Will Google be able to analyze where you move your mouse online?

Posted by Vika at 16 July, 2010 15:48 [ General News ]

On Tuesday Google was granted a patent to allow the Web company to collect data on where users hover their mouse cursors on search result pages and advertisements.

Google continues to expand to find unique ways to rank Web pages, and now they may be able to learn about user behaviour in a different way: tracking where you point your cursor on Web pages. On Tuesday, Google was granted a new patent that "accounts for the position of a user's mouse cursor on the screen - even without any clicks," as media reports found.

The patent was filed in 2005.

The search giant would supposedly be able to amass information on what users hover over but don't click on, including ads. Google explained its rationale behind securing the patent: "Sometimes, a user may review multiple informational items responsive to a search query, moving a pointer over or near each of the informational items that the user reviews. These various pointer activities can provide another way to evaluate the user's feedback with respect to a particular informational item."

Bill Slawski of SEO by the Sea discussed the patent on his blog: "The patent also tells us that it might give different weights in determining a relevancy value for mouse pointer movements based upon different areas of a result. If someone hovers over the title to a search result, that might carry a different amount of weight than if they hover over the snippet of a result."

Little info is given regarding a mouse cursor simply hovering on a Web page due to user inactivity. It is also uncertain if and when Google will implement this technology.

Source:http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294699

(16) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments

UN REVEALS CHANGES TO E-GOVERNMENT RANKINGS

Posted by Vika at 08 June, 2010 10:25 [ General News ]

By Robin Hicks | 7 June 2010

In an interview with FutureGov, the director of the United Nations E-Government rankings has revealed how the next survey will be modified to stay up to date with emerging trends.

PHOTOS

Haiyan Qian, Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management at the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), said that the criteria for judging e-government performance were under review, to factor in advances in technology and governance.

“We’re now working on ways to update the survey,” she said. “ICT changes fast, and so do government operations and delivery. We publish a ranking once every two years, and we need to ensure that our policy indicators are relevant to current and emerging trends that are changing the course of public sector modernisation.”

South Korea topped the 2010 UN E-Government Survey, marking the first time an Asian country has topped the rankings. The only other Asian country in the top 10 was Australia (8th). Making the top 20 were Singapore (11th), Bahrain (13th), New Zealand (14th) and Japan (17th).

Qian noted the criteria policymakers needed to consider to perform well in the 2012 UN E-Government Survey. “Open data is an exciting new trend, and we’ll be looking closely at how governments exploit open data to empower citizens to be both the recipients and the providers of new services,” she said. “However, some criteria will remain the same. The digital divide has been a key yardstick for the UN survey from day one. We still need to remind countries not to forget long-standing issues that can get overlooked in the hurry to roll out new services.”

Countries that are weak economically, but that are using ICT to leapfrog their service capabilities by using mobile and other new devices, will be duly rewarded in the rankings, she said. “Service provision is a big challenge in many developing countries, and mobile is a useful tool to bridge the divide where the internet is still inaccessible.” 

How citizen engagement is merited is also being updated.

“We want to see governments engaging citizens actively, not passively. Gathering citizen feedback is not enough. Citizens need to be drawn into decision-making and monitoring to help governments boost transparency and accountability, and reduce corruption.”

The use of ICT to help vulnerable and disadvantaged groups is another focus area. “We want to look at how women can benefit from ICT and government e-services,” she said. “According to recent research, women do not always benefit from ICT. The reverse can be true. For instance, the internet has facilitated a rise in female trafficking.”

Governments need to think more carefully about providing services for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including the disabled, the illiterate, the aged and the young, Qian added. “Government services that include access for the vision impaired are still the exception and not the norm. We will be looking at how services are being made accessible to all.”

Source:http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2010/jun/07/un-reveals-changes-e-government-survey/#

(43) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments

Leading ICT Makers Pitch New Products to Grab Orders

Posted by cosuna at 03 June, 2010 18:27 [ General News ]

The global second biggest and Asian largest ICT product procurement platform, TAIPEI COMPUTEX 2010 opens today in Taipei for five days. There are 1,715 exhibitors using 4,861 booths and 35,000 international buyers expected to visit the show that will bring in US$20 billion business dollars during the show. COMPUTEX TAIPEI has been stepping its 30th year since Taipei Computer Association first organized the show in 1981.

