AU Blogspot

 
               Thanks to Lori Tingey for permission to use this Photo.

“The challenge for Microsoft is not the ability to do much of what Google does. Instead, the company faces a business quandary. The Microsoft approach is largely to try to link the Web to its desktop business — “software plus Internet services,” in its formulation. It will embrace the Web, while striving to maintain the revenue and profits from its desktop software businesses, the corporate gold mine.”

I personally enjoy the increased competition in software and technology. After over a decade of Microsoft dominance (and as a result, decreased innovation on the desktop and the experiences of end users), the last few years have been exciting. Innovation after innovation has opened options for software use. (more…)

 
                Thanks to Jason for permission to use this Photo.

Communications provider KDDI is now displaying one of its latest achievements called Intra-Body Communication which can use the human body to transmit high-volume data such as video and music! This is done at a frequency less than or equal to 40MHz (which has less transmission loss). The video on the monitor in the picture below is going right through the woman from her hand to the glasses and out to the monitor!

We checked out the Intra-Body Communication setup today, and were surprised at the ease of use and quality of data. The video glasses are equipped with a copper coil that touches the skin on the user’s temple. When the metal heart on the table is touched, video transmits through the body and in through the glasses as well as to an external monitor. (more…)

 
          Thanks to Steve Jurvetson for permission to use this Photo.

I have always found it ironic that so many people today are still hesitant about making an online purchase with their credit card, yet have no problem giving it to a total stranger at a restaurant or retail store.  In November 2007, the famed CBS show 60 Minutes ran a feature story on the risk of using your credit card at retail store locations.  I was shocked to find out that the primary point of vulnerability wasn’t the integrity of the retail checkout employee, but the wireless network.  Come to find out, many, many retailers are still using WEP for wireless encryption rather than some sort of WPA or WPA2. 

Students in the networking course at Ashworth know that WEP is an easily crackable encryption standard and went out of favor years ago.  One can even go to the Internet to www.irongeek.com and watch a simple video as to how to crack WEP.  Once cracked, elementary hackers, or war drivers as they are referred to today, can then access the retail network and find the servers that hold customer financial information. (more…)

 
              Thanks to Manny Diller for permission to use this Photo.

Google’s chief evangelist, Vint Cerf, recently wrote a fascinating article for The Guardian in which he discusses the future of the Internet, technology, innovation, new trends, etc. with some of the world’s brightest tech minds.  If you’re interested in hearing what people like the myspace and YouTube creators see ahead, and you should be, check out this article and let me know what you think.  Click on the image above to read article.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

 
               Thanks to Duncan Hull for permission to use this Photo.

What gets me about these is not how neat and forward-thinking they are but rather how ordinary they are. That’s not to say they are ordinary (I know, I know, bear with me…). What I mean is, all this semantic goodness is now so common-place, it’s impossible to see any distinguishing features.

Freebase, for example, wants to “open up the silos of data and the connections between them.” Well who doesn’t? I can name a dozen applications off the top of my head trying the same thing. (more…)

              Thanks to RPArena for permission to use this Photo.

Japanese writer, blogger and game designer Shigesato Itoi’s site, Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, is running a series of articles taken from a conversation with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Eleven pieces are up on the site, and there’s some good stuff there, not just for game designers, but for designers of software in general, especially at a moment when more and more people are coming to recognize the importance of game mechanics to user engagement. Whether you’re interested in Nintendo’s perspective on game and software design, or you just want to hear from “the world’s number one researcher of Miyamoto studies,” this is pretty much required reading. (more…)

The original Blackberry Curve was released in early 2007, and it was a largely successful smart phone. So, the recent introduction of the RIM Blackberry Curve 8310 has gotten people excited about this updated version of the original Curve. The 8310 offers many of the same features of the original Curve but also adds GPS capabilities. 

Design of the Blackberry Curve 8310 

The Curve 8310 is a very attractive smart phone that comes in either red or titanium. The phone is relatively small at 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches, and it weighs only 3.9 ounces. The display features 320 x 240 pixel resolution, and a light-sensor which automatically adjusts the brightness levels according to the lighting conditions. The keyboard is setup very well and makes the Curve 8310 an ideal phone for messaging.

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                Thanks to Nathan Sutherland  for permission to use this Photo.

Many of you no doubt are familiar with USB devices such as an MP3 player that charges its internal battery by connecting to your computer via a USB cable which carries the electrical charge. Today there is a new technology called Power over Ethernet (PoE) in which select devices such as wireless access points, IP telephones, network cameras and even computer workstations receive their power through the ethernet cable that connects them to the network. PoE is often used for instances in which it would be inconvenient or expensive to use traditional wiring to power the device. A common example of this technology is wireless access points. (more…)

      Thanks to Michael Porter for permission to use this Photo.

Amazon is set to release an electronic book reader called the Kindle according to NewsWeek. The device sounds cool, in theory (built-in wireless over EVDO, email, long-life batteries, search, lots of storage, etc.) but do we really want another device to be carrying around? Especially at the price point being talked about ($399). (more…)