HP acquires Palm

Well, the other shoe has finally fallen. We've speculated in the past on Palm being acquired by someone. Now we know who has made the deal. HP has announced that they are acquiring Palm for for $1.2 billion.

Hopefully this will keep Palm's software and hardware alive and help them flourish.

OLPC

Over the past couple of years the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has been the poster child for efforts to replace traditional teaching methods with computer based learning. The thinking was that students will learn better and faster with internet connected laptops.

While no definitive studies have been done, there is a lot of evidence to show that just the opposite is true. Several colleges have banned the use of laptops in classes because they have proven to reduce student performance! Students with laptops actually score over 10% lower in classes than students without them. Law schools in particular have found laptops are distractions that divert students from learning how to think in depth.

Connection to the internet doesn't seem to be a major factor either. There are enough distractions on a PC without having web surfing be the sole problem.

It will be interesting to see just how much technology affects student performance over time. I have always been a supporter of students using netbooks but now I'm starting to question their affect on students being able to concentrate on their studies.

Facebook change

Thanks to Jim Evans for this:

Facebook's latest "improvement" of Instant Personalization reduces your privacy even more by allowing your data to be shared with other websites, by default this is enabled.Here's why you need to opt out.

The shortcut to it is to go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites> Instant personalization and uncheck "Allow".

Be a good Facebook person to your friends and share this.

Consolidation

Many years ago I discovered the two best sources for technology press releases, PR Newswire and Virtual Press Office. Both of them have provided me with innumerable leads for stories for our newsletter and this blog. Today we received an announcement that PRNewsWire has completed the integration of VPO after they acquired it.

We'll have to keep an eye on this development and see if it reduces our access to important information or increases it.

VIA ARTiGO A1100 Kit

This week we received a press announcement for the new VIA ARTiGO A1100 do-it-yourself computer kit. We had discussed the new kit during CES 2010 at the Lunch @ Piero's event with Stewart Haston of VIA Technologies. We have been eagerly awaiting the announcement because we had been told the new kit was even smaller and lighter than the kit we reviewed last year. Here are some exeprts from the release:

VIA ARTiGO A1100: Compact Computing Redefined
The VIA ARTiGO A1100 is powered by a 1.2GHz VIA Nano processor, offering a high performance native 64-bit computing experience while remaining within a low power thermal envelope. The VIA Nano processor is joined by the VIA VX855 media system processor, a fully integrated all-in-one chipset that brings exceptional multimedia experience to small form factor devices including playback of the most demanding HD video formats.

The VIA ARTiGO is the smallest full featured PC Kit available today. With dimensions of a mere 5.7" x 3.9" x 2" (14.6 cm x 9.9 cm x 5.2 cm), totaling only 44.46 cubic inches or 752 cm3, this mini PC is suitable for a variety of applications in the home or office, including home server, media streaming and surveillance applications. The VIA ARTiGO A1100 is also great as a regular desktop PC, using only a fraction of the physical real estate.

Front and back panel I/O includes HDMI and VGA ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, five USB ports including one USB device port, three audio jacks with optional wireless IEEE 802.11 b/g and SD card reader modules.

Available now at the VIA Store
The VIA ARTiGO A1100 is available now from the recently launched VIA Online Store, retailing at US$243.00. The first ten customers get a special early bird discount price of only $199.00. To order your VIA ARTiGO A1100 please visit:
http://store.viatech.com 

ARTiGO A1100 Simile GameJoin the VIA ARTiGO A1100 Simile Game, a competition where you can win a VIA ARTiGO A1100 by simply submitting and voting for the everyday object that you think most closely resembles the VIA ARTiGO A1100's diminutive size. To learn more about the Simile Game competition, please go to:
http://a1100.viatech.com

Lenovo mouse problems

One of our subscribers reported a problem to me and I found out it's a problem for others also. He has a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and periodically loses his mouse. Everything seems normal but the mouse doesn't move the cursor and the left and right buttons don't do anything. The problem is intermittent but it's a real pain for him.

I did some research online and found that other S10 users have the same problem. It doesn't matter which USB port they use or which mouse the plug in, the mouse just doesn't work.

I've used several Lenovo IdeaPads and have never encountered the problem. From now on I'll be on the alert and I'll let everyone know if I run into the problem myself.

Hockey

I know, what does hockey have to do with technology? Actually very little but I had one of those historical moments tonight and it involves hockey.

The Stanley Cup playoffs have started and both of the hockey fans in the USA are excited. Sorry, that's rude. There are actually dozens of hockey fans in the country. The start of the playoffs reminded of the days when I was actually a hockey fan, in the 70s and 80s, before the strike.

I fondly remember the Olde Phillie Flyers with no helmets and flying fists. They didn't beat teams on the score board, they BEAT teams. I wasn't at the game but remember my joy when they won the first of their two Cups over 35 years ago! I was playing bridge with the Cohen's at the home of the North Argyle Sox and we had the game on the radio (no TV was available). It was a great night.

So where's the link? Nothing that we consider indispensable today (cell phones, the internet, personal computers) even existed. In 35 years the best hockey team and the best technology have gone through so many advances that they are archaic dinosaurs.

The 1975 Flyers have no place in 2010 and neither do rotary POTS telephones and radio as the only way to view sports.

As I'm writing this for a blog, using a netbook connected to the net using 802.11g, I'm watching my beloved Angels live on DirectTV. What a difference 35 years makes.