Gartner estimated the global computer shipment to reach 376 million units in 2010 represented a growth of 22% showing that the ICT industry is getting recovery and the computer replacement on the market keeps on going. Therefore several major leading ICT makers including Intel, NVIDIA, AMD, Acer, MSI and ASUS exhibit new products covering cloud computing, tablet PC, 3D display and e-book aiming to take hold of the opportunities of computer replacement in this annual procurement season.

Cloud Computing drives the business opportunities of hardware procurement.

Cloud computing has become one of the hot topics this year. Intel, Microsoft and Google all feature in cloud computing in COMPUTEX forums to pinpoint how cloud computing influences mobile computing, handheld information and possible feasibility and advantages of adapting cloud computing in different industries. The business opportunities of cloud computing related products may be driven.

In terms of cloud client server related products, Gigabyte, MSI, Compal, ASUS and MiTAC all display related cloud computing servers specified with thin U/2U high performance mainframe, supported virtual reality platform and optical fiber expansion interface which enables to access data from storages devices to lessen the burdens of server systems.

In terms of cloud computing devices, AIO (All-In-One), netbook, table PC and smartphone are the main products. Regarding AIO products, the touch panel interface makes the PC operation friendlier. The customized AIO models can be supplied upon request. And for system integrators, these devices are the best applications of cloud computing. In the theme pavilion of AIO COMPUTREND, Acer, ASUS, MSI and ITRI ICL exhibit several AIOs supported touch panel, the application software with AIO interface, AIO applications in the living room and data exchange software adapted with cloud computing.

3D products fill up COMPUTEX TAIPEI.

3D products can not be missed in COMPUTEX TAIPEI this year. Many exhibitors introduce 3D products including notebook, AIO, display, projector, video recorder, digital camera, digital signage, rear projection display. For examples, MSI, Acer and ASUS showcase the 3D notebooks. MSI’s 24” AE2420 is an AIO product with multi-touch when Aiptek also displays a 3D high resolution camcorder i2.

In order for international buyers to better know 3D products, Chimei Innolux, CPT, Daxon, VEA, Teco, XGI and Aiptek all showcase different 3D technologies on displays in 3D theme pavilion. VEA also exhibits a 3D ready 74” rear project display and presents a live demonstration to experience the impact of large screen 3D display for visitors.

The most noted 3D product is ITRI’s 3D glass-free digital signage system which can present 3D images with bare vision and users don’t need to wear any glasses. Adapted hand gesture control technology, the users can use their hands to operate without wearing any devices. It is a new interactive model of digital signage.

Save trees to read. E-books demand continues growing.

When reading is still the important tool for the public to obtain information, e-book is another hot spot of COMPUTEX TAIPEI driven by the green topic of to read not to cut trees. According to the market research institute DIGITIMES Research, the global e-reader shipment of Q1, 2010 has exceeded 1.2 million units and estimated to reach 9.3 million units in 2010 and possibly to break through the 10 million units.

In addition, Taiwan has the complete industry chain of e-book. When the major e-paper suppliers E-Ink and SiPix come from Taiwan, Taiwan manufacturers also progressively make great efforts on e-book R&D, design and manufacturing. Moreover, Taiwan aims to become the global e-book industry development center.

Displaying Taiwan manufacturers’ core competence of e-book industry, e-Reading pavilion supervised by IDB, MOEA include ASUS, BenQ, Kinpo, Delta, Inventec, Qisda, Aiptek, Netronix, Phemos, Necvox, Green Wood, Hiachieve and Yuantong to exhibit varied e-book products. The pavilion is also featured with four major areas including Taiwan e-reading industry chain, Taiwan e-reading, e-book applications and intelligent classroom.

Android leads. Tablet PC battle kicks off in advance.

iPad lighted the topic of tablet PC and household computer replacement. Intel, NVIDIA, ARM, Microsoft, Acer, MSI and ASUS introduce new conceptual tablet PCs during COMPUTEX. The products feature in built-in 3G/WiFi/GPS, complete product applications, common browsers available, Flash ready, internet film viewing available and external interfaces all escalate the tablet PCs’ sustainability.

There are many kinds of tablet PCs and different specifications to be found in COMPUTEX. In terms of processors, ATOM, ARM and Tegra 2 products can be seen on-site. In terms of OS, Windows 7, Android and MeeGo are also available during the show. Not only the buyers have multiple choices but the exhibitors can provide customized models upon different request.

Source: http://www.computex.biz/computex2010_en/TopNews_Detail.aspx?index=34289

(32) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments

Asia becomes growth center for global web-based service market, says Yahoo! CMO

Posted by Vika at 25 May, 2010 16:38 [ General News ]

Marvin Ma, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES [Friday 21 May 2010]

Asia has become the growth center for the global Internet-based service market, according to Yahoo! CMO and executive vice president Elisa Steele at a presentation in Taipei on May 20.

