OPINION

A Dark and Stormy Night, and a Loss

THE LOSS OF A FAVORITE CELL PHONE LEADS OUR COLUMNIST TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE COOL NEW ONES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

By Terry Calhoun

It was a dark and stormy night in the mall parking lot last Saturday, and it was impossible to see that, lurking under the sheen of melted ice water, there was a car-destroying pothole. First the right front, then the right rear wheels of my red Aveo smashed into what really was a double set of potholes. A hundred yards later, it had two flat tires and additional damage.

Moments after that, my wife received a telephone call from my youngest daughter, who was the driver, who said "Can I talk with dad?" So, I talked with her, and about 15 minutes later showed up to take charge of the recovery operations in my red Suburban. The series of events that unfolded during the next 24 hours led to the loss of my Treo 650 and then a decision to try what "the kids" are doing, so my new phone is a red (of course) Sanyo Multimedia Phone MM-8300, with bells and whistles but without Palm functionality. Read more

IT NEWS

Ultrawideband's Macworld Twirl

Ultraband, twice as fast as 802.11a, made its debut in products at Macworld and the Computer Electronics Show. But skeptics warn against commercializing the products before the standards group is done. (Wired)

Oklahoma Higher Ed Institutions Ready for Federal Wiretaps?

Many institutions are way of the new federal law that would require them to spend a lot of money on upgrades to let their servers be accessed by federal authorities. But OneNet, the group that services Oklahoma education already has most of what it needs. (NewsOK.com)

Virtual Reality Art: Beyond Technology

We've written about this before, but this is a good take: "Virtual reality is so permeating our lives that one day soon we may find it impossible to distinguish the virtual from the real." (International Herald Tribune)

Pete Townshend Warns IPod Users

If you keep doing that, you'll go . . . deaf. (AP) Read more

RESOURCES

Creighton University CIO Brian Young's Weekly Podcasts

We've had the pleasure of hearing Brian speak, and of speaking with him. If you're into podcast receiving, we recommend him. (KETV Omaha) Find out more

DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

Jenzabar Offers Management for 'Non-Traditional' Apps

Jenzabar, Inc., the campus management vendor for higher education, announces enhancements to the Jenzabar Non-Traditional System (NTS). The upgraded product enables colleges and universities to manage non-traditional educational programs including: continuing education, professional development programs, certificate programs, and degree completion programs, according to the announcement. Find out more