Techno-News Blog Ray Schroeder, editor, OTEL - University of Illinois at Springfield |
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Saturday, June 29, 2002
http://www.aace.org/pubs/etr/issue2/foley.cfm Web Design for Accessibility: Policies and Practice Alan Foley, North Carolina State University Bob Regan, University of Wisconsin An essential part of web design today is designing for individuals with disabilities. Many government and educational institutions now require that all web pages follow accessibility guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/WAI/wcag-curric) and specified in Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act (http://www.section508.gov). As more and more facets of our lives become tied to Internet technologies, it is important that those involved with the placement of information on the Internet consider the obstacles faced online by individuals with disabilities and design with those obstacles in mind. This article outlines a process-based approach to accessibility policy implementation. This process consists of several steps ranging from identification of applicable standards to final implementation. Identification and adoption of accessibility standards involves determining which standards apply to a given organization and adopting those standards, organization-wide. Validation is the evaluation of the site in terms of the standards adopted. Establishing an approach involves selecting the tools and techniques necessary given the needs and experience in the organization. Implementation is the final step integrating standards, tools and training.... http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2002/1/01/index.asp The Egg The Cart The Horse The Chicken: Cyberwriting, Sound, Intermedia Hazel Smith, University of Canberra Roger T. Dean, University of Canberra Abstract This article, which is based on our hypermedia work, The Egg The Cart The Horse The Chicken, focuses on the way new technologies are shifting page-based notions of literature. Firstly, it argues that hyperlinking and animation allow for new kinds of textual structure and linguistic mobility. Secondly, it suggests that the merging of words, sound, and visual image within the domain of the computer can create new types of meaning through semiotic juxtaposition and exchange. Thirdly, the essay discusses ways in which creative uses of hypertext can be exploited educationally.... Friday, June 28, 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,53387,00.html A New Twist on Light Speed Mark K. Anderson If light is the standard messenger in communications technology, the messenger just got a bigger saddlebag. A recent discovery by five physicists from Scotland has opened the door to packing more information into a beam of light. The new discovery promises faster ways to send and receive quantum information, although right now, only through empty space. Nevertheless, it could lead to faster and better quantum cryptography and communications, with many more applications if it can be adapted for fiber optics. Photons -- those indivisible particles of light that carry every telephone and Internet communication for at least part of the journey -- have long been subject to clever tricks that enable them to carry as much information as possible.... http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18383.html Those Amazing Talking Computers Tim McDonald, NewsFactor Network "The best way to make computers universally usable is to get them to communicate the way people do -- by talking and listening," an IBM spokesperson told NewsFactor. The concept sounds great: Give voice commands to your computer, like ordering an obedient servant to bring you a cocktail. No more fumbling with an aging mouse or awkward trackball, no more slow typing on a keyboard. But so far, speech technology is a solid example of an idea well conceived but poorly executed. As a concept, it has been around for as long as computers have been, but it still has not come close to achieving its potential. Faced with the formidable task of enabling machines to understand humans, the technology has been slow to develop. In addition, the market has been slow to define itself -- witness the bankruptcy filings of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products and its former U.S. subsidiary, Dictaphone.... Thursday, June 27, 2002
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/1377081 Government Not Ready for Cyberattacks Jim Wagner The U.S. government is due for a "major" cyberattack within the next 12 months and is unprepared to counter the threat, according to report released Tuesday evening by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). This time, it isn't the relatively uninformed opinion of the general public indicating worry over the security of government information, as a December 2001 poll revealed, but IT professionals in the business world -- the individuals who protect sensitive information on a daily basis. The poll was conducted after Congress issued a failing grade to federal computer security efforts in November 2001.... http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/448186p-3586117c.html Microsoft discloses security flaws The Associated Press Microsoft Corp. disclosed Wednesday that it has found three security flaws - one critical - in its popular Internet audio and video software. The flaws were found in Windows Media Player versions 6.4, 7.1 and in its newest Windows XP operating system. The most serious flaw can allow an attacker access to the user's system with the ability to add, change or delete data and perform other functions. The company has posted on its Web site a software "patch" for users to download. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/DailyNews/nanotechnology020626.html Thinking Smal: Nanotech: Will Small Stuff Become Big Business? Peter Dizikes The next technological revolution may be so small you won't be able to see it. But that's not keeping venture capitalists and major American companies from investing in what they think is the next big thing. The revolution in question, according to its proponents, is nanotechnology — a broad term covering a wide range of small-scale scientific advancements, from medicine to computing and military defense.... Wednesday, June 26, 2002
