Gordon And Mike's ICT Podcast
National Center for Telecommunications Technologies Director Gordon F Snyder Jr and Mid Atlantic Institute for Telecommunications Technologies Director Mike Qaissaunee take a weekly look at the Networking, Information and Communications Technologies and how they affect the world of business, industry and education.
Sun, April 09, 2017
Ten Minutes with OP-TEC Webmaster Ian Anderson
The National Center for Optics and Photonics Education , OP-TEC, is a consortium of two-year colleges, high schools, universities, national laboratories, industry partners, and professional societies funded by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. The participating entities of OP-TEC have joined forces to create secondary-to-postsecondary as well as returning adult “pipelines” of highly qualified and strongly motivated students and to empower two-year colleges to prepare technicians in optics and photonics.
Sun, August 28, 2016
Hacking Car Anti-collision Systems [19:08]
Hacking Car Anti-collision Systems, August 28, 2016 A group of researchers presenting at this month’s Def Con hacker conference showed how they were able to trick Tesla's sophisticated anti-collision sensors to make a car hit an object it would normally detect in its path. Before we start on the cars – you went to Def Con this year Mike – how was it? So let’s get to the cars now – who did this research? The group consisted of Chen Yan, a PhD student at Zhejiang University, Jianhao Liu, a senior security consultant at Qihoo 360, and Wenyuan Xu, a professor at Zhejiang University and The University of South Carolina. So can you give a quicker overview of what they did? They discovered methods for "quieting" sensors to diminish or hide obstacles in a car's path, "spoofing" them to make an object appear farther or closer than it actually is, and jamming, which, Yan said, renders the sensor useless as it's "overwhelmed by noise." Could this be done now? I mean, if someone is driving a Tesla or any other car with this kind of sensor technology, should they be concerned? It's important to note that the demonstration was a proof-of-concept that did not mimic real-world conditions today. Researchers were working on cars that were usually stationary with what was sometimes very expensive equipment. They noted that the "sky wasn't falling." But the experiment suggests that theoretically, a few years from now, somebody could make a device that could jam certain sensors in a nearby car. Can you talk about these sensors a little more? There are a number of sensors on a Tesla Model S that are used for a variety of functions. It has radar to detect objects in front of it, GPS for location tracking, and cameras to detect speed limit signs and lane markings, for example. As the talk showed, many of these things can be tricked by a determined attacker. Is it just Tesla people need to be concerned about? Much of their presentation focused on the Tesla Model S, but they also successfully jammed sensors on cars from Audi, Volkswagen, and Ford. So what kinds of systems were they jamming? Cars with ultrasonic sensors Cars with parking assistance The Tesla Model S with self-parking and summon Let’s talk a little more about what they were able to demonstrate. In a video demonstrating an attack, the researchers jammed sensors in the rear of the Model S, so the car did not know it was about to hit a person standing behind it. In another, they "spoofed" its Autopilot to trick it into thinking it would drive into something that was not actually there. You mentioned they talked about using lasers – can you give any details? They also used off-the-shelf lasers to defeat the onboard cameras, and, in one of the most low-tech demonstrations, they wrapped objects up in cheap black foam that rendered them invisible to the car's sensors
Mon, August 15, 2016
Lock It and Still Lose It [24:11]
Q: Could you tell us a little about how this research began? A: Actually in 2013 Flavio Garcia, a computer scientist at University of Birmingham, and a team of researchers were about to reveal a vulnerability in the ignition of Volkswagen cars that allowed them to start the car and drive off without a key. This vulnerability was present in millions of VWs. Q: You say “about to reveal”? A: Yes, they were sued, which delayed the publication of the work for 2 years. They used that time to continue their research into vulnerabilities with VW cars. Q: So did they find anything new? A: They sure did. The paper they just published identifies flaws not only with the ignition system, but also with the keyless entry system. Q: How many cars are we talking about? A: The researchers claim that every Volkswagen sold since 1995 is affected. The estimate is nearly 100 million cars! Q: Which cars are affected? A: There are two distinct attacks – one impacts Audi and Škoda cars; the other Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, and Peugeot. Q: Do they provide any details of the attack? A: They use radio hardware to intercept signals from the victim’s key fob, using the intercepted signals to clone the key. They started with software defined radio connected to a laptop, but have moved to a small $40 setup that includes an Arduino board with an attached radio receiver. Q: How concerned should we be? A: Of the two attacks, the one targeting Volkswagen cars is most concerning because (1) there is no indication to the drivers that they’ve been compromised, (2) one a single button press needs to be intercepted. Q: Why is the security weak? A: It turns out that millions of Volkswagen vehicles share a single cryptographic key. Using the hardware we described earlier, researchers capture another key unique to the target vehicle that is transmitted every time the button on the key fob is pressed. By combining these two key, the researchers can clone the key fob. A single interception and the car is “owned”. Q: So it’s that easy? A: Not quite that easy. A few caveats. The attacker has to be within 300 feet of the car. The shared key is not quite universal. The shared key may change based on the model of the car and the year. Also, the internal components where the shared is extracted from may be different. Q: So the key’s not universal. That’s good, right? A: Yes, except that the 4 most common keys are used in nearly all the 100 million Volkswagen’s sold in the past 20 years. Q: So should listeners sell their Volkswagens? A: No, not yet. The researchers have not revealed where the shared key is stored, but a determined hacker could reverse engineer the keys and publish or sell them. And a newer locking system, used in the VW Golf 7 and other models, uses unique - not shared - keys and it his immune to these
Sun, July 24, 2016
Intro To Pokemon Go [31:14]
References: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2016/07/15/beginners-guide-pokmon-go/87133450/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/19/hacker_46_months_db_breach/
Sat, May 07, 2016
4K Ultra High Definition Television [22:37]
Title: 4K Ultra High Definition Television Introduction High definition has meant 1080p (1,920 by 1,080) resolution for years now, and it's ready for an upgrade. That's where 4K, also called ultra high-definition, or UHD, television comes in. 4K is finally a mature, accessible technology. In this podcast we take a close look at UHD 4K technology referencing a PC Magazine post. Updates First some continued bad news on the security front … Businesses pay $100,000 to DDoS extortionists who never DDoS anyone – Dan Goodin http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/04/businesses-pay-100000-to-ddos-extortionists-who-never-ddos-anyone/ Out-of-date apps put 3 million servers at risk of crypto ransomware infections – Dan Goodin http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/04/3-million-servers-are-sitting-ducks-for-crypto-ransomware-infection/ Now for a little good news … Petya Ransomware's Encryption Defeated and Password Generator Released – Lawrence Abrams http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/petya-ransomwares-encryption-defeated-and-password-generator-released/ http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/04/experts-crack-nasty-ransomware-that-took-crypto-extortion-to-new-heights/ NSA Launces 2016 GenCyber Camps https://www.gen-cyber.com Questions : What Is 4K? How Is 4K Different Than 1080p? What if you have a 4K TV but not any 4K content? What About HDR? What 4K TVs Are Out There Now? Is There Even Any 4K Content You Can Watch? Do You Need 4K? Reference: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2412174,00.asp
Fri, April 29, 2016
Engineering Technology and Engineering Degrees – What is the Difference [20:30]
Questions we try to answer in the podcast: 1. What is the difference between an Engineering Technology degree and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering? 2. Can you also get an AS or AAS degree in Engineering Technology at a Community College? 3. What is the career path for an Engineering Technology degree holder versus a Bachelor of Science in Engineering? 4. What should you be doing in high school if you are interested in an Engineering Technology or Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree? 5. What courses will you likely take in college if you pursue an Engineering Technology degree? 6. What courses will you likely take in college if you pursue a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree? 7. What interests are common to engineering technology degree and engineering bachelor of science degree pursuers? Reference: https://floridapolytechnic.org/engineering-technology-degree/
Sun, April 10, 2016
FCC Spectrum Auction 2016 [32:00]
Intro On Wednesday, March 30, 2016 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started a three-year process of making our mobile internet even faster and better. The government is buying underused TV airwaves and selling it to mobile carriers for billions of dollars. These radio waves—also known as spectrum—will shape mobile US connectivity as streaming video continues to swallow up bandwidth across the country and as we inch closer to 5G internet speeds. In this podcast, we discuss the auction process. Updates Ransomware Evolution is Really Bad News - Angela Alcorn Recently, 10 hospitals in Maryland operated without access to their central network because their domain servers were locked by a ransomware known as Samsam http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ransomware-evolution-is-really-bad-news-microsoft-edge-will-intelligently-pause-flash-tech-news-digest/ Victims paid more than $24 million to ransomware criminals in 2015 — and that's just the beginning – Dan Turkel The DOJ revealed that the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had received nearly 7,700 public complaints regarding ransomware since 2005, totaling $57.6 million in damages. Those damages include ransoms paid — generally $200 to $10,000, according to the FBI — as well as costs incurred in dealing with the attack and estimated value of data lost. In 2015 alone, victims paid over $24 million across nearly 2,500 cases reported to the IC3. http://www.businessinsider.com/doj-and-dhs-ransomware-attacks-government-2016-4 Adobe issues emergency update to Flash after ransomware attacks – Jim Finkle Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O) issued an emergency update on Thursday to its widely used Flash software for Internet browsers after researchers discovered a security flaw that was being exploited to deliver ransomware to Windows PCs. The software maker urged the more than 1 billion users of Flash on Windows, Mac, Chrome and Linux computers to update the product as quickly as possible after security researchers said the bug was being exploited in "drive-by" attacks that infect computers with ransomware when tainted websites are visited. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-adobe-systems-cyber-ransomware-idUSKCN0X502K Spectrum How about the auction, What’s spectrum? The way it is being used here, by the FCC - Spectrum is really just a fancy term for radio waves, a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. What’s going on with T-Mobile? T-Mobile wants to stop that from happening, saying AT&T and Verizon already control three-fourths of low-band frequencie
Sun, April 03, 2016
What You Need to Know About Ransomware [32:04]
On March 31st, 2016 the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team or US-CERT released alert TA 16-091A titled “Ransomware and Recent Variants”. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users’ access to it until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Already in 2016, destructive ransomware variants such as Locky and Samas were observed infecting the computers of individuals and businesses – even hospitals and healthcare facilities. The purpose of this Alert is to provide further information on ransomware, its main characteristics, its prevalence, variants that may be proliferating, and how users can prevent and mitigate against ransomware. References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransomware_(malware) https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA16-091A
Wed, March 02, 2016
Big Data Introduction
We’ve hear the term “big data” used a lot lately. The term itself makes us thing about lots and lots of information. Sure there’s lots of information but what most important to an organization is what is done with the data. In this podcast we take an introductory look at what big data is, discuss how it is being used, and refer to an excellent document at SAS.com
Tue, July 08, 2014
Conducting Social Media Research Part 1 [16:48]
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Sun, June 15, 2014
Why Social Media (21:58 min)
All businesses and organizations desire greater engagement with their audiences. However, many are not leveraging the social media platforms that allow for the best opportunities for engagement. From static postal flyers, electronic newsletters to a lack of regular communication, engagement becomes difficult. Social media platforms call for regular, sustained communications and conversations between the businesses/organizations and their audiences. Blogs allow for that engagement by allowing readers to comment on postings, share links and/or rate postings. Some blogs allow for other interaction functionality like including a poll in a posting. On Facebook and Twitter engagement, in the form of “like,” comment, and re-tweet, is much more the norm than perhaps on blogs. This podcast will briefly introduce the listener to a three tiered social media strategy approach: . 1) Primary (Blog or similarly organized content on an organizational website) . 2) Secondary (Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc that can deliver supportive content to the primary platform via hyperlink) <span st
Thu, June 07, 2012
Bits and Bytes - Disappearing Facebook, Online Cheating, 4G and Dial-Up Modems [37:43]
Mike and Gordon discuss current topics. Referenced Links: Seinfeld clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia02fGpUQfU Online Classes See Cheating Go High-Tech http://chronicle.com/article/Online-Courses-Can-Offer-Easy/132093/ Facebook Will Disappear by 2020, Says Analyst http://mashable.com/2012/06/04/analyst-facebook-disappear/ Museum of Endangered Sounds http://savethesounds.info/ The Mechanics and Meaning of That Ol' Dial-Up Modem Sound http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/the-mechanics-and-meaning-of-that-ol-dial-up-modem-sound/257816/#.T8kgIfaSL7k.twitter An Honest Review of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus http://www.amazon.com/review/R3FWF2X2CYKJ1/ See You Later WiMAX http://www.gordostuff.com/2012/06/see-you-later-wimax.html
Sun, June 03, 2012
Bits and Bytes - 4G LTE, Motorcycles made from Car Parts, and Bamboo Clothing [36:10]
Mike and Gordon discuss current topics. Referenced Links: http://www.gottabemobile.com/ 2 012/05/10/verizon-homefusion- u ses-4g-lte-to-complete-last- mi le-nationwide/ http://www.cariloha.com/ eSource/Cariloha/ecom/eSource/ default/default.aspx http://www.ted.com/talks/ marcin_jakubowski.html http://translate.google.com/ translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u= http%3A%2F%2Fchameaudacier. free.fr%2Fmoto2.html
Tue, February 07, 2012
The Need for Speed: 802.11ac – 5th Generation Gigabit WiFi [18:40]
Rumors are that Apple is planning on incorporating support for the new faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi specification into products this year. In this podcast we discuss the 802.11ac and other wireless specs. We discuss the following questions: - So, what’s the deal with this 802.11ac? - These 802 dot whatever standards - where do they come from? - So this 802.11ac is considered non-finalized. what does that mean? - I seem to get interference from things like wireless home phones. I know spectrum is involved. <b id="internal-source-marker_0.256609146716073
Thu, December 01, 2011
Mobile Devices and Application Development [28:14]
This is Gordon's December 2, 2011 presentation for a series of mobile boot camps being run by The Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE); and the Boston-Area Advanced Technological Education Connections (BATEC) at the University of Massachusetts. High school students take a day at locations across Massachusetts, working with faculty and business/industry people to learn how to program, design, and market mobile apps using mobile programming platforms. Students will also have an opportunity to enter an app programming contest to be sponsored by BATEC in the spring.
Wed, November 23, 2011
Why We Are Not Google: Lessons from a Library Web site Usability Study [22:40]
Back in September I had the chance to interview Troy Swanson, an Associate Professor / Teaching and Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL. In the interview we discussed a paper he published with Public Service Librarian Jeremy Green, also at Moraine Valley Community College. Here's the abstract from that paper published at ScienceDirect . In the Fall of 2009, the Moraine Valley Community College Library, using guidelines developed by Jakob Nielsen, conducted a usability study to determine how students were using the library Web site and to inform the redesign of the Web site. The authors found that Moraine Valley's current gateway design was a more effective access point to library resources than a mock-up site which incorporated a central-search box on the site homepage. This finding stands in contrast to the observed trends of library Web site design that emphasizes a “Googlized” search. Troy's findings are very interesting, especially if you are managing/mdifying an existing site or are considering creating one. Here's the links Troy refers to in the podcast. The Next Level (Blockbuster article)by James Surowiecki http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/10/18/101018ta_talk_surowiecki useit.com: Jakob Nielsen's Website http://www.useit.com/ The Googlization of Everything (b
Mon, March 28, 2011
The Jester and DoS, Preventing Attacks, Seizure of Domain Names and Other Topics [32:30]
In this episode, we discuss a wide range of topics, including: - The Jesters denial of service attack on the Westboro Baptist Church website. - How one might prevent such attacks - The seizure of domain names by the Department of Homeland Security - The treatment of Bradley Manning - Google and bugs in Flash - A 16-year old girl that may have hacked HBGary - Skype and encryption data leaks and, finally - How the events in Japan may effect iPad2 availability. Layer 7 Denial of Service attacks: th3j35t3r's assault on Westboro Baptist Church Website Continues https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/12400-Assault-on-Westboro-Baptist-Church-Website-Continues.html Live Performance Report for Westboro Church Website: four sites held down 24 days from a single 3G cellphone: http://uptime.netcraft.com/perf/graph?site=www.godhatesfags.com Defense techniques: Protecting a Web server with a Load-Balancer http://samsclass.info/124/proj11/proj15-haproxy.html Protecting a Web server with mod_security (a Web Application Firewall) http://samsclass.info/124/proj11/p16-mod-security.html Protecting a Web server with iptables (a firewall) http://samsclass.info/124/proj11/p5x-iptables-layer7.html Westboro Spoof for a Good Purpose http://www.godhatesjapan.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DHS siezure of domain names: Web seizures trample due process http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/ars-interviews-rep-zoe-lofgren.ars -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bradey Manning's Continuing Abuse in Captivity Ellsberg on Obama’s View that Manning’s Treatment is “Appropriate” http://www.ellsberg.net/archive/ellsberg-obama-manning WH forces P.J. Crowley to resign for condemning abuse of Ma
Sat, March 05, 2011
IPv6 Tutorial with Sam Bowne Part 1 of 4 [35:47]
In December at the Convergence Technology Center's Winter Retreat at Collin College in Frisco Texas, John had the chance to shoot an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) workshop given by Sam Bowne , from City College of San Francisco . Here's the 35 minute and 47 second Part 1 of the 4 part series.
