Previously you could only reach us by phone or e-mail, then you could follow our blog and tweets.
Now you can contact us via Skype when you’re overseas and in dire need of some computer related assistance.
Save yourself those exorbitant international call costs and look for us on Skype by searching for helpinfo@sun.ac.za or the username itstellenuni.
Two weeks ago we introduced a new decentralised process for activating access for vistors to the SU campus (read the article here) However, it seems that some confusion remains regarding the steps to follow and how the new process works.
To explain this in a very simple way, we created a diagram explaining the basics. All this information, as well as FAQs, is also available on our wiki.
Do you still remember those enormous Casio watches with the built in calculators? Well, don’t start sniggering just yet (besides, we know you also had one). Because soon you’ll want a large watch again and this time around it will be able to do more than just adding and subtracting.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch was recently launched in Berlin by Lee Young-hee, Samsung‘s vice president of mobile technology, two weeks before the Berlin IFA electronic consumer show.
With Samsung’s new smart watch you’ll be able to make calls, browse the internet and manage your e-mails. All this while you’re looking the part – bodyguard meets FBI agent.
Other useful extras include a camera, various applications such as Evernote and Pocket, as well as MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper for the fitness fanatics among us. For those who prefer wine above exercise, the Gear comes with Vivino Wine Scanner – an app which allows you to take a photo of a wine label and immediately have access to the wine’s information.
[Photo: www.samsung.com]
But BEFORE you get too excited, I have to warn you that, to use a Galaxy Gear, you also need a Galaxy Note. It is estimated that the Gear will be available during October for the recommended price of R4 599. The latest Galaxy Note model, with which the Gear is compatible, has been available since 27 September at R8 999.
In total this comes to the considerable amount of approximately R14 000. Not necessarily an option for someone earning an average salary, but at least the technology is now available and with a little bit of patience, we all will be able to afford one one day.
[SOURCES: www.cnet.com, www.wikipedia.org, www.news24.com, www.mybroadband.co.za, www.pcadvisor.co.uk en www.t3.com]
Just when we got used to all the pros and cons of WiFi, a new contender we don’t know much about yet, appears on the horizon. Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of WiGig.
WiGig is another wireless standard just like WiFi, but in spite of this there are some significant differences.
WiGig’s range is considerably closer than WiFi, won’t easily reach past 10 metres and doesn’t particularly like to go through walls. So why would you want to use it?
Image credit: WiGig Alliance
WiGig is fast, faster than the Wifi we’re used to. It operates on a much higher frequency (60GHz ) than traditional bandwidths and mobile signals and can deliver speeds of up to 7Gbps. lewer. However, as soon as your devices are further away, speed performance decreases rapidly.
Experts therefore recommend that WiGig be used for home entertainment systems, tablets and home pcs and in addition to your existing WiFi connection.
If energy saving is important to you, you can consider WiGig with a clear conscience as it’s been designed as a low energy alternative. It also claims to use five times less energy than WiFi and radio signals are set up to avoid congestion and send signals directly to it’s goal.
WiGig was established by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance, which included members like Broadcom, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Dell, Nokia, Toshiba, Qualcomm, NEC, Panasonic and other large corporations. At the moment the WiGig standard is currently going through various certification programmes, but according to estimations these will be completed by the end of 2013.
[BRONNE: www.techradar.com & www.computerweekly.com]
TED has been inspiring millions around the world and most of the time he only has 18 minutes to do it! Quite the motivational speaker, isn’t he?
Good thing TED isn’t just one person otherwise he would’ve been exhausted after almost 30 years of talking.
TED talks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at various TED conferences around the world. It started off way back in 1984 when people from three different worlds – Technology, Entertainment and Design – came together at a conference to share ideas. They realized that some of these ideas might actually be cool and worth sharing with other people. And so TED talks was born.
In spite of it’s popularity TED remains a nonprofit organization and has grown exponentially over the years. Along with two annual conferences, the TED Conference and TEDGlobal, TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.
But the most popular of all these seem to be TED talks. As talks were given at conferences around the world, they were released online and quickly attracted a global audience who liked what they heard. Since June 2006, they have been offered for free viewing online, under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons license, through TED.com.
In January 2009 the then amount of videos had been viewed 50 million times. In June 2011 the amount of views totaled 500 million, and on 13 November 2012, TED reached its billionth video view.
Initially speakers came from the three fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design, but over the years they have included scientists, philosophers, musicians, religious leaders, philanthropists and many others. Previous presenters include Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners. Since speakers are given only 18 minutes, their ideas have to be conveyed in the most innovative and interesting way to capture their audience and often also though storytelling.
As of May 2013, over 1,500 talks are available free online. Every week 5-7 new talks are being published. Topics range from a talk on why bees are disappearing to how to make stress your friend and everything in between. Whether you’re looking for something informative, inspiring, ingenious or just plain jaw-dropping, you’ll find it here.
So what are you waiting for? Get some inspiration at http://www.ted.com/talks
[SOURCE: www.wikipedia.org & http://www.ted.com/]
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