http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/1371221 Do Content Labels Really Protect? Jim Wagner Officials at the Big 3 of Internet portals -- America Online (AOL) , the Microsoft Network and Yahoo! -- announced Tuesday that 93 percent of their Web sites are now labeled to prevent children from accessing adult and questionable material, but the real effectiveness of the program remains to be seen. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 74 percent of computers in public schools around the U.S. had filtering technology in place by the end of 2000. The ICRA is now making a push for filtering technology in the home.... http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/upstream0702.asp Prosody - Computers will really understand what you say when they know how you feel when you say it David Talbot Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it. That’s a truism most people can relate to—but computers can’t. While speech recognition software has gotten quite good at understanding words, it still can’t discern punctuation like periods and commas, or choose between ambiguous sentences whose meanings depend on the speaker’s emotion. That’s because such software still can’t make sense of the intonations, emphases and pauses—collectively known as prosody—that people intuitively use to make such distinctions. But with more than a hundred corporate and academic research groups working on the problem, attempts at incorporating prosody into speech software are enjoying growing success.... Tuesday, June 25, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/25/technology/25SOFT.html It's a Tablet. It's a Notebook. From Microsoft, a New Hybrid. STEVE LOHR Microsoft began promoting its Tablet PC nearly two years ago with a clear message and vision: a powerful, pen-based computer unfettered by a keyboard. Bill Gates, the company's chairman, made the rounds of industry events, prototype tablet in hand, extolling the virtues of handwriting and digital ink. But when Microsoft announces in New York today that machines using its Tablet PC software will be introduced on Nov. 7, the emphasis will be on using pen-based features to enhance conventional notebook computers.... http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0624/cov-508-06-24-02.asp One year and counting: Section 508 - Feds tout progress, but need more time on accessibility law William Matthews Today, blind U.S. Postal Service customers can buy stamps, check ZIP codes and perform other transactions at an Internet site USPS calls its "cyberspace post office that never closes." But they can't download usable tax forms from the Internal Revenue Service. Students seeking financial aid and school officials applying for grants from the Education Department now can do so online despite disabilities — something they couldn't do a year ago. But vision-impaired employees at Education can't process the applications because the department's grants management system is not "accessible." It has been a year since Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act went into effect, requiring federal agencies to make sure their Web sites and office technology can be used, or "accessed," by people with a variety of disabilities.... http://www.personalityforge.com/entrance.cfm Personality Forge The Personality Forge is a truly unique place where you can experience the cutting edge of artificial intelligence. You can build your own AI Personalities and turn them loose to chat with real people and other Bots. See if you can tell who is real! Your bots will remember who they chat with and qualities about them. Then discuss and laugh about your successes in our forums. Just try it! http://www.nua.com/surveys/index.cgi?f=VS&art_id=905358085&rel=true A third of world's Net users from Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific has one-third of the world’s Internet users, reports eMarketer. This is according to data compiled by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The region accounts for 33 percent of Internet users worldwide, compared to 31 percent in North America, 29 percent in Europe, five percent in Latin America, and just one percent in Africa.... http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020624.html Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox: Improving Usability Guideline Compliance Over the last 1.5 years, the average compliance with established usability guidelines increased by 4%. If we can sustain this level of improvement,we'll reach the ideal of 90% guideline compliance in 2017.... Monday, June 24, 2002
