Murdoch may block Google searches

9 11 2009

Here is a short BBC News article that may be of interest.

“He (Murdoch) believes that search engines cannot legally use headlines and paragraphs of news stories as search results.”





US Cyberattack Capabilities book

3 11 2009

Technology, Policy, Law and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities. (National Academies Press, 2009)

You can read it online at the NAP site, or listen to the podcast. Scroll down for the full-text listed by chapters or for the podcast link. This may be of interest to students in the information studies minor, as well.

“The United States is increasingly dependent on information and information technology for both civilian and military purposes, as are many other nations. Although there is a substantial literature on the potential impact of a cyberattack on the societal infrastructure of the United States, little has been written about the use of cyberattack as an instrument of U.S. policy.  ……”





Documentary on NYC Garment District

19 10 2009

Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags is a documentary premiering tonight on HBO at 9pm (repeats on other dates). It seems it will be an interesting documenatry covering the rise and decline of the garment industry in the US (NYC),  and related economic & social issues (labor unions, globalization, international business, unemployment, impact on immigrant communities & American culture, etc.). Also, it will be interesting to see how they present industry information. The HBO site includes a brief Resources section.





Translation of Information/Technical Terms

14 10 2009

“The French Get Lost in the Clouds Over a New Term in the Internet Age — They Turned Email Into Courriel, But What’s With Informatique en Nuage?” is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal (by Max Colchester). 

It discusses France’s attempt to preserve the French language, but also how information/technology terms coined in English may not translate well in other languages.  (Other languages tend to adopt the English phrases, as opposed to translating them with culturally appropriate terms.) A phrase that may describe a concept well in English may seem confusing, or silly, to international & ESL students. I realize this is true of any new phrase or slang, but we may want to consider this when discussing new information/technological concepts to international & ESL students, especially since this field creates new terms at a fast pace.