Good luck for tomorrow!

Good luck to all the Blue Bull and Shark supporters for tomorrow's Currie Cup Final!

Since my team is not in the final (Cheetahs), I will be cheering with my husband for the Bulls.

Edited on Monday - congrats to the Sharks!

The mom and dad of social media lists

Adapted from picture of: spekulator

Guy Kawasaki at the FutureLab blog recently posted the "mother of social media lists" and the "father of social media lists."

Click here to see mom and here to see dad.

These are the most comprehensive lists of examples of social media applications, videos, blogs, podcasts, widgets, crowdsourcing, bookmarking, microblogging, photosharing, wikis, mashups, brand monitoring ad nauseum.

Strategic technologies for 2009

Gartner Inc., a technology research and advisory company, has ranked virtualization as the No. 1 strategic technology for next year, not for its "tremendously obvious" ability to virtualize servers, but for its increasing capability to virtualize just about everything else in a data center.

Here's Gartner's list for 2009:

1. Virtualization. (Ranked No. 5 last year)

In forecasting the impact of the economy on IT spending, Gartner put virtualization near the top of must-have technologies. But to make the strategic technology list, it had to have other characteristics as well, namely a Swiss Army Knife-like capability to be applied beyond servers.

Gartner analyst Carl Claunch said that in storage, for instance, virtualization allows users to "to combine different kinds and generations of storage technology." That gives them the freedom to mix and match storage technologies based on competitive bids, he said.

2. Cloud computing. (New to the list.)

If there was a technology hype list, cloud computing would have been the top choice, said Cearley. He got some audience chuckles with this line: "You can't swing a dead cat without hitting somebody that's talking about cloud computing these days."
But Gartner sees cloud computing as having a massive game-changing role, not only as the platform for software as a service, but as a computing and storage infrastructure provider, as well as a platform for information and business processes.

3. Computing fabrics. (No. 8 last year.)

Server technology is evolving to a point where you buy the physical resource you need, whether that is memory, I/O or processor, and fashion them together to create resource pools.

A computing fabric "combines those [resources] as you need them," said Claunch. IT shops will, potentially, be able to dispense with their separate pools of small, medium and large servers under this model. Blade servers have some of this capability -- the ability to move memory and processor capability -- but it's limited to what's inside the chassis, he said.

4. Web-oriented architecture. (New but similar to "the Web platform" -- No. 7 last year.) Gartner talked last year about how the Web will be the model for services delivery. This year, it discussed in terms of an architectural approach, how Web models will influence service-oriented architectures. The architecture, as the name implies, uses Web standards, identifiers, formats and protocols

5. Enterprise mashups. (No. 6 last year.)

Mashups, a fun word, are becoming a serious enterprise tool, allowing users to use public APIs to combine various services and capabilities quickly. The content aggregation tools give business users the flexibility to combine data inside and outside the enterprise.

6. Specialized systems. (New to the list.) A Cisco router is an obvious example, but there are specialized appliances for Java, data warehousing and other processes. It's an approach that could lead to some cost savings, and "could be wide open" as an emerging trend, said Claunch.

7. Social software and social networking. (No. 10 last year.) The tools offer "the ability to work across the organization in dynamic fashion," said Claunch.

8. Unified communications. (No. 2 last year.) Gartner said that over the next five year, "the number of different communications vendors companies may be reduced by at least 50%," thanks to unified communications.

9. Business intelligence. (New.)

This is hardly new to enterprises, but increases in computing power is giving companies the means to expand business intelligence capabilities, such as applying BI analytics directly into business processes.

10. Green IT. (No. 1 last year.)

Already a strategic technology that will not melt away, Green IT has not diminished in importance. For IT, green is everything, and that includes anything that can help cut the energy bill and reduce fuel use.

CIO published an article on What Gartner didn't say about virtualisation which goes into more detail about client virtualisation.

University news from the West

Life and sport: A world apart
Those who say life is like a game are confusing fantasy with reality, says Robert A. Segal

Keep it stupid, simple
Is dumbing down a reality on UK campuses? Most respondents to our online poll highlighted dangers to academic standards, but they were split about whether degrees are worth less than they were before. John Gill weighs up the facts

Hefce moots linking cash to employability

Higher education expert says funding idea is ‘extremely dangerous’

Forum lays down proposals in bid to improve student life

Better information and flexible finance are among report recommendations

Watch out: FoI research shines light on the sector

Should universities be exempt from Freedom of Information Act probes?