http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=6962 Royal Roads University's MA In Distributed Learning Source: Royal Roads University If you’re thinking about doing a Master’s Degree related to online learning, you will be interested in a new program option associated with Royal Roads University’s MA in Distributed Learning. You now have a choice of taking the existing residency-based version or the fully online option, “MADL Global”, that starts this September. MADL Global is for individuals who prefer the convenience of a fully online format without having to travel to a residency. All courses are delivered via the Internet using our innovative courseware system. MADL Global focuses on the building of an international learning community that shares interests in the field of online or distributed learning. The program has the same course requirements and application requirements as our residency-based model. http://www.royalroads.ca/oll/madl http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/06/13/megnut.html What We're Doing When We Blog Meg Hourihan Every day it seems another article about weblogs appears in the press. At first, most of these stories seemed content to cover the personal nature of blogging. But more and more I'm seeing articles that attempt to examine the journalistic and punditry aspects of weblogs prominent in many of the so-called "warblogs," or sites that began in response to the events of September 11th. The articles' authors are rarely webloggers themselves, which places them in the unenviable position of describing and defining weblogs based on observation, not experience. Given the vast number of blogs, it can be very difficult to understand the breadth and scope of blogging when an editor wants 750 words in 48 hours.... http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/06/21/020621hnfujitablet.xml Fujitsu to unveil Tablet PC prototype Dan Neel FUJITSU NEXT WEEK will introduce its prototype Tablet PC at TechXNY, part of an anticipated wave of the new devices expected to arrive at the industry trade show in New York. Targeted at the mobile workforce, the Fujitsu Stylistic ST4000 Tablet PC is a clipboard-style device that allows users to input data in a handwritten manner much like today's PDA systems. While thinner and lighter than a laptop, the ST4000 stocks the innards of today's cutting-edge mobile computers, including a low-voltage mobile Intel Pentium III processor running Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system, according to Fujitsu representatives in Santa Clara, Calif.... Sunday, June 23, 2002
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/06/20/020620hnmitproject.xml MIT project shows future interface technologies Sam Costello IMAGINE A FUTURE in which you could tell your computer to move a folder inside another, and just by pointing with your finger, it would happen. Or being able to command your computer to print your vacation pictures on the nearest color printer, and not have to supply any more configuration information. While you're imagining these scenarios, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are working on a project that could make these, and other new ways to interface with computers, a reality.... http://www.msnbc.com/news/770019.asp?0si=- Toshiba to offer iPod twin for PCs Matthew Broersma Toshiba is taking a page out of Apple Computer’s book with an upcoming music player for the Japanese market that bears more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s iPod but is geared toward Windows users. THE GIGABEAT MEG50JS, launching in Japan on June 22, is a palm-size aluminum-alloy device that, like the iPod, features a round controller and a backlit square display. As the first iPod did, the Gigabeat features a miniature 5GB hard drive, which Toshiba says is big enough to hold about 1,000 five-minute MP3 or WMA music tracks. The current iPod model uses a 10GB hard drive.... http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/06/20/020620hnreuters.xml Reuters offers high-security IM Gillian Law NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY company Reuters Group has developed an instant messaging (IM) application for the financial services industry, and on Wednesday announced an agreement to incorporate monitoring technology from FaceTime Communications into the software. Reuters Messaging is a high-security IM service in the final stages of trials with 25 financial services companies. It should be available by about October, Reuters' U.K. spokeswoman Susan Allsopp said on Thursday.... http://www.ncta.com/pdf_files/WhitePap4-2002.pdf The Transition to Digital Television [.pdf] The National Cable and Telecommunications Association has prepared this document that summarizes the transition to digital television (DTV) in the U.S. The report, delivered in April 2002, assesses the countrys progress toward greater digital coverage and more widespread DTV programming. After a brief introduction to the technology, the report gives some background on the broadcast industrys efforts to hasten the transition and the challenges that remain. Then the changes in the cable industry are examined, including upgrades and the carriage of digital signals. Lastly, the report covers consumer response -- the sales trends of DTV sets show steady growth for the technology, but the overall transition is not proceeding as quickly as some speculated. This site is also reviewed in the June 21, 2002 NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology. From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ |
