Tech Briefings - Summer 2011

Timely Info for Power Users and Stanford's Technology Community

Overview

Tech Briefing Videos
Streaming video now available for select Tech Briefings

Held every Friday, Tech Briefings are informal, interactive seminars on computer-related topics of interest to the Stanford community.

No registration is required. This is your opportunity to get technology updates from and ask questions of subject-matter experts.

Sessions are led by knowledgeable University IT staff or other IT professionals, and run from 2:00 to 3:30 P.M.

All Tech Briefing sessions are held in Turing Auditorium (Polya Hall, Room 111).

Have an idea for a Tech Briefing? Click here to let us know.

Questions? Comments?
Contact the Tech Briefing coordinator at techbriefings-owner@lists.stanford.edu.

Tech Briefings -- July through September, 2011

July 8	Apple Presents
July 15	Prezi: A Mind-mapping Presentation Tool
July 22	Open Source: OpenOffice.org
July 29	Developing for Mobile at Stanford
Aug 5	WordPress at Stanford
Aug 12	Mobile Device Management - Security for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
Aug 19	lynda.stanford.edu Online Training Library: Roadmap to On-Your-Own Learning
Aug 26	Computer Literacy Open Forum
Sept 2	No Tech Briefing due to Labor Day Holiday
Sept 9	Google Analytics: Search, Social, and Conversion Optimization
Sept 16	UNIX at Stanford
Sept 23	Multitasking: How it is changing the way children and adults think and feel

