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ATRC Podcast
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 Podcast
for September 29, 2006 - Episode 34
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Play time 54 minutes - Program Notes
"The first rule of
any technology used in a business is that automation
applied to an efficient operation will magnify the
efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an
inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."
~Bill Gates
Haydn is out this week, but Dave has mailed it in
from Colorado. Thanks Dave. It's short
and sweet, having to do with the Blackboard Edit
View shortcut. Consequently, I'm tempted to promise a very short show--and I do expect
it to be short-er, but there is so much interesting
tech news that I'm not sure how short. That tech news
includes an IBM/Lenovo battery recall, a bug-fix
release for iTunes, Firefox 2 RC 1, a new social web
site from Microsoft called Wallop, a couple of early
critical bug fixes from Redmond, and pricing for the
new Zune has been announced. (We'll get to that real Zune).
We have the usual training opportunities news, my
tech-talk-topic turns legal this week with a
discussion of the TEACH Act and its implication for
us tech types, and the gizmo this week is like an
Arnold remake, the rise of the machines--kind of
funny and kind of scary. How far will
Automation go lugging along its buddy Stupidity?
Palomar Tech and Download News
-
 |
|
Picture via engadget |
This story burns me up. 7,000,000 and
counting. The (nearly) final
shoe has dropped. IBM/Lenovo have
recalled 526,000 Sony laptop batteries.
They join Toshiba (who also denied early on the
need to recall), Dell, Apple, and Panasonic in recalling
lithium-ion laptop batteries manufactured by Sony.
(HP, don't
you have enough problems even yet? Better
be joining the
club.)
"The batteries were sold between February 2005
and September 2006, separately or along with
ThinkPad computers. They were distributed by IBM
until Lenovo, a Chinese computer maker, bought
IBM’s personal computer division in May 2005."
Lenovo is handling the recall.
Click here for the Lenovo recall site.
Read about the recall
here. There are
stories circulating that Sony themselves,
the big bad mother of all bad batteries, is
going to institute a world-wide recall, but
details are as yet scarce.
Click here for the various websites listed
in our battery recall roundup.
-
Apple has released the bug fix version of
iTunes 7, numbered version 7.0.1.8 with
QuickTime version 7.1.3. This is the bug-fix
version to correct some of the problems with
7.0. Where was I for versions 7.0.1.1-7?
It's like only a week later.
According to Apple "iTunes 7.0.1 addresses
issues with audio playback. In addition, iTunes
7.0.1 also addresses stability and performance
issues with Cover Flow, CD importing, iPod
syncing, and more." Only Apple would refer
to bug fixes as "and more..."
The download also comes with an optional Apple
software updater. Microsoft and Adobe have
deployed these, among many others, and now Apple
has joined the club.
-
Firefox 2 RC 1 is now available from
download.com. They make it clear that this
is for developers and beta testers only and
recommend others do not use it (sure) .
 It has the same anti-phishing measures as IE 7,
and is implemented better, in my opinion, some
of the same security improvements, a cool new
look with translucent toolbar buttons, a
other-than cosmetic innovation is "Live Titles,"
descriptions connected to bookmarks that contain
current information from the website, "Inline
Spell-check" that checks your spelling when
making web postings, like commenting a blog, and
"Session Restore" which picks up where you left
off after a browser or system crash. You
can read the initial CNet review
here, and view the first-look video
here.
Public release should be end-of-October, if they
stay on target.
It will be an interesting Spring next year, to
see how the new browser wars play out.
Currently Firefox has about a 30% market share,
Internet Explorer has 58%, Safari about 9%, and
others, like Netscape and Opera, the remaining
3%.
We will report as soon as possible the browser
platforms supported by our Blackboard system.
Click here for the current matrix. I can
report that currently Firefox is the least
preferred browser from the Blackboard point of
view, and it displays the most functional
problems of the three.
- Microsoft announced the launch in beta of
its new social networking site
Wallop.
