Disposing of e-waste from computers and other electronics is rapidly becoming a worldwide problem. Many parts of computers, especially the plastic components, are not readily biodegradable. Environmentally-conscious manufacturers, such as Fujitsu, are exploring renewable resource options for computer components.
At the CES 2008 trade show, Fujitsu unveiled a notebook computer with a case made of a corn-based polymer instead of the usual plastics derived from petroleum products. Fujitsu states that the main component of the case is "polylactic acid, also known as PLA, a resin that comes from the fermentation of the raw biomass from plants. PLA by itself is biodegradable, does not generate dioxin when burnt, or other harmful gases." The video below discusses the notebook.
Discussion Questions for Students:
1) Have you ever bought a computer or electronic device because it was manufactured in an environmentally-friendly fashion? How important was this in your purchase decision?
2) Do you know what environmentally hazardous substances are contained in your current computer? Are any of these present: Lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants? Why do these substances pose hazards?
3) Where can you go locally to ensure that your discarded electronic equipment is properly disposed of or recycled? What questions should you ask before handing over your equipment?
You can find plenty of information on the EPA's site.
A blog designed for instructors who are teaching technology in colleges and high schools. We provide discussion topics for class as well as recommendations of free tools that students can use to complete projects.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Bluetooth Security Problems and Solutions
Most of our students have cell phones, and many of them also have Bluetooth devices, such as wireless headsets. However, most people don’t realize that Bluetooth transmissions are not a secure technology. In this video, Joshua Wright (an instructor at the SANS Institute) shows us how easy it is to listen in on a Bluetooth device and even inject your own audio into the device you’ve compromised.
Although requiring technical skills beyond the casual computer user (as it involves using Linux and other seemingly arcane protocols), a computer science student would probably have no trouble in replicating these actions. In fact, there are many web sites that list Bluetooth hacking tools with links to download them. Fortunately there are simple ways to protect yourself from Bluetooth snooping, and one of the best resources for Bluetooth protection is on the Bluetooth site itself. Following these guidelines should help your students (and you!) stay more secure when using Bluetooth enabled devices.
Discussion Questions for Students:
1) What types of Bluetooth devices do you use on a regular basis? Have you configured them (after pairing them with your devices) into a non-discoverable state so that other Bluetooth devices can’t find them?
2) Have you updated the firmware (for that matter, what is firmware?) in your Bluetooth devices lately? Do you know how to do this? Do you know why it is important to do this?
3) Do you have antivirus software installed on your phone or PDA? Do you keep it updated on a regular basis?
Although requiring technical skills beyond the casual computer user (as it involves using Linux and other seemingly arcane protocols), a computer science student would probably have no trouble in replicating these actions. In fact, there are many web sites that list Bluetooth hacking tools with links to download them. Fortunately there are simple ways to protect yourself from Bluetooth snooping, and one of the best resources for Bluetooth protection is on the Bluetooth site itself. Following these guidelines should help your students (and you!) stay more secure when using Bluetooth enabled devices.
Discussion Questions for Students:
1) What types of Bluetooth devices do you use on a regular basis? Have you configured them (after pairing them with your devices) into a non-discoverable state so that other Bluetooth devices can’t find them?
2) Have you updated the firmware (for that matter, what is firmware?) in your Bluetooth devices lately? Do you know how to do this? Do you know why it is important to do this?
3) Do you have antivirus software installed on your phone or PDA? Do you keep it updated on a regular basis?
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Have Students Create Their Own Social Networks
Most of my students are already using at least one social network (MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, Friendster). But when you join an existing social network you are locked into their way of doing things. You can't really design your own experience for a particular community. Or can you... ?
Send your students over to Ning which is a site where they can create their very own personal social network... for free!
A five minute sign up process is all it takes to be off and running with your own network. You can invite members, post content, and control the look and feel of your social network's home page. You can choose to have the network viewable by anyone or keep it restricted to members only. You choose the URL for your network, which will end in ning.com, and therefore would look something like this: mycoolnetwork.ning.com. You can host blogs, threaded message forums, and several other features. The learning curve is very low as it has a similar look and feel to established social networks.
So how does Ning make money? The network you set up has rather unobtrusive Google AdSense ads on the side of the page which generate revenue for Ning. If you want to control the ad content on your site and keep the revenue for yourself, all you need to do is pay Ning $10 per month and you can remove all of their ads and put up your own.
I think that setting up a social network makes a great group project for a computer literacy class. Groups of students can compete to sign up the most members, have the largest number of relevant blog postings, generate the most useful message threads, etc. So send your students out there to play around and see what happens.
Send your students over to Ning which is a site where they can create their very own personal social network... for free!
A five minute sign up process is all it takes to be off and running with your own network. You can invite members, post content, and control the look and feel of your social network's home page. You can choose to have the network viewable by anyone or keep it restricted to members only. You choose the URL for your network, which will end in ning.com, and therefore would look something like this: mycoolnetwork.ning.com. You can host blogs, threaded message forums, and several other features. The learning curve is very low as it has a similar look and feel to established social networks.
So how does Ning make money? The network you set up has rather unobtrusive Google AdSense ads on the side of the page which generate revenue for Ning. If you want to control the ad content on your site and keep the revenue for yourself, all you need to do is pay Ning $10 per month and you can remove all of their ads and put up your own.
I think that setting up a social network makes a great group project for a computer literacy class. Groups of students can compete to sign up the most members, have the largest number of relevant blog postings, generate the most useful message threads, etc. So send your students out there to play around and see what happens.
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