Thursday, May 29, 2008

SMART Free Update on Interactive Response System

THE Journal reports on the update from SMART:

Smart To Update Classroom Response System in July : May 2008 : THE Journal
Senteo 2.0 adds features that allow it to integrate with Smart's Notebook collaborative learning software and that simplify the process of adding questions to lesson plans. Other new features include:

* Enhanced tracking functions;
* A "full-featured" gradebook;
* Support for meta tags associated with student names; and
* Various improvements to reporting and analysis features.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Microsoft to Continue XP for Schools

eSchoolNews reports that Microsoft has extended the deadline for schools/universities to get XP on new computer acquisitions:
Schools will have until 2009 to buy Windows XP
Microsoft will stop offering Windows XP in retail stores June 30, but at least two major computer manufacturers say school districts, colleges, and universities will be able to buy machines with the older operating system until January 2009, as Windows Vista—released last year—remains unpopular with many consumers.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Monday, May 12, 2008

Report: Linux Server Deployment Expanding


NewsFactor Network | Linux Ecosystem Spending To Exceed $49 Billion
IDC researchers predict that spending on the Linux ecosystem will rise from $21 billion in 2007 to more than $49 billion in 2011, driven by rising enterprise deployments of Linux server operating systems.

Linux server deployments are expanding from infrastructure Relevant Products/Services-oriented applications to more commercially oriented database and enterprise resource-planning workloads "that historically have been the domain of Microsoft Relevant Products/Services Windows and Unix," noted IDC analysts in a white paper commissioned by the nonprofit Linux Foundation.

"The early adoption of Linux was dominated by infrastructure-oriented workloads, often taking over those workloads from an aging Unix server or Windows NT 4.0 server that was being replaced," according to the report's authors, Al Gillen, Elaina Stergiades and Brett Waldman. These days, however, Linux is increasingly being "viewed as a solution for wider and more critical business deployments."

Microsoft Security Updates May 13

Click below for more detail on the patches:
Microsoft to patch four bugs on Tuesday
Microsoft today said it plan to post four security updates next week, three of them "critical," to patch Windows, Word, Publisher and all of the company's anti-malware applications.

Among the critical fixes will be one that quashes bugs in Microsoft's Jet Database Engine that go back as far as 2005. The other critical patches will close holes in Microsoft's word processor and desktop publishing programs.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Implications for installing Windows XP SP3

Found this headline on topix.com:
Important information about Windows XP SP3 for Internet Explorer users
Important information about Windows XP SP3 for Internet Explorer users

You will be unable to remove IE8 Beta or IE7 after installing Windows XP SP3 because Microsoft wants to make sure that you do not encounter a problem commonly known as "DLL Hell".

IE8 Beta 1 users

You will NOT be offered Windows XP SP3 unless and until you remove IE8 Beta 1. This is because if you install windows XP SP3 without removing IE8 Beta 1, then you will no longer be able to remove IE8 Beta 1 and the Remove option will be greyed out in Add/Remove Programs.

Internet Explorer 7 Users

You will be offered Windows XP SP3 as a high priority update BUT if you install it you will not be able to remove IE7 without removing Windows XP SP3 first. It is recommended that you remove IE7, then install Windows XP SP3 then re-install IE7.

Internet Explorer 6 Users

You will be offered Windows XP SP3 as a high priority update. Windows XP SP3 ships with an updated version of IE6. No need to do anything else.

Friday, May 2, 2008

US Drops From 4th to 15th (and charges more)

The United States is falling further and further behind in bandwidth speed and availability, yet is charging more Internet connectivity:

Trifecta of lost opportunities: US #15 in broadband ranking
...the truth is that the US only has a broadband policy if you consider "doing nothing" to be a policy. When you're convinced that any form of government regulation, policy-setting, or program only mucks up the market, this makes sense; if you look at other countries and find that nations without a plan "will fare worse than if they had smart broadband policies," the continued refusal to do anything meaningful looks willfully ignorant.

A major new report on broadband policy from the nonpartisan Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) suggests that government action alone won't produce a broadband panacea, but that leadership from the top and a carefully-targeted set of policies can do plenty of good. After doing detailed case studies of nine countries, the report concluded that "those that make broadband a priority, coordinate across agencies, put real resources behind the strategy, and promote both supply and demand" do better than those which do nothing.

Critics of the current US approach to spurring broadband deployment and adoption point out that the country has been falling on most broadband metrics throughout the decade. One of the most reliable, that issued by the OECD, shows the US falling from 4th place in 2001 to 15th place in 2007. While this ranking in particular has come under criticism from staunchly pro-market groups, the ITIF's analysis shows that these numbers are the most accurate we have. According to an ITIF analysis of various OECD surveys, the US is in 15th place worldwide and it lags numerous other countries in price, speed, and availability--a trifecta of lost opportunities.

With an average broadband speed of 4.9Mbps, the US is being Chariots of Fire-d by South Korea (49.5Mbps), Japan (63.6Mbps), Finland (21.7Mbps), Sweden (16.8Mbps), and France (17.6Mbps), among others. Not only that, but the price paid per megabyte in the US ($2.83) is substantially higher than those countries, all of which come in at less than $0.50 per megabyte.