_blank">Google To Pay Mozilla $300 Million a Year in Search Deal</a> [NewsFactor] </li> <li class=MsoNormal>As anticipated, AT&amp;T has officially given up on its ambition to acquire T-Mobile, and is moving on with other business strategies. AT&amp;T gained approval from the FCC to begin use of the 700MHz spectrum that it licensed from Qualcomm last year. Once handsets are developed for the new spectrum, AT&amp;T will be able to add another 300 million users to its network.<br> <a href="http://www.delicious.com/redirect?url=http%3A//www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/74022.html" target="_blank">Deals: AT&amp;T;, T-Mobile: There's No Crying in Mergers</a> [E-Commerce News]<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81510&amp;full_skip=1" target="_blank">FCC Approves AT&amp;T's Spectrum Deal with Qualcomm</a> [NewsFactor] </li> <li class=MsoNormal>The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is in talks with several large media companies with intent to re-invent TV. Apple s next generation TV will be high-def with a new kind of user interface that can be controlled from iPhones and iPads, and perhaps voice and motion. The new Apple TV will receive Net-based content wirelessly, and use the cloud to transfer programming between devices. Before his death, Steve Jobs told author and journalist Walter Isaacson that Apple had &quot;finally cracked&quot; the problem of smart TVs.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81439&amp;full_skip=1" target="_blank">Apple Moving Forward to Reinvent TV</a> [NewsFactor] </li> <li class=MsoNormal>Google Chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters that within the next 6 months Google will release its own media tablet that he says will be of the highest quality to compete against the iPad.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81442&amp;full_skip=1" target="_blank">Google To Make Media Tablet, Says Eric Schmidt</a> [News Factor]</li> <li class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Apple apparently sees a future for fuel cells in mobile devices. Last week it filed for a patent titled &quot;Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device&quot; in which it describes exactly how a fuel cell can power a mobile device.<br> <a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=81511&amp;full_skip=1" target="_blank">Apple Files Patents for Fuel Cell Computers</a> [NewsFactor] </li> </ul> <p>That's it for this week's Coursecast. Visit the CourseCasts Website at <a href="http://coursecasts.course.com" target="_blank">coursecasts.course.com</a> where you will find links to the full stories covered in this coursecast, related discussion questions for use in technology courses, and the Coursecast Archives. CourseCasts are also available on Facebook at <a href="http://facebook.com/coursecasts" target="_blank">facebook.com/coursecasts</a>. Click the Like button to add useful tidbits of tech news to your Facebook News Feed throughout the week.</p> <p>Thanks for making CourseCasts part of your tech education. Email me with your comments and suggestions for the show at <a href="mailto:coursecasts@gmail.com" target="_blank">coursecasts@gmail.com</a>. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!</p> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>