| Thursday, October 09, 2003 |
| OPINION
IT NEWS
RESOURCES
NEW PRODUCTS
DEALS, CONTRACTS, GRANTS
SPONSORS
|
OPINION
|
|
The First Step Toward Getting E-Mail Back The Way It Used
to Be
As a power user of e-mail I send and/or receive somewhere between 600 and 1,000
messages on a typical work day. In today's guest column, J'e St Sauver's call
for our government to do something rings a bell for me. Yes, it may be a little
complicated. The do-not-call list is off and on hold, for example, due to legitimate
free speech issues. (As an employee of a 501(c)(3) organization, it would make
life difficult for us if we were held to the same standards as commercial organizations,
partly because complying means spending money we don't have - from "profits"
we don't make - on the technology to comply. On the other hand, not holding
us to those standards may well constitute an infringement of the commercial
speakers' free speech.) And, even if most spammers are inside the U.S., if they're
making enough money, they could just move away. On the other hand, maybe that
cuts into the profit margin just enough. Anyway, an astute candidate for the
2004 presidential election would be paying a lot of attention. I know that if
one of the democratic candidates could point to something they had done that
had effectively reduced spam, they'd likely have my vote. Heck, if even one
admitted they read their own mail and understand the problem, I'd probably even
bring out my checkbook! -Terry Calhoun, IT Trends Commentator, Society for College
and University Planning (SCUP), University of Michigan.
Read
more
|
| IT NEWS |
|
Colleges Go to New Heights to Snag Students
In light of our opinion last week about pandering to students with IT spending,
it's interesting to see just how intense that pandering gets in other areas
of the campus: How about 7-story climbing walls in student center atriums with
hot tubs? (seattletimes.com)...
Read more
New "Information Commons" at Mount Holyoke College
A space that had previously been devoted to back files of science abstracting
and indexing services has been remodeled to a state-of-the-art information commons
in the Miles-Smith wing of the Holyoke library. (College Street Journal)...
Read more
Wisconsin Students Pay $2M in Technology Fees, System Wide
This quite detailed article illustrates how the dollars are charged and then
allocated, along with some discussion of student discontent. (Advance-Titan)...
Read more
Radford University IT Staff Balances Demands on Network Router
Radford's main router ran at 35-40 percent capacity most of last year; this
year when the students came back it jumped to about 98 percent. Lots of brainpower
went into working toward the current solutions. (The Tartan Online)...
Read more
Some Could Be Falsely Targeted for File Sharing
Published as the RIAA moves closer to more court actions, an anonymous paper
describes a number of techniques that could make it appear as if an innocent
user is hosting copyrighted files; and ways to trick users into unintentionally
downloading copyrighted files that they then unknowingly host (NewScientist.com)...
Read more
NSF Grant for Internet2 Connectivity G'es to Music Ensemble
The Miami Beach-Based New World Symphony will network with colleges, universities,
and other institutions for connected distance music education. (NSF Office of
Legislative and Public Affairs)...
Read
more
U. of Florida Restricts Peer-to-Peer Abuse in Residence Halls
The University of Florida has developed Icarus, "Integrated Computer Application
for Recognizing User Services," an open-source campus-developed program that
detects file sharing and first sends warnings, then disconnects students automatically.
File trading has been reduced 90 percent. (Wired News)...
Read more
|
| RESOURCES |
|
Portal for Information on Business Process Outsourcing
An Internet portal for information on outsourcing business processes and information
technology requirements. Contains case studies, database directories, market
research, and best practices on outsourcing as a strategic business direction.
Hosts a monthly online Outsourcing Journal and BPO Outsourcing Journal. Site
is managed by the Everest Group, a consulting group that assists organizations
in making business value improvements.
Learn more
'Presenters University' Shows Tips, Tools, Techniques
Site is sponsored by projector vendor InFocus, but nonetheless is a good resource
for information and tools for enhancing presentations. Freebies include some
presentation software, i.e., free trial of SnagIt, a screen capture and editing
tool, PowerPoint templates, as well as Corel masters. Many articles included
from presentation experts, latest presentation books, and an 'Ask the Professor'
feature for presentation software questions.
Learn more
|
| DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS |
|
UBC Deal to Develop Advanced Media Server Applications
The University of British Columbia has signed a deal with Spectrum Signal Processing
Inc., a provider of wireless signal and packet-voice processing systems, to
develop advanced Media Server technologies. Media Servers enable service providers
and enterprise customers to offer services such as viral conferencing, voice
portals, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) servers, voice-mail services, and
IP Centrex. Work for the partnership will be done both at Spectrum and at UBC's
campus in Vancouver, B.C. Funding will be provided by Spectrum, UBC, and the
Advanced Systems Institute of B.C.
Utah State Deal for Private Label ISP for Athletics, Alumni
Utah State University has signed a letter of intent to launch a private-labeled
Internet Service Provider for alumni, fans and supporters of USU athletics.
The school will work with application service provider IDI Global Inc., portal
designer New Connexions, and marketing firm ISports Marketing & Development
on the program. The planners said the service will create a "powerful affinity
relationship" with USU sports fans.
|
|
POLL
|
|
Are faculty involved enough in strategic IT planning?
|
|
NEW PRODUCTS
Tool Enhances Engineering Design for
Mathcad Users
Mathsoft Engineering & Education, Inc., introduced the "Data Analysis Extension
Pack," an enhancement for Mathcad, the industry-standard math applications.
The program helps users manage data from multiple sources into Mathcad in order
analyze engineering data patterns and relationships. Mathsoft says organizations
using the tool can integrate analyses into design processes, improve management
of calculations, and incorporate data analysis work into publication-quality
technical documents, graphs and presentations created in Mathcad.
Learn more
Kurzweil Adds NeoSpeech Text-to-Speech
Tool
Kurzweil Educational Systems has selected VoiceText, a text-to-speech application
from NeoSpeech, to power its Kurzweil 1000 scanning and reading software. Kurzweil
produces software for enabling the blind and visually impaired to scan printed
text or access electronic text and then have the information read aloud to them
through text-to-speech technology. "Our goal is to make books, articles, bills,
and even advertisements accessible, and make the reading experience enjoyable
for people who are blind or who have limited vision," said Stephen Baum, Chief
Technology Officer at Kurzweil.
Learn more
Analytic and Reporting Tools for the IBM
AS/400 World
SPSS Inc., a provider of predictive analytics software, introduced ShowCase
Suite 6.5, the latest version of its business intelligence software for organizations
that use IBM AS/400 computers. The software focuses on enabling organizations
to deliver analytics to enterprise users through a Web browser, and to provide
them with tools to explore and visualize business data in greater detail. The
release features Report Designer, a tool that lets users customize queries directly
from a Web browser. The resulting reports can be outputted as HTML, PDF, or
Microsoft Excel documents.
RoboPresenter Gives PowerPoint Presentations
Panache
EHelp Corp, introduced RoboPresenter, a tool for creating Flash presentations
from PowerPoint with no Flash knowledge required. The software provides PowerPoint
users with a simple way to transform their existing PowerPoint content into
Flash-based, rich-media presentations. Enhancements include synchronized audio
narration, interfaces with navigation, software demos and other rich-media.
RoboPresenter is $399. Educational discounts are available.
Learn more
|
Discussion of the Week:
What are your experiences with having nearby colleges share their workshops
and training with other schools? -- posted by prospero
Join the discussion now!
Be part of our growing online community. Want to post
your comments or questions to the latest topics in higher-ed and higher-tech?
Click here
to discuss solutions and more!
|
|