A new version of software intended to help organizations manage all of their printers now connects with specialty services as well, including 3D printers and CNC machines that may be located in maker or fabrication labs. PaperCut MF version 18 includes a new job ticketing capability that enables printing service operators at schools and colleges to accept specialty and 3D printing job submissions, such as laser cutting and prototype creation. The program enables the operator to track those jobs through the production process while also communicating work status to the requester.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/22/18
Four in 10 of the top websites pose dangers to their visitors. According to cybersecurity vendor Menlo Security, out of the top 100,000 websites as ranked by Alexa, 42 percent are "risky." A risky website is any site where either the homepage or an associated background site is running vulnerable software; the site is known to distribute malware or launch attacks; or the site has already suffered a security breach in the past 12 months.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/21/18
The report comes on the heels of a Trump administration infrastructure plan that includes $50 billion set aside for rural projects, distributed to states in the form of block grants, and another $20 billion for unspecified "transformative projects"; both reference the possibility of increasing broadband facilities alongside road, bridge, rail, port and water initiatives.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/20/18
Incident IQ has released an update to its cloud-based IT support and help desk system for K–12 schools and districts. The Winter 2018 update includes a range of new features for teachers, IT staff and administrators.
A panel of top-level technology leaders from five school districts looks back on the role of the CTO in K–12 education and how it's transforming in the new year.
In a recent study, 10 percent of simulated phishing e-mails sent to users in education institutions were successful, triggering the recipient to click on a fraudulent link. That's according to the 2018 State of the Phish report from Wombat Security Technologies, in which researchers measured the average click rates on phishing tests across various industries. Education had an average click rate of 10 percent; the industries that performed worst in the tests were telecommunications and retail, with 15 percent and 14 percent average click rates, respectively.
There's never been a better time to seek funding for education technology. According to Metaari, 2017 turned out to generate the most investment dollars ever in the learning technology industry. It topped $9.5 billion globally, up from $7.3 billion in 2016, which was itself 46 percent higher than the $6.5 billion in investments made in 2015. The latest year's funding went to 813 ed tech companies, the highest ever recorded, according to the learning market research company.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 01/29/18
Rockingham County School District Superintendent Rodney Shotwell explained that even after all of the infected computers at the district were cleaned and re-imaged, they became re-infected. At that point the district IT team called in the cavalry, including the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as local IT experts.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 01/12/18
Members of the developer program are able to distribute apps through the Apple App Store and gain access to tools such as app analytics, beta testing resources such as TestFlight, beta software and advanced app capabilities.
Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) will jump up 14.6 percent in 2018, reaching $772.5 billion, according to the latest report from International Data Corp.