Techno-News Blog

By Nick Anderson, Washington Post

The start-up, a year old as of last Thursday, conveys a casual/hectic vibe in its office suite in Cambridge. Catered lunch and granola bars sustain the 20- and 30-somethings who work long hours building and servicing the Web platform. (One spring day there is Quiche Lorraine, tortellini and apple-cranberry salad.) For diversion, there is a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of polar bears in progress on a table near the break room. A monitor hanging from the ceiling delivers real-time metrics on usage of the Web site. Sheets of paper posted on a wall seem to indicate the number of certificates earned by students who had passed edX courses: 31,291 as of late March. EdX spokesman Dan O’Connell later said that that total was based on incomplete data. The sheets have been taken down. The Web site, which now counts 890,000 unique users, does not have a full tally of MOOC students who have earned certificates, he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/edx-turns-1-now-what/2013/05/02/649236e0-b32d-11e2-9a98-4be1688d7d84_story.html

By AMNA H. HASHMI, Harvard Crimson

Sandel’s teaching in the edX “Justice” course was criticized by philosophy professors at San Jose State University. The Philosophy Department at San Jose State University condemned Harvard government professor Michael J. Sandel’s teaching of the edX course ER22x: “Justice” in an open letter sent this week. “We regard such courses as a serious compromise of quality of education and, ironically for a social justice course, a case of social injustice,” the letter read. As edX approaches the first anniversary of its founding, it has received criticism from faculty members at several institutions of higher learning across the country.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/5/3/san-jose-state-edx/

by Alex Layne, GigaOM

Plenty of iOS features have found their way into Apple’s desktop OS over the past couple of years. But Apple should also consider moving some Mac features into its mobile OS.

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/04/6-things-ios-can-learn-from-os-x/

by Michael Yang, GigaOM

The wearable fitness tech market is booming but also crowded and some evidence suggests it’s already ripe for major consolidation. For companies – and the entire segment – to survive and thrive, a few key issues need to be addressed.

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/04/for-the-wearable-tech-market-to-thrive-it-needs-to-get-in-better-shape/

by Larry Gordon, LA Times

While Jennifer Clay was at home taking an online exam for her business law class, a proctor a few hundred miles away was watching her every move.  Using a webcam mounted in Clay’s Los Angeles apartment, the monitor in Phoenix tracked how frequently her eyes shifted from the computer screen and listened for the telltale sounds of a possible helper in the room.  Her computer browser was locked — remotely — to prevent Internet searches, and her typing pattern was analyzed to make sure she was who she said she was: Did she enter her password with the same rhythm as she had in the past? Or was she slowing down?  In the battle against cheating, this is the cutting edge — and a key to bolstering integrity in the booming field of online education.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/5/2/using_technology_to_fight_cheating_in.htm

By Jason Pontin, MIT Technology Review Magazine

Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) project, which President Obama announced in his State of the Union address in February, will be a decade-long effort to understand the nature of thought (See “Why Obama’s Brain-Mapping Project Matters.”) The project, which inevitably evokes the Human Genome Project, will demand billions in research funding and require the coöperation of many government agencies, universities, and foundations. Miyoung Chun, a molecular geneticist and vice president for science programs at the Kavli Foundation, has been coördinating communication among those involved since planning began 18 months ago.

http://www.technologyreview.com/qa/513476/interview-with-brain-project-pioneer-miyoung-chun/

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and some U.S. wireless carriers are investigating an idea that would see small cellular base stations installed in homes to serve passing smartphone users. That approach is believed to be a more efficient way of meeting the rising demand for data and fixing patchy coverage than building more traditional cell-phone towers. Qualcomm’s chief technology officer, Mat Grob, pitched the idea at an event in Santa Clara, California, on Tuesday, showing off a base station small enough to be integrated into a set top box or home router.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514531/qualcomm-proposes-a-cell-phone-network-by-the-people-for-the-people/

By Brian T. Horowitz, eWeek

The Michael J. Fox Foundation has been looking at how crowd-sourcing and analysis of mobile data can bring better outcomes for Parkinson’s patients. The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research has been seeking insights on how mobile data can aid Parkinson’s patients. As part of this effort, the foundation launched a Parkinson’s Challenge in February with a $10,000 prize to encourage use of patient data from smartphones for monitoring and treatment of Parkinson’s. Kaggle.com a crowd-sourcing data analytics service, hosted the challenge.