Mon, February 21, 2011
HB Gary, Voice over LTE and WiFi Breakthroughs [26:50]
In this podcast, Mike Qaissaunee , Sam Bowne and Gordon Snyder discuss recent HB Gary and Aaron Barr news, Verizon Wireless Voice over LTE, along with a recent WiFi Breakthrough. Here's some of the questions we discuss and answer in the podcast: Gordon: Sam any new news on the HBGary/Anonymous situation? Mike: Sam, I see Anonymous has released decompiled Stuxnet code - what does that mean? What's the difference between soucre and a decompiled binary? Sam: Gordon, you wrote something about Verizon and Voice over LTE - could you tell us about that? Mike: Sam, one of my former students got a letter from his ISP after download a movie from a torrent site. #1 What do you have to say about the legal and ethical issues of what he's doing? and #2 How could he better anonymize his connection? Gordon: Mike - you've been writing about Qwiki.com and Khan Academy this past week. Your thoughts? Gordon: Mike, you had a student point me too some interesting WiFi research being done at Stanford University. Can you describe?
Fri, February 18, 2011
Community College Blogging: A Conversation with Dr Troy Swanson [30:40]
Gordon talks with Dr Troy Swanson, an Associate Professor / Teaching and Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL. In December Troy completed his PhD in Community College Leadership at Old Dominion University. His dissertation was titled The Administration of Community College Blogs: Considering Control and Adaptability in Loosely Coupled Systems. In the podcast, Troy discusses some of his findings. Here’s some dissertation background from Troy: Web 2.0 technologies present an unlimited potential for outreach to the public by college employees. This presents a conundrum for community college administrators that David Weinberger calls "the conundrum of control." This conundrum is that organizations need to find a way to organize people around technology to ensure that it is used to further the organization’s mission. Yet, in terms of 2.0 technologies, the more controls that are put in place, the less useful the tools become. There is also a second conundrum around technology that challenges mangers. This is that the more controls that are in place around a technology, the easier it is to communicate and transfer that technology across the organization. But, the more difficult it is for organization members to adapt the technology to meet new needs. As one of oldest form of 2.0 technology, the management of blogs presents lessons that we can use for other, newer, 2.0 technologies. I interviewed administrators and blog authors at community colleges across the US to see how colleges were managing their blogs. The focus was on administrative blogs as opposed to course-related or faculty blogs that discussed their research. The larger purpose of the study was to see how easily the technology could adapt to new needs and whether campuses were restricting the use of blogs. What kinds of guidance were campus leaders giving to bloggers who were representing the college? The study’s findings offer a peak into how the administrative structures of community colleges impact technology and Web 2.0. Links: Troy’s Email: swanson@morainevalley.edu Troy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/t_swanson Moraine Valley Library Link (includes blogs, podcasts, Facebook, etc): http://www.morainevalley.edu/library/
Sat, February 12, 2011
Anonymous, Barr, Stuxnet and Soliciting Hackers [29:20]
We talk with Sam Bowne from City College of San Francisco about how a man tracked down Anonymous and paid a heavy price, Stuxnet, The Jester and how U.S. Chamber lobbyists solicited and used hackers. Links: How one man tracked down Anonymous—and paid a heavy price http://goo.gl/5Gkyy US Chamber’s Lobbyists Solicited Hackers To Sabotage Unions, Smear Chamber’s Political Opponents http://goo.gl/zI9gp US Chamber’s Lobbyists Solicited Firm To Investigate Opponents’ Families, Children http://goo.gl/uyWB8
Mon, December 20, 2010
Wikileaks Update with Sam Bowne [16:51]
Last week at the Convergence Technology Center's Winter Retreat at Collin College in Frisco, Texas Sam Bowne from City College of San Francisco gave a brief description and update on the Wikileaks "situation" thus far. Here's Sam's excellent 16 minute and 51 second presentation.
Sat, December 04, 2010
Maximizing Your Twitter Experience - 10 Quick Tips [36:30]
Tim Frick at Mightybytes recently talked with Inc. Magazine journalist Minda Zetlin about how people are using Twitter. Zetlin had recently featured Frick in an article titled Secrets of Highly Effective Twitter Users. After that conversation, Frick wrote his own piece titled 10 Tips For Maximizing Your Twitter Account In this podcast, we review and comment on Frick’s ten tips. <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-fa
Wed, October 06, 2010
The 10 Best IT Certifications [35:00]
In this podcast we discuss Erik Eckel's 10 Best IT Certifications for 2010 post along with Mike's recent blog posts on IT certifications.
Sat, July 03, 2010
Network Security With Sam Bowne [32:17]
Normal 0 0 1 60 344 ICT Center 2 1 422 11.1287 0 0 0 This is our third network security podcast with Sam Bowne , Professor of Computer Networking and Information Technology from City College of San Francisco . We continue our discussion with Sam sharing his thoughts on security and providing us with a snapshot of some of the latest and greatest developments in the field of network security. In the Podcast we discuss - among other things: A living bot army control center. IE and Firefox: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/05/revisiting-the-eleonore-exploit-kit/ The recent Google I/O conference which Sam attended. At the conference Sam got a couple of phones one of which (a Droid)he is awarding as a prize in an IPv6 contest: <a hr
Wed, June 09, 2010
Joomla! Interview with TNR Global [17:33]
Joomla! is a popular open source content management system (CMS), that enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Last week I had the chance to discuss Joomla! with Natasha Goncharova and Tamar Schanfeld from TNR Global .
Sat, May 08, 2010
Cloud Computing Technologies [23:26]
On Monday (5/2/10) Mike Q and I recorded a podcast titled Cloud Computing Technologies . The podcast references a couple of Infoworld.com documents that I think you will find interesting: A short white paper written by Eric Knorr and Galen Gruman titled What does Cloud Computing Really Mean A 21-page document titled Cloud Computing Deep Dive Report This Deep Dive report breaks down cloud computing into 11 categories and goes into more detail than the shorter white paper. What's really interesting is the categories are different in each document. You can see where the confusion lies when it comes to defining what cloud computing is. Here's the 11 cloud technologies we discuss : Storage-as-a -service Database-as-a-service Information-as-a-service Process-as-a-service Application-as-a-service (a .k .a . software-as-a-service) Platform-as-a-service I ntegration-as-a-service Security-as-a-service Management-/governance-as-a-service Testing-as-a-service Infrastructure-as-a-service We also discuss the CloudCamp event (great places to get info and meet people involved in cloud technologies) we hosted at Springfield Technical Community College last month and how you can get information on CloudCamps in your area.
Mon, April 26, 2010
Hands-on with the iPad [44:29]
On Sunday (4/25/10) Mike Q shared his initial impressions after some hands-on time with an iPad. Mike does a great job describing the device along with some of his favorite applications for the device. Here’s some of the questions he answers: So Mike you broke down and got an iPad - which one did you get? Why only 16 gig? So how long have you had it? So give us some of your impressions. How is the battery life? What about the screen? What about the keyboard? How much is the case? Did you get any other peripherals? Can you connect it to a projector for presentations? Have you been to the app store? What are some of your favorites so far? What do iPhone apps look like on the iPad? OK, how about some apps? Let's start with the iWork suite. So what's your assessment of these apps? What about Keynote? Have you moved your Kindle content over? And, speaking of the Kindle – I know you have a first generation one – how do they compare as a reader? What about some quick hits on some apps that you've found interesting ? Does it have a GPS radio? Have you tried out any of the location based applications? What about some quick hits on some apps that you've found interesting ? <li style="co
Thu, April 22, 2010
Network Security Update with Sam Bowne [30:00]
On Tuesday, we did our second network security podcast with Sam Bowne , Professor of Computer Networking and Information Technology from City College of San Francisco . We had a nice discussion with Sam sharing his thoughts on security and providing us with a snapshot of some of the latest and greatest developments in the field of network security. Here’s some of the questions we asked Sam: In our last conversation you mentioned that you got a BS and PhD without ever graduating high school. A number of listeners were amazed that you were able to do this and wanted more details – for example did you get a GED? Did you take the SATs? Mike sent over an article on password cracking – did you see anything interesting in that article? It’s been over a month since we last spoke. You had mentioned the PWN 2 OWN contest and were also planning to attend some training. Could you tell us the outcome of the contest and anything interesting you learned in your training? Any interesting news in network security exploits or defenses in the last month? Sam discusses a number of things in the podcast including: Lifehacker password-guessing Web of Trust Firefox (and Chrome) Extension NoScript Firefox Extension IPv4 Address Exhaustion Wikileaks Sam's class content, email and lots of other great stuff can be found at http://samsclass.info/ Check him out - one of the best!
Fri, April 02, 2010
Femtocells [18:07]
Femtocells are just starting to be deployed in a broad range of applications with major network operators announcing rollouts in the USA, Europe and Asia. They are basically small cellular base stations that people can put in their homes or businesses. They connect using a broadband connection (DSL, Cable, Fibe r, etc) in the home or business. ABI Research forecasts that the total femtocell market in 2010 will reach 2.3 million units, and will exceed 45 million within five years. In this podcast we take a look at this emerging communications technology. Here's some of the questions we discuss and answer: What are femtocells? How many phones can they support? Are products currently available? Let’s pick one and dig a little deeper on the device features. How about AT&T since it is the newest offering. So, you need to have a broadband connection on the site in place? Why is there a GPS radio in a Femtocell device? What about Femtocell Quality of Service or QoS? Are the Sprint and Verizon products 3G like AT&T’s? What about pricing? Is there a monthly fee? So, we had talked about the problem Mark was having with lack of cellular signal in his home and office. Would one of these in his home and another in his business solve his problem?
Tue, March 23, 2010
Network Security – With a Little Help from Our Friends [28:00]
In this podcast, we’d like to introduce Dr Sam Bowne – Professor of Computer Networking and Information Technology from City College of San Francisco. Gordon and I have known or known of Sam since 2004. Sam is a tremendous classroom instructor bringing his extensive expertise in and passion for networking and network security to his students and his colleagues. Sam is also generous with his knowledge, making his lectures and classroom materials available to anyone who wants to learn. In what we hope will be a recurring role, Sam joins us today to share his thoughts on security and provide us with a snapshot of the latest and greatest developments in the field of network security. Here's some of the questions Sam answers: 1. Sam you have a BS and a PhD in Physics – how did you end up in networking and security? 2. You’ve been at CCSF since 2000 – what classes do you teach? 3. Ethical hacking? Sounds like an oxymoron – what do you mean by ethical hacking? 4. I know you’ve taken some of your students to DEFCON in Las Vegas. This conference of hackers is probably unlike anything our listeners have ever attended. Could you tell us a little about it? 5. Are most of the attendees self-taught or do they attend formal classes? 6. In terms of recent developments (threats, security solutions, and research), what’s been on your radar screen lately? 7. Sam how do you keep up with all of this information? 8. What about your own skills and knowledge? How do you keep these up-to-date? 9. If a student is interested in learning more about networking – in particular securing a network, how would you advise them to get started? What sort of characteristics – in a student – would make them a good candidate for this type of work? 10. Now for something from a chat session with a student: my twitter account was hacked :( -- maybe i should hop on that security course just for some personal safety do you, yourself actually keep different passwords for everything? i'm freaked out and want to differentiate all my passwords but, that's crazy! What advice can you give my studemt? Sam's class content, email and lots of other info can be found at http://samsclass.info/ Check him out!!
Sun, March 14, 2010
4G – Next Generation Wireless LTE and WiMax [23:09]
In our last podcast we discussed the past 20 years and how things have changed when it comes to broadband and cellular wireless service. In this podcast we provide an update on 4G services including LTE and WiMax. I know we’re seeing Voice over IP services in our homes over wired connections. How about the wireless industry? LTE is considered a fourth generation wireless technology - correct? What's the history with LTE? How did it get started? How about some LTE performance details? Besides just bandwidth (whish is nothing to ignore), what would you consider to be the big difference between LTE and earlier technologies? So, LTE is faster and in a way similar. Could you summarize some of the major features? Now, WiMAX is a little different than LTE but still considered 4G. Can you explain? Wasn't WiMAX originally proposed as a stationary technology? But now WiMAX supports mobility? How would you describe WiMAX architecture? So, how would you compare WiMAX, LTE and 3G? So, we talked about Mark's dilemma in the podcast before this. Do you think 4G will help him?
Tue, March 09, 2010
Emerging Broadband Technologies With A Wireless Focus [25:44]
Normal 0 0 1 206 1176 ICT Center 9 2 1444 11.1287 0 0 0 In this podcast we take a look at the emergence of broadband and wireless technologies over the past 20 years. Mike: What lead to this podcast? Gordon: It was an email from a colleague of ours - Mark at the MATEC NSF center. Here’s what he said: I was reading this PC Magazine article on why Apple stayed with AT&T (not happy about that since AT&T really stinks in Phoenix on coverage – if I remember correctly, one of the worst coverages and signals here. In fact, Sprint is really the only company that works well by the mountains (where I live and work). But the article stated: CDMA, the way Verizon and Sprint are doing it, is a dead end. Apple hates dead-end technologies. They look forward, not back. Remember how they got rid of floppy disks earlier than any other PC manufacturer? The current CDMA technology that Sprint and Verizon use still has some years of life left on it, but it's not where wireless is heading. Ok, so CDMA is dead. But what is 4G? And is all 4G using GSM? Sprint is starting to advertise here of their 4G network. I know 4G is faster. But where is wireless going? Is Sprint’s 4G the same as all the other’s 4G. Ok, so hopefully this is a blog topic for you, but if not, I think you for the time on your answers. Oh yeah, any idea when AT&T would go to 4G? </em
Thu, March 04, 2010
Leveraging Virtual Worlds, Web 2.0 and Smart Phones for Educational Excellence with Karl Kapp [45:09]
We had the honor of having Dr Karl Kapp keynote the second day of the Winter 2010 ICT Educator Conference held the first week of January in San Francisco. Karl is a professor of Instructional Technology, author, speaker and expert on the convergence of learning, technology and business. His background teaching e-learning classes, knowledge of adult learning theory and experience training CEOs and front line staff provides him with a unique perspective on organizational learning. Karl teaches graduate-level courses on topics of virtual learning worlds, e-learning applications and the business of e-learning at Bloomsburg University and consults with Fortune 500 organizations on implementing virtual learning worlds and learning technologies. He is author of four books including, Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning and Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration , co-authored with Tony O'Driscoll . Karl's keynote was delivered at the beautiful San Francisco Microsoft facility (Thanks Microsoft!) and titled Leveraging Virtual Worlds, Web 2.0 and Smart Phones for Educational Excellence . Here's a description of the presentation: Are your classroom interactions designed to teach the new breed of learner - a learner raised on a steady diet of video games , electronic gadgets, and the Smartphones? Wondering how to integrate new technologies into your classroom? Can't imagine why anyone would want video games and Twitter in the classroom? Learn how the consumer-based gadgets, games and web widgets are changing community college education forever. The influence of games, virtual worlds and Web 2.0 on learning preferences, expectations and collaboration is just now becoming visible and is profoundly impacting community colleges. Learn how to leverage this technology for educational excellence. See examples of virtual worlds teaching science, iPods teaching basic chemistry, simulations teaching aircraft testing, and gadgets increasing student interactions in the classroom. Want to see more of Karl - check out his blog at www.karlkapp.blogspot.com
Wed, February 17, 2010
Vice over IP: Embedding Secret Messages in Online Conversations [24:05]
In this podcast we discuss the emerging threat of steganography in voice over IP. This is really interesting - is it something that is already happening? Currently, this seems to be confined to research labs. The primary reference for this podcast is an IEEE Spectrum article by three professors - Józef Lubacz, Wojciech Mazurczyk & Krzysztof Szczypiorsk - at Warsaw University of Technology. This is part of their ongoing research, as part of the Network Security Group, to identify emerging threats and develop countermeasures. Before we delve into this new topic, lets provide the audience with a little background. First what is steganography - sounds like a dinosaur? Yeah - the Stegosaurus. I'm not sure how or if the two are related; we'll leave that one for the Paleontologists in the audience. Steganography is something that has been around a long time - some say as far back as 440 BC. While encryption takes our message and scrambles it, so that an unintended recipient cannot read it, steganography attempts to hide or obscure that a message even exists. The researchers refer to steganography as "meta-encryption." Another useful analogy they use is to refer to the secret message and the carrier within which it is hidden. Can you give us some examples? If we start in ancient times, we can point to examples of shaving a messengers head, tattooing a message on their head, letting the hair grow back and sending them off. Other examples include using invisible ink or even writing on boiled eggs with an ink that penetrates the shell and can be read by peeling the egg. Simon Singh's " The Code Book " is a great read that details the history of encrypting and obscuring information. What about some more modern examples? When we refer to modern steganography we are usually referring to digital steganography. Digital steganography takes advantage of digital data by (for example) hiding a message within images, audio, or video files. In this case the image, audio or video file is the carrier. The larger the file (image, audio or video) the larger message it can carry. The researchers contend that a single 6-minute mp3 audio file, say roughly 30 megabytes in size, could be used to conceal every play written by Shakespeare. So how does this work? Say you and I wanted to communicate using steganography. We would each download one of the hundreds of freely available stego apps. You would take a fairly innocuous image file, use the software to embed a message into that file, and send me the altered file. To anyone else, this would just look like a photo you're sharing with a friend, but because I know there's a hidden message, I open with the same stego app and read the hidden message. You could also add a password to further protect the message. So how do we stop this? This is a specialized
Mon, February 15, 2010
Online Impact 2010 Panel 1: Tapping Twitter, Facebook and Other Tools to Grow Your Business [46:15]
On January 14, 2010 we hosted Online Impact 2010 in the Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) Technology Park. This was the second business and industry Online Impact event held at STCC - we had the first one in June 2009. Both events focused on the use of social media sites like Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook to reach out to customers and prospects. We had an excellent half-day of panels and workshop sessions that focused on social media tips and tactics. This podcast is a recording of the first panel, moderated by Dave Sweeney from viz-bang.com . I won’t introduce the panelists – Dave does it as part of the podcast. We’re already planning the next Online Impact event – watch our website at ictcenter.org for details.