‘You would barely know adult stem cells exist’

Newcastle specialist quits UK for France, citing undue focus on embryo research

GLOBAL: Tide turning for STEM subjects
Diane Spencer
Countries around the world are trying to prevent a continuing decline in interest among students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM - the so-called key vulnerable subjects. Professor John Holman, director of STEM subjects at the UK National Science Learning Centre, said Britain was not alone among advanced economies that had experienced shortages of graduates in these areas. While other EU countries, Japan, the US and Scandinavia were also suffering, the picture was different in developing nations.

GERMANY: Education summit a disappointment
Mike Gardner
Seemingly undaunted by the international financial crisis which has also rocked some German banks, the Federal Government went ahead with its Education Summit last Wednesday. But the meeting ended in a row over the 16 state governments' insistence on getting a greater share of VAT revenue for investment in education.

RUSSIA: Super league of 'federal' universities
Nick Holdsworth
A shake-up of Russia's university system will see the establishment of a network of new, high-status 'federal' institutions under Education Ministry plans being considered by lawmakers. The scheme - part of a wide-ranging set of proposals under a Kremlin plan to improve Russia's socio-economic infrastructure - has passed its first reading and will target resources on specialised research universities and encourage wider lifelong vocational learning.

BANGLADESH: Responding to global challenges
Mahdin Mahboob*
The Asia Regional Higher Education Summit was held in Dhaka earlier this month with a view to expanding innovative approaches to teaching, research, technology transfer and business development in higher education. Attended by senior educationists from across the world, the four-day summit proposed a range of ideas for the development of key sectors and how higher education could play a role in this.

AUSTRALIA: Boost for university infrastructure
Geoff Maslen
The nation's universities have welcomed a decision by the federal government to allocate almost A$700 million (US$469 million) for spending on infrastructure and research facilities. The money has been fast-tracked to next year's funding round and will be drawn from the $1 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund.

HUNGARY: Boost R&D to improve economy
Hungary should invest more in research and development to make its economy more competitive and boost growth, according to a new OECD report. The report, Hungary - OECD Review of Innovation Policy, considers the strengths and weaknesses of Hungary's innovation system and recommends steps the government could take to increase the impact of innovation on the country's future prosperity.

US-INDIA: Collaboration in agricultural education
Subbiah Arunachalam
The US Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) has awarded four grants totalling about $400,000 to US universities for advancing the US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative.

Don't Panic
College fund raisers are making some tactical adjustments amid economic turmoil, but few are publicly expressing outright doom and gloom about their prospects.

The Econ Major's Marginal Utility
A new working paper examines economics majors' views about their chosen field of study, including its level of difficulty and how happy they are with it.

Too Many Students Come to College Unprepared
steven bell
In many parts of the country, community colleges are bursting at the seams as demand for their product soars. A shocking 70 percent of new students at Normandale Community College in Bloomington need to enroll in one or more remedial math courses before proceeding to college-credit work. More than half need remedial work in writing.

Higher Ed Looks Like The Next Bubble To Pop
steven bell
Home builders and banks aren't the only ones facing economic headwinds these days. America's undercapitalized independent colleges are staring at a spiral of major threats to solvency as penny-pinching students and parents consider cheaper options, and funding sources dry up. As a result, they could be the next bubble industry to pop. But while head counts slide, needs rise. Demand for student aid is up, but charitable donations from foundations and individuals will fall during a downturn. Ditto for investment returns. And thanks to tanking tax revenue, federal aid may take a hit, too. Taken together, many independent institutions start to look vulnerable.

Students Work To Create A Digital Game With Social Purpose
steven bell
Creating a fun game may seem an unlikely way to tackle the serious problem of domestic violence. But that’s the task facing a team of college students in quaint Vermont. An added challenge: The digital game has to be appealing and accessible to young people half a world away, in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa. As part of a broader campaign against gender violence, the United Nations wants to reach children, particularly boys, before stereotypes sink in.