http://www.eweek.com/mobile/michael-j.-fox-foundation-uses-smartphones-in-parkinsons-research/

By REUTERS

Intel Corp chose veteran insider Brian Krzanich as chief executive, disappointing some investors who hoped an outsider would push for aggressive changes to help the world’s largest chipmaker catch up in the mobile revolution. The company also announced on Thursday that software honcho Renée James, 48, had been elevated to the post of president. Her appointment signaled to some that Intel, while likely intending to stick with its formula of intense investment to keep it ahead in the microchip technology game, is willing to explore new growth areas.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/05/02/business/02reuters-intel-ceo.html

by Ki Mae Heussner, GigaOM

Professors at San Jose State University argue that massive open online courses (MOOCs) could seriously compromise the quality of education at public universities. San Jose State University, one of the biggest academic supporters of the growing MOOC (massive open online course) movement, apparently has some vocal dissenters in its ranks. In the past year, the university has welcomed MOOC providers like edX and Udacity with open arms — in addition to launching a first-of-its kind program with Udacity to award college credit for courses taken on its platform. The school has a growing partnership with edX and plans to create a dedicated resource center for California State University faculty statewide who are interested in online content.

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/02/massive-online-courses-draw-more-backlash-from-college-professors/

by Erica Ogg, GigaOM

If Apple is “de-glitzing” iOS to make way for a flatter look with fewer real-life textures later this year, as has been reported, it’s likely to inspire a App Store-wide re-evaluation of what makes an app look good. After Apple shows off a new-look iOS at WWDC, it’s a good bet third-party app makers are going to want to make sure their apps look more in tune with the new overall look and feel of the operating system. Since the beginning, Apple has set the bar for good design, which is reflected in the majority of what you find in its iOS App Store. But as the iOS platform has aged, new design trends have emerged. The faux-leather texture on the Contacts app, or the wooden bookshelves on iBooks and Newsstand were welcoming and familiar six years ago. But like smartphones, they are no longer new. And as a design philosophy, the overly textured look that incorporates real-world objects is becoming less necessary in a world where mobile computers are more familiar than ever.

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/02/why-your-favorite-ios-apps-may-look-different-six-months-from-now/

By Mike Orcutt, Technology Review

Arrays of transistors made of nanowires could form the basis of a new class of devices nearly as sensitive to mechanical force as human skin is, according to research published today in Science. The inventor of the technology, Zhong Lin Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering at Georgia Tech, says it has immediate applications in human-machine interfaces. For example, it could be used to capture electronic signatures by recording the distinctive force an individual applies while signing. Down the road, says Wang, his group’s pressure sensor arrays could equip robotics and prosthetics with a human-like sense of touch.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514131/nanoscale-pressure-sensors-mimic-human-skin/

By Jon Cohen, Technology Review

Theodore Berger, a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, envisions a day in the not too distant future when a patient with severe memory loss can get help from an electronic implant. In people whose brains have suffered damage from Alzheimer’s, stroke, or injury, disrupted neuronal networks often prevent long-term memories from forming. For more than two decades, Berger has designed silicon chips to mimic the signal processing that those neurons do when they’re functioning properly—the work that allows us to recall experiences and knowledge for more than a minute. Ultimately, Berger wants to restore the ability to create long-term memories by implanting chips like these in the brain.

http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants/

By Kevin Bullis, Technology Review

The first comprehensive and large scale smart grid is now operating. The $800 million project, built in Florida, has made power outages shorter and less frequent, and helped some customers save money, according to the utility that operates it. Smart grids should be far more resilient than conventional grids, which is important for surviving storms, and make it easier to install more intermittent sources of energy like solar power

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514461/with-florida-project-the-smart-grid-has-arrived/

By Brian Mathews, Chronicle Ubiquitous Librarian

One of the core objectives of the original land-grant program was to provide broader access to education. The federal government gave land to the states for schools based upon this mission. Fast-forward 150 years and now the government is endorsing virtual campuses. Online learning can potentially magnify the initial effort, enabling many more citizens the opportunity to advance their learning. Land-grant universities were designed to help transition into an industrial society– are we experiencing a similar transition into a digital society?