Asia has a large population and Internet-access penetration in emerging countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines is increasing fast, while online advertising still has large growth potential in mature Internet-surfing markets such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, Steele pointed out.

Yahoo! has been strengthening its online advertising services, with its advertising featuring scientific insight into Internet surfers' behavior and needs, artistic approaches to marketing and large scales, Steele indicated.

Yahoo CMO Elisa Steele

Yahoo! CMO and executive vice president Elisa Steele makes a presentation in Taipei
Photo: Terry Ku, Digitimes, May 2010

Source: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100521PD211.html

(47) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments

The Digital Divide on IP Addresses

Posted by Vika at 25 May, 2010 16:29 [ General News ]

May 24, 2010 9:33 AM PDT

By Peter van Eijk

We are running out of IPv4 Internet addresses, but who is using them all up? The IP address space usage per capita differs greatly between nations, which points to a digital divide.

If we would distribute IPv4 addresses uniformly over the world population, there would be less than 1 address per person. In fact, on the average, 0.54 addresses would be available per person (including all babies, etc). In 2006 this number was 0.57, population has increased in the meantime. The actual use is 0.45 (up from 0.32 in 2006). For a more detailed analysis of this history, see my 2006 analysis.

But addresses are not uniformly distributed. There is a digital divide between western countries and developing countries. The top user (not counting some mini states) is the US, where wasteful pre-CIDR address allocations have led to an average of more than 4 addresses per person. A few dozen countries have more than their fair share (i.e. 0.54) addresses per person, and almost two dozen have more that 1 address per person allocated.

Utilization is still growing rapidly. Over 30, mostly developing, countries have more than doubled their address utilization per capita in the past 4 years. In addition, most developed countries (with the notable exception of the US) have seriously (30-60%) increased their utilizations.

This growth is clearly unsustainable within the IPv4 address space. Not every country can have these utilization levels. The hunger for new addresses is greatest in China (currently at 1 IPv4 address per 4 inhabitants) and India (1 address per 53 inhabitants). To put these at the modest level of 1 address per inhabitant requires more than 2.2 billion addresses, where there are currently only 290 million left, according to http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/. Given these numbers and the overall strong growth, any hopes of being able to reuse space that is allocated but not used (i.e. pre-CIDR) are futile. This demand dwarfs the entire US allocation.

IPv6 is supposed to solve the address space problem. Is it progressing? For IPv6 allocations the per capita metric is a bit moot as there is no scarcity. Still, there is an interesting divide. Quite a number of countries have no allocated IPv6 address space at all. A few have pilots, with utilizations less than 1 percent. The largest utilizations are in Sweden and in the Asia Pacific region, where a number of countries have hundreds of IPv6 addresses per inhabitant. The US is in 8th place, after Vietnam and Indonesia but, somewhat surprisingly, before China.

The full data of this analysis can be found in a Google Docs spreadsheet. I'd also like to acknowledge Iljitsch van Beijnum who has provided the address allocation data.

Source:http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100524_the_digital_divide_on_ip_addresses/

(71) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments

Broadband that Spurs Growth

Posted by cosuna at 11 February, 2010 15:28 [ General News ]

This report distills for policymakers and regulators the various strategies, policies, and regulations that leading broadband markets have used to spur growth. The report bases its findings on a detailed case study of the experiences of the Republic of Korea and surveys of six other countries. Given developments in the broadband market involving networks, services, applications, and users, and the experiences of leading markets—especially Korea—this report proposes that broadband be reconceptualized as an ecosystem rather than just high-speed connectivity. Using the ecosystem concept, the report discusses the characteristics of broadband strategies and identifies policies that other countries might use. The report concludes with a set of building blocks that may help in developing the broadband ecosystems. The team invites comments and ideas from readers in response to this report.

Download the report here Building Broadband Strategies and Policies for Development

Source: http://www.infodev.org/en/Article.454.html

(155) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments

ICT and Education, What Should we Expect in 2010?

Posted by cosuna at 18 January, 2010 14:37 [ General News ]

Mr. Robert Hawkins provides us with the following analysis on ICT and its effects on education. ADOC, through the inception of the second phase, has already begun embracing some of these trends such as ubiquitous learning and mobile learning. As ADOC progresses, we may see a movement toward some of the other trends addressed by Hawkins.

