College freshmen less interested in tech | CNET News.com:

"Incoming college students seem to have developed an allergy to computer science during the past four years--with women particularly being uninterested in the field.

That's the gist of a new report from Computing Research Association (CRA), a group made up of academic departments, research centers and professional societies. The study could fuel concerns that the United States may be losing its edge in the realm of information technology, especially when measured against emerging powers such as India and China. The dot-com bust and offshore outsourcing have been mentioned as factors to explain declining interest among Americans in computer science.

Citing research from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, the report says the percentage of incoming undergraduates indicating they would major in computer science declined by more than 60 percent between the fall of 2000 and the fall of 2004, and is now 70 percent lower than it was during its peak in the early 1980s.

Interest in computer science among women fell 80 percent between 1998 and 2004, and 93 percent since its peak in 1982, according to the report"...

Sam Ruby: Continuations for Curmudgeons:

"This essay is for people who, in web years, are older than dirt.  More specifically, if there was a period of time in which you programmed in a language which did not have garbage collection, then I mean you.  For most people these days, that means that you had some experience with a language named C.

It is a pretty safe bet that - despite your deep technical background - you find that you have some genetic defect that makes it completely impossible for you to understand articles with titles like Continuations Made Simple and Illustrated.  And for some reason, that bothers you.

If so, then maybe this article is for you"...

According to this JISC Press Release: International Standards in Access Management: The Key to the Future UK universities are to be encouraged to adopt Shibboleth:

"13th April, 2005. Security, privacy and trust are cornerstones of our interaction with the Web, as much in our learning, teaching and research as in our everyday lives.  Accessing web resources, email accounts, library borrowing information, or on-line copies of lecturers’ notes, all depend upon effective access management procedures.  If these procedures are to be effective across educational and research institutions worldwide, then international standards have to be defined and implemented.

An announcement today by JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee) marks a key stage in the adoption of the developing international access management standard for education.  New technical developments and evolving needs of institutions and users have led JISC to adopt Shibboleth as the standards based architecture for access management in the communities it serves."...

Class! Tartan Trivia - Windaes Twa Thoosan:

"Micro$oft wants to help YOU in 'Weegieland. Don't be forced to use confusing Anglicised software. Due to be released soon, the 'Weegie Edition of Windows 2000, entitled Windies Twa Thoosan'"...