http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/theubiquitouslibrarian/2013/04/27/are-online-public-universities-the-new-land-grant-institution/

by Fionnuala Duggan, the Guardian

There are over 11 million people with a limiting long-term illness, impairment or disability in the UK. Many of them are using educational resources and completing university courses. Universities have a responsibility to provide these students, and all students, with the necessary learning materials regardless of their accessibility needs. It is here, in the place where educational resources and students with disabilities intersect, that technology has a vital role to play. Technology could operate as the great equaliser. It could – and indeed, it should – help move all students towards a level playing field. This is particularly true in when it comes to learning resources, and specifically textbooks.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/apr/28/disabled-students-use-e-textbooks

By Matt Hamblen, Computerworld

Canvas offered the school a way to help instructors monitor Navigator students in their discussion groups to see how they handle group projects. “We needed to find a way to help them do group work, which is always difficult on the autism spectrum,” Gardner said. Students meet in small project groups once a week face-to-face and can extend those meetings with the online collaboration tools, Gardner said. About half of the students use smartphones whole others use tablets to access Canvas, where they can read assignments and announcements from instructors and classmates. Because some of the students travel three hours each way to attend classes, their smartphones are extremely important to their learning. Gardner herself is on the autism spectrum, and took her job on the condition she be able to telecommute part of each week because she finds office socializing and frequent face-to-face interactions difficult and exhausting.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238727/Bellevue_College_looks_to_online_software_to_help_autistic_students_collaborate

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

Many company’s IT systems have largely unknown and easily hackable backdoors. You probably haven’t heard of HD Moore, but up to a few weeks ago every Internet device in the world, perhaps including some in your own home, was contacted roughly three times a day by a stack of computers that sit overheating his spare room. “I have a lot of cooling equipment to make sure my house doesn’t catch on fire,” says Moore, who leads research at computer security company Rapid7. In February last year he decided to carry out a personal census of every device on the Internet as a hobby. “This is not my day job; it’s what I do for fun,” he says. Moore has now put that fun on hold. “[It] drew quite a lot of complaints, hate mail, and calls from law enforcement,” he says. But the data collected has revealed some serious security problems, and exposed some vulnerable business and industrial systems of a kind used to control everything from traffic lights to power infrastructure.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514066/what-happened-when-one-man-pinged-the-whole-internet/

By Jessica Leber, Technology Review

Services that anticipate our needs could help us deal with information overload. Would you give your wireless carrier permission to listen in on your phone calls? Telefónica, one of the world’s largest mobile carriers, is testing a technology that can understand conversations and quickly pull up relevant information. If that info turns out to be useful, customers may want to invite it to listen in. The technology is being built by a small San Francisco startup, Expect Labs, which is announcing strategic investments from the venture capital arms of three weighty backers today: Samsung, Intel, and Telefónica Digital, the business unit the telecom company launched in 2011 to unearth new revenue opportunities. The size of the investments was not disclosed.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514016/why-big-companies-are-investing-in-a-service-that-listens-to-phone-calls/

By Mike Orcutt, Technology Review

Low-cost 3-D technology could usher in new mobile entertainment content. Last week, a company in Singapore began shipping $35 plastic screen protectors for the iPhone 5. These are no ordinary screen protectors, though—each has half a million tiny lenses precisely patterned on its surface, which can turn an ordinary phone into a device capable of displaying 3-D images and video, no glasses required. The 3-D effect of the “EyeFly 3D” screen protectors, made by Nanoveu, is based on lenticular lens technology, which was invented over a century ago and is used to make posters and postcards that move as the viewer changes his or her perspective. The lenses send separate images to the left and right eye to create the illusion of depth.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514106/how-a-cheap-plastic-film-can-give-your-smartphone-a-3-d-screen/

by Jessica Lander, Poly Mic

The more modern American classrooms would be hardly recognizable to a teacher of the 19th century. Gone are the one-room buildings, the long benches, the pieces of slate, and the sticks of chalk. The most modern classrooms have SmartBoards, some even have personal iPads for each child. And along with the classroom gadgets, has come a wave of education technology. This technology is revolutionizing education, but it is also throwing a wrench in many time-honored canonical classroom excuses. Here are just a few well-used excuses that will have to be retired:

http://www.policymic.com/articles/37691/dog-ate-my-homework-and-other-excuses-killed-by-the-e-classroom