Date	Topic	Presenter(s)
July 8	Apple Presents Join us for this Briefing as Stanford's Apple representative Wyn Davies gives an update of Apple products. He will also discuss any new Apple announcements.	Wyn Davies, Apple
July 15	Prezi - A New Approach to Presentation Software Prezi is a mind-mapping presentation tool that, in some cases, is a viable and engaging alternative to linear presentation applications such as PowerPoint and Keynote. Presentations have not evolved much in the 50 years since the slide was invented, but Prezi is changing that. Prezi lets you bring your ideas into one space and see how they relate, helping you and your audience connect. Zoom out to see the big picture and zoom in to see details — a bit like web-based maps that have changed how we navigate through map books. -- Prezi.com	Mark Branom, University IT
July 22	Open Source: OpenOffice.org Do you wish you had office applications at home? Is your department running out of funds because you're spending too much on licensing fees for tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access? Come to this Tech Briefing to see a demonstration of OpenOffice.org, a free, open-source, viable alternative to the MS Office suite.	Mark Branom, University IT
July 29	Developing for Mobile at Stanford Mobile web usage has dramatically increased since the introduction of the iPhone. How is your organization dealing with this change? What is the difference between a web app and a native app? How does HTML 5 factor into all this? The mobile experience of users will increasingly drive your web site's content design and architecture decisions. We will present the resources and tools you can use to optimize your web site for mobile.	Brian Young & Scotty Logan, University IT
August 5	WordPress at Stanford Join Mark Branom as he guides you through the WordPress resources on campus, along with a demonstration of installing, creating and editing content, as well as setting permissions and access rights.	Mark Branom, University IT
August 12	Mobile Device Management - Security for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch Mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad have become ubiquitous on campus. Mobile devices are expected to outsell traditional personal computers this year. Unfortunately, many users are unaware of their inherent security risks. Security features common on desktop and laptop computers are inconsistently applied across mobile device platforms. On a laptop, we have come to rely on anti-virus software safeguarding our system, but few mobile devices have such software. While most personal computers on campus are password-protected, few of us configure our mobile phones with a password or PIN to protect it against unauthorized use. And, since mobile devices are easily (and frequently) misplaced, the potential for unauthorized access increases. This briefing will cover the upcoming policy changes regarding mobile devices and the basics of what you can do to protect your device today. We'll also offer a preview of the new Stanford Mobile Device Management tool, due this Fall. The MDM tool allows you to quickly and easily implement the basic security recommendations.	Ammy Hill, University IT
August 19	lynda.stanford.edu Online Training Library: Roadmap to On-Your-Own Learning Today’s learners face many challenges! But what they want is a learner-centric method that allows them to develop skills, use “best practices”, and benefit personally. With a menu of training resources available on a campus, individual learners want: • To access what-they-want, when-they-need-it, just-in-time. • To create a learning path that is both customized and focused on problem-solving. • To develop a learner-centered strategy that allows each person to create a unique, individualized, learning “roadmap.” For the learner, this process translates into self-direction, motivation, productivity, purpose and happiness at school, home, or work. Explore the lynda.com Online Training Library and see how it can “teach” the learner to evaluate where they are now and where they want to go. Identify tool sets, skills, and resources for on-your-own learning. The trick - Make it easy, doable, work every time, and FUN!	Laurie Burruss, Sr. Director of Education, lynda.com
August 26	Computer Literacy Open Forum Join us as experts from University IT will be on hand to answer any question you may have about technology, from: - "What is a blog?" - "What is AFS and how can I use it?" - "What's all the hype about security?" Ask any technology related question. We want to help!	Mark Branom, University IT Tim Torgenrud, University IT Jo-Ann Cuevas-Pagliaro, University IT
September 2	No Tech Briefing -- Happy Labor Day Weekend!
September 9	Google Analytics: Search, Social, and Conversion Optimization This talk will discuss hidden gems of analytical techniques for optimizing your search, social, and online campaigns with a goal toward maximizing some objective function: such as engagement, conversion, or other goals. Learn from Google Analytics, and other popular and free tools such as Insights for Search, Keyword Tools, etc.	Phil Mui, Ph.D, Group Product Manager for Google Analytics.
September 16	UNIX at Stanford UNIX is the command line operating system that governs the main Stanford file system infrastructure, including all of the content found on the main Stanford web pages. Understanding how UNIX works makes it easier to manage, create content, and manipulate files on the Stanford servers. In this session, learn basic UNIX commands, file structure and management, as well as some of the most useful and popular tools like: - File structure/management (mkdir, cd, rm, mv) - Editors (EMACS and Pico) - Setting your .login and .project files - Creating aliases - Email (Pine, elm, mail, mh) - Newsreaders (slrn) - Finding people (finger) - Finding machines (ping, traceroute) - Granting access (pts) Come with questions, and we'll do our best to answer them!	Mark Branom, University IT Adam Seishas, University IT
September 23	Multitasking: How it is changing the way children and adults think and feel For those who missed Prof. Cliff Nass' presentation at last spring's IT Open House, we'll show the video of his talk on his team's highly cited research on electronic multi-tasking. After the video, Dr. Danielle Lottridge, Prof. Nass' Post Doctoral Assistant on the project, will fill us in on the research completed since the spring and answer questions about the video and about current and future research efforts.	- Cliff Nass - Professor, Communication, Stanford University (via video) - Danielle Lottridge, PhD - Post Doc, Communication, Stanford University

Previous Quarters of Tech Briefings

Missed a Tech Briefing? Visit the list of Previous Quarters of Tech Briefings to download presentation information where available.

Subscribe to the Tech Briefings Mailing List

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Visit https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/techbriefings and enter your email address in the Subscribing to techbriefings section
Or, send email to techbriefings-join@lists.stanford.edu

Subscribe via the RSS / iCal Feed

Tech Briefing announcements are available as both an RSS feed and an iCal feed via events.stanford.edu

RSS: http://events.stanford.edu/xml/byOrganization/144/rss.xml
iCal: http://events-prod.stanford.edu/byOrganization/144/eventlist.ics

To add the events in Zimbra:
1) In Calendar, click Create a new calendar.
2) Give the new calendar a name (e.g., Tech Briefings).
3) Choose the color you want the calendar to use.
4) Check the box "Exclude this calendar when reporting free/busy times"
5) Check the box "Synchronize appointments from remote calendar", and in the URL field, enter http://events-prod.stanford.edu/byOrganization/144/eventlist.ics
6) Click OK.