While we are enormously pleased with Python as a programming language for introductory classes, we did note a few issues which were awkward or confusing to Intro students. We want to make it clear in discussing these issues that we are only speaking from the point of view of novice programmers. Experienced programmers might well have very different views.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

The Microsoft .NET software platform integrates various aspects of software development. In .NET applications can be written in a variety of programming languages and can be either stand-alone or web-based. A lab module for CS 453 Electronic Commerce Technologies was developed that instructs students on how to develop complex e-commerce websites using the programming language C# within the Microsoft .NET framework. This project and thesis provided insight into the power of C# and the .NET framework. Student evaluations were constructive and positive overall. There were many good suggestions for expansion of the C# lab module.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

A number of new geospatial viewing tools from major players in the Internet industry have recently appeared on the scene and are taking the geospatial world by storm. Google,Yahoo, Microsoft, and Amazon have all released web-based mapping tools in the recent past, and collectively these new players to the industry have raised the bar for Internet mapping. Although their functional capabilities don’t provide anything we haven’t seen in web offerings from traditional GIS vendors, their emergence has been significant in that they have managed to capture a wider audience. Google, in particular, has emerged as the leader of this pack with it’s recently released Google Maps product which provides a slick, highly responsive visual interface built using AJAX technologies along with detailed street and aerial imagery data, and an open API allowing customization of the map output including the ability to add application specific data to the map.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

Here’s how much of a Web 2.0 guy Mark Zuckerberg is: during the weeks he spent working on Facebook as a Harvard sophomore, he didn’t have time to study for a course he was taking, “Art in the Time of Augustus,” so he built a website containing all of the artwork in class and pinged his classmates to contribute to a communal study guide. Within hours, the wisdom of crowds produced a sort of custom Cliff Notes for the course, and after reviewing the web based crib sheet, he aced the test. Turns out he didn’t need to take that exam, anyway. Zuck (that’s what the cool kids call him) dropped out of Harvard later that year.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

This guide is intended for developers who want to embed Checkout by Amazon functionality into their websites. Use of this guide assumes you are familiar with HTML. (See W3 Schools HTML Tutorial). To integrate Checkout by Amazon dynamically with your website, you should be familiar with XML. (See W3 schools XML Tutorial.) You should also be able to use a programming language for consuming a web service and any related tools
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

Twitter http://twitter.com/ – won’t suit everyone but is very good for little snippets, observations and off the cuff chats that the web has not really replicated until now. Could be used to build communities and for lightweight communication between projects. A useful feature is the use of hash (#) tags, placing the # at the beginning of an event or project tag to aggregate comments.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

Web 2.0 is a general term applied to any website that reacts to the input and activity of its users, such as a blog, a MySpace profile, a forum, or a Squidoo lens. Social Networking is best defined as the regular interaction of people for some common cause. Of course there is really nothing new about social networking, and it’s something many of us do every day offline, especially in schools or in the workplace. But as a marketing trend this concept is growing more and more popular online. This is because unlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the Internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other Internet users and develop both business and personal relationships.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments

Modern Geographical Information Systems (GIS) [1] provide a service-oriented architecture for interacting with geographical data sets and related maps. Web-based GIS systems are architected around the same principles as more general Web service systems based on SOAP [2], WSDL [3], and REST. Mirroring the World Wide Web Consortium and OASIS Web service standards-making bodies, the Open Geospatial Consortium [5] defines open standards for messages, XML data formats, and access protocols that are specific to the GIS community. In addition to OGC-based services, there are many companies (such as ESRI and AutoDesk) that provide proprietary, commercial solutions. Services from these various providers are not normally interoperable.
Read the rest of this entry »

• 0 Comments