Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Learning languages 'boosts brain'. Scientists believe learning a second language alters a part of the brain. [BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition] 11:16:51 PM      Google It!.

2 New Articles presenting Student View of Ed Tech. Via elearning dialogue newsletter comes two interesting pieces. The first, "A Student View of CMS," is from a 3rd year student at the University of Puget Sound and details his views of his instructors' uses of Blackboard, and reveals some of the basic things students hope to find in their online courses. The second is the ECAR study on students' uses of IT. It gives an interesting picture of the increasing IT competencies of today's undergrads (the so-called 'digital natives') and the last two pages give some details on student uses and attitudes towards CMS. - SWL [EdTechPost] 11:14:37 PM      Google It!.

Putting Your PC in a Pocket. OQO, a tiny 14-ounce Windows XP computer, may just be the most elegant and versatile miniature PC possible with current technology. By By DAVID POGUE. [The New York Times > Technology] 11:06:58 PM      Google It!.

Brain Controlled Computing a Reality [Slashdot:] closer to BORG -- BL 7:57:52 PM      Google It!.

Mobile Phones Increase Tumor Risk - Swedish Study. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ten or more years of mobile phone use increases the risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the auditory nerve, according to a study released on Wednesday by Sweden's Karolinska Institute. [Reuters: Technology] 7:55:38 PM      Google It!.

FDA Approves Implantable RFID for Patients [Slashdot:] 7:50:08 PM      Google It!.

Dell launches Axim X50 wireless media PDAs. X30s to get Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition upgrade [The Register] 10:19:51 AM      Google It!.

You Need a Robolawyer. Stop reading all that 'clickwrap' fine print! A browser bot will accept or reject agreements on your terms. By Mark D. Rasch from Wired magazine. [Wired News] 10:18:35 AM      Google It!.

New Tack Wins Prisoner's Dilemma. The winner of this year's competition in the classic computerized strategy game shows that a tactic based on cooperating with team members can succeed over one that relies on echoing rivals' moves. By Wendy M. Grossman. [Wired News] 10:17:20 AM      Google It!.

WanderPod Brings Wi-Fi Anywhere. A Wi-Fi hot-spot builder develops a decked-out trailer capable of delivering broadband access even in the middle of nowhere. The WanderPod gets its first test run at the launch of SpaceShipOne in the Mojave Desert. By Dan Brekke. [Wired News] 10:15:36 AM      Google It!.

Program predicts cancer risks. A computer program can predict a woman's risk of breast or ovarian cancer with unprecedented accuracy. [BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition] 10:14:33 AM      Google It!.

Creative unveils 5GB Zen Micro. Feature-packed 'iPod Mini challenger' [The Register] 10:13:18 AM      Google It!.

This blog has proof that Bush was wearing a receiver at the first debate. [Scripting News] cyborgs for real -- BL 10:10:10 AM      Google It!.

XML play-doh. A universal canvas requires a universal way to represent data. Other solutions are conceivable, but let's accept for now that XML is a reasonable one, and that it's here to stay. How does XML become Play-doh? The first answer, for me, was Perl with its XML::Parser module. Then came XSLT (XSL Transformation), which traded away procedural idioms to gain declarative transformational power. Then came Python with its libxml/libxslt modules, which married the procedural and declarative styles in a highly interactive way. That's been my weapon of choice lately, but now there's a new contender: E4X (ECMAScript for XML). ... [Jon's Radio] 10:08:18 AM      Google It!.

Chris Pirillo does a mini-conference in a podcast. [Scripting News] on demand internet radio --BL 10:06:34 AM      Google It!.