29 August 2002

Apparatuses, methods, and computer programs for displaying information on signs Leonid Fridman filed US Patent 20020112026 on 15 August 2002 to claim rights related to the display of information on signs. The number of showings desired for different messages within corresponding remaining time periods is used in selecting which message to show at a given time and/or location. The showings can be on public displays, including vehicle mounted displays. The number of desired exposures remaining for a message can be based on an estimate of the number of people or types of people reached by its prior showings. Such estimates can be based on information derived from sensors near the time and place of the prior showings and/or from less-real-time, previously derived data relating to such times and places. Which message is selected for a given time and/or place can be based on the relative degree to which viewership attributes desired for the showing of different messages match attributes associated with the given time and/or location. http://www.iol.ie

Sighting: Lap Dome LAPVANTAGE.com -- These awesome laptop stands are styled after the iMac's base. Get one!

Internet appliance for interactive audio/video display using a remote control unit for user input On 20 June 2002, Imran Sharif filed Patent 20020078445 for a network access device which uses a standard video display to show functional choices and network content received from the Internet to a user. The user directs the functional operation of the network access device with a simple reduced keyset remote control unit having a relatively small number of keys similar to a consumer remote control used for television receivers and video recorders. The control choices are displayed to the user in a unique format with elements associated to characters corresponding to the same characters in the reduced keyset. The display format uses several display areas, some of which can be designated as input focus areas, any one of which can be active at a given time. The device affords low cost ready access to the informational capabilities of the Internet for users at all skill levels by eliminating a full text keyboard and a mouse.

Toshiba's Validation of the Hotspot Model ALL NET DEVICES.com -- Toshiba has signed iPass as a hotspot partner in a plan for an American wireless public access network.

Standard for Learning Object Metadata The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association Standards Board has approved IEEE 1484.12.1, Standard for Learning Object Metadata which is the first learning content standard released by an accredited standards organization. The standard makes it easier to find, evaluate and share learning objects (i.e., the content of education and training programs) and ensures that objects in one system are understood readily in other systems.

RIAA Defacement MINOR DAMAGE.com -- The defacement crew used a little humour when replacing the RIAA front page with subtle pieces of commentary.

The Recording Industry Clones Muppets AARDVARK.at -- I think the recording industry is full of muppets. Horst Prillinger thinks so too. Prompted by a story in The Register, which attempts to shed a more realistic light on the record companies' complaints that they've done everything right and it's the evil Internet that is causing their shrinking revenues. In actuality, the RIAA has deliquesced artists' revenues by shortsighted confrontational tactics that constrain the listening habits of music advocates. They deserve to experience a downturn in CD sales, since they have lost touch with their buying public.

Higher Education Grapples with Online Learning Ventures WASHINGTON POST.com -- A series of setbacks and difficulties have kept for-profit, online higher education spin-offs from realizing success. Ventures at schools including Columbia University and New York University have been scaled back or dropped. UMUC Online, the online project of the University of Maryland University College, was scrapped last fall. But many involved in such initiatives still believe in the potential for online higher education. Gerald A. Heeger, the president of UMUC and champion of UMUC Online, thinks that online learning can actually be better than traditional, residential education. Matthew Pittinsky, chairman of Blackboard, said that for every failed venture there are five that succeed. Adam Newman of Eduventures said that the industry has seen a "retrenchment" that focuses online initiatives where they can succeed, such as in supplements to traditional classes.