October 2006 — News
Print this article | Email this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
News + Briefs
Wednesday, Nov. 1
:: Adobe Names Active Youth Voices Sites
Adobe Systems has kicked off its Active Youth Voices program, naming the first 41 sites to participate in the philanthropic venture. Recipients of the benefits of the program include schools and non-profit youth organizations in the United States, United Kingdom and India.
More info:
:: NEC Intros Projectors, Plasma Displays
NEC today announced several new projectors and plasma displays that it will begin shipping later this year. These include five new projectors in NEC's VT series of entry-level professional projectors, as well as two home theater plasma displays. The new models will roll out this month and into December.
More info:
:: Portland Portals Revamps Sherwood District’s Sites
Sherwood School District in Sherwood, Ore. has revamped its Metadot intranet/extranet with the help of Portland Portals, based in Portland, Ore. According to a district representative, Portland Portals handled all of the work on the Metadot skin for the district’s elementary, middle and high school sites, which are based on the Metadot Portal Server.
More info:
:: Florida School Boards Implement Wireless Disaster Recovery System
Two school boards in Orlando, Fla.—Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (82 elementary schools and 15 secondary schools) and Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic School Board (32 elementary and six secondary schools)—will be deploying a wireless disaster recovery system from Hitachi Data Systems and McData Corp. In the system, designed by CONPUTE, the boards will share a 49 Mbps data link between their education facilities. A live demonstration of the solution will take place at Storage Networking World Fall 2006 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando.
More info:
:: Horatio Alger Launches Scholarship for Survivors of Adversity
A new scholarship is being offered for students in Illinois by the Horatio Alger Association of
Distinguished Americans. The fun includes $200,000 in total scholarships to go toward paying for college tuition. The scholarships, ranging fro $2,500 to $20,000, are aimed at high school seniors who have faced adversity, such as poverty, abuse, abandonment and serious illness, among other criteria.
More info:
:: Microsoft Kicks Off Math Partnership Program
Microsoft Corp. has launched the Microsoft Math Partnership, a program aimed at math education in middle schools in the state of Washington. Initially the program will focus on eight school districts in the Puget Sound area, offering professional development workshops for teachers; math software for sixth, seventh and eighth graders; an awareness campaign; and legislative advocacy.
More info:
:: Rauland Intros VoIP Intercom/PA System
Rauland-Borg has announced Telecenter VoIP, a voice over IP system for K-12 schools. The system is an intercom and PA solution designed to use existing cabling to implement safety communications throughout a facility. It provides hands-free, two-way communication between administrators and classrooms, as well as remote monitoring, and allows for the broadcast of emergency tones, pre-recorded messages and other communications via cell phone into the system. Rauland-Borg has published a white paper on the topic of VoIP in K-12 facilities. It can be requested by following the link below.
More info:
Tuesday, Oct. 31
:: A new piece of software promises to bring Palm OS applications to other mobile platforms. StyleTap 1.0, released today by StyleTap Inc., is the first in a family of tools designed to allow software written for Palm devices to run unmodified on other operating systems, including Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and Windows Mobile for Smartphones.
More info...
:: Following a week of public beta testing, Badia Software, based in Toronto, Canada, has released the full version of BigPicture 3.0, a tool for working with graphics in QuarkXPress. The new version, which became available Today, is the first Universal Binary release of BigPicture. It also adds native support for QuarkXPress 7.
More info...
:: BenQ, a technology manufacturer based in Irvine, Calif., today announced a new model in its ultra-portable line of professional digital projectors. The M510 is a 5.7-pound single-chip, DLP-based model that comes in at less that $500. It's expected to ship next month.
More info...
:: NEC has kicked off a new program for educators called “Star Student.” The program rewards frequent purchasers of NEC display technologies with discounts and free warranties.
More info...