Wallop is a by-invitation-only site (a strategy
recently abandoned by Facebook, but used
effectively in the development of GMail) "for
the first time combines a social networking site
with a marketplace, enabling an entirely new way
to self-express and enhance a person's
increasingly important online image." What
this means is, they are going to charge to make
you look good. The idea is you by a cool
looking module (called a Mod) from the Wallop
Modders network, and apply it to your site,
making you look, well, Mod.
Read more about it from
bink,
It seems to me that once again, MS has missed
the point. People don't want to look
over-designed. The want authentic.
Authentic is crude or rude or incorrect or
scruffy but most definitely funny. Designed is
the mall.
Even though Wallop is flash-based, if you view
the Microsoft
research web site, it comes off as,
basically, how to PowerPointize you, your family
and friends. If you really, really want,
you can
tell them why you should be invited to join.
- We
reported last week on a VML or
vector-based graphics vulnerability inherent in
Internet Explorer 6 or earlier that could allow
an attacker to take control of a PC and install
whatever software they desired.
Microsoft's original take on the flaw was, 'we
know all about this, if the user has Live
OneCare, they are protected, if not, it will be
fixed on the usual second Tuesday security
update' (a day that has become known as "patch"
Tuesday).
Wrong.
Think again. Now Microsoft, never one to
be ahead of the public relations curve, realizes
how crass and callous they were being, has
released the fix for general update (KB925486
- Security Bulletin MS06-055).
According to CNet, they were pushed into
releasing the patch by security leaders, who
were busily preparing their own third-party fix
before Microsoft acted. "In one example,
cybercrooks have adapted
a scam that uses e-cards to also take
advantage of this latest IE flaw. The scam
involves e-mail messages that at first glance
appear to be greeting cards, but clicking on the
link to view the card sends the target to a
malicious Web site that tries to silently
install keystroke-logging software."
In
another CNet article, Ken Dunham of Verisign
was quoted as saying "Exploitation has already
eclipsed that of the last out-of-cycle patch.
t appears that there were several million
domains that were redirecting to malicious VML
sites."
Faced with a worsening public relations disaster
of this magnitude, Microsoft could do nothing
else but rush the patch out.
- Along those same lines, the notorious patch
to the patch to the patch vulnerability in
Windows 2000 (MS06-049)
that started back with the behemoth Patch
Tuesday in August has surfaced again with
another revision. If affected, apply the
revised patch.
- Microsoft is also
now considering whether to put its Works
suite of productivity software (the low-end,
less-than-office product they give away with so
many new computers) online and free, relying on
ads to pay the freight. The move is widely
seen as an effort to stave off the growth of
free, web-based office productivity software
from Google.
Last month Google announce
release of a bundle of free software which had
all been around for awhile, GMail, Calendar,
Communicator, Groups (called "Google
apps for your domain"). They have recently
acquired
Writely.com and are expected to add a
web-based Word processor to their bundle soon.
- We reported 2 weeks ago on the Microsoft
Zune announcement, this Thursday, as they
attempt to build buzz about their iPod rival
music player, they
have announced that the price of the 30GB
Zune will be $249.99: "...and, as a result, lose
money this holiday season." Songs will be,
guess what, 99 cents each. In the same
announcement they indicated that a Zune phone is
in the works. They are going to have a
point system, where a song costs 79 Microsoft
points, and points go for 80 to the dollar.
The points are also good at the online XBox game
store.
Training Opportunities
- Academic Technology Training
- On Monday, October 2 we will begin
conducting "Copyright
Essentials" online. You must register
through the PD office. We will email those
registered on Monday with online workshop access
information. We will cover copyright law,
in-class rights to perform and display
copyrighted works, online rights for the same,
fair use, guidelines for copying printed
materials for educational use, and other related
topics. The online workshop will be
conducted by Terry Gray and Haydn Davis.
- On Tuesday, October 3, from 10-11am in room
LL-111, Terry Gray will present "How
to Create Web-based Crossword Puzzles with
StudyMate."
- On Thursday, October 5, from 2-4pm in room
LL-109 Terry Gray will present "Adobe
Acrobat: Creating and Using PDF Documents."
Register for all Academic Technology workshops
through the
Professional Development web site.
Click here to access our entire training
schedule,
here to access the new "competencies"
approach to our workshops, and other training
information.