Sun, February 07, 2010
WTCC Social Media Radio Interview [33:50]
Normal 0 0 1 61 348 ICT Center 2 1 427 11.1282 0 0 0 In this podcast, Setta McCabe from WTCC 90.7 FM and Gordon talk about social media on her weekly radio program. During the show they discussed blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media applications. This is a recording of the interview. We’ve left Setta’s intro and exit pieces but have removed the public service announcements. Setta is great - and the interview was a lot of fun. We hope you enjoy listening.
Mon, January 25, 2010
What The Heck Is A Decibel? [21:21]
Maybe "decibel" is not part of your normal vocabulary but it is a term we all occasionally read or hear used. Typically it has to do with noise levels - we use decibels to describe loud or soft sounds. US government research even suggests a safe exposure sound limit of 85 decibels for eight hours a day. We frequently hear the term but - have you ever wondered what a "decibel" really is? We take a look in this podcast.
Sat, December 26, 2009
First Impressions: Barnes and Noble's Nook
Mike and Gordon discuss the Barnes and Noble Nook and compare it to the Amazon Kindle.
Tue, April 28, 2009
Twitter Revisited: Shark Jumping, Apps and Metrics [36:40]
Intro: Twitter has become a household word for many of us - just like Google , YouTube , MySpace and Facebook (among others) have in the past. Chris Brogan (in this video ) even calls Twitter his "central nervous system" . We first podcast on Twitter almost two years ago. In this podcast we take an updated look at Twitter. Two years is a long time ago it seems. Probably one of the biggest things in my arsenal is my iPhone today. Two years ago the iPhone did not exist. What's changed in two years with Twitter? What are some of your favorite apps? What's up with all this Twitter following - how should we be handling? I've been hearing the term "jump the shark" recently when some discuss Twitter. What does that mean? I notice a lot of business people using Twitter, maybe it has jumped the shark. What are they doing? How are business people using it? So, lots of people seem to be giving Twitter a try but how do we know who has actually drank the kool-aid and has become a daily Twitter user? Before we talk about numbers, The Influential Marketing Blog has put together something called the 5 stages of Twitter Acceptance. We talk a lot about impact when it comes to grants - can you expla
Sat, February 28, 2009
An Interview With The Cisco Packet Tracer Team - Packet Tracer 5.1 [17:58]
At the National Science Foundation sponsored Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) combined ( The Mid Pacific Center for ICT and The National Center for ICT ) winter conference last month held at the City College of San Francisco, I had the opportunity to interview three key members of the Cisco Systems Packet Tracer Team - Dennis Frezzo, Isaac Majerowicz and Mark Chen. Packet Tracer is a network simulator used by hundreds of thousands of Cisco Networking Academy students around the world. Recently, Packet Tracer version 5.1 was released - here's so info from an FAQ on the product found on the Packet Tracer website : Packet Tracer (PT) 5.1 is a comprehensive, networking technology teaching and learning program that offers a unique combination of realistic simulation and visualization experiences, assessment and activity authoring capabilities, and opportunities for multiuser collaboration and competition. Innovative features of the PT 5.1 software will help students and teachers collaborate, solve problems, and learn concepts in an engaging and dynamic social environment. Some of the benefits of Packet Tracer 5.1 are as follows: Provides a realistic simulation and visualization learning environment that supplements classroom equipment Enables multiuser, real-time collaboration and competition for dynamic learning Enables authoring and localization of structured learning activities such as labs, demonstrations, quizzes, exams, and games Empowers students to explore concepts, conduct experiments, and test their understanding Allows students and teachers to design, build, configure, and troubleshoot networks using virtual equipment Supports a variety of teaching and learning tasks such as lectures, group and individual labs, homework, and competitions Supports integration with external applications through an API to enhance the functionality of Packet Tracer in areas such as curriculum and assessment delivery, games, accessibility, and interfacing with real equipment. In the interview, the team describes the Packet Tracer product. Part 1 and part 2 of the interview are shown below: I'm really excited about ver
Sun, November 30, 2008
A Conversation with Pierre Thiry and James Jones from MPICT [15:18]
The Mid-Pacific Information and Communications Technologies (MPICT) Center is a recently funded National Science Foundation (NSF) – Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Regional Center hosted by City College of San Francisco (CCSF). MPICT's mission is to coordinate, promote and improve the quality and availability of ICT education in a region consisting of Northern California, Northern Nevada, Southern Oregon, Hawaii and the Pacific Territories. Current Regional Partners include: Ohlone College , Santa Rosa Junior College , Cabrillo College and Foothill College . We've had a great relationship with Pierre, James and CCSF and were fortunate to get them on camera to talk about MPICT at the 2008 SAME-TEC Conference . MPICT is off to a great start under the leadership and direction of Pierre and James. Contact them for more information at www.mpict.org
Sun, November 09, 2008
WPA - Give It A Crack [32:50]
German graduate students Erik Tews and Martin Beck have discovered an exploitable hole in WPA, a popular wireless encryption protocol. This week, Tews will present a paper on the topic at the PacSec conference in Tokyo. In this podcast Mike Qaissaunee and I discuss wireless network security and this newly discovered WPA hole. Here's a list of questions asked during the podcast: Where is the information for this podcast coming from? Why is this important? So, we've now got a security issue with WPA encryption! Before we get to WPA - can you give us a little background on wireless encryption? So, the first attempt was WEP. Most devices still support it - why should we not use it? So, that's not good. What did the IEEE do? What else did the 802.11i group do - what was the second solution? So, let me make sure I understand. Older wireless devices can be updated to support WPA which includes TKIP. Now, I've heard of WPA2 - what is that? So, the new products support both but old products only support WPA. I think I've got it! What did Tews and Beck actually crack? So the problem is with old devices that only support WPA and TKIP and not WPA and AES? What is the problem with TKIP? Now, didn't WEP use checksums this way? The ars technica piece mentioned short packets are ideal - especially ARP broadcasts. Why? Let me see if I understand, an attacker sniffs a packet, makes minor modifications to affect the checksum, and checks the results by sending the packet back to the access point. So it is not something we should be worried about? What can we do to protect our networks? Can you describe rekeying? Now, I've heard of this - you need to be careful. You don't want to enable rapid rekeyi
Sun, November 02, 2008
China and TOM-Skype [25:21]
On Oct 1, 2008 Nart Villeneuve and the Information Warfare Monitor released an interesting joint report titled BREACHING TRUST: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China’s TOM-Skype platform . Villeneuve is CTO of psiphon inc and the psiphon research fellow at the Citizen Lab, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto . In this podcast we discuss the report, confidentiality and security issues with TOM-Skype , the Chinese version of Skype Mike: Gordon, Can you tell us a little more about this report? The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada focusing on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics. The author, Nart Villeneuve 's research focuses on International Internet censorship and the evasion tactics used to bypass Internet filtering systems. Other Questions: How about some background on Skype in China? How about some details from the report? You said these are publically accessible servers - can others besides the Chinese access these servers? Can you review the major findings from the report? What kinds of questions has the report raised? How does the report say the sensorship actually works? How about some detail on those servers? The report claims it may be possbile to map users social networks using the logged information. Can you explain? How has Skype responded?
Tue, October 07, 2008
A conversation with Biotechnology NSF Center Director Elaine Johnson [8:24]
Bio-Link is an Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center for Biotechnology that originated in late 1998 with a grant from the National Science Foundation . The Center is located on the campus of City College of San Francisco with office space at the University of California, San Francisco . Regional Bio-Link Centers across the country are located in Seattle, WA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Madison, WI; Graham, NC; and Portsmouth, NH. At the SAME- TEC conference this past July, I had the opportunity to interview Bio-Link Director Dr Elaine Johnson. In the interview Elaine discusses the work the Bio-Link Center and Regional Centers are doing to bring students the knowledge and skills essential to the field as well as the ability to continue with more advanced education in math, science and engineering. My undergraduate background is in Microbiology so I've always had an interest in biotechnology and related fields. If you are faculty and considering starting a biotechnology program or maybe a student thinking about a biotechnology career, you will find her interview very interesting. Elaine and her Center's work are outstanding! You can get more information on Elaine and Bio-Link here .
Wed, September 17, 2008
A Conversation with David Hata - The Godfather of SAME-TEC [6:04]
Earlier this month I wrote about how the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT, focusing on information and communications technologies) collaborated with sister NSF Advanced Technology Education Centers of Excellence Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC, focusing on semi-conductor, automated manufacturing and electronics) and OP-TEC (focusing on optics and photonics) to sponsor the SAME-TEC 2008 Conference in Austin, Texas. SAME-TEC has a long history, starting in 1994 with the vision of David Hata at Portland Community College and continuing to grow and evolve under the leadership and direction of Mike Lesiecki and his team at MATEC. This year the conference had over 350 attendees. At the conference we did a number of video interviews and John Reynolds, our multimedia specialist, has been hard at work editing them. We've now got another one posted - an interview with David Hata - the Godfather of SAME-TEC . David discusses the original grant he wrote to the National Science Foundation to launch SAME-TEC and the evolution of the conference.
Fri, September 12, 2008
A Conversation With OP-TEC NSF Center Director Dan Hull [5:03]
The OP-TEC Advanced Technological Education Center was launched in August 2006 with funding from the National Science Foundation . Under the direction of Dan Hull, the Center engages a consortium of two-year colleges, high schools, universities, national laboratories, industry partners, and professional societies. The participating entities have committed to join forces in creating a secondary-to-postsecondary “pipeline” of highly qualified and strongly motivated students and empowering community colleges to meet the urgent need for technicians in optics and photonics. OP-TEC serves two types of one- and two-year postsecondary programs: Those devoted to lasers, optics, and photonics technology; and Those devoted to technologies that are enabled by optics and photonics . OP-TEC is building support through curriculum, instructional materials, assessment, faculty development, recruiting, and support for institutional reform. OP-TEC will serve as a national clearinghouse for teaching materials; encourage more schools and colleges to offer programs, courses, and career information; and help high school teachers and community and technical college faculty members develop programs and labs to teach technical content. The project has four goals: Serve as a national resource center for optics and photonics education and training. Create, assemble, align, and distribute coordinated curriculum materials designed to support optics, laser, and photonics education in high schools, two-year colleges, and retraining of adult workers. Support established and new photonics education programs in high schools, community and technical colleges, universities, and professional societies. Provide education and training for administrators, counselors, high school teachers, and community college faculty members to prepare them to: design new photonics technology programs that meet their local needs; infuse photonics into programs in photonics-enabled technologies; and teach optics, photonics, and lasers using curriculum materials distributed by OP-TEC. OP-TEC is establishing a national infrastructure for developing and supporting widely disseminated educational programs in cutting-edge, high-demand technologies that require photonics. That infrastructure encompasses both the secondary and postsecondary levels and will involve collaboration between educators and industry personnel. Dan and his team are doing excellent work. In July I had the chance to interview him (on his birthday!) at the SAME-TEC 2008 Conference in Austin, TX. You can get
Fri, September 12, 2008
Interview with Mike Q
This is a series of interviews Dan Greenwood, Brookdale Community College's Instructional Designer, recorded with Mike. This is part of Dan's Project Emit (Engaging Methods in Teaching) podcast. You can find Dan's podcast at http://www.brookdalecc.edu/pages/613.asp Here are descriptions for the interviews, which we've combined as one podcast. Associate Professor Michael Qaissaunee of the Engineering and Technology Department shares some of his innovative ideas on using video in courses. In Part 1 of this interview topic, Mike explains how both students and faculty can become involved in creating videos to improve learning. In the second part of our Video conversation, Mike shares some excellent examples of using video. We also discuss the use of video hosting services and Mike provides some ideas on how you can get started creating your own video content. Our conversation continues with Professor Qaissaunee explaining what viral videos are and the concept of viral PowerPoints and how they can be used with online course materials. Links mentioned in the podcast: http://www.slideshare.net
Tue, September 02, 2008
A Conversation with Computer Forensics Professor Paula Velluto [3:46]
Bunker Hill Community College Professor Paula Velluto has received National Science Foundation funding to create a model computer forensics program. The project is a regional collaboration of Middlesex Community College , Bristol Community College , Bunker Hill Community College , Northern Essex Community College and the University of Massachusetts Boston to meet the regional need of law enforcement for trained computer forensics (CF) technicians. The programs uniquely combine the disciplines of Information Technology and Criminal Justice and are tailored to the needs of each institution. The CFATE NSF project focuses on achieving three goals: To create computer forensics programs that align with law enforcement, public safety, private industry and homeland security needs to ensure consistent, current and flexible training. CFATE works with local/regional law enforcement agencies and industries to determine the needed skill set. Faculty workshops are being conducted to facilitate integration of CJ and IT into courses and expedite curriculum development on a consortium wide basis. CF experts work with the colleges to ensure that materials are rich in real world content. UMass Boston is developing baccalaureate programs that accept community college graduates and provide them with career pathways. In addition, CFATE is developing stand-alone courses and programs for IT professionals and CJ practitioners. To offer regional professional development opportunities for educators to develop expertise needed for teaching these programs. In addition to workshops on CJ and IT integration, extensive workshops on CF and the use of state-of-the-art software are being offered. Curriculum development workshops emphasize learner-centered pedagogy that give students needed skills. CF experts work individually with faculty and mentor them as they deliver CF courses. To expand the capacity in the region to attract students from diverse backgrounds to CF programs at each institution and support them in gaining employment in related positions. CFATE is creating recruitment materials such as CDs, brochures, and interactive websites to reach local schools and local and regional community org
Mon, August 25, 2008
An Interview with MATEC Executive Director Michael Lesiecki at SAME-TEC 2008
In this Video Podcast. MATEC Executive Director Michael Lesiecki discusses the past, current and future of the SAME-TEC Conference in Austin, Texas. You can get more information on SAME-TEC and MATEC at www.same-tec.org More Info on SAME-TEC SAME-TEC is a unique event that provides national networking and collaboration between education and industry partners, to promote the viability of our high tech industries, through the development of a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce. Conference participants are given an up-close look at the ever-advancing tools, training demands, and recent developments in emerging and converging technology fields. With this year's conference theme, we call attention to how different technologies are seamlessly converging into new all-encompassing technologies. High tech gadgets such as the Apple iPhone force us to fine-tune our focus as we endeavor to bring new technologies to our students and future employees. At SAME-TEC, faculty connect with each other to share practices, knowledge, and new approaches to help students succeed. Industry members connect with educators to ultimately help ensure students emerge into the workforce with the knowledge and skills desired by themselves and employers. Exhibitors will connect with existing and potential clients to help determine current and future needs. SAME-TEC provides the venue for learning about seamless technologies and the forum for creating seamless connections. Who Attends SAME-TEC? Faculty in technology programs who want to learn about new technologies and how to expand their existing programs College representatives, program development specialists, and counselors who are interested in creating more robust technology education programs and strategies for recruiting students K-12 teachers who want to learn how to integrate advanced technology concepts into their existing science and math curriculum Industry trainers and learning managers who want to gain insight into future training needs Industry personnel investing in workforce education and training Workforce development personnel from government, labor, business, and education who are involved in shaping workforce development programs Individuals concerned with issues related to skill standards and employability
Sun, June 15, 2008
Video Delivery and MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) [26:30]
Intro: The Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG, is a working group of ISO/IEC charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards. In this podcast we look at the MPEG standards and video delivery systems. Mike: Gordon, what sources are we referring to here? Wikipedia and white paper from the MPEG Industry Forum at www.m4if.org/public/documents/vault/m4-out-20027.pdf . we've also got a couple of diagrams from the Verizon website. Mike: What's the history of MPEG? Mike: Are these open standards? Mike: What's the history? Can you tell us about MPEG-1? Mike: How about MPEG-2? Mike: We don't hear much about MPEG-3 - what's up with that? Mike: Let's talk about MPEG-4 now. Mike: What are some of the advantages of MPEG-4? Mike: Let's switch gears and talk about carried video delivery systems - specifically the telcos and cable companies. How is this technology used? It's different for broadcast and video on demand (VOD) content. Let's discuss broadcast systems and look at how Verizon (as an example) is setup. Two National Super Head Ends (SHE) - one in Tampa and the other in Bloomington, IL: - Diversely located - Satellites collect video feeds - Video is converted to digital MPEG-2 and packaged in a 10-GigE payload - SHE servers “pitch” data to the Video Hub Office (VHO) - Three OC-192 SONET (long haul) rings that drop and continue GigE to VHOs Mike: What is OC-192? Mike: OK, these video hub offices are distributed over Verizon's footprint - what
