Seton Hill University, one of the first campuses to board the Apple iPad bandwagon before the device was released in April, announced Aug. 23 that its art history students will use an iPad application that allows access to more than 40,000 sculptures and paintings. The university’s art faculty and instructors will use the iPad application known as Art Authority in the campus’s Modern Art and Italian Renaissance Art courses. University officials said the iPad app would offer students a way to review classic and modern artworks outside of class without relying on static images in textbooks. Read more: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/09/02/early-ipad-adopter-to-use-art-application-this-fall/ Source: eSchool News ...   more

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced a new line of iPods today, including a Nano model that has a touch screen and lacks buttons. Like previous versions, the Nano has a built-in FM tuner and can display photos. But instead of buttons, controls for playing, pausing and selecting music are right on the screen. It will cost US$149 (NZ$209) for the 8 gigabyte version and US$179 (NZ$251) for 16 gigabytes. Jobs also introduced a new iPod Shuffle, the lowest-end music player in Apple's line. Like the past generation, it can speak the names of playlists and songs. But unlike the most recent of the tiny music players, it brings back the square shape and buttons of Apple's second-generation Shuffle. Read more: ...   more

Sony, hoping to spur sales ahead of the holiday shopping season, has slimmed down its electronic readers and also given them touchscreen control. The three new versions of its "Reader" line also feature an improved screen with better clarity, the manufacturer said on Wednesday. Sony was first to the market with its Reader in 2006 but has struggled to keep up with rival Amazon.com, whose Kindle e-reader is the top-selling device of its kind, according to analysts. Amazon does not disclose sales data. In July, Amazon undercut competitors by offering a US$139 wireless Kindle. The crowded e-reader market also includes traditional bookseller Barnes & Noble and electronics giant Apple, whose fast-selling iPad device has e-reader functions. Read more: ...   more

College students have to know which data are most vulnerable before they can protect their Social Security numbers, passwords, and online banking personal identification numbers. The creators of a new software program that fights identity theft say it can do just that—and some of the most respected universities are listening. Identity Finder, a tool now marketed free of charge to college students, thoroughly scans a computer’s internet browser, files, eMail, attachments, and a range of other programs to find information that would prove most vulnerable to hackers. The program isolates these bits of information and gives students options for how to secure each item: removing them piece by piece, scrubbing irrelevant data, or encrypting sensitive files...   more

School District 128 in Palos Heights, USA has installed the new ZPass tracking system on school buses. The system allows school officials to track when and where students board and exit buses. It's the first day of school. Your child has new supplies, a new teacher and probably a new bus route. The fear of a child getting on the wrong bus, or not getting off at the right stop is very real for many parents. School District 128 in Palos Heights hopes to alleviate that anxiety through the installation of a new scanner on school buses carrying children in kindergarten through fifth grade. "We can now go online and look and see if the child got off the bus and where," said Dr. Kathleen Casey, superintendent of Dist 128. "We can track the students and the buses down to the...   more