October
Results of the recent (2009) surveys of Penn State faculty and students show what technologies are in use and how they are being used.
This blog post breaks down the anatomy of Twitter tweets. The author lists "all of the standard tweet forms and many conventional metadata forms, and how they should be used."
Q&A with Rosetta Stone chief executive Tom Adams. He believes Internet-based technology best serves as an education tool when learners work together in real time rather than plod along solo. It needs to serve learning goals, not just be a 'time sink'.
Many of us are prone to using the Shazam music-identification service whenever we encounter unfamiliar songs. After all, it's just so easy to whip out our phones, open an app, and know everything about a mystery song in seconds. But how does Shazam gives us all this information so quickly?
Twitter advertising was long waited for, and now it's here. Recommendations on who to follow will only be served up when they are relevant to a user. Exposure to Twitter users who are following sports-related accounts will be available for purchase by sports-related brands on Twitter, for example.
When you see a post on a Facebook friend's wall that seems out of character, don't be too quick to click.
Lighter Side items are links to interesting, funny, even weird items from the web. These may not be tech-oriented. We hope you enjoy them.
eXtension is pleased to announce it will hold the 2010 National eXtension Virtual Conference on October 18, 19, 20, 2010. The conference, titled A Symposium on Working Differently, will feature both keynote speakers as well as opportunities for interaction and dialog between participants.
We live in the Global Location Age. Where am I? is being replaced by, Where am I in relation to everything else?
Facebook has significantly improved the size of photos that can be stored on the site, and has made improvements to both tagging and viewing photos as well.
As an employee at the University, you have many resources to help protect your privacy and the computer systems you own or manage at Penn State.
Facebook's privacy controls can still be confusing. If you have them set improperly you may be making more information public than you intended.
The Ribbon was introduced in Office 2007 (and it's everywhere in the upcoming Office 2010). This quick tip will allow you to switch tabs within the ribbon using the scroll wheel of your mouse.
This infographic looks at Facebook's Terms of Service changes through April of 2010.
If you use your iPhone to connect to open or public wireless networks, it’s a good idea to tell the device to forget the network’s name after you’re done using it, as failing to do so could make it easier for snoops to eavesdrop on your iPhone data usage.
GateGuru’s iPhone app serves as a mobile directory for 100 different airports in the U.S. and Canada, and can help you avoid travel headaches, at least for the airport portion of your trip.
Many programs installed on your computer include a component that loads every time you start your computer. For instance, when you install an instant messaging program, a shortcut is added to your Startup folder that launches the instant messenger automatically. The more programs automatically starting when your computer boots, the slower the startup process will be.
Skype is now available on a wide range of Android phones, so you can save money and stay in touch when you’re out and about. Visit skype.com/m on your phone to download, or read on to find out what’s inside.
Apple's popular iTunes platform has become a major target for hackers looking to steal credit card data from the service's millions of users. Victims receive a cleverly-crafted email informing them that they have made an expensive purchase on iTunes. The user, having never made the purchase to begin with, is concerned by the email and naturally tries to resolve the problem – in this case by clicking on the proffered (fake) link.
Are you planning to offer a webinar via Adobe Connect but would like a little safety net from an Ag IT Consultant just in case there are technical issues? The Consultants can help you out if you contact us early!
Join us October 19 from 12 to 1 for our ITChatter session for October. Our topic is Twitter Analytical Tools.
Adobe shipped a critical security update to its Adobe products on October 5, 2010 that addresses a vulnerability that can cause the application to crash and allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.
Google has created a checklist to help Gmail users better secure their accounts by looking at the settings in their inboxes, browsers and computers. The guide is comprised of 18 steps that help you lock down your Gmail inbox.
A team at Purdue University has developed a new application that lets its students create online study groups and participate in them within Facebook. The program also lets users sync and share documents via Dropbox.
Penn State Security Operations and Services (SOS) has updated their website. You can check out their Quick Links as well as follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
The famous computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup once said, “There’s an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telephone.”
Despite Facebook's glowing promise of "more control," the new Groups feature fails to do exactly that.
As of October 12, 2010, the current version of Sun's Java client is Version 6 Update 22.
The message for this year's Cyber Security Awareness Month in October 2010 is "Stop Think Connect." It's also the slogan for a new public education campaign.
With Google Docs Viewer, you can instantly view PDF documents directly online. You can also generate a link for an E-mail for people who may not have a PDF reader on their computer.
With the volume of E-mail we receive, you may have turned off Outlook’s E-mail notification message. But what if you want to be alerted whenever you receive an E-mail from an important client (or your boss).
"A good panel is a dialog between an intelligent and aware moderator and an engaged group of panelists for the benefit of the audience."
If you have a job where you find yourself in front of a computer all day every day, it can be rough to remember to stand up and walk around periodically, partially for your own sanity but also to stretch out your arms and legs and partially to reduce your chance of coming down with repetitive stress injuries (RSI) that can be painful or lead to permanent damage. With Stretch Relief for the iPhone, you have a guide in your pocket.
Zoodles is a browser designed to make learning fun for kids.
Pic2Shop is exceptional at scanning and identifying barcodes via your Android phone. Once PIc2Shop has your barcode scanned, it searches Amazon and Google for products that match it.
Lighter Side items are links to interesting, funny, even weird items from the web. These may not be tech-oriented. We hope you enjoy them.
TweetDeck has officially launched their Android app. With the app you can view and post to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz.
SquareTrade analyzed iPhone accidents for over 20,000 iPhone 4s covered by SquareTrade Care Plans and found a 82% increase in reported broken screens compared to the iPhone 3gs.
As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, students from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University’s (NYU-Poly) Information Systems and Internet Security (ISIS) Lab are offering tips on how to keep information safe on you mobile device. [There are some great tips here!]
Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog is reporting a major increase in attacks against security holes in Java. Attacks against flaws in out-of-date Java installs have “gone from hundreds of thousands per quarter to millions.”