Thu, May 29, 2008
Passive Optical Networks (PONs) [24:24]
Intro : In this podcast we take a look at modern fiber delivery systems. Podcast Questions : Mike: Passive Optical Networks use Fiber – could you talk a little but about Fiber to the Premise or Home (FTTP or H) Mike: So what exactly is a Fiber P2P Network? Mike: OK, so what’s a PON? Mike: What are the PON Architectural Choices? Mike: What is Centralized Splitting? Mike: What is Distributed/Cascaded Splitting? Mike: What are some of the Protocols and Standards used with PONs? Mike: What are the Outside Plant Components? Mike: What’s an ONT? Mike: Are Technicians typically terminating fiber in the field? Reference List : </
Wed, April 23, 2008
The Amazon Kindle First Impressions [30:10]
Intro : Amazon launched the Kindle in the United States in November 2007. Demand for the Kindle has been high with long waiting lists. We finally got our hands on one and review the Kindle in this podcast. Show Questions: Can you give us some basic specs on the Kindle? What about external storage, battery life and ports or connectors? C an you give us a quick overview on the Kindle controls - How do you use it? How do you navigate? Does the ruler do anything else? What's Whispernet? How do you get content on the Kindle? Can you get content from other sources? What file formats does the kindle support? Are there other ways to read pdf's? Can you view pictures? What else can you do? I'm always reading things and making notes to include in blogs or other documents - is there a way to do this? Is content on the kindle searchable? <font color=
Thu, April 03, 2008
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Details Podcast [32:30]
Intro: Two weeks ago we gave an overview of IPv6. This week we take a look at some of the technical details for this protocol. Mike: Gordon, a couple of weeks ago we discussed Ipv6 - can you give us a quick review - what's the difference between IPv4 and IPv6? The most obvious distinguishing feature of IPv6 is its use of much larger addresses. The size of an address in IPv6 is 128 bits, which is four times the larger than an IPv4 address. A 32-bit address space allows for 232 or 4,294,967,296 possible addresses. A 128-bit address space allows for 2 28 or 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 (or 3.4x1038) possible addresses. In the late 1970s when the IPv4 address space was designed, it was unimaginable that it could be exhausted. However, due to changes in technology and an allocation practice that did not anticipate the recent explosion of hosts on the Internet, the IPv4 address space was consumed to the point that by 1992 it was clear a replacement would be necessary. With IPv6, it is even harder to conceive that the IPv6 address space will be consumed. Mike: It's not just to have more addresses though, is it? It is important to remember that the decision to make the IPv6 address 128 bits in length was not so that every square inch of the Earth could have 4.3x1020 addresses. Rather, the relatively large size of the IPv6 address is designed to be subdivided into hierarchical routing domains that reflect the topology of the modern-day Internet. The use of 128 bits allows for multiple levels of hierarchy and flexibility in designing hierarchical addressing and routing that is currently lacking on the IPv4-based Internet. Mike: Is there a specific RFC for IPv6? The IPv6 addressing architecture is described in RFC 2373 . Mike: I know there is some basic terminology associated with IPv6. Can you describe Nodes and Interfaces as they apply to IPv6? A node is any device that implements IPv6. It can be a router, which is a device that forwards packets that aren't directed specifically to it, or a host, which is a node that doesn't forward packets. An interface is the connection to a transmission medium through which IPv6 packets are sent. Mike: How about some more IPv6 terminology - can you discuss Links, Neighbors, Link MTUs, and Link Layer Addresses? A link is the medium over which IPv6 is carried. Neighbors are nodes that are connected to the same link. A l ink maximum transmission unit (MTU) is the maximum packet size that can be carried over a given link medium, and is expressed in octets. A Link Layer address is the "physical" address of an interface, such as media access control (MAC) addresses for Ethernet links. Mike: Can you give a brief ouline in address syntax? IPv4 addresses are represented in dotted-dec
Sun, March 23, 2008
The FCC 700 MHz Auction Results [17:10]
Intro: On March 18, FCC Auction 73 bidding round 261 ended and, after 38 days and $19.592 billion in bids (almost double the $10 billion the FCC had hoped for), the FCC closed out the auction. In this podcast we review and discuss the auction results.Mike: Gordon, can you give us an overview of the auction results?Sure Mike - this comes from the FCC auction website linked up in the shownotes. Rounds: 261 (started on 1/24 and ended on 3/18) Bidding Days: 38 Qualified Bidders: 214 Winning Bidders: 101 Bidders won 1090 Licenses *Auction 73 concluded with 1090 provisionally winning bids covering 1091 licenses and totaling $19,592,420,000, as shown in the Integrated Spectrum Auction System . The provisionally winning bids for the A, B, C, and E Block licenses exceeded the aggregate reserve prices for those blocks. The provisionally winning bid for the D Block license, however, did not meet the applicable reserve price and thus did not become a winning bid. Accordingly, Auction 73 raised a total of $19,120,378,000 in winning bids and $18,957,582,150 in net winning bids (reflecting bidders' claimed bidding credit eligibility), as shown above. Mike: Before we get into the auction results, can you give us an overview of the different spectrum blocks? I know we've done this before but - how about a quick refresher?Sure Mike - this comes from a blog I wrote back on January 14 . Back in 2005 Congress passed a law that requires all U.S. TV stations to convert to all digital broadcasts and give up analog spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band. This law will free up 62 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band and effectively eliminate channels between 52 and 69. This conversion , which has a deadline of February 18, 2009, has freed up spectrum that is being split up by the FCC into five blocks: A-Block - 12 MHz, split up into 176 smaller economic areas B-Block - 12 MHz, split up into 734 cellular market areas C-Block - 22 MHz, up into 12 regional licenses D-Block - 10MHz, combined with approximately 10MHz allocated for public safety, a single national license. E-Block - 6 MHz, split up into 176 smaller economic areas So in summary, each spectrum block in the 700 MHz auction, except for the national public safely D-Block, has been assigned an area designation by the FCC. All
Sun, March 16, 2008
The Next-Generation Internet: IPv6 Overview [33:00]
Intro: The world has changed significantly since the Internet was first created. IPv6 gives over 4.3x1020 unique addresses for every square inch on the planet, and is going to allow us to do things we've only dreamed of in the past. In this podcast we give an overview of IPv6. Mike: Gordon, before we get into the technology, can you give us an update on IPv6 history in the United States? Sure Mike, this comes from a 1-minute history of the Internet by Federal Computer week at FCW.COM Mike: So, the federal government has ordered its agencies to become IPv6- capable by June of 2008 and this is going to happen in June on our federal government networks - how about businesses? It's happening with business too Mike. Let's take Verizon as an example as quoted in a L ight Reading post from last September . Verizon Business, which began its first phase of deploying IPv6 on the public IP network in 2004, will complete the North America region in 2008 and move into the Asia-Pacific and European regions from late 2008 to 2009. The company will operate both IPv6 and IPv4, in what is known as a "dual stack" arrangement, on its multi protocol label switching (MPLS) network core. The company also has deployed IPv6 throughout its network access points (peering facilities) where Internet service providers exchange traffic. Mike: So, what's the problem with IPv4? It's a combination of a lot of things - Microsoft has a nice set of resources on IPv4 and IPv6 - let's use that as a guide: The current version of IP (known as Version 4 or IPv4) has not been substantially changed since RFC 791 was published in 1981. IPv4 has proven to be robust, easily implemented and interoperable, and has stood the test of scaling an internetwork to a global utility the size of today’s Internet. This is a tribute to its initial design. However, the initial design did not anticipate the following: The recent exponential growth of the Internet and the impending exhaustion of the IPv4 address space. IPv4 addresses have become relatively scarce, forcing some organizations to use a Network Address Translator (NAT) to map multiple private addresses to a single public IP address. While NATs promote reuse of the private address space, they do not support standards-based network layer security or the correct mapping of all higher layer protocols and can create problems when connecting two organizations that use the private address space. Additionally, the rising prominence of Inter
Sun, March 09, 2008
The iPhone Software Development Kit [48:00]
Intro: On Thursday, March 6, 2008, Apple released the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) beta along with the App Stores, a place where iPhone users will be able to get applications written for the iPhone. Apple also launched the Enterprise Beta Program. Gordon: Mike, can you give us a quick rundown on what Apple released on Thursday? Sure, much of our discussion today is based on an excellent post at macworld.com titled The iPhone Software FAQ . Macworld editors Jason Snell, Jonathan Seff, Dan Moren, Christopher Breen, and Rob Griffiths contributed to this article. They also thank Glenn Fleishman, Craig Hockenberry, and Daniel Jalkut for their feedback and contributions. Here's how Macworld answered the question: The SDK is a set of tools that lets independent programmers and software companies design, write, and test software that runs on the iPhone. Right now there's a beta version for developers, but a final version of the iPhone software that supports the installation of new programs written by independent programmers is due in late June. As a part of the announcement, Apple introduced a new iPhone program, App Store , through which you'll be able to purchase, download, and update iPhone software. That will be available as part of the new iPhone Software 2.0 update in late June. That's when you'll be able to add third-party apps to your iPhone for the first time, at least via official channels. Gordon: You blogged about you experience with the SDK - can you tell us your first experience? I downloaded the new iPhone SDK and wrote about my first impressions. I did quite a bit of FORTRAN programming many years ago > 10, but haven't done a whole lot lately. The SDK took a long time to download -2 Gig - over my wireless connection. And about 45 minutes to install. I also downloaded a couple of the sample applications Apple provides ~ 1 Meg each. In about 15 minutes - would have been shorter if I knew what I was doing - I was able to open the sample, compile and run on the simulator Apple provides. I have no doubt that this is going to have a huge impact on mobile application development. It's really easy and really cool. If you teach programming - I suggest you download the SDK today, install it in your labs, and have your kids developing and running native iPhone apps by Monday afternoon. Get the SDK here . Even better, download Jing have your students record the simulator running their iPhone apps and embed in your department or faculty webpage - great for marketing! Wish I was 20 again! Gordon: And you actually wrote a little Kalimba (African T
Sun, February 24, 2008
FCC 700 MHz Spectrum Auction Update: D-Block [19:10]
Intro: In this podcast we continue discussion on the in-progress FCC 700 MHz spectrum auction, with a focus on the D-Block public safety piece. Mike: Gordon, can you give us a little background on the auction? Back in 2005 Congress passed a law that requires all U.S. TV stations to convert to all digital broadcasts and give up analog spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band. This law will free up 62 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band and effectively eliminate channels between 52 and 69. This conversion , which has a deadline of February 18, 2009, has freed up spectrum that is being split up by the FCC into five blocks: A-Block - 12 MHz, split up into 176 smaller economic areas B-Block - 12 MHz, split up into 734 cellular market areas C-Block - 22 MHz, up into 12 regional licenses D-Block - 10MHz, combined with approximately 10MHz allocated for public safety, a single national license. E-Block - 6 MHz, split up into 176 smaller economic areas Each Block has a reserve price set by FCC and if a reserve price is not met in the auction, the FCC will end up re-auctioning that piece of spectrum. Mike: I know we discussed the auction a few weeks ago and not much has changed. Can you give us an update on where the auction is today? Bidding round 102 came to a close yesterday afternoon with $19,524,595,900 (last week the auction finished at $19,450,389,100 - it is slowing) in total provisionally winning bids. Things have slowed considerably with only 40 new bids placed in round 102. For reference, on Thursday, each round averaged about 50 new bids.Most active in the final round yesterday were E-Block licenses in the Bismark, North Dakota and Rapid City, South Dakota areas along with B-Block licenses in the southeastern United States.The public safety D-Block still has not had a bid since the first round and will end up being re-auctioned by the FCC.This may end up being the last week (an FCC decision but I'm thinking so). After the auction is closed the FCC will announce the winners. Mike: Let's talk specifically about D-Block, the public safety piece. What's happened - why are we not seeing any new bids? I think you have to go back and look at the history of D-Block. Early on it appeared Frontline Wireless would be one of the biggest bidders for D-Block spectrum - the company was setup for D-Block and had worked closely with the FCC on putting together specifications for the spectrum. Frontline built a formidable team including Vice Chairman Reed Hundt , who served as Chairman of the
Sun, February 03, 2008
The FCC 700 MHz Spectrum Auction [28:48]
The FCC 700 MHz Spectrum AuctionIntro: In this podcast we discuss the in-progress FCC 700 MHz spectrum auction.Gordon: Mike, you are the reigning Global Wireless Education Consortium Educator of the year so you know about this stuff - what exactly is this spectrum the FCC is auctioning and where did it come from?Back in 2005 Congress passed a law that requires all U.S. TV stations to convert to all digital broadcasts and give up analog spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band. This law will free up 62 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band and effectively eliminate channels between 52 and 69. This conversion , which has a deadline of February 18, 2009, has freed up spectrum that is being split up by the FCC into five blocks.Gordon: What so interesting about this block of spectrum?Cell coverage, required cell-site density and cost (total network cost and cost per customer).I understand each spectrum block in the 700 MHz auction, except for the national public safely D-Block, has been assigned an area designation by the FCC. Could you describe those areas included in the 700 MHz auction using FCC definitions . Economic Areas Both the A-Block (12 MHz) and the E-Block (6 MHz) are being auctioned using the Economic Area (BEA) service areas established by the Regional Economic Analysis Division, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Included are Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Gulf of Mexico. There are a total of 176 Economic Area service areas designated by the FCC.BEA services include General Wireless Communications Service (GWCS), Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) and Location and Monitoring Service (LMS). Cellular Market Areas The B-Block (12 MHz) is being auctioned using the Cellular Market Area (CMA) service areas. The 734 CMAs are broken down as follows: Areas 1-305: Created from the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) defined by the Office of Management and Budget (1-305) Area 306: The Gulf of MexicoAreas 307-734: Rural Service Areas (RSAs) established by the FCC which do not cross state borders including parts of Puerto Rico not already in an MSA (723-729), U.S. Virgin Islands (730-731), Guam (732), American Samoa (733), and Northern Mariana Islands (734).CMA Services include Cellular Radiotelephone Service and Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS) Regional Economic Areas The C-Block (22 MHz) is being auctioned using the 12 Regional Economic Areas (REAs) created by the FCC. The REAs are an aggregation of the 52 Major Economic Areas (MEAs) defined by the FCC. REA Services include Wireless Communications Service (WCS) All FCC areas, along wit
Sun, January 20, 2008
An Interview with Google Engineer Martin Trieu [31:32]
Special Notes: In this podcast Mike and I interview Martin Trieu, a former community college student and current Google Engineer from California. The interview was done on January 5, 2008 during our National Science Foundation funded National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (located at Springfield Technical Community College) winter conference hosted by Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California. We’d like to thank Dr Ann Beheler; Dean, Business, Computing, & Career Services at Orange Coast College and Principle Investigator of the NSF funded Convergence Technology Center (located at Collin County Community College), for hosting our conference and arranging this interview with Martin. We’d also like to thank the National Science Foundation for funding and support. In the interview Martin uses a couple of acronyms that may need clarification. He refers to UCI - short for University of California, Irvine and EE – short for Electrical Engineering. He also refers to Orange Coast College as “OCC?. Martin’s son, 14 year old Martin Jr, was in the audience and is taking a programming course at OCC this semester. I’d also like to thank Mike Q – this was the first interview we’ve done in front of a live audience and I ended up asking all the questions due to some microphone issues. We know you’ll find the interview with Martin fascinating – if you are a potential student, Martin’s story could inspire you to take a look at your local community college. If you are a current student – we hope his story motivates you to continue to do your best work. If you are a faculty or staff member – we know you can relate to Martin’s story because you and your students have similar stories to tell. If you are an employer – Martin is a good example of the type of talent, dedication and motivation you will find coming out of your local community college. We especially enjoyed recording and now enjoy listening to this interview with Martin – we hope you do too! - Gordon Podcast Intro: We’re here today at the NCTT Winter Conference hosted by Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA. with Martin Trieu, a Software Engineer at Google Audio. Interview Questions: 1. Can you tell us about your background – where were you born and what brought you to the United States? 2. I know you attended Orange Coast College, what made you decide to go to college and why did you choose a community college? 3. What happened after you graduated? 4. How did you start working for Internet based companies? 5. How has working for Internet based companies changed? 6. Can you describe your current job? 7. What advice would you give young people with regards to careers and success?
