August 2004 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

INTEREST: 2 High School laptop programs
by billing 05 Aug '04

05 Aug '04

Story last updated at 9:53 a.m. Thursday, August 5, 2004 Hays High students excited about hitting the iBooks this year HAYS (AP) -- When teachers at Hays High School tell their students to open their books this school year, there's a chance they won't be referring to a textbook. Students who showed up for enrollment this week at the western Kansas school -- about 1,000 of them in all -- walked away with a new Apple iBook laptop computer thanks to a school board initiative passed earlier this year. The laptops were issued during enrollment to give students time before classes begin to familiarize themselves with the computers, Principal Mike Hester said. Parents received a letter listing day and night time iBook training classes that run through Friday. The district made the decision to purchase laptops for the high school when the computer technology lease agreement for the district was up for renewal, Hester said. Money saved by using less paper also helped fund the new portable computers. [...] ...complete story at: http://www.dodgeglobe.com/stories/080504/sta_0805040028.shtml ======================================= HF-Lima rethinks use of middle-school laptops By Dolores Orman Staff Writer (August 5, 2004) — HONEOYE FALLS — The Honeoye Falls-Lima school board is trying to figure out what to do about the middle school laptop computer project that was launched in February with a focus on use at school and at home. That's because “there have been some people in the community who have been unhappy with the program,” Linda Hunt, school board president, said at the start of the board meeting Tuesday night. School district officials have acknowledged, among other things, that there should have been greater effort to inform the community about the program and that the development and implementation of the program was probably too fast. However, a school district committee charged with reviewing the middle school project, and various options, recommended Tuesday that the “most educationally sound” step for the 2004-05 school year is a “modified” one-to-one (one computer per student) plan. [...] The district is leasing for a four-year period 711 laptops from Apple Computer Inc. — 661 for students and 50 for teachers. Other options before the board: Offer the program to high school students instead; redistribute all laptops throughout the district; redistribute all laptops on carts in the middle and high schools; do a one-to-one pilot of smaller middle school groups and redistribute the rest of the laptops; reduce student computer use and return the laptops; and maintain a one-to-one for seventh and eighth grades and use laptops on a cart for sixth grade, freeing up computers for other schools. Hagerman suggested the last option as an alternative to the one the committee favors. ...complete story at: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/08056E551JI_news.shtml

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FYI: XCode 1.5, LINUX iTunes, Mozilla "Bug Bounty Program", iTunes RSS feed
by billing 03 Aug '04

03 Aug '04

...from: http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=579 Apple to release Xcode 1.5 this week By AppleInsider Staff Published: 10:00 AM EST Apple Computer yesterday announced to its Apple Developer Connection (ADC) members that it has completed the development of Xcode 1.5, the latest version of its integrated development environment for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. According to a set of developer notes accompanying the release, Xcode 1.5 includes remote debugging, code completion for Java and AppleScript, subversion source-code control system support and native build system support for AppleScript. Additionally, sources said the release will pack an enhanced debugger with a memory browser, globals browser, and ability to display file static variables, faster editor performance, Ant templates , documentation bookmarks, and overall speed improvements. This latest build, 7K571, contains Xcode IDE 389, Xcode Core 387, and Tool Support 372. Earlier reports indicate that Xcode 1.5 will also include updates to the user interface, code sense, inspectors, building, source code management and file editing. In 2005, Apple will release Xcode 2.0 as part of its Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger distribution. This second major release of groundbreaking development tools is said to include a visual modeling interface, remote debugging, an integrated Apple Reference Library, 64-bit support, and improvements for Java developers. Apple has reportedly informed developers that an official release of Xcode 1.5 is expected on Thursday, at which time it will available to both paying and free ADC account holders. The software is currently being seeded as a full update, distributed in multiple image segments. =============================== ...from press release at: http://www.codeweavers.com/site/about/general/press/?id=20040803; cw=f16bec3c4f991bff9184ef9e0de0b8c3 CodeWeavers Adds Support For Apple iTunes In New CrossOver OfficeTM 3.1 Preview Most Requested CrossOver Office Enhancement Now Available for Limited Evaluation; Application Allows Dozens of Windows Programs to Run Natively in Linux MOSCONE CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO / BOOTH 1661 - (August 3, 2004) - CodeWeavers, Inc., the leading Windows-to-Linux software developer, today announced the release of an evaluation preview of CrossOver Office 3.1, the latest upgrade to the world's leading and most reliable Windows-to-Linux application solution. The pre-beta preview, announced at LinuxWorld 2004 Conference and Expo in San Francisco and available to existing CrossOver Office users only, includes new support for iTunes®, Apple's exciting digital jukebox and download store program. Since its initial release in 2002, CrossOver Office has significantly impacted the growth and practicality of the Linux operating system among desktop computer users. CrossOver Office enables many leading Windows applications including Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and Visio; Intuit Quicken; Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash; and Apple QuickTime to operate natively under Linux with no secondary emulator needed. With iTunes support, CrossOver Office users will be able to download and organize songs from the iTunes Music Store. Soon they will also be able to plug their iPod into their Linux PC for music transfers and other jukebox-related tasks. [...] =========================== ...from: http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2004-08-02.html MOZILLA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SECURITY BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM Program harnesses power of the open source community to identify security vulnerabilities before they are exploited MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - August 2, 2004 - The Mozilla Foundation today announced the Mozilla Security Bug Bounty Program, an initiative that rewards users who identify and report security vulnerabilities in the open source project's software. Under the new program, users reporting critical security bugs - as judged by the Mozilla Foundation staff - will collect a $500 cash prize. The new initiative was launched with funding from leading Linux software developer Linspire, Inc., and renowned Internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. [...] ========================== Apple has supplied an RSS feed for iTunes releases and most popular songs. It can be found at: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wo/2.1 Go to the page, select the music genre of your choice, and the page will generate a URL suitable for inclusion in your RSS reader. Just copy and paste it as a new RSS feed site. (and for those of you who are not yet using RSS: - RDF Resource Description Framework. A language derived from XML which describes metadata. Commonly used as a backend format for articles and other publications. For more detailed information on RDF files, you might want to go directly to the official page on RDF files at the World Wide Web Consortium. RSS The RDF Site Summary is actually an extension to the RDF language. Quoting the official RSS v1.0 specification: ‘RDF Site Summary (RSS) is a lightweight multipurpose extensible metadata description and syndication format. RSS is an XML application, conforms to the W3C's RDF specification and is extensible via XML-namespace and/or RDF based modularization.’ ... or to put it another way: RSS allows its users to quickly and easily browse the latest news headlines from hundreds of different websites using a friendly and familiar interface. If you have the right RSS application it may have built-in support for synchronizing headlines and news stories with Palm OS PDAs and Apple iPods menaing that you can take your news with you. More info at: - http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html - http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/xml/rss/intro/2.html ... which, simply, means that "news" source headlines (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, iTunes ::-) can all quickly be scanned with one simple application: an RSS Reader. Since you ask, there are various RSS Reader applications (and news feed sites) available. One simple, freeware RSS app (NewsMac for OSX 10.2 and above) can be found at: http://www.thinkmac.co.uk/newsmac/