- Microsoft webcasts of interest coming up
next week:
- Adobe is offering several Acrobat 8 webinars
coming up in September and October.
Click here to register.
- CCC Confer would like to invite you to join
an informative brown bag lunchtime presentation
providing an overview of Cerro Coso's successful Online Teaching Certificate
Program. The presenter is Matt Hightower,
Director of Cerro Coso's Online Program, and it will
be held Thursday, October 5 at noon.
Click here to register,
here for more information.
 Blackboard Feature of the Week - David Gray
Dave has a remote for us this week from high in
the Rockies. Along with an account of his
snowy rambles, his topic is Blackboard shortcut
known as "the Edit View."
Listen to this segment only [mp3 - play time =
2:30]
See
the index of Dave's previous "Blackboard Feature
of the Week" segments.
Note: To get to David's vodcast site,
click here.
Teaching with Technology - Dr. Haydn Davis
Haydn is off this week and will return next
week.
See
an index of previous "Teaching with
Technology" segments.
Tech-Talk-Topic - Terry Gray
The TEACH Act
So what does a piece of copyright law have to do
with technology? Lots.
The TEACH Act (the “Technology, Education and
Copyright Harmonization Act" - signed into law
November 2, 2002) "...fully revising
Section 110(2) of the U.S. Copyright Act
governing the lawful uses of existing copyrighted
materials in distance education," designated
"...specific requirements and conditions, outlining
the terms on which educators may clip pieces of
text, images, sound, and other works and include
them in 'distance education.'" (Crews, "Copyright
and Distance Education"). In addition to
section 110(2), the TEACH Act also created section
112(f) dealing with the conditions under which
analog materials can be digitized for purposes of
display in accordance with 110(2). (Still with
me?)
Bear in mind in the discussion following, the
TEACH Act has to do with the display of dramatic and
non-dramatic works. That means primarily, the
use of audio visual materials. Print materials
are affected only insofar as they are displayed, as
in being displayed in a traditional classroom.
Every day a faculty member comes to us asking us
to digitize and encode for the web pieces of
multimedia. Often, however, they do not
realize the requirements of the TEACH Act, or the
implications for their use of digitized, copied
material. In short, here they are:
- The work cannot have been produced for the
distance education market in the first place.
That is, you cannot copy, without permission,
the work of someone attempting to sell distance
education materials and then use them in distance ed.
Congress was concerned with protecting the sales of
publishers in adding this provision to the law. Furthermore, textbooks and
course packs are specifically excluded.
- The work being copied and digitized must be
legally obtained. That is, not pirated.
- The amount that can be copied must generally
be "reasonable and limited" or limited to an amount and duration comparable
to what would be displayed or performed in a
live physical classroom setting. This has
not been tested in court, as far as I know, but
the argument for copying and digitizing entire
works is that they are no longer than would be
shown in a traditional face-to-face class.
- The digitized copy must be transmitted under
the supervision of the instructor. This
does not mean that the instructor has to been
online when students are accessing a video
stream, for example. It does mean that the
work must be an integral part of the class
session and cannot be simply enrichment or
background material that the student is free to
watch or not. The faculty member should
interactively use the copyrighted work as part
of a class assignment in the distance education
course.
- Software tools must be used to limit access
to the works to only students enrolled in the
course, to prevent downstream copying by those
students, and to prevent the students from
retaining the works for longer than a “class
session.” In our case, that means the work
must be password protected in a Blackboard
course site, and it must be streamed, and not
downloadable. It is true there are tools
to capture streamed media, but streaming is
considered a reasonable effort to satisfy the
requirements of the law. In the case or
print material (and bear in mind the extent of
print material that can be digitized under the
TEACH act is restricted to the amount that would
be displayed in a normal in-person class
session) this means placing non-printing,
non-copying restrictions on the documents using
Acrobat or some other program.
- The institution must have a copyright policy
in place, and a copyright notice must be provided
with the work, and
students must be informed that they may not
violate the legal rights of the copyright
holder.