Thu, January 17, 2008
Online Collaboration: January 2008 [22:29]
Intro: In this podcast we discuss the growing array of online collaboration tools.Mike: Gordon, because I'm in New Jersey and you're in Massachusetts, we've had to rely on online collaboration tools quite a bit. What are some of the tools we use most often?Gordon: If we look just at what we're doing today. We use Skype - the free VoIP client to record these podcasts and we use Google Docs (docs.google.com) to write, edit and share the scripts. In fact, I use Google Docs to collect material and write my blog - ictcenter.blogspot.comMike: Although it's not a new tool, we also use email quite a bit.Gordon: Yes - email is still a very important tool, but more and more we seem to be communicating with other tools such as Twitter and Text Messaging. The iPhone really lends itself to quick communication with email, Tweets, and IM.Mike: Twitter and Google Docs aren't the only options.Gordon: No. in addition to twitter, there are micro-blogging services Jaiku and Pownce, although if you compare the three using Google Trends, we see that Twitter is by far the most popular of the three.Mike: What about Google Docs.Gordon: It's what we use, and probably the most popular, but there are alternatives, including Zoho, Thinkfree and Zimbra. Again Google Trends gives us a nice snapshot.Gordon: There's been some movement with some of these tools.Mike: Yes. Zimbra was purchased in September by Yahoo, and Thinkfree is having some issues with leadership and possibly looking at a change of direction.Gordon: Are there some new online collaboration tools?Mike: Robin Good Online Collaboration Technologies - New Tools And Web Services - Robin Good's Latest News has a great listing of some new online collaboration tools and services. Good also points to Kolabora www.kolabora.com - a great resource for news and information about online collaboration.Gordon: Mike could you give us an overview of the tools Good describes.Mike: Sure - the article describes eight new online collaboration services, including: Tokbox: http://www.tokbox.com/ is a free web-based video conferencing application that enable you to have one-to-one video meetings online. With the service, you create a video room and invite someone for a video conference. You can even embed the conference room on your web-site, or blog. I think this is a great tool for providing technical support, office hours, access to a librarian, or even college counseling.Gordon: What else?Mike: SeeToo: http://www.seetoo.com/ On the surface, SeeToo a free web-based application for sharing videos with friends and family doesn't seem that novel. What makes SeeToo unique is that you don't need to upload your videos - instead you select a video (any size) from your computer, invite others to watch, and click play
Sat, December 22, 2007
Broadband the AT&T and Qwest Way [26:40]
Mike Intro: December 19. 2007: Broadband the AT&T and Qwest WayIn this podcast we discuss AT&T and Qwests Fiber to the Node projects. Mike: Gordon, can you give us a little background on what AT&T is doing?Project Lightspeed was announced as a 6 billion dollar project by AT&T in June 2004 and involves running optical fiber out to a remote terminal, or node and providing the last portion of the connection over copper wire. The project was ambitious from the start with initial plans to reach close to 19 million homes by the end of 2008. AT&T has given the product the name U-verse and at the TelcoTV conference last October, VP of converged services at AT&T Labs Research Peter Hill gave the keynote address featuring the product. Here's a few quotes from an October 26 CED Magazine post : A T&T’s roll out of its IPTV video services has been slower than it originally anticipated, but with more than 126,000 current subscribers, the company feels as though it’s on the right track. AT&T started the year with 3,000 video subscribers, then grew that base to 16,000 and 60,000, respectively, in the first and second quarters. “We’re past the point of last year where the question was, ‘Will IPTV scale?’,? said Peter Hill, VP of converged services at AT&T Labs Research, during the first keynote address Wednesday morning at TelcoTV. “You can’t get to that number (126,000 subscribers) without significant flow through and automation. We do have a competitive service and we can do it to scale.? Mike: There's always been concerns about bandwidth, especially when compated to products like the Verizon Fiber to the Home, or FiOS project. How is AT&T doing with U-verse?Bandwidth has been a major concern, with Hill commenting on the H.264 compression standard : “The encoding rates for H.264 have come down faster than we projected,? Hill said. “We’ll be able to do more channels in the same amount of bandwidth.? Mike: What other services will be available?Hill says the company will be adding home DVRs that allow satellite set-top boxes to show video downloaded to the DVR box. Hill also said the company will be adding to the current 30 high-definition channels next year along with photo-sharing and a Voice over IP (VoIP) service. Here's more interesting quotes from the CED Magazine piece: While cable executives have said there is no compelling reason to move to an IP infrastructure to deliver video services, Hill contends that IPTV is “very different
Mon, December 10, 2007
Fiber To The Home (FTTH) Technology Update [23:20]
Mike Intro: Earlier this fall we discussed DOCSIS 3.0 and how the cable companies will use this technology to deliver high bandwidth services to consumers. In this podcast we discuss the implementation and technologies the traditional telephone companies are using to deliver-high bandwidth voice, video and data services. Mike: Gordon, I know you are very familiar with Verizon and the companies FiOS fiber to the home ((FTTH) product. How is the project coming along? FiOS is Verizon's Fiber to the Home (FTTH), also know as Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) product offering. The service provides high-bandwidth data, voice and video services. The company has posted some interesting data on their policy blog for the third quarter of 2007. Here's a summary: Fiber Implementation : Source: http://www.verizon.com/fiberoptics FiOS is currently available in parts of 16 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington. At the end of September 2007, Verizon had passed about 8.5 million homes and businesses – installing more than 457 million feet of fiber in parts of 16 states. Verizon expects to continue passing some 3 million premises annually through 2010, when the company expects to have passed about 18 million homes, or over half the homes it serves. Verizon will begin boosting speeds and capabilities on its all-fiber network when it begins deploying advanced G-PON electronics in 2007. This technology can increase downstream broadband speeds by up to four times, and upstream speeds by eight times. Verizon is inve
Mon, November 05, 2007
Apple, Microsoft and Google Updates [29:20]
In this podcast we discuss new Apple, Microsoft and Google products and services including Leopard, Vista, the iPhone and Google IMAP support. Gordon: Mike, this past week Apple announced it had sold 2 million copies in the first weekend (last weekend). You've got Leopard and have it installed - what are your impressions? Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X and is packed with more than 300 new features. "Early indications are that Leopard will be a huge hit with customers," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Leopard's innovative features are getting great reviews and making more people than ever think about switching to the Mac." Leopard has many key innovations including the Time Machine, "an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs*; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat(R)." Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) fourth-quarter net income improved to $904 million, or $1.01 a share, from a year-earlier profit of $542 million, or 62 cents a share. Gordon: So - the company is doing pretty good? Among the quarter's highlights were sales of 2.16 million Macintosh PCs and 1.11 million iPhones. Apple had the most amazing launch of the all new iPhone, and this holiday season could be a blockbuster for the iPhone and Apple revenues. The latest iPod Touch could also rake in huge sales. Gordon: How's Microsoft doing? On October 25, 2007, Microsoft reported 27% revenue growth (over last year) on sales of $13.76 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, and the "fastest first quarter since 1999". "This fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft in the press release. "Operating income growth of over 30% also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future." Microsoft's businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division, and Server and Tools grew combined revenue in excess of 20%, and experienced robust demand for Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Server, and SQL Server. "Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to build with double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and with the vast majority of consume
Mon, October 29, 2007
The Next Generation Cable Network: DOCSIS 3.0 [34:20]
Title: The Next Generation Cable Network: DOCSIS 3.0 Intro: The first DOCSIS standard, short for Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications, standard was released by the company Cable Labs in 1997. In this podcast we take a look at the history of these standards and discuss DOCSIS 3.0 – the emerging standard in the cable industry. Mike: Gordon, can you give us a brief history of the first DOCSIS standards? Gordon – just covers up to 2.0 Mike: What are “tiered services?? Tiered services is business jargon for providing a service (such as telecom connectivity or cable channel service) according to separate, incrementally distinct quality and pay levels, or "tiers." We’re seeing this term used a lot recently in political debate regarding “net neutrality?. Mike: Can you tell us a little more about DOCSIS 3.0? Sure – in a nutshell it’s bigger, better, faster… It’s a needed response to products from competitors like Verizon with FIOs FTTH product and AT&T with the FTTN Lightspeed product. It’s triple play broadband – voice video and data. DOCSIS 3.0: - Much higher bandwidth through channel bonding - Starts at 160 Mbps Downstream, 60 Mbps Upstream and goes up from there - TI just rolled out their Puma 5 chip set a couple of weeks ago for cable modems. The chipset supports new DOCSIS 3.0 features, such as channel bonding, enable ultra high downstream bandwidth rates of at least 160 Mbps in the residential data and voice services configuration and 320 Mbps in video and business services configuration. In addition Puma 5 also supports greater quality of service with IPv6 and security with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). - Multiple 6 MHz (or 8 MHz) channels are bound, treating them logically as one Channel bonding in both upstream and downstream - IPv6 for advanced networking capabilities - Expanded address space (2128 o
Sun, September 16, 2007
Micro-blogging [26:40]
Title: Sept 16, 2007 - Micro-bloggingIntro: You may be thinking about starting a blog but feel you don't have the time or maybe won't know what to write about. You may already have a blog and are looking for ways to provide interesting content in real time. Micro-blogging may be a great solution. In this session we discuss micro-blogging and take a look at a few of the many free micro-blogging applications.Mike: Gordon, I know you've really got into micro-blogging recently - could you describe what it is? Wikipedia defines micro-blogging as: "a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters ) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging , instant messaging , email , MP3 or the web ." Gordon: I think we've both developed a recent addiction to micro-blogging. Your recently wrote a blog describing Twitter, Jaiku and Pownce. Many are calling these social networks, or micro-blogs. Can you describe what this means?In Twitter and Jaiku you provide information about your thoughts, activities and/or whereabouts. Some users update so often, that it's almost like real-time updates. Pownce works similarly, but allows users to easily share links, files and events. Twitter is still the most popular of the three, but Pownce - by invitation only - seems to be gaining quickly. I'm not sure I understand the attraction of these sites - maybe it's generational, but they're very popular and seem to be addictive.Gordon: You wrote about a real-world use of Twitter by the Los Angeles Fire Department . Can you tell us about that?Members of the fire department provide real-time updates (known as tweets) of LAFD activities and operations. Anyone interested can subscribe or follow this Twitter. Imagine the uses at a college or university - we could provide updates on availability of writing or math labs or even our testing center. We could also provide registration information in real-time, such as number of seats, new sections, cancellations etc. To think of it, you could also use these tools to manage your office hours - in real-time!Mike: You've been tweeting on Twitter frequently. Wha
Sun, September 09, 2007
iPod touch Overview and Impressions [26:50]
Intro: On Wednesday, September 5, Apple announced a new product, the iPod touch. In this podcast we take a look at the itouch.Mike: Gordon, the itouch is not available yet - you've done a little research - if you had to describe the device in a few words how would you describe? The iPod touch is basically an iPhone without the phone. It comes in two storage sizes – there is a 8 Gigabyte version for $299 and a 16 Gigabyte version for $399. I’ve written about the iPhone and storage capacity in the past - as a rough guideline, 1 Gigabyte of storage space will hold approximately 250 songs or 45 minutes of video. The iPhone requires a 2 year AT&T contract while the iPod touch idoes not require any cellular contracts. You buy it and use it as you would a classic iPod. Gordon: Mike - the products appear to be similar and you have an iPhone - can you describe wireless connectivity? In addition to allowing you to listen to music and watch video the iPod touch has built in wireless WiFi functionality and can be used for Internet access in any area where there is WiFi availability. Places that provide free WiFi access include most college campuses, libraries, some coffee shops, restaurants, etc. Many of you probably have WiFi in your homes now, with services provided by companies like Verizon and Comcast Gordon: How about web browsing? The iPod touch has a similar 3.5-inch widescreen display that the iPhone has allowing you to surf the web, watch videos, TV shows and view photos. The iPod touch’s screen appears to be of a slightly higher quality than the iPhone, with 163 pixels per inch to the iPhone’s 160 pixels per inch. For web browsing, and like the iPhone, it comes with the Safari web browser. If you have not had a chance to “surf? the web with an iPhone (or iPod touch) the next time you are in the mall stop in the Apple store and give it a try with one of the display models. I think you will be very impressed. Mike: I know you are impressed with the user interface - can you describe? If you currently own an iPod you are familiar with the click wheel interface that you use to select, play, fast forward, etc. The iPod touch does not have a click wheel, it has the same multi-touch screen interface as the iPhone. It does not take long to get used to the multi-touch interface. You can do all the things you can do with the click wheel and also use simple hand motions like pinching, flicking and flipping to do things like zoom in on websites,
Mon, September 03, 2007
Enterprise 2.0 [22:30]
Intro: Business and Industry continues to implement Web 2.0 technologies to make things run faster and more efficiently. In this podcast we discuss the use of these technologies by various corporations. Gordon: Mike - you've been doing some reading and poking around in this area over the summer - can you give us a list of some of your favorite references?Mike: I've been reading Wikinomics by by Don Tapscott (Author), Anthony D. Williams (Author) Gordon: Mike - can you give any info on specific companies implementing these technologies?Mike: At Procter & Gamble, The Good And Bad Of Web 2.0 Tools By J. Nicholas Hoover InformationWeek Jun 23, 2007 12:02 AM (From the June 25, 2007 issue) Business technology execs at the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston June 18-21 to explore integrating Web 2.0 technologies into their enterprises. A.G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble, is pushing improved internal and external collaboration primarily to develop new products faster. Leading this effort is Joe Schueller, innovation manager in P&G's Global Business Services. Schueller makes an interesting observation that email is the biggest barrier to employee use of more interactive and effective tools. As a sender of an e-mail, I control the agenda of everyone around me. E-mailers decide who has permission to read a message, and the Reply To All button ensures that peripheral participants will be prompted long after they have lost all interest. Blogs, in contrast, beg for comments from those most interested. P&G provides a study of how Enterprise 2.0 will take shape given the scope of its project and the way it draws on tools from startups as well as big-name vendors. Video from conference - Open/Download MP4 PPT from conference - <a class="big" href="http://enterprise2conf.vportal.net/media/course_html/2007_06_20_enterprise2_10tapscott_jt/10tapscott/10tapscott_trans.ppt" title="http://enterprise2conf.vportal.net/media/course_html/2007_06_20_enterprise2
Mon, August 06, 2007
Niche Search [20:52]
Intro: You may think Google and Yahoo have a lock on search but it may be time to starting thinking a little differently. In this podcast we take a look at some niche search sites. Mike: Gordon, we love Google products and services - is there a the problem? It may be Google does too good of a job! Have you ever tried Google searching on a persons name? A simple Google search on my first and last name gives over 1.9 million results! Today, three companies control almost 90% of online search: - over 50% of all searches are done using Google - over 25% on Yahoo - and over 13% using Microsoft There are some problems though – these search engines primarily give results based on the number of sites linking to a page and the prominence of search terms on a page. Because they work this way there is room for niche. Mike: With this kind of lock on search it would be almost impossible for a startup to launch a successful general search product - right? Yes - it would be almost impossible but we are seeing some acrivirt in the niche areas. Areas like travel and finance are niches that have already been filled but today there seems to be some room in the people search area. Mike: Are there companies in this market we should be looking at? One of the startups to watch is Spock at www.spock.com . Spock is scheduled for their public launch the first week of August. Among other places on the web, Spock scans social networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Search results give summary information (age, address, etc) about the person along with a list of website links that refer to the person. According to Spock 30% of the 7 billion searches done on the web every month are related to individuals. Spock says about half of those searches concern celebrities with the other half including business and personal lookups. According to Spock, a common problem that we face is that there ar
Mon, July 23, 2007
Skype, More Skype, Goodbye Copper and Casual Gaming [39:50]
In this show we take a look at some previous blog postings. NCTT 10th Annual Summer Worskshop discussion. Thanks to all that attended and special thanks to our presenters and Juniper Networks and Apple as sponsors. Thursday, July 12, 2007 Blog Skype Everywhere There have been a couple of interesting Skype product upgrades/releases over the past few days. The first is SoonR Talk , an AJAX enabled application that allows Skype to run on the iPhone and other mobile devices. The second is the release of Skype on the Nokia N800 Internet tablet. The small hand-held device connects to available Wi-Fi networks that we're all finding just about everywhere these days. Here's a Yahoo News quote from Gartner analyst Elroy Jopling : "We will see more Skype and similar free Wi-Fi phone services moving into mobile devices in the U.S. and Europe, he said, although Europe could adopt it more quickly. However, he said he expects to see "mobile operators put up as many roadblocks as they can" in both places". Both of these products allow free Skype voice calls from anywhere to anywhere with Wi-Fi access. Saturday, July 14, 2007 Blog Some Interesting Skype Alternatives Network Computing recently published a piece evaluating 6 Skype Alternatives here . Each alternative adds enhanced features that Skype currelty does not offer. Here's the list: Grand Central - This product allows you to select one phone number and link up to six phone numbers you enter into your user profile. For example, you can set your Grand Central account to ring both your offi
Fri, July 06, 2007
One Week with the iPhone [34:30]
Intro: On Friday, June 29, Apple started selling the new iPhone, a device that combines the functions of a cell phone, ipod and computer. In this podcast we take a look at the iPhone from a users perspective - Mike Q got in line the first day and purchased one! Here's an outline of the interview: - waiting in line + the purchase - activation - first impressions - hardware - screen - software - camera - keyboard - email - web browser - voice quality - phone - data network (edge + wifi) - ear buds - iPod AT&T (Cingular) has the exclusive rights for the phone for the next two years with current phones running on AT&T�s EDGE network when there is not a Wi-Fi connection available. Current pricing plans, with unlimited data, start at $59.99 and run up to $219.99 per month. There are a few things that some are concerned about, here's a list: The cost - it is expensive! The AT&T EDGE network is slow when compared to Verizon's 3G network. This is a concern for some but I could deal with that. Most places I go now I find Wi-Fi available. There is currently no Java or Flash support which will cause a problem when viewing websites that incorporate these technologies. One of the biggest concerns is the small storage capacity. Later versions will likely have some sort of removable storage device like the SD cards used in digital cameras. Lack of a physical keyboard � the iPhone uses a technology Apple calls �multitouch� to display a keyboard on the screen. Once people get used to, seems to be working just fine. At this time you can only use Apple's Safari web browser and not other browsers like Firefox. These issues are minor for most users and overall this looks like a great first generation product for Apple.
