It's been a while since we've scoured our blogroll to see what's going on in the world of science, technology and education beyond the virtual borders of the Visions blog. Turns out there's some interesting stuff out there. Here are five:

• Lame. Very Lame. Worst James Bond gadgets ever. Sometimes even the best innovators -- like Bond's pal Q -- miss the mark. Remember radioactive lint or the revolving sofa that swallows whoever sits on it? Link via Wired's Gadget Lab.

• Our favorite science librarian (outside of UMR, of course) concludes a thoughtful, occasional series of posts about the future of library science and what his job will be like in 10 years. Considering that he began this project in June 2005, I guess it's more about what his job will be like in eight years. Either way, it's an interesting exercise -- trying to envision the future -- and all of us ought to take some time to put a little thought into the future of our careers, crafts and professions.

• One of the main challenges of science writing, according to nOnoScience, is "inaccessibility to useful information." A cautionary note to my fellow PR flacks: "The primers, which may be in the form of press-releases and abstracts are not only grossly under-informative, but in most cases frustratingly teasing."

• Virtual tennis, anyone? Just in case you aren't hearing enough about Second Life, read Second Life, Second Sport, about a tennis game on the virtual courts of a virtual Wimbledon.

• Good vibrations. Future Feeder introduces the haptic clock, a program that conveys time through a sequence of vibrations. "Perfect for meetings, lazy people, and people who trying to break the addiction of pulling out their cell phone to check the time." It might also make a pretty cool gadget for James Bond.

Posted by Andrew Careaga at 03:27 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The recent news that hackers broke into University of Missouri computer systems ought to present a strong case for a national need for programs like UMR's cyber-security efforts. And for the upcoming announcement that UMR will soon become a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAEIAE).

When the designation occurs on June 5, UMR will become the first university in Missouri to achieve that designation. This means students will be eligible for scholarships and grants from the federal government if they choose to study "information assurance." UMR offers graduate certificates in this area, as well as emphasis areas in computer engineering and computer science.

Posted by Andrew Careaga at 04:31 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A better way to keep track of our books, CDs, DVDs and video games, that is.

GuruLib.com is the brainchild of Rana Basheer, a UMR graduate (2003 MS in computer engineering) who recently returned to get his Ph.D. and conduct research in wireless networking. This website allows users to organize their personal libraries by retrieving information about their books, CDs, DVDs, video games or software from some 530 public and university libraries around the world as well as six Amazon.com servers. All you have to do is type in the name of your book, CD, DVD, etc. -- or use a UPC scanner if you have one handy -- and voila!, the Internet fetches all the info you need to know about it, including ISBN, used and new pricing information, author/performer, copyright information, etc. I spent the icy weekend cataloging my music and book libraries for insurance purposes. GuruLib has now become my latest online obsession.

Read more about how GuruLib.com works on our research news site.

Posted by Andrew Careaga at 09:12 AM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Tired of the same boring, plain vanilla search engines? Or that cartoon butler that never gives you the right answer to your questions? Ms. Dewey may be just the antidote for your Internet search doldrums.

She's saucy, she's sexy, she even poses provocatively from time to time with a cute little notepad - but beware, like most hot chicks she is chatty as hell and gets a little needy when neglected (along the lines of "Hel-loooo? Type something here!"). Also, sometimes she sings. We don't get embarrassed often, but we got embarrassed then.

Posted by Andrew Careaga at 09:00 AM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)