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FOLLOW UP: Duke to Give Apple iPods to First-Year Students for Educational Use
by billing 31 Jul '04

31 Jul '04

...from: http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/news/ipods_0704.html Monday, July 19, 2004 | DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University will distribute Apple iPods to its incoming freshmen, as part of an initiative to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life. The pocket-sized digital devices, which can download and make use of both audio and text material, will be preloaded with Duke-related content, such as information for freshman orientation and the academic calendar. Through a special Duke Web site modeled on the Apple iTunes site, students also can download faculty-provided course content, including language lessons, music, recorded lectures and audio books. They also will be able to purchase music through the site. Duke officials said the iPod distribution is part of a pilot program between Duke and Apple Computer, Inc. that will be evaluated after a year. Duke is paying for the project with strategic planning funds that it has set aside for one-time innovative technology purposes. The total cost of the project is expected to reach $500,000 or more, which includes hiring an academic computing specialist for the project, grant funding for faculty, associated research costs and the purchase of the iPods. "This iPod pilot program is an exciting new component of Duke's strategic plan, which seeks to use information technology in innovative ways within the classroom and across the campus," said Provost Peter Lange, the university's senior academic officer. "We're approaching this as an experiment, one we hope will motivate our faculty and students to think creatively about using digital audio content and a mobile computing environment to advance educational goals in the same way that iPods and similar devices have had such a big impact on music distribution," said Tracy Futhey, vice president for information technology. "We think the power and flexibility of these devices offer some real advantages over other media used to distribute educational content such as CD-ROMs and DVDs." Futhey said she also expects students to develop their own content and interesting new uses for the devices. "I could easily imagine our student newspaper creating a weekly or daily audio editorial that students could listen to as they walk across campus," she said. Lynne O'Brien, director of Duke's Center for Instructional Technology (CIT), noted that over the last two years a growing number of faculty members have shown interest in adding audio and video components to their courses. "The iPod project will encourage faculty to experiment with adding elements such as music, foreign language and poetry to class curricula," she said. O'Brien cited as an example the elementary Spanish course taught by visiting assistant professor Lisa Merschel. Students in that course will use the iPods to listen to audio examples of textbook exercises, hear Spanish songs and record their own efforts to speak Spanish. In another course on environmental ethics, taught by adjunct professor Sally Schauman, students will use their iPods to record lectures and, while in the field, take notes and record interviews. O'Brien said she expects other Duke faculty members to suggest ideas over the coming academic year to supplement those already slated for inclusion in the pilot program. "We will be inviting faculty to submit project ideas early in the fall semester," she said. Lange said Duke will distribute the iPods to students Aug. 19, 2004, as part of freshman orientation. "We're limiting our distribution to this single class because it will make it easier for us to evaluate their experience relative to other students and determine whether the iPods promoted educational innovation as we hope. Duke students, like students at most universities, are already comfortable with the Internet and new technologies, and we think they'll rise to the challenge of working with their professors and others to develop new ways of learning. As with other technology innovations, we will evaluate this experiment carefully," Lange said. The 1,650 20-GB iPods distributed to Duke freshmen are the latest-generation ipods from Apple and are compatible with both Mac and Windows systems, as are an additional 150 iPods slated for other academic and support needs. The iPods given to the first-year students will become property of the recipients. Students who do not own their own computers will also be able to participate in the project through computing laboratories on campus. The university has developed a technical support plan for students that includes a one-year warranty on each iPod and assistance through the Duke Computer Store and the OIT help desk. Students who lose their iPods will be able to purchase a new one through the Duke Computer Store. Upperclassmen enrolled in classes utilizing iPods will be given loaners for the duration of the course. Duke's CIT, Office of Student Affairs, Office of the Provost, Office of the Executive Vice President and Office of Information Technology (OIT) are collaborating with Apple on the iPod project. For additional information, contact: David Menzies | phone: (919) 684-2151 | email: david.menzies(a)duke.edu

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