Threats to shipping

Copyright: monstamash

The Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report, compiled and published weekly by the Office of Naval Intelligence, contains a summary of recent piracy acts and hostile actions against commercial shipping worldwide, organized by geographic region. The report also includes any recent developments in the efforts to prevent piracy and prosecute the aggressors.

The most recent report is from 17 October 2008 and highlights

• Anti-piracy and crime current developments in Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and Japan.
• There is reported active violence against shipping,a credible threat to shipping, or the potential to develop into a direct threat to the safety of shipping in the South America and West Africa, the Indian Ocean East Africa, Southeast Asia and North Asia
• Environmental and economic non-state activist groups - Greenpeace boarded a carrier (WINDSOR ADVENTURE) 06 Oct 08 off the port of Gijon, Spain.

Brand Xpo coming in 2009

Affinity Publishing, parents of Encyclopaedia of Brands & Branding in South Africa, organise a new brand exhibition next year: Brand Xpo. It seems the expo will be in September 2009 and a selection of iconic brands will be showcased for all to see.

According to Bizcommunity.com

Brand Xpo is Affinity Publishing's brainchild but its advisors include an impressive line-up of marketing experts: André Beyers (André Beyers Marketing), Andrew Human (The Loerie Awards), Andy Rice (Yellowwood Brand Architects), Derek Carstens (First National Bank), Derick de Jongh (UNISA), Gab Mampone (SABC), Gordon Cook (Vega School of Brand Communication), Heidi Brauer (Ipsos Markinor), Jeremy Sampson (Interbrand Sampson), Mike Perry (Perry & Associates), Nicola Kleyn (GIBS), Roger Sinclair (BrandMetrics), Sean McCoy (HKLM), Sizakele Marutlulle (Moonchild) and Thebe Ikalefeng (Brand Leadership).

The Advisory Board has already suggested Brand Xpo's primary audience be segmented into three groups - marketers of today, marketers of the future, and consumers - and that activities and displays be developed to appeal to, and benefit, all three.

The first two groups, marketers of today and marketers of the future, will achieve maximum benefit from the ‘industry days' that will form the backbone of the exhibition. According to Preston, these are aimed at SMEs, branding agencies, corporates, colleges and universities, all of whom will derive great value through skills transfer sessions and displays, and learning how the various elements of branding are used to build profitable brands.

Brand Xpo will held at Gallagher Estate in September 2009.

For further information, contact Ken Preston or Samantha van Staden on 011 442-2366.

Looking towards the future

Copyright:Marzie

Every year The Futurist makes some forecasts on changes and trends we can expect in the following year. This year they have released an article: OUTLOOK 2009: Recent Forecasts from World Future Society for 2009 and Beyond .

The forecasts is not “predictions” of what the future will be like, but rather glimpses of what may happen or proposals for preferred futures.

So what can you expect?

In a nutshell: more sex, fewer antidepressants; more religious influence in China, less religious influence in the Middle East and the United States; more truth and transparency online, but a totally recorded real life.

The forecasts are divided into sections:

• Business and Economics

China will most likely become the world’s largest economy within the next three decades.

Tourism is expected to nearly double worldwide, from 842 million international tourist arrivals in 2006 to 1.6 billion in 2020

Retirees in the United States will increasingly return to the workforce. (The report is large US-based, however, this is a global trend)

Socioeconomic disparities will become more pronounced in aging societies.

Social safety nets will get cut. Governments across the industrialized world will pare down or scrap altogether their pension and health-care programs for retirees.

• Computers

Watch out! HAL from 2001 is on the way. Selfaware machine intelligence could be achieved by midcentury.

Search engines will become humanlike by 2050. With the “semantic” Web, AI-based search engines will comprehend users’ questions and queries just like a human assistant.

Rainbow traps may improve computing abilities.

“Serious gaming” will help train tomorrow’s health workers.

• Demography

Urbanization will hit 60% by 2030.

Workforces on the move will exacerbate social conflicts. Increased migrations of workers from developing countries to developed countries will help offset worker shortages in host countries.

• Energy

Access to electricity will reach 83% of the world by 2030.

