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OPINION
Driving While Talking on a Cell Phone = Driving While Drunk
Terry Calhoun, IT Trends Commentator
Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
University of Michigan
How many of you see incidents in traffic where someone is clearly
not fully “there?” Raise your hands. Yep. Almost everyone sees
that on a daily basis. Sometimes on my relatively short drive
to work (about 7 miles) I see a “cell phone driver” and follow
them, counting the number of times they brake for no apparent
reason, run stop signs, turn without signals, go off the road,
or cross the center line. It’s truly amazing.
As you may know, I am a serious multitasker and defend my right
to be such at work and at home. But as good as I am at that, I’ve
tested myself with cell phones while driving (with a family member
watching to take over the wheel) and I cannot safely drive and
talk on a cell phone. It has nothing to do with my hands being
busy, it has to do with my brain being engaged elsewhere, trying
to figure out the 70 percent of communication that’s nonverbal,
while I can only hear someone’s voice.
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more
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IT NEWS
Computer Viruses Plague NYU
It's not the size of problem that it could be, but about 150 computers in
academic departments at NYI were found to have viruses recently. It's blamed
on some students not updating security software upon return to campus from the
winter break. (Washington.Square.News)
Read more
34 New Public BlitzMail Computers Suddenly Appear at Dartmouth
The plan was to "surprise" students with new computers, unexpectedly
popping up around campus. But student assembly politicking roiled
the rollout with tension and dissent. (The Dartmouth Online)
Read more
Arizona State Network Downed by Unexplained Problem
It was such a short outage (three hours) that few were seriously
inconvenienced, but the remaining unsettling information is that
the cause is not yet determined. (ASU Web Devil)
Read
more
Students at Stanford Protest Mandatory Landline Service
They understand the financial exigencies behind the fees but are annoyed at
having to pay for landline phones that many, or most, do not use. (The Stanford
Daily)
Read more
Central Michigan University Decides Not to Eliminate Landline Phones
Probably the major factor in CMU's decision is that it owns its own phone system
and just would not realize large savings from the cut; further, about 2,200
landline phones in residence halls are routinely in use and do see service.
(Central Michigan Life)
Read more
“Folksonomies Tap People Power”
Rather than organizing all the world's data in the same way, proponents of
"folksonomies" promote letting users add their own tags--which d'es add value
to the data sets already available. (Wired News)
Read more
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RESOURCES
“Revenge of the Nerds” at Texas A&M
Written purely from the student viewpoint, this article implies
that viruses aren't that much of a problem and that smarter students
are protecting their computers better. Viruses are defined as
"hate crimes against the stupid." (The Battalion Online)
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more
Technology Tools Reviewed
OmniWeb 5.1 and Skype 1.1 are the latest technology tools reviewed
and recommended by The Scout Report, which is one of the Internet's
best newsletters. (The Scout Report)
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more
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DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS
IBM Donates Data Storage Equipment to the U. of Arizona
The tape and disc storage system will allow a central storage location with
plenty of space to store the research data of every faculty member and researcher
on campus. (Tucson Citizen)
Read more
U. of Maryland Closer to Download Service for Students
The pilot program has been delayed somewhat, but Maryland's Department of
Procurement and Supply is currently reviewing bids from Napster, Rhapsody, Ruckus,
iTunes, Music Rebellion, and CDigix. (diamondbackonline.com)
Read more
Michigan Information Tech Center is New Home to Tech Orgs
Internet2, Merit, and others are finding a new home in the Michigan
Information Technology Center. The 115,000 square-foot, $12M
building on the U-M's North Campus, is state of the art in both
its design and its IT infrastructure. (mlive.com)
Read more
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| Thursday, February 03, 2005 |
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NEW PRODUCTS
Pulse Digital Ships Two New Versions of DVD Selectnet
Pulse Digital, developer of automated DVD production and digital asset management
(DAM) solutions, announced that it is releasing the next version of its flagship
product DVD SelectNet, the automated solution for authoring and producing professional
quality DVD discs, on-demand.
Read more
The World at Your Fingertips
VitalSource Technologies, Inc., is expanding its reference library by adding
two reference works from the editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. VitalSource
customers will be able to choose between the Britannica Student Encyclopedia
and the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia when they order IBM ThinkPad notebooks
and ThinkCentre desktops preloaded with the VitalSource Library beginning in
Spring 2005. In addition, Vital Source provides a feature that enables students
to quickly access Concise or Student Encyclopedia articles while working in
other documents.
Read more
CommonSpot Content Server Version 4.5
PaperThin, Inc., a Web publishing and content management software
vendor, announced the availability of CommonSpot Content Server
version 4.5, the company’s flagship Web content management software.
The release introduces expanded authoring features like rich text
editing for Mac, collaborative authoring and email review, a Web
Services-based content import facility, and a taxonomy module.
Read more
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