10 Global Trends in ICT and Education

BY ROBERT HAWKINS

In the spirit of the new year and all things dealing with resolutions and lists, I submit below my first blog posting for the EduTech blog (checking off a resolution) with a discussion of 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education for 2010 and beyond (joining the crowded space of lists in this new year).

The list is an aggregation of projections from leading forecasters such as the Horizon Report, personal observations and a good dose of guesswork. The Top 10 Global Trends in ICT and Education are:

Mobile Learning. New advances in hardware and software are making mobile “smart phones” indispensible tools. Just as cell phones have leapfrogged fixed line technology in the telecommunications industry, it is likely that mobile devices with internet access and computing capabilities will soon overtake personal computers as the information appliance of choice in the classroom.

Cloud computing. Applications are increasingly moving off of the stand alone desk top computer and increasingly onto server farms accessible through the Internet. The implications of this trend for education systems are huge; they will make cheaper information appliances available which do not require the processing power or size of the PC. The challenge will be providing the ubiquitous connectivity to access information sitting in the “cloud”.

One-to-One computing. The trend in classrooms around the world is to provide an information appliance to every learner and create learning environments that assume universal access to the technology. Whether the hardware involved is one laptop per child (OLPC), or – increasingly -- a net computer, smart phone, or the re-emergence of the tablet, classrooms should prepare for the universal availability of personal learning devices.

Ubiquitous learning. With the emergence of increasingly robust connectivity infrastructure and cheaper computers, school systems around the world are developing the ability to provide learning opportunities to students “anytime, anywhere”. This trend requires a rethinking of the traditional 40 minute lesson. In addition to hardware and Internet access, it requires the availability of virtual mentors or teachers, and/or opportunities for peer to peer and self-paced, deeper learning.

Gaming. A recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project per the Horizon Report found that massively multiplayer and other online game experience is extremely common among young people and that games offer an opportunity for increased social interaction and civic engagement among youth. The phenomenal success of games with a focus on active participation, built in incentives and interaction suggests that current educational methods are not falling short and that educational games could more effectively attract the interest and attention of learners.

Personalized learning. Education systems are increasingly investigating the use of technology to better understand a student’s knowledge base from prior learning and to tailor teaching to both address learning gaps as well as learning styles. This focus transforms a classroom from one that teaches to the middle to one that adjusts content and pedagogy based on individual student needs – both strong and weak.

Redefinition of learning spaces. The ordered classroom of 30 desks in rows of 5 may quickly become a relic of the industrial age as schools around the world are re-thinking the most appropriate learning environments to foster collaborative, cross-disciplinary, students centered learning. Concepts such as greater use of light, colors, circular tables, individual spaces for students and teachers, and smaller open learning spaces for project-based learning are increasingly emphasized.

Teacher-generated open content. OECD school systems are increasingly empowering teachers and networks of teachers to both identify and create the learning resources that they find most effective in the classroom. Many online texts allow teachers to edit, add to, or otherwise customize material for their own purposes, so that their students receive a tailored copy that exactly suits the style and pace of the course. These resources in many cases complement the official textbook and may, in the years to come, supplant the textbook as the primary learning source for students. Such activities often challenge traditional notions of intellectual property and copyright.

Smart portfolio assessment. The collection, management, sorting, and retrieving of data related to learning will help teachers to better understand learning gaps and customize content and pedagogical approaches. Also, assessment is increasingly moving toward frequent formative assessments which lend itself to real-time data and less on high-pressure exams as the mark of excellence. Tools are increasingly available to students to gather their work together in a kind of online portfolio; whenever they add a tweet, blog post, or photo to any online service, it will appear in their personal portfolio which can be both peer and teacher assessed.

Teacher managers/mentors. The role of the teacher in the classroom is being transformed from that of the font of knowledge to an instructional manager helping to guide students through individualized learning pathways, identifying relevant learning resources, creating collaborative learning opportunities, and providing insight and support both during formal class time and outside of the designated 40 minute instruction period. This shift is easier said than done and ultimately the success or failure of technology projects in the classroom hinge on the human factor and the willingness of a teacher to step into unchartered territory.

These trends are expected to continue and to challenge many of the delivery models fundamental to formal education as it is practiced in most countries. It will be interesting to reflect back on this list at the end of the year to see which ideas have gained the most traction; and what new ideas will make a list for 2011.

Source:

http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/10-global-trends-in-ict-and-education

(120) Views, (0) Trackbacks, (0) Comments