Architects will harness energy from the movement of crowds.

Pursuit of alternatives to oil could help stabilize gas prices.

• Information Society

Everything you say and do may be recorded. By the late 2010s, ubiquitous unseen nanodevices will provide seamless communication and surveillance among all people everywhere.

Identity theft and other Internet crimes will increase at a faster pace.

You’ll have more friends whom you’ll never meet, and cyberfriends may outnumber real-life friends. (This has already happened in places like Facebook and MySpace, even perhaps Linked-In?)

• Technology and Science
  

The Internet will become more factually reliable and more transparent.

TV in 3-D.

Optical clocks may enable us to measure time much more precisely.

• Transportation

The car’s days as king of the road may soon be over.

Mobility is becoming a priority to more people in rising economies: More people will travel farther faster. Personal mobility is increasing in rapidly expanding economies.

Research labs are coming closer to “beaming” us up. Star Trek–type transporters may soon be possible for data transmission, but not for sending people places.

• Values and Society

People will have more sex. With women’s growing economic power around the world, arranged marriages are becoming less likely. As a result, women will feel freer to express their sexuality.

U.S. cultural hegemony may be over. The days of U.S. and First World dominance over the world’s culture and economy may soon be over.

New generations, new values. Self reliance and cooperation will become prevalent societal values as Generation X and Generation Y replace the baby-boom generation.

More people will consume ethically.

• Work and Careers

Succeeding in future niche careers may mean choosing an unusual major.

Tomorrow’s high-tech cowboys will telecommute.

Professional knowledge will become obsolete more quickly.

• World Affairs

The world’s legal systems will be networked. The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), a database of local and national laws for more than 50 participating countries, will grow to include more than 100 counties by 2010.


Militaries will use neuroscience breakthroughs to win future wars.



Climate change is already spurring armed conflict.

Sport & Technology journal

The new issue of Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology is available.

Here is the Table of Content:

1. Editorial / Professor Mike Caine
2. Influence of footwear and soil density on loading within the shoe and soil surface during running / S J Dixon, I T James, K Blackburn, N Pettican and D Low
3. A musculoskeletal full-body simulation of cross-country skiing / L J Holmberg and A M Lund
4. Measurement and analysis of grip force during a golf shot /E R Komi, J R Roberts and S J Rothberg
5. Evaluation of the risk of batted-ball injury for slow-pitch softball pitchers/M Ciocco and M McDowell
6. Characteristics of head impacts sustained by youth ice hockey players / J P Mihalik, K M Guskiewicz, J A Jeffries, R M Greenwald and S W Marshall
7. Optimization of accelerometers for measuring walking /R Foster, L Lanningham-Foster and J Levine

Aims and Scope of the journal:

The Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology is the publication of choice for authors seeking to disseminate original research findings related to the development or application of technology in sports.

High quality output from engineering focused research activity is presented where the objective of the work undertaken was to enhance user performance (fitness, skill, comfort, etc.), reduce incidence and severity of injury, increase participation rates, promote participation, or enhance the spectator experience.

The scope of the journal includes but is not limited to papers focused on:

• Equipment used for competition, training, rehabilitation and coaching
• Sports equipment related design and innovation (the ideation process, concept creation,
• Embodiment refinement, design for mass manufacture and for sustainability)
• The development and validation of instrumentation, processes or software to enhance
• Research activities within sports engineering and technology

University news from Africa

US-AFRICA: Donors re-commit to African higher education
Karen MacGregor
The seven big United States donors that comprise the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa have announced that they will continue support for universities across the continent beyond their original 10-year commitment - but the form of their collaboration after 2010 has still to be firmed up. By then the Partnership will have made grants worth $350 million to universities, institutions and programmes in nine African countries.






CAMEROON: New university part of tertiary reforms
Emmanuel T Nwaimah
The latest of Cameroon's public universities opens this month at a temporary site while construction work continues on its main campus. The University of Maroua was created by a presidential decree on 9 August and is located in the city of Maroua in Far North Province. It represents the continuation of a process of decentralising the country's public university system away from the capital Yaoundé under higher education reforms that began in 1993.



