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27 February, 2013

Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey — three people who became billionaire tech industry luminaries thanks to their computer programming abilities — appear in a new video released Tuesday by the Partovi brothers as part of their new computer science-education nonprofit, Code.org

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/zuckerberg-gates-encourage-kids-get-programming-new-video-1C8574562

Major internet service providers today will start monitoring the internet traffic to their customers' computers and will warn them if they download copyrighted materials using peer to peer network. The article says, 'A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection, or redirecting Internet traffic until they acknowledge they received a notice or review educational materials about copyright law.'

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INTERNET_PIRACY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

ABC hacked over Wilders interview, personal information of thousands leaked online

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/technology/abc-hacked-over-wilders-interview-personal-information-of-thousands-leaked-online/story-fn7bfu22-1226586775959

If you or your kids have taken an online lesson at the Khan Academy (3,200 video lessons, 168 million views), been enlightened by a TED Talk (1,300 talks, 800 million views), watched a videotaped academic lecture (Academic Earth, Open Courseware Consortium, Open Culture), enrolled in a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course, now being offered by companies like Udacity and a growing list of universities, including M.I.T., Harvard and Stanford), or simply learned to play guitar, paint a landscape or make a soufflé via YouTube — then you know that the distribution channels of education have changed — and that the future of learning is free and open.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/open-education-for-a-global-economy/

Pirate Bay moves from Sweden to Norway, Spain. By doing so, the parties are only acting as a "digital post office", said Geir Aaslid, leader of the Norwegian Pirate Party. "We're not responsible for the mail passing through the pipeline."

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/pirate-bay-moves-from-sweden-to-norway-spain-20130227-2f4y1.html

Apple could pay up to $US100 million after it agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that said customers were charged when their children unwittingly bought apps from the company's online store, a court filing shows.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/apple-to-settle-lawsuit-on-app-purchases-by-kids-20130227-2f4sq.html

Yahoo CEO stirs up controversy with her move to take away the flexible working arrangements that many employees depended on

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/mayer-feels-heat-over-telecommuting-ban-20130227-2f4rj.html

26 February, 2013

Teachers using Lynda.com Certificate of Completion to demonstrate their learning and skills development

http://ponderingsofamid-lifeteacher.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/pe3imovie.html

Union leader Paul Howes has likened nanotechnology to asbestos and called for more research to ease fears the growing use of fine particles could endanger manufacturing workers.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/union-raises-fears-over-nanotechnology-20130226-2f2l5.html

The First Kickstarter Film to Win an Oscar Takes Home Crowdsourced Gold

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/02/kickstarter-first-oscar/

ISPs Now Monitoring for Copyright Infringement. Cyberlockers, e-mail attachments, shared Dropbox folders and other ways to infringe are not yet included in the crackdown.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/02/copyright-scofflaws-beware/

Consultation on the draft F-10 Australian Curriculum: Technologies

http://consultation.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Static/docs/Technologies/Draft%20Australian%20Curriculum%20Technologies%20-%20February%202013.pdf

HEWLETT-PACKARD says it is selling its webOS mobile operating system to South Korean consumer electronics titan LG to use in internet-connected televisions. HP acquired webOS as part of its $US1.2 billion ($A1.17 billion) purchase of Palm in 2010. HP used webOS to power a TouchPad tablet model that flopped after its release in 2011.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/hp-sells-webos-operating-system-to-lg/story-e6frgakx-1226585583668

The Xperia Z uses Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) with an update promised to 4.2. This is a partially waterproof phone – at one metre for up to 30 minutes,

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/exec-tech/sony-nails-it-with-xperia-z-smartphone/story-e6frgazf-1226585456924

MasterPass will be launched in Australia and Canada by the end of March before expanding to other markets. including by waving a smartphone equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC) technology near a special reader.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/battle-commences-for-mobile-money-20130226-2f2mr.html

Dr Wilson from University of Sydney says, "we are the only developed country in the world that doesn't have some requirement for maths at the end of high school,''

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/boys-and-girls-divided-on-maths-20130225-2f232.html#ixzz2Lx4ynBlk

25 February, 2013

TAIWAN-BASED electronics maker HTC settled charges with US regulators that it failed to provide adequate security for smartphones and tablet computers, officials said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/htc-devices-were-insecure-regulators/story-e6frgakx-1226584755894

People who work from home start earlier, work up to three hours longer and get more done, a Melbourne University study found. Staying in touch with the office by email or video conference gave workers more control and left them energised, less stressed and with fewer distractions, the study, published in the Telecommunications Journal of Australia, reported.

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/home-office-produces-hardest-workers-20130223-2ey2d.html

Angry and demoralised Brisbane City Council IT workers who will lose their jobs to an Indian company will protest at Tuesday’s Council meeting to let councillors know their ‘‘true feelings’’.

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/outsourced-staff-to-show-council-their-true-feelings-20130221-2eu7r.html

Mozilla Foundation has an ally in phone companies, who are interested in seeing an alternative to Apple and Google, particularly one coming from a non-profit foundation. Thirteen phone companies around the world have committed to supporting Firefox phones

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/firefox-smartphones-coming-this-year-20130225-2f08t.html