Blog Tips
Simply click on the URL (http:// ...) link in each article to visit the article's page
To search this blog, try the Search Box on the right, or click on the Labels following each post entry
To search this blog, try the Search Box on the right, or click on the Labels following each post entry
24 May, 2013
A new piece of Android malware has been discovered that can intercept your incoming text messages and forward them on to criminals. Once installed, the trojan can be used to steal sensitive messages for blackmailing purposes or more directly, codes which are used to confirm online banking transactions.
Labels:
Cybersafety,
Ethical,
ICT Capability,
Privacy,
research
23 May, 2013
People with autism have a neural development disorder that often undermines their ability to communicate and interact socially, and their brains process information very differently to people who are not autistic, leading to repetitive and restricted behaviour. But in the world of computers the tendencies they often display such as an obsession for detail and an ability to analyse long sets of data very accurately can translate into highly useful and marketable skills.
3D PRINTERS FOR PEACE contest
We are challenging the 3D printing community to design things that advance the cause of peace. This is an open-ended contest, but if you’d like some ideas, ask yourself what Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, or Ghandi would make if they’d had access to 3D printing.
- low-cost medical devices
- tools to help pull people out of poverty
- designs that can reduce racial conflict
- objects to improve energy efficiency or renewable energy sources to reduce wars over oil
- tools that would reduce military conflict and spending while making us all safer and more secure
- things that boost sustainable economic development (e.g. designs for appropriate technology in the developing world to reduce scarcity)
http://www.mtu.edu/materials/printersforpeace/
22 May, 2013
21 May, 2013
If people who sit at their computers for tens of hours each week zapping virtual monsters are hard-core gamers, then massive open online courses have led to a similarly obsessed breed of online student: the hard-core learner. Nearly 100 students using Coursera, the largest provider of MOOCs, have completed 20 or more courses.
Should we let wunderkinds drop out of high school? After all, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college (and David Karp never finished highschool). I could see how much of the work he was doing at school wasn't relevant to what he wanted to learn," she said. "He always wanted to learn more than what the schools wanted to teach him. At times it was very frustrating. I was fortunate to find people that were able to teach him more, but he has gone beyond what high school could ever give him."
The tech community may be different from other industries. Degrees are not necessarily seen as a hallmark of achievement and programmers are judged on their ability to type lines of code. You are what you create.
What also sets the field apart is that computer programming is not taught at every high school, and even when it is, the most talented students often either "surpass the curriculum or feel it's not relevant to them", said Danielle Strachman, program director for the Thiel Fellowship. "They want to move at their own pace."
http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/should-we-let-wunderkinds-drop-out-of-high-school-20130521-2jxsi.html
What also sets the field apart is that computer programming is not taught at every high school, and even when it is, the most talented students often either "surpass the curriculum or feel it's not relevant to them", said Danielle Strachman, program director for the Thiel Fellowship. "They want to move at their own pace."
http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/should-we-let-wunderkinds-drop-out-of-high-school-20130521-2jxsi.html
The Tax Office has spent $5.2 million to enable Apple Mac users to lodge their tax returns online this year. For 15 years, the Australian Tax Office has failed to provide Mac users with the same ability as Windows users to file their tax return online. "But to be honest, I think that they probably should have spent that money on a web-based system"
20 May, 2013
19 May, 2013
Mayor Bloomberg’s advice to ‘so-so’ students is to skip college and become a plumber. His argument is that they won’t waste time, would have a nice income and could avoid student loan debt. Plus, this is one profession that can’t be outsourced. nother benefit: Plumbers don’t have to worry about their jobs being outsourced or handled by computers. “It’s hard to farm that out ... and it’s hard to automate that,” he said.
Are gadgets making us dumber? Two new studies suggest they might be. One found that people who are interrupted by technology score 20 percent lower on a standard cognition test. A second demonstrated that some students, even when on their best behavior, can't concentrate on homework for more than two minutes without distracting themselves by using social media or writing an email.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)