Fri, July 06, 2007
Interview Series: Speak Easy Founder, Erica Walch [18:00]
Introduction: We are here today with Springfield business owner Erica Walch. Erica has recently started Speak Easy Accent Modification in Springfield. Speak Easy teaches people how to change their accent so that clients, colleagues, strangers and even friends can better understand them. 1. What is Speakeasy? The Speak Easy program teaches fluent English speakers how to recognize and produce the sounds of standard spoken American English. As people feel more confident in their spoken English, their business, professional, and social interactions become easier and more successful. The Speak Easy program teaches fluent English speakers how to recognize and produce the sounds of standard spoken American English. As people feel more confident in their spoken English, their business, professional, and social interactions become easier and more successful. 2. How did you get started - what made you decide you wanted to do this? 3. How does this program work? A: Speak Easy accent modification training teaches you how to recognize and produce the sounds of American English. You practice with an instructor in an individual or group setting once per week, and you practice at home for an hour a day. At the end of the course, most people see at least a 50 percent change in their speech. Visit the method page for more detailed information about the program. 4. Will I lose my accent? A: Everyone speaks with some sort of an accent, and there is no such thing as the ideal speaker of any language. Accent modification training teaches you how to change your speech. Your accent will change, and people will be better able to understand you. 5. Will I sound American? A: Probably not. If this is your goal, it is something that you can work on, but it will take more than one 13-session course. However, most people who speak a second language have some traces of an accent even after lengthy study and practice. 6. I am 72 years old; will this really work for me? A: Absolutely. Only people who have a hearing loss or a speech impediment would have difficulty retraining their accent. Any person who is a fluent speaker of English can learn to speak differently. If you have learned English, you can definitely learn a new way to speak it. 7. How much does the program cost? A: The fee for the initial speech analysis is $150. The cost for the lessons ranges from $500 - $1650, depending on which course best fits your needs. Materials cost between $100 and $195, depending on the package you choose (cassettes or CDs). 8. Why did you choose Springfield as a location for your business? 9. I also wanted to congratulate you in you selection on the "Forty Under 40" that was recently announced by BusinessWest Magazine, the business journal for western Massachusetts. The list recognizes the professional, civic, and community-oriented success of 40 young professionals working i
Thu, June 07, 2007
10 Questions with Karl Kapp [38:40]
Intro: Karl Kapp, a scholar, writer and expert on the convergence of learning, technology and business operations, holds a Doctorate of Education in Instructional Design at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a full professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA and Assistant Director of the University�s acclaimed Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT). Recently, Karl was selected as one of 2007's Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals by TrainingIndustry, Inc, joining a pretty diverse group in the Top 20.One of the areas Karl has been very active in is advocating for gaming in learning, particularly with the release of his new book Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning: Tools for Transferring Know-How from the Boomers to the Gamers. We'll learn more about the book from Karl. .Visit his Web site at www.karlkapp.com , his blog at http://karlkapp.blogspot.com and the book's web site at www.gadgetsgamesandgizmos.com .Mike: Karl, you're an associate director of Bloomsburg University's Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT) - could you tell us a little bit about how this institute was formed, it's mission and what it does. The Institute for Interactive Technologies is affiliated with the Department of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA. Bloomsburg University is one of Pennsylvania's 14 state universities. The department of Instructional Technology is a Master's level course that teaches students how to design, develop and deliver online instruction or e-learning. Our program is a year long with 33 credits. We have a face-to-face option for the program as well as an online option. You can learn more about our program at http://iit.bloomu.edu . The IIT was formed in 1985 to serve as a place where students could get "real world" experience working on projects involving instructional technologies. Prior to that, they had always had a solid technical background but some times lacked an understanding of how to apply what they were learning in the classroom to actual projects. We create the IIT to solve that problem and to help generate monies to pay for the latest and greatest technologies. We call the IIT the "commercial arm" of our academic program. The IIT partners with organizations like L'OREAL, Black and Decker, Toys R Us and others to help them create online learning. We include graduate students in all of our projects so they get the experience working with actual clients, the faculty stay up-to-date on the trends in industry and the clients get a quality e-learning product for a reasonable expense. The IIT also conducts workshops and seminars to help organizations develop the internal capability of delivering e-learning as well. Our mission is to educate corporations on the value of creating quality e-learning. It's a win, win, win for ev
Sat, May 26, 2007
Airport Security, RSS Explained, Bluetooth Marketing and Updates {}
Introduction: In this podcast we take a look at some of our recent blog content.Gordon: Mike, you recently published a blog titled Web 2.0: RSS Explained. You did not actually describe RSS but referenced some online content that is just excellent. Can you fill us in?Here's a link to a great video created by CommonCraft - a consulting company focused on helping companies and organizations integrate online communities into their businesses.All organizations would be wise to adopt CommonCraft's core belief: "that, in the future, organizations will rely on their community of customers to remain competitive". Amazon , YouTube and digg are great examples of businesses that not only value their community of users, but have built a business model around that community.In just under four minutes, the video provides a simple, easy to understand explanation of RSS - a technology that I and many other have become dependent on to get our news and information. The video also uses a a really clever presentation method - yet another alternative to the overused powerpoint slideshow.Mike: Gordon, you wrote an interesting blog on Proximity Marketing and the use of Bluetooth devices. Can you fill us in?Gordon: Most of us have a pretty good idea of what Bluetooth is but before I talk about proximity marketing maybe you could give us a quick primer on Bluetooth. Wikipedia defines it as follows:"Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. The Bluetooth specifications are developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group"."Bluetooth is a radio standard and communications protocol primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power-class-dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 meters) based on low-cost transceiver microchips in each device"."Bluetooth lets these devices communicate with each other when they are in range. The devices use a radio communications system, so they do not have to be in line of sight of each other, and can even be in other rooms, as long as the received transmission is powerful enough".Simply put - short range, two-way and, up to this point for most of us in the United States, personal device to personal device communications. Many of us have Bluetooth capable cell phones and are using wireless earpieces for talking while driving or with our hands full. Most laptop PC's come with Bluetooth now and allow wir
Thu, May 24, 2007
MATEC NETWORKS Executive Director Kim Grady Interview [17:42]
Short introduction: Today we’re here with Kim Grady. Kim is the Founding Director and PI for the NetWorks, an NSF online digital resource center. MATEC NETWORKS is one of 3 ATE manufacturing and engineering technology centers that offer a collection of resources online. NETEC, MERC Online, are the other centers. MATEC NETWORKS is part of MATEC and located in Tempe, Arizona. Gordon: Kim, what exactly is a digital library? Well, our digital library is a convenient and easy way to locate valuable resources for teaching and learning. It's also a way to share self-created and favorite classroom ready resources. Mike: Why another digital library, what is the need and mission and vision? Believe me, being an advocate of not reinventing the wheel, I asked myself that question many times. What I have come to realize is that NetWorks and the other online resource centers that are part of the NSF ATE program are working together to "Beat Google." We are aggregators of resources in our technology areas. Not only that we have criteria for the resources that make it into our collections. How many times have you been disappointed in search results on the WWW? Either there is just too many to sift through or they are not the quality or type that you need. With NetWorks you get the resources you need for instruction. That's why we think we can be a time-saving tool. Gordon: What types of material do you collect? Well, we focus on material in the Semiconductors, Automated Manufacturing, and Electronics technology area so you will see resources that relate to the science of semiconductor processing, instrumentation and controllers used in automation environments, and tons of electronics and electricity resources. You heard me use the term, classroom ready earlier. Classroom ready means it is easily implementable into a class or training room. You won't find a lot of research papers for example on our site. We search for and create material that can be used in an engaging presentation, a lab write up, or a student activity. We also believe that material that help faculty learn fits our definition of classroom ready so you will also see things like reports on emerging technology and tutorials on hot topics such as rapid prototyping. Mike: How do you build your collection, what programs do you have in place and what results have you seen so far? Our NetWor
Thu, May 24, 2007
MATEC Executive Director Mike Lesiecki Interview [35:20]
Introduction: Mike Lesiecki is the Founding Director and PI for theMATEC ( http://matec.org ), an NSF national center. With its partners in education and industry, MATEC develops programs, materials, and training that enables students, faculty, and technicians to continuously master the evolving competencies in science, mathematics, technology, and communications required by the workforce of the semiconductor, automated manufacturing, and electronics industries. MATEC is located in Tempe, Arizona.Mike Q: Mike, what is the history of MATEC and how has it evolved over the course of its funding?MATEC was established in 1996 as the 7th ATE center (today there are 33.) The center is a member of the division of academic affairs at the college. Initially founded in close collaboration with the semiconductor manufacturing industry the center made a strategic decision to expand to electronics and highly automated manufacturing to better serve its users.Today MATEC is an umbrella organization with distinct strategies to develop relevant materials, provide faculty professional development and to encourage awareness for high tech fieldsThe center houses the MATEC national resource center called MATEC Networks as well as projects in highly automated manufacturing and electronics funded by the NSF. Industry sponsors a unique career awareness program called high tech U that is produced by the center. The SAME-TEC national conference will be held for the 11th year this summer in Dallas.As you can see the center has evolved fro m a single focus to a multiple project, multiple funding source model all designed to support technical education at the community college levelFirst 10 years to develop material, next 4 years after that to disseminatematerial, what has he done to make sure MATEC was successful in both of those endeavors. First and foremost was the use of industry subject matter experts coupled with our own instructional design and media people this insures relevancy.Just building the materials and electronic delivery system does not mean people will come. o We sponsored workshops and conferences for professional development and we stressed incorporation of our materials into existing programs o Our delivery system was web based from the beginning and adaptableNetworks, our resource center, now is designed for access to these resources as well as national resources to help faculty find what they need in a one stop fashion.We seek strategic linkages with industry through SEMI, SIA, TPIC and partners such as Intel and TIGordon: What are the products and services that make up the MATECOrganization now?We have adopted a modular approach and our core materials comprise 50 semiconductor, 24 electronic and 7 highly automated manufacturing modules.Skill standards - Our NRC features these resources and others in a customized experience for faculty that includes unique opportunities for faculty externships.Industry acc
Tue, May 01, 2007
How To Make a Podcast! [45:46]
In this show we talk about making podcasts including software, recording equipment and posting options.