- Works can be digitized for display in a
distance ed class if:
- The amount of analog material digitized
cannot exceed what could be displayed in a
normal in-person class session. We have
taken that to mean 1.5 hours, but, of course,
longer works could be segmented.
- Digitization can occur as long as a digital
version is not already available to students.
If, for example, a professor asks us to digitize
a Frontline episode, but we find that it has
already been digitized and streamed from the
Frontline web site, we are not permitted to
digitize, but the class must use the version on
the Frontline web site.
- Digitization of an analog source may occur
if a digital alternative exists and the digital
alternative contains "technological protection
measures" that keep it from being used for a
section 110(2) display. In other words, if
a DVD is encrypted and copy protected in such a
way that it cannot be excepted, an alanog
alternative (for example, a VHS tape) may be
legally used.,
The two best references on the TEACH Act I am
aware of are:
"Copyright
and Distance Education," by Dr. Kenneth Crews of
the University of Indiana Copyright Management
Center, and "The
TEACH Act Toolkit," from North Carolina State
University. Click here for a simplified,
2-page executive summary [PDF] of the provisions
of the TEACH Act from the Copyright Clearance
Center. I have also compiled
a set of
useful resources on the much broader issues related
to copyright.
As noted above, the TEACH Act really has to do
with displayed works, primarily audiovisual
materials. When it comes to copying printed
materials, fair use still applies. Stanford
University has a wonderful set of resources on
fair use and copyright. Fair use can be
very complex, but to help, NCSU has published a
wonderful
fair use worksheet
[PDF].
It behooves institutions and faculty of those
institutions to be aware of the requirements of the
TEACH Act and fair use also, since violations can
lead to serious consequences and the ones who are
liable are not the functionaries and technicians of
the institutions, but the institutions themselves.
Listen to this segment only [mp3 - play time =
17:34]
Gizmo of the week
 South
Korea has recently revealed that robots will be
joining the troops "manning" the northern border.
"Lee Jae-Hoon, deputy minister of commerce, industry
and energy told the Agence
France Press: "The Intelligent Surveillance and
Guard Robot has surveillance, tracking, firing, and
voice recognition systems built into a single unit."
The South Korean government is expected to buy 1,000
of these robots at the cost of $200,000 apiece and
will deploy them along its northern border, coastal
regions and military airfileds." "Equipped
with visual and infra-red detection capabilities,
the sentry robot can spot moving objects up to four
kilometers (2.5 miles) away during the day and half
that distance at night."
"Via "pattern recognition," it can distinguish
between humans, cars, or trees at two kilometers in
daytime and one kilometer at night. Suppressive fire
can be provided by a machine gun on top." What
about a human dressed up like a tree driving a car?
"South Korea has a largely conscript military of
650,000 against Pyongyang's 1.2 million-strong
forces, but a falling birth rate means that Seoul
will struggle in the future to maintain troop
numbers." Not any more!
Here's what I really want to know. Will they
kill people, but refuse to fire on toasters?
How deep does the fellow-feeling between machines
go? Deeper than their powder-anodized skin?
Furthermore, what happens if northern robots recruit
them into the red guard? Do they pivot
180-degrees and begin spewing? Watch out men,
watch out cars, watch out trees.
(Source: The
Middle East Times and
Engadget)
Music
 The
music for today's show was provided by
Magnatune.com,
and is used through their Creative Commons license
for podcasts. Today's album was
"Give
Me a Perfect World" by
Sun Palace.
From the artist bio: "Sun Palace is the
musical vision of vocalist, songwriter, and musician
Andriette Redmann, who was raised on a Wisconsin
cherry farm that doubled as an artist colony—a place
she describes as 'a combination of Ringling Brothers
and a Bergman film.'"
We used tracks 1: "Give me a Perfect World;" 2:
"Round and Round;" 8: "The Corridor;" 9: "Show Me
Your Wild Side;" 6: "Palace Welcome;" 5: "Familiar
Voices;" 7: "Man of the Severn Wave;" 10: "Under the
Moon."
Visit
magnatune and reward them for their generosity,
and if you like this album, buy it. Magnatune is not evil!
"Tragedy is
when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk
into an open sewer and die" ~ Mel
Brooks
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