SOUTH AFRICA: OECD urges university funding changes
Karen MacGregor
A just-published review by the OECD of South African education has praised "impressive forward thinking" and reform post-apartheid, but has also called for improved management of change in higher education and a reappraisal of university funding. It suggests studies into factors affecting student performance in the face of high drop-out rates, a proactive approach to preparing and integrating new students, and pedagogical training for junior academics.



ZIMBABWE: Desperate universities launch income projects
Clemence Manyukwe
The Zimbabwean government last week cancelled the academic year as universities and schools found it impossible to continue operating with the collapse of the country's economy. At the University of Zimbabwe, the country leading tertiary institution, a notice on a faculty building told students lectures would begin "on a date to be advised". But university vice-chancellor Levy Nyagura was quoted as saying the university had no water, no electricity and no funds


ZIMBABWE: Nursing education abandoned
Clemence Manyukwe
Zimbabwean nursing colleges have abandoned specialised training for students because of a lack of medical equipment and poor funding. The latest development is likely to have a catastrophic effect on the country's health delivery system, itself currently in the intensive care unit arising from the 'brain drain' and poor salaries for medical practitioners.



ALGERIA: Start of new academic year
Nearly 1,160,000 students have started the new academic year in Algeria, including 260,000 freshers, according to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. But despite the assurances of the Minister, Rachid Haraouabia, La Tribune of Algiers questioned whether universities had the capacity to cater for so many students.



NIGERIA: Top medical college rejects PhD directive
Tunde Fatunde
The governing council of Nigeria's National Postgraduate Medical College has rejected moves by the National Universities Commission to undermine its autonomy on the issue of academics needing doctoral qualifications. Many lecturers at the country's only postgraduate medical college possess post-degree fellowship qualifications from the institution rather than PhDs.

Are you an immigrant or a native? (When it comes to being digital of course)

Copyright: futurelab

How Digital Natives develop channels for Digital Immigrants is an article by Dick Stroud on the futurelab blog that addresses a concept from Dr. Gary Small, a professor at UCLA.

His most recent bit of research found that when Web-savvy older adults surf the Internet, it can trigger key parts in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. In short, the findings indicate that searching the Web may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function.

You can also see his TV interview where he discusses his studies as well as the pros and cons of being either a "Digital Native" or a "Digital Immigrant".

CSR in the spotlight

Copyright: ugaldew

Forbes magazine has devoted a number of articles on Corporate Social Responsibilty (CSR):

We increasingly hear that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a business imperative. Newspapers, magazines and books glowingly describe the business benefits of behaving responsibly--and caution managers about the business risks of a poor CSR performance. Executives are repeatedly informed that by demonstrating concern for the environment, human rights, community development and the welfare of their employees both in the U.S. and abroad, they will make their firms more profitable. Their firms will gain a competitive advantage by appealing to the growing numbers of socially and environmental oriented consumers, investors and employees.

The belief that corporate responsibility "pays" is a seductive one: Who would not want to live in a world in which corporate virtue is rewarded and corporate irresponsibility punished? Unfortunately, the evidence for these rewards and punishment is rather weak. There is a "market for virtue," but it is a very limited one. Nor is it growing. More >

Articles in series:

1. CSR Doesn't Pay By David Vogel
   Corporate managers should try and act responsibly. But they shouldn't expect the market to reward them for doing so.
2. The Best Planet Profits Can Provide By Marc Hodak
   Can public companies solve the world's problems? They already are.
3. A History Of Doing Good By Mark Lewis
   American history provides little support for the notion that capitalists can be weaned from the single-minded pursuit of profits.
4. CEOs On CSR By Tara Weiss, Matthew Kirdahy and Klaus Kneale
   Should corporations try and solve the world's problems?
5. In Their Own Words: CEOs On CSR
6. Intel Inside--Classrooms By Elizabeth Corcoran
   The chip company is pursing a classic, long-term strategy by investing the minds of the world's young.
7. Seeing Results By Matthew Kirdahy
   Standard Chartered CFO says his company can help improve the world's vision.
8. Video: Creating Campaigns Olgilvy CEO says CSR must be interwoven in a company's fabric.
9. Six Figure Green Jobs By Anna Van der Broek
   These days, you can make green by being green.