Fri, March 23, 2007
IWITTS Executive Director Donna_Milgram Interview [63:30]
In this podcast we interview Donna Milgram, Executive Director of Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science ( www.iwitts.com , www.womentechworld.org ). Donna and IWITTS.com provide the tools to successfully integrate women into male-dominated careers via workshops, publications, products, e-strategies and technical assistance. Gordon: Hi Donna, welcome and thanks for joining Mike and I, before we get into the great details, can you give us a quick overview of IWITTS and a little bit of IWITTS history? See www.iwitts.com and www.womentechworld.org and www.womentechstore.com Mike : Can you tell us a little about your background? Donna discusses basic bio, IWITTS history, etc Gordon : What is some of the work your organization is doing that could help National Science Foundation technology centers and projects?? Donna discusses the WomenTech Portal and the CalWomenTech Project along with several other IWITTS projects. See http://www.iwitts.com/html/womentechportal_home.html and http://www.iwitts.com/html/calwomentech_summary.html Mike : Gordon and I both have daughters (Gordon has 2 and I have 1) so we are very interested. How are girls doing? Are they going into these technical fields? Donna discusses the facts that #s are still small and the AAUW Tech-savvy study. Research shows interventions make a difference including proactive recruitment. Donna also discusses the Discover Engineering" program http://www.iwitts.com/html/017anderson.pdf Gordon : My 15 year old is really excited about computer science - it is not engineering but similar. Any information on CS? Donna discusses the TWiCE program http://www.iwitts.com/html/052bair.pdf Mike : Now you do not just focus on engineering and computer science. What other fields do you provide information on? Donna discusses the focus on emerging technology, type of technology does not matter because principles are the same Gordon : Many community college technology programs would like to have more women entering their programs but they just do not sign up. How do we change this? Donna discusses several methods and opportunities to recruit women. Mike : Many of our technology programs find that the w
Mon, February 26, 2007
Flat World Strategies: IPTV, Joost, BitTorrent and AppleTV [37:01]
IPTV, Joost, BitTorrent and AppleTV Internet based television and video services, commonly referred to as Internet Protocol or IPTV, are rapidly moving mainstream. In this podcast we take a look at the technology and market for these products. References : Wikipedia : www.Wikipedia.org Videos have Net bursting at the seams : http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0702230143feb23,0,1395493.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed BitTorrent to open digital media store : http://news.com.com/BitTorrent+opens+digital+media+store/2100-1025_3-6161944.html Appeerances Can Be Deceiving: What's that 40-gig hard drive doing inside my Apple TV? http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070216_001673.html <font size="3" style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: A
Sun, February 18, 2007
Emerging Technology Interview Series: City College of San Francisco
In 2001, San Francisco voters approved $195 million in general obligation bonds to support facility expansion and infrastructure improvements at City College of San Francisco (CCSF), which provided more than 4,700 courses per semester to more than 106,000 students last year. In 2005, an additional $246.3 million in bonds were approved for further CCSF expansion and improvements. With funding in hand, CCSF Chancellor Philip R. Day Jr. then outlined a strategic vision for the college: Prioritize improvements in the college�s communications technology infrastructure as strategic assets in order to advance the institution�s abilities to efficiently deliver educational value to the community. At the time, however, the college was experiencing reductions in educational funding, resulting in pressure to reduce operating costs. In this podcast we interview CCSF Network Manager and Institute for Convergence of Optical and Network Systems (ICONS) NSF CoPI Tim Ryan and Pierre Thiry, CCSF faculty and ICONS PI. Tim and Pierre discuss how CCSF has upgraded infrastructure and provided new learning opportunity for their students. The interview follows the February 2007 Communications News cover story titled Strategic Assets: Communications infrastructure advances the City College of San Francisco�s ability to efficiently deliver educational value to the community . Links: ICONS Home page: http://www.ccsf.edu/Resources/ICONS/ Communications News Cover Story: http://www.comnews.com/stories/articles/0207/0207coverstory.htm
Tue, February 06, 2007
802.11 Moving Fast [27:20]
IntroThe IEEE 802.11 Working Group on January 19 unanimously approved a new Draft 2.0 802.11n proposed standard. In this podcast we take a look at this new draft standard and also look at earlier standards including 802.11 a, b and g.Question: Mike – before we get into the technology….. this new draft standard was approved unanimously by a 100 yes, 0 no, 5 abstaining vote, but it is still not a standard yet. What is the rest of the process to get this to be a standard?The IEEE 802 Plenary committee meeting will be held March 19th in Orlando, Florida and between now and then the IEEE will collect votes and comments with two questions asked. The first question that will be asked by letter ballot over a 15 day period is "Should 802.11n Draft 1.10 be forwarded to Working Group letter ballot as Draft 2.0?" If this question passes by 75% or more then a second question will be asked by letter ballot "Should 802.11n Draft 2.0 be forwarded to Sponsor Ballot?"If both of these pass by 75% or more then on the IEEE will start moving the Draft 2.0 towards a standard. It looks like they will move this standard along much more rapidly with approval before the final approval date of October 2008 on the current IEEE timeline found on their website.Since late 1990s, IEEE has approved four standards for wireless LANs: • IEEE 802.11• IEEE 802.11b• IEEE 802.11a• IEEE 802.11gIEEE 802.11n expected to be approved by 2008IEEE 802.11Specified that wireless transmission could take place via infrared (IR) or radio signals• Infrared Transmissions: – Can send data by the intensity of the infrared light wave – Light spectrum: All types of light– Infrared light: Can be used for wireless transmissions– Emitter: Device that transmits a signal– Detector: Device that receives a signal– Advantages:• Does not interfere with other communications signals• Not affected by other signals• Does not penetrate walls– Disadvantages:• Lack of mobility• Limited range• Confined to indoor use• Slow transmission speed• Radio Wave Transmissions:– Radio waves can penetrate through objects• Provides mobility– Radio waves travel longer distances – Can be used indoors and outdoors– Radio waves can travel at much higher speeds than infrared transmissions– IEEE 802.11 standard outlining radio wave transmissions has become preferred method for wireless LANsQuestion: Can you tell us about the different standards over time? Can you start out with 802.11a?Release Date Op. Frequency Data Rate (Typ) Data Rate (Max) Range (Indoor) October 1999 5 GHz 25 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s ~30 metersIEEE 802.11a• IEEE 802.11a standard specifies maximum rated speed of 54 Mbps – Also supports 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9,and 6 Mbps transmissions using U-NII band• 802.11a and 802.11b published at same time– 802.11a came to market later due to technical issues and high production cost• Range of 802.11a is less than that of 802.1
Thu, January 25, 2007
Flat World Strategies: 2007 Broadband Update [15:01]
This show takes a look at trends in the broadband industry and some projections for 2007. References : IPTV Emerges as Major Growth Driver for Networking Gear in 2007: http://www.isuppli.com/news/default.asp?id=7203 Budde.com : http://www.budde.com JP Morgan : http://www.jpmorgan.com Nielsen Media Research: http://www.nielsen.com/ In-Stat : http://www.instat.com/ US Bancorp : http://www.usbank.com/ Lehman Brothers : http://www.lehman.com/ Verizon : http://www.verizon.com/ Cox : http://www. cox .com Comcast : http://www. comcast .com Time Warner : http://www.timewarner.com
Sun, January 07, 2007
Flat World Strategies: Google and Search Wikia, Search Technology Explained [23:10]
Intro: Right before the 2006 holidays Jimmy Wales, creator of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, announced the Search Wikia project. This project will rely on search results based on the future sites community of users. In this podcast we take a look at popular search engine technologies and discuss the Search Wikia project concept. Question: I know this project was really just announced. Before we get into the technology involved - can you tell us what phase the project is in?According to the BBC Jimmy Wales is currently recruiting people to work for the company and he's buying hardware to get the site up and running. Question: What makes this concept fundamentally different than what Google or Yahoo! Are doing?When Wales announced the project he came right out and said it was needed because the existing search systems for the net were "broken". They were broken, he said, because they lacked freedom, community, accountability and transparency. Question: This sounds a lot like digg - am I on the right track?Yes you are - what you end up with is a digg like application, or what Wales is calling, a "people-powered" search site. Question: Can you provide a bit more detail on how Google works?Googlebot is Google's web crawling robot. Googlebot finds pages in two ways: through an add URL form, www.google.com/addurl.html , and through finding links by crawling the web. Source: www.google.com Question: That's Googlebot, how does the indexer work?Googlebot gives the indexer the full text of the pages it finds. These pages are stored in Google's index database. This index is sorted alphabetically by search term, with each index entry storing a list of documents in which the term appears and the location within the text where it occurs. This data structure allows rapid access to documents that contain user query terms. Source: www.google.com Question: So now that everything is indexed, can you describe the search query?The query processor has several parts, including the user interface (search box), the "engine" that evaluates queries and matches them to relevant documents, and the results formatter. PageRank is Google's system for ranking web pages. A page with a higher PageRank is deemed more important and is more likely to be listed above a page with a lower PageRank. Source: <a hre
Fri, December 29, 2006
Flat World Strategies: Web 2.0 Application Security Threats [23:26]
We have spent a lot of time the last few months discussing the excitement and benefits of Web 2.0 technologies but have not spent much time discussing the inherent vulnerabilities of these technologies. Earlier this month the application security experts at SPI Dynamics Inc. put their collective heads together and took a look at the threat landscape for 2007. Specifically, the researchers identified seven threats that they expect to be prevalent during 2007. In this podcast we take a look at this SPI white paper and discuss these threats. References: SPI Dynamics Website: www.spidynamics.com Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.org
Sun, December 17, 2006
Flat World Strategies: Where's Your Office in a Flat World? - The Webware Wars
Intro In our previous discussion regarding gaming we learned about Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games or MMORPGs. Among the most popular was World of Warcraft. This week we consider The Webware Wars. Among the factors that have led to the proliferation of webware are: increased adoption of high-speed internet, greater bandwidth, cheap storage and a new dynamic and interactive web architecture enable by a collection of technologies referred to as Web 2.0 and AJAX. Everybody's getting into the act, including big players like Microsoft and Google, and little fish like Zoho and Thinkfree. Mike, let's start out with what we have been using the longest - What are some of the New Features in Google Docs and Spreadsheets? As with any Google product, new features are quietly added with little notice or fanfare. Since we last talked about Google docs and Spreadsheets (GDS), there have been a number of additions and improvements - mostly on the spreadsheets side of the house. The first addition is actually within Gmail - Google's popular web-based email. In the past, when a Gmail user received an email attachment (either word or excel) the only option was to open the attachment as an an html document-viewing only, or download and open the attachment. Now when a users receives an excel document, the have the option of opening that spreadsheet directly in GDS - presumably, a similar functionality will eventually be available for word documents. Can you describe GoogleLookup? This a new feature in the spreadsheets portion of the GDS that takes advantage of the online nature of GDS. In fact, it's a formula in the spreadsheet that attempts to answer a question by using information from the web. The syntax is fairly straightforward: =GoogleLookup("entity", "attribute") [the double quotes are required!] Some examples include: looking up the population of New York City [=GoogleLookup("New York City", "population")] or when Google was founded [=googlelookup("google", "founded")] =GoogleLookup("Springfield, MA", "population") gives us 152,082 =GoogleLookup("NJ", "population") gives us 8,414,350 If you mouse over the cell, you'll see links to the source pages. Don't expect to change the world with this function, but have fun with it. What are some of the entity types you can look up? Here are some of the types of entities you can access using GoogleLookup, and a few popular attribute names (some entities won't have all these attributes, and some will have more, so experiment): Countries and Territories (like "Burkina Faso"): population, capital, largest city, gdp U.S. States (like "Tennessee"): area, governor, n
Mon, December 04, 2006
Flat World Strategies: Social Media Tools
Intro According to wikipedia.com: Social media describes the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Popular social mediums include blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs. In this session we'll take a look at a few of the common social media applications including mySpace, Facebook and Flickr. We'll also look at some applications that are designed specifically for academic use. Gordon, can you tell us a little more about what these social media tools? � What we want to express with the term social media is the fact that in media design we are aware of the existence of others and the collaborations we see happening through the so-called social software. Concrete examples of social media are online communities, social networking places, social sharing tools (flickr),.... � Source: Belgian Master course in Communication & Multimedia Design: http://listserv.aoir.org/pipermail/air-l- aoir.org/2006-April/009573.html How about some examples? mySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ Eons: http://eons.com Flickr: http://www.flickr.com Digg : http://www.digg.com MyHeritage : www.myheritage.com del.icio.us : http://del.icio.us Facebook is probably a good example of what many of our students are using. Can you use as an example of how these work with some detail? (<a href="http:
Sat, November 25, 2006
Flat World Strategies: Online Games People Play [31:37]
Flat World Strategies: Online Games People Play Overview : According to wikipedia.com: MMORPGs are online Role Playing Games (RPG's) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world. As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a fictional character (most commonly in a fantasy setting) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world, usually hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game. Today business and industry (including Intel and IBM) along with academic institutions (including Harvard and the University of Washington) are developing MMORPGs that provide education and training. In this session we'll take a look at some of the common games and discuss how they could potentially be used in our classrooms. Social Networking A social network is a social structure made of nodes which are generally individuals or organizations. It indicates the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds. The term was first coined in 1954 by J. A. Barnes (in: Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish , "Human Relations"). The maximum size of social networks tends to be around 150 people and the average size around 124 (Hill and Dunbar, 2002). Social networking also refers to a category of Internet applications to help connect friends, business partners, or other individuals together using a variety of tools. These applications, known as online social networks are becoming increasingly popular [1] . Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking MMORPGs Your Future Students are Playing Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom : www.vmk.com Good Article: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/05/disneys_virtual_magic_kingdom.html Cywo
Tue, November 21, 2006
Flat World Strategies: Google Docs, Spreadsheets, the Zune, PS3 and the Wii [20:39]
Have you ever been working collaboratively on a document, either with one other person or multiple people? Have you been frustrated looking through your computer or your email for the most recent version or even an older version that that has something you've since deleted? Worse yet, have you ever been looking for that file wondering if the most recent version is on my work computer, my laptop, my home computer, my email or any number of usb drives I have laying around - or even worse yet on someone else's computer. What about collaboration - sending a file around by email, everyone adds their comments and you have to try to put it all together - what a hassle. And who can stand to read documents with track changes turned on. Well there's a new class of applications called webware coming to the rescue! Gordon: Mike - what is webware? Webware is an online software application that trys to replicate the richness and responsiveness of a traditional desktop application. What's really made this even remotely possible is the widespread adoption of high-speed or broadband internet and a new architecture for the Web (Web 2.0 and AJAX - we'll talk about these more some other time). Google Docs & Spreadsheets is an example of webware - an online analogue of the ubiquitous Microsoft Office. Gordon: I know we've been using Google Docs and Spreadsheets - can you give our audience an overview of how these applications function? Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a fairly full-featured online word processor and spreadsheet editor that enables you, your colleagues and your students to create, store and share documents and spreadsheets. It's this sharing - the collaboration - that's really exciting! Sharing enables you to decide who can access and edit documents, and even better, all changes are kept in a document revisions history. You can create documents from scratch or upload existing documents and spreadsheets. Other than a web browser and a network connection, there's no software required, and all your documents are stored safely online and accessible from any network-connected computer. Some of the neat features include being able to save documents to Word, spreadsheets to Excel and either (documents or spreadsheets) to HTML or PDF. The Spreadsheets even have a panel that allows collaborators to have a live chat regarding the spreadsheet. A particularly useful feature - AUTOSAVE - means you never have to remember to save your work! How are people using it? Teachers are publishing announcements about upcoming assignments and monitoring student progress via the revision history. In the revision history, you can see clearly who contributed to what assignment and when; if a student says he or she worked on a given project
Tue, November 14, 2006
Cable Breakthrough and Wardriving by Train [28:29]
Intro Mike: On November 6, 2006, BroadLogic Network Technologies, a San Jose chip manufacturer, announced The World's First Massively Parallel, Multi-Channel Video Processor , a terapixel-speed video processing chip that will allow cable providers to recover bandwidth that can then be used to deliver more high definition channels, video on demand and high bandwidth data services without major network upgrades. Mike: Gordon, before we discuss the Boradlogic product, can you give us an idea of how current cable delivery systems work? Traditional cable delivery systems work by allocating 6MHz of analog bandwidth for each channel. Most cable providers offer approximately 80 channels that consume (6 MHz/channel x 80 channels) 480 MHz of bandwidth. Typical cable networks provide only 750 MHz of bandwidth and with 480 MHz used for video, there is not much left for other services. Let's think about this a little bit more - one channel consumes 6 MHz of bandwidth but it takes 480 MHz of bandwidth to deliver that single channel to your TV while "wasting" (480 MHz - 6 Mhz) 474 MHz of bandwidth. Not very efficient even if you have a few TV's going in your house watching different channels at the same time. In summary and according to an article at Light Reading and linked in the show notes: Each analog channel consumes 6 MHz of capacity (or roughly 1/125th of the total capacity of an upgraded cable plant). Re-claiming that channel slot frees up enough capacity to launch 2 more channels in HDTV (each of which consumes about 2.4 MHz), or ten more digital Standard Definition (SD) channels (each of which consumes about 0.6 MHz), another ten QAMs, each capable of delivering an additional VOD stream, or more broadband [Internet] capacity. Many of the hundreds of digital broadcast TV channels a cable operator delivers are not being watched at any given time. It is a network inefficiency that can be remedied by simply switching off those channels that are not being watched. By reclaiming much of this analog spectrum, splitting fiber nodes, and employing switched broadcast video (SBV) techniques, there is lots of room for cable to expand service offerings, including HDTV and VOD. SBV has attracted major interest to this point and involves the delivery of all 80 or so channels in digital format � it works but requires every attached TV in the house to be connected through a set-top box with each box having its own remote controller - we have 6 connected TVs in my home now so 6 boxes plus 6 more controllers - expensive and we have enough time keeping track of a single remote. Light Reading says Comcast Corp. has an aggressive plan to cut the average number of analog channels it carries in half over the next five years, from 70 to 35. Tha
Sat, November 11, 2006
Flat World Strategies: Changing Technologies [CC Journal Article Podcast 23:25]
Flat Word Strategies: New Technologies Create Interactive Learning Introduction In "The World is Flat," Thomas Friedman makes the case that a number of forces have converged to flatten and restructure the global competitive landscape, and that this process is continuing and accelerating. This flattening has empowered individuals to compete and collaborate on a global scale like never before. As educators, we must understand the implications for us, our students and our institutions and more globally on education and learning. Key flatteners that are already impacting education include the Internet, open source software, search, wireless/mobility, VoIP, digitalization, personalization and virtualization. One of the key observations of this less predictable, less hierarchical flattened world is that knowledge is widely distributed and rapidly changing leaving traditional course-based learning increasingly unable to meet the needs of students. Bridging this divide requires new paradigms in education that incorporate "flat' world strategies such as informal learner-driven knowledge transfer and new technologies and forms of learning. Question from Mike: Gordon, can you give us a little background on some of the new tools being used? In the 1990's many of us first started to use the Internet to deliver and supplement content for our courses. We developed relatively static web pages that included text and pictures in similar format to traditional textbooks. Today with the combination of high bandwidth access and new development tools, fresh web content looks and feels much different. With "Web 2.0" tools and delivery methods, instructors are discovering new ways to develop and deliver content to and engage their students. Among the new tools finding their way into business and into the hands of our students are: Search, Instant Messaging, Blogging/Podcasting, Wikis, RSS/Subscription, and Wireless/Mobility. While many faculty are well-versed at using websites, email, and course management systems to interact and engage with their students, most have been slow to adopt some of these "new" technologies into and outside of their classroom. These new tools are part of the dynamic, interactive new Internet many are calling Web 2.0. According to techtarget.com, the term Web 2.0 was first used by O'Reilly Media and MediaLive International in 2004 during a next generation web conference. Web 2.0 based
Fri, November 03, 2006
Podcast Can I See Your Notes? [10:55]
Researched and written by: Michael QaissauneeIn Death by Powerpoint, we talked about becoming a better presenter, but we (myself included) take for granted that the copious notes students take in class capture the key aspects of our great lectures, are well organized, and will provide what students need to retain for tests and for further courses. Have you ever looked at your students' notes? As an exercise, try collecting and reviewing notes from a cross-section of your classes. Most faculty won't be surprised to learn that good note-taking is a lost art. This got me to thinking ... Where do our students and our kids learn to take notes? What I've concluded is that we don't, at any level, do any formal education on note-taking - it's all ad-hoc; most teachers are rightly focused on the content. But what's really troubling here, is that good note-taking is a critical part of learning and clearly we don't do enough to teach it and to reinforce with students the importance of good note-taking. What I'd like to introduce to you today is the Cornell Note-taking method. Developed by Cornell's Walter Pauk to help Cornell University students better organize their notes, this system is just one of many different strategies designed to help students take more effective notes. No one method is better than another, the goal is to find a method that works for you. I encourage you to share this method with your students and encourage them to give the method a chance. At the very least, it will get them and you thinking about how they take notes. The Cornell Note-Taking System To use this system, separate your page into 3 separate sections ( nice illustration here ), as follows: The Notes column (6-6.5 inches wide on right) is the largest and primary section. This is where the notes go, whether they're lecture or textbook notes. Stress using bulleted lists for easy skimming, as well as economy of language - abbreviations (see resources below), short sentences and fragments and eliminating all unnecessary words. The Cues column (2-2.5 inches wide on left) is used to highlight main ideas, clarify meanings, give examples, draw diagrams, or link ideas and examples. If done well, this area is where you do the bulk of your studying from. The Summary area (1-2 inches high on bottom) is used to reinforce concepts and provide an overview area where you write a sentence or two to summarize the notes on the page. This section is great for skimming your notes and
Sun, October 22, 2006
Blogcast 9: Show Updates and Writely at 10,000 Feet [12:45]
Writely and other Google products like Google Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Talk and Gmail have become a pretty formidable combination. The only disadvantage at this time is you have to be online to use. Next year, with new browser versions coming out, things will change significantly.
