The latest edition of the Lafayette Libraries & ITS newsletter Bytes & Books and the launch of the College Archives Photograph Collection lead off campus news in the 9/20 edition of the Coffee Break. In Tech News, Ken and Courtney look at applications designed to be loaded onto portable computer drives such as USB Flash keychains or iPods, discuss science fiction author David Brin's essay “Why Johnny can't code” and then chat about Microsoft's own Soapbox. In Help News, they announce upcoming workshops on podcasting and adminsitrative computer training.
Getting the Podcast
There are several ways to get the podcast:
- Download the MP3 directly
- Subscribe to the Soapbox podcast rss feed using an aggregator (you only need to do this once; subsequent shows should download automatically)
- Subscribe to the Soapbox feed via iTunes
Show Notes
ITS News
- Network Outage for September
- Bytes & Books Available online. Get the PDF.
- News about Fall Exhibitions, New Interlibrary Loan System featuring electronic delivery of articles, Digitized Early American Newspapers Transform, Research for Students, Faculty From the Archives: The Tale of a Court-Martialed Lieutenant, his Expelled Son, and a Mysterious Honorary Degree
- http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~library/bytesandbooks/b&b_2006_fall.pdf
- College Archives Photograph Collection
Tech News
- Portable Apps
- Windows-centric, portable versions of apps such as Firefox, Audacity, FileZilla
- http://portableapps.com/
- Salon: Why Johnny can't code by David Brin
- Science fiction author talks about his quest to find a version of BASIC that will run on a modern computer. As his frustration grows, he discusses what the implications are for computer science in the US when kids can no longer write simple programs in something like BASIC, which is an exceedingly limiting langauge, but very useful for learning how to program. His ultimate solution? Buying a vintage Commodore 64.
- http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2006/09/14/basic/
- Microsoft's Soapbox
- commandN
Help
- Podcasting Workshop on 9/25 at 4:10 p.m.
- Series of administrative computer training sessions
- Designed for those getting a new Lafayette computer this month
- Registration requested
- Handouts for training will be posted on the web site for those who want a sneak peek
- ITS Web Site Evaluation Volunteers wanted: Email itsblog@lafayette.edu if you're interested.
- Workshop Schedule