Shopping Scams

Jen A. Miller warns about shopping scams such as phishing attacks, point-of-sale data captures, and USB malware.

-DD

Simplenote List Management

Mark Gibbs reviews a productivity app named Simplenote , which allows the easy sharing of lists.

-DD

Commuting Apps

Eli Epstein promotes apps for commuters .

-DD

Hotel Wi-Fi

Zainab Mudallal muses on why some hotels provide free Wi-Fi .

-DD

Data Discovers Overfishing

Tim Hornyak reveals that Google is using data from vessel transponders to document over fishing in remote areas of the world.

-DD

Accounting for Adjuncts

Josh Bolt offers accounting tips for adjunct faculty.

-DD

Studying the Brain

Gary Marcus, Adam Marblestone, and Jeremy Freeman suggest how to study the brain . They call for a massive data analysis project to determine the structure and processes the brain uses to function.

-DD

Academic Rigor in Teacher Training

Rebecca Koenig muses whether Education majors receive too many A's . The comments reflect concerns about academic rigor in all fields, and not just teaching.

-DD

Creating a Screencast

Robert Talbert explains how he makes streaming video screencasts , screen captures of his presentation with audio background.

-DD

Contactless Credit Card Security

Jeremy Kirk says a security team has discovered a potential flaw in contactless credit cards . There is a potential for thieves to stand or sit with a hidden data reader, harvest the data of passer-bys, and conduct transactions. This theft scheme will not work if a PIN is required for all transactions.

-DD

Vendor Negotiation

Peter Thibodeau notes that vendor consolidation is raising costs and eliminating flexibility. He cites statistics that the development of near-monopolies is raising the cost of software for some industries by ten percent or more. Thibodeau observes that as the competition dwindles, the remaining industry giants feel less need to innovate or provide custom work. He provides tips for minimizing the impact of industry consolidation, including negotiating contract renewals long before they lapse.

-DD

Monitoring Student Internet Use

Taylor Armerding reviews some of the issues that arise with monitoring student Internet use. Armerding cites a report by Jules Polonetsky and Joseph Jerome entitled Student Data: Trust, Transparency and the Right of Consent which addresses "Human Monitoring Services" such as Gaggle. Armerding provides information on proposed governmental regulation of educational institutions to restrict the collection and distribution of data about student technology use.

-DD

Inappropriate Internet Use At Work

Tom Harbert reports on the rising number of employees bringing devices with NSFW images to the workplace. These employees do not realize that all of the images being viewed by a device on the network can potentially be viewed (and traced) by the network administrator. Harbert discusses current IT practices and touches on legal liability for the corporation.

-DD

App Security

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has released a scorecard rating the security of messaging apps against seven criteria. All of the popular apps, such as AIM, YahooChat, etc., failed at least one criteria.

-DD

Microsoft to Use Dropbox Technology

Juan Carlos Perez notes that Microsoft and Dropbox are coordinating development of new services to users.

-DD

Legal Backdoors May Be Immoral

Ms. Smith shares choice comments on Federal legislation which would allow Federal agencies to install "backdoor" software on computer devices.

-DD

Mobile App Development Costs

Alex Bakman notes that hiring mobile app development typically costs $50,000 for initial deployment and similar amounts during a two year improvement cycle (until the next refresh). He proposes that people develop apps in-house using visual development tools.

-DD

Smart Device Security

Andy Petrizio warns about the security implications of smart televisions . He notes that smart devices send audio streams to third parties for interpretation, with the result you cannot hold a private conversation in front of a smart device.

-DD

Data-Mining Medical Records

Paul Basken reports on financial awards to projects analyzing medical data . The researchers desire to find evidence for new therapies or probabilities resulting from various treatment decisions.

-DD

Importance of Vocabulary

Geoffery Pullum and Guillaume Thierry debate whether the breadth of vocabulary imports perception to the speaker.

-DD

 

Recommended Books

Allyson Lewis recommends 77 books and 5 reading strategies . While I do not agree with all of Lewis' recommendations, I believe a list that gets people to read and think critically is of value.

-DD

Residual Learning Communities

Brian Mathews interviewed another faculty member at Virginia Tech about his use of Google Glass and his intention to use Google folders to establish residual learning communities . He quotes Ralph Hall on the concept of residual learning communities:

My vision is that once a student takes my course, she/he never leaves. It may take a while for the concept to take root, but I believe that students will like the idea of having a lifelong intellectual connection to their university. As they progress through their professional careers, my hope is that they re-engage with the course when they have something to contribute. This is actually a key point, students can disengage and re-engage by simply deciding whether to open a folder on their computer or look at what’s happening on the Google+ community. (Ralph Hall, 2014)

My thought is that lifelong mentors have been a reality in academic careers for thousands of years, so this concept involves new technology enabling distance relationships.

-DD