Sat, October 07, 2006
Blogcast 8: Jajah – Web Activated Telephony [8:16]
Jajah, started by Roman Scharf and Daniel Mattes in 2004, is offering an interesting service that may challenge Skype and other similar products. Jajah provides a paid service that allows calls to be routed landline/cell to landline/cell in many parts of the world without long distance fees. Here’s how it works: Let’s say I’m a Jajah customer and I want to call my brother who is living in London . I log into my Jajah account at jajah.com, enter my brother’s landline or cell number and my landline or cell number. Jajah makes the connection and rings my phone and then my brothers phone over connections that are local to each of us. See www.nctt.org/blog for complete note set.
Sun, September 24, 2006
Blogcast 7: Death By Powerpoint
Many people have very strong - mostly negative - opinions about Powerpoint. The phrase "death by Powerpoint" has been used (some would say over-used) to describe the painful experience of sitting through a bad Powerpoint presentation. The sentiment can be summed up by borrowing and adapting a phrase from Security Consultant and blogger Steve Riley - Powerpoint is "... the place where knowledge goes to die." While we don't disagree with critics that the use of Powerpoint is part of an ever-present misconception that technology fixes things or makes things better, we're not here to pile on - instead we'd like to offer some ideas to make Powerpoint more effective in your classroom.
Sun, September 03, 2006
Blogcast 6: WiMAX - Why Not? [17:20]
WiMax - Why Not? Craig McCaw is a visionary, who has had an uncanny ability to predict the future of technology. WiMAX has the potential to do for broadband access what cell phones have done for telephony - replacing cable and DSL services, providing universal Internet access just about anywhere - especially for suburban and rural blackout areas. Just like in the early 1980's Clearwire's Craig O. McCaw has been buying up licensed radio spectrum. You may not have heard of Craig but in the early 80's he recognized local cell permits being sold by the the FCC were greatly undervalued and he started bidding cellular phone licenses. He did his buying under the radar screen of the telcos and, by the time they recognized what he was doing it was basically too late � Craig had already purchased and owned licenses in most of the major markets. Of course he had the money - in 1986 Craig and his brothers sold a cable television business their father had left them for $755 million and concentrated on building a national cellular phone network. The story continues - MCI Communications sold its cellular and paging operations to Craig in 1986 for $122 million and their company went public with the brothers holding around 40% of the company. His last big acquisition in the cell market was the $3.5 billion deal for LIN Broadcasting where he outbid Bell South. With the LIN acquisition Craig and his brothers had almost complete control of the 1989 U. S. cell market. McCaw brothers sold the company to AT&T in 1994 for $11.5 billion and a lot of people figured they would just ride off into the sunset � not the case! Fast forward to today - Clearwire, under Craig's direction, has quietly purchased enough licensed radio spectrum to build a national WiMAX network. What is WiMax?Let's begin by putting WiMax in context. You and I both have cable modems. This is Broadband access - for residential access either a DSL or cable modem and at the office either a T1 or a T3 line - pretty expensive and not available in all areasWe also have WiFi access - at home, at work or on the road WiFi routers or wireless access points provide mobility with connectivity - hot spots are very small, so coverage is sparsenot that many years ago, we both used dial-up access - many (71%) use dial-up either because broadband is not available or too expensive - painfully slowThat's where WiMax comes in to the picture. WiMAX or Worldwide Inte
Sun, August 13, 2006
Blogcast 5: Google, Gdrive, and Platypus: Infinite Storage, Bandwidth, and CPU Power [17:54]
Since the launch of Gmail and the (at the time) unheard of storage space of 2 gigabytes, a number of developers have created tools to allow users to use their Gmail accounts for file storage. Examples include the GMail Drive shell extension , an add-on for the Firefox browser - Gmail Space , and even an equivalent for Mac OS X. Each of these add-ons/applications allows users to seamlessly email files to their Gmail accounts, while appearing to the native OS as another drive. Likewise, there's been a lot of buzz about Google's launch of Google Spreadsheets , and their acquistion and integration of Upstartle and their online wordprocessor Writely . In this blogcast we discuss some of these online tools. See www.nctt.org/blog for complete show notes.
Fri, August 04, 2006
Six Trends Driving the Global Economy [23:49]
The most recent issue of Wired magazine details six trends that are driving the global economy. Not surprisingly, 5 of the 6 are spearheaded by ICT-enabled companies and rely on a number of technologies that we seem to be discussing with greater regularity (SOAP, AJAX and Web 2.0). In this podcast we discuss these important trends, and how they are reshaping the global economic landscape.
Tue, July 18, 2006
BlogCast4: Has Skype Been Cracked? [13:07]
On July 13, 2006 Charlie Paglee claimed on the VoIPWiki Blog that a Chinese business has reverse engineered Skype's communications protocol. Rumor has it the un-named Chinese company will produce a Skype compatible soft phone and will go public with it by the end of this month. Complete shownotes at: http://www.nctt.org/blog/index.php#53 Also see NCTT Summer Workshop Resource Area for Workshop Content: http://www.ncttbuzz.org/NCTT_01/ NO LOGIN IS REQUIRED TO SEE CONTENT!
Wed, July 05, 2006
Blogcast 3: FON "Open Source" Wireless? [14:11]
FON ( http://www.fon.com/ ), a Spanish startup that is building an international WiFi community, is selling and organizing WiFi access to anyone who wishes to join and connect to the Internet. According to their website: It all started as a simple idea: enjoy WiFi technology everywhere across a WiFi infrastructure built by same members of the FON Community. Joining us is just as easy. All you need is to register for free, have broadband connection and to download our software onto your router. This converts your router into a FON Social Router. If you do not have a router that is compatible with FON's software, you can purchase one of our subsidized FON Social Routers at our online store. FON launched early this year and has been successful in raising almost $22 million from companies like eBay (includes Skype) and Google. Complete shownotes at: http://www.nctt.org/blog/index.php#51
Sat, June 24, 2006
Show 18: Web 2.0 Spawns Office 2.0 [33:08]
In the mid 1990's Oracle and Sun Microsystems developed and promoted the concept for a Network Computer (NC). Unfortunately, the revolutionary idea did not make sense offering a fraction of the functionality provided by a regular Personal Computer (PC), at a similar purchase price and the networks of the day could not support it. Recent developments, including greater adoption of high-speed internet, a new programming model for web-based user interfaces called AJAX and a killer application for it — Gmail — are now bringing new life to this concept. The idea is pretty simple: use a generic web browser and a set of online services to provide all the functionality needed by a computer user, removing the need for any application or data for that matter to be installed on the computer itself. Thus is born Office 2.0.
Sat, June 17, 2006
Blogcast 2: The Next Billion PC Project [16:20]
This blogcast discusses low cost computers for emerging markets in developing countries. The term being tossed around by the major manufacturers is the next billion and refers to the approximate number of low cost computers that will be sold in the next decade in coutries like China, Brazil and Egypt.
Sun, June 11, 2006
BlogCast: House Rules? Net Neutrality and IPTV; June 11, 2006 [13:19]
On Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives voted 269-152 against the net neutrality amendment, a bill sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey. A yes vote would have required broadband providers (Telco's, Cable Companies, etc) to offer the same service speeds to competitors that they provide to partners. The telcos and cable companies in particular lobbied heavily inside the beltway and it appears to have paid off. This was not without some push back - according to CIO.COM at the last minute several technology and service companies sent a letter to House members asking for net neutrality support. Among those companies signing that letter were Microsoft and eBay and Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers – a large and influential venture capital firm.
Sun, May 28, 2006
Show 17: Sony's Playstation, Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's xBox [25:47]
Todays gamers are not the gamers of the old pong days. High performance graphics, processors, controllers, I/O and network connectivity make many games appear anything but virtual. This show gives updates on new products from Sony and Nintendo and also discusses Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Mon, May 15, 2006
Show 16: RFID, UMPC, Open Source and Muni WiFi: Updates and New News [28:06]
This show brings technology updates on past shows along with recent news items that affect Information and Communications Technology and Information and Communications Technology enabled industries.
Thu, May 04, 2006
Is Voice over IP Secure?
With increasing business and consumer adoption of internet telephony (more commonly called voice over internet protocol or VoIP ) and recent revelations regarding the NSAâ??s domestic spying program, one begins to wonder - how secure are VoIP calls? In this podcast we discuss the differences between public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) and VoIP, security concerns regarding VoIP traffic, the potential for blocking voice traffic and potential security threats posed by Skype and other VoIP clients.
Sun, April 16, 2006
Municipal Wi-Fi: Wireless Access Goes Public! [28:13]
Local governments are looking closely at different technologies and business models in efforts to provide wireless broadband access. The current number of U.S. municipalities sponsoring access is small but growing. In this, our fourteenth podcast, we discuss some of the methods currently being used and considered to provide access.
Tue, April 04, 2006
A Video Screen Rolled up Inside Your Pencil? OLED/LEP Technologies [25:15]
Organic Light Emitting Diodes and Light Emitting Polymers are set to revolutionize the display industry. They don't require a backlight, and are more energy efficient and offer a higher contrast than traditional LCD displays. This is a relatively new display technology that promises to deliver thin, power efficient and bright displays. These new displays, already popular in MP3 players and cell phones, have amazing potential - thin TVs, flexible displays, transparent monitors, white-bulb replacement, and more.
Sat, March 25, 2006
RFID - Bovine Jewelry or Barcodes on Steroids? [30:21]
A new consumer goods tracking system called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to enter all of our lives, with profound implications for consumer privacy. RFID couples radio frequency (RF) identification technology with highly miniaturized computers that enable products to be identified and tracked at any point along the supply chain. The system can be applied to virtually any physical item, from pets and people to ballpoint pens and toothpaste, each potentially carrying a unique identifier embedded in a chip. Uniqueness of RFID tags enables individual tracking of a product from location to location, even to the consumer, aids in combating theft and other forms of product loss, and facilitates quality control and product recalls. There may soon come a day when RFID will be used to identify and track every item produced on the planet, contributing to concerns over post-sale tracking and profiling of consumers. If you’re skeptical, consider the following quote: “I think the industry has sold itself on a program that offers so little return that it simply won’t be worth the trouble and expense.? Not from a critic of RFID, but from a Midwestern Grocery Chain Executive discussing (in 1975) the potential of the barcode.
Sun, March 12, 2006
iTunes, Origami and Mega Mergers: Updates and New News [31:44]
Technology updates on past shows along with recent news items that affect Information and Communications Technology and Information and Communications Technology enabled industries. We will do these update shows every five weeks, with the next one scheduled for Show 16.
Sat, March 04, 2006
To Open Source or Not to Open Source, That is the Question [30:52]
Though not as memorable a question as that faced by Shakespeare's Hamlet, many companies are now confronted with critical decisions regarding adoption of Linux and other open source software. This podcast, the fourth in a 10-part series detailing technologies to watch for 2006, examines Linux and open source software. Though originally developed and used by individual enthusiasts for Intel 386 microprocessors, Linux and two subsequent generations of open-source software have gained support from IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Novell. These products are used in servers and have been successfully deployed in virtually all popular computer architectures, ranging from embedded systems (routers, mobile phones, Private Branch eXchanges [PBXs] and personal video recorders) to PCs and supercomputers. With increasingly competitive economic environments and continued pressure to cut costs and streamline operations, many organizations find the issue of open source adoption a question of to be or not to be.
Fri, February 24, 2006
Desktop Search Engines: Indispensible or Intrusive? [20:25]
How many times have you saved a file on your local machine and, a few days or weeks later wasted time trying to find that file? Modern operating systems have search capabilities but most are not very user friendly and they are typically slow. Today third party desktop search engines are adding new features and functionality, finding their way on to business and personal machines. These tools work similarly to the popular Internet search engines only they allow you to search your local computer. As we will discuss in this podcast, our third in a 10-part series detailing technologies to watch for 2006, well known companies like Google and Yahoo and some other not so well known companies are making inroads onto our computer desktops.
Fri, February 17, 2006
Cash Mice or How E-Commerce is Going Micro [22:49]
There's a disruptive new technology on the horizon, and it's called micro-commerce. Microcommerce allows vendors to sell low-ticket items at a profit, changing the way e-business is conducted, allowing for value-added content and providing new business models for online sellers. As we will discuss in this podcast, our second in a 10-part series detailing technologies to watch for 2006, one need only look to Apple’s iTunes as evidence that microcommerce has already become big business. By offering products, information, or services for a small subscription or a one-time fee, many businesses see great potential for phenomenal growth. Online retailers aren’t abandoning the cash cow that e-commerce has become, but they’re paying a lot more attention to micro-commerce’s potential to become cash mice.
Wed, February 01, 2006
Instant Messaging in the Workplace: Concerns, Technology and Solutions [19:41]
Instant Messaging or IM, once the domain of generation X and generation Y is quickly becoming a mainstream business application. While this technology has been a great boon to businesses, increasing productivity and streamlining efficiency there is a darkside. Chief among potential corporate headaches are manageability, security, interoperability and records retention. In this, the first of a 10 part series detailing technologies to watch for 2006, we provide a review of IM history, usage, trends vulnerabilities and future solutions.
Sun, January 29, 2006
Security 101 - What Every Employee Should Know
Excellent coverage of Information and Communications Technology security issues that everyone should know.
Mon, January 23, 2006
The Telecom Act 0f 2006 and What it Means to You. 1_22_06
The Telecom Act of 1996 is long overdue for a rewrite and this is the year. Think back to 1996 if you can when the telephone companies sold voice and the cable companies sold video. Things are not the same for the Verizons and the Comcasts of this world as they compete head to head for your business while disruptive companies like Google are nipping at their heels.
Mon, January 16, 2006
Broadband Technical Update
This podcast reviews cable and telephone company plans for delivery of voice, video, data amd wireless technologies.
Mon, January 16, 2006
NSF, NAS, etc and the SMET Pipeline
This podcast discusses the Science, Math, Engineering and Technology (SMET) pipline and work being done by the National Academy of Science and the National Science Foundation.
Mon, January 16, 2006
2006 Technology Predictions Part 2
This is the second of a two part podcast looking at Information and Communications Technology predictions for 2006.
Mon, January 16, 2006
2006 Technology Predictions Part 1
This is the first of a two part podcast looking at Information and Communications Technology predictions for 2006.
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