Happy New Year from Group Mobile! Check Out Our Year-End Deals!

Check out these great year-end deals Group Mobile is offering on the Getac B300 and Trimble Ranger 3 rugged computers!

Getac B300

Save $1,000 off MSRP while supplies lasts!

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The Getac B300 fully rugged notebook computer is both MIL-STD-810G and IP65 compliant, boasting a Magnesium Alloy design, shock-mounted hard disk drive, vibration and shock resistance, and sealed I/O caps and doors to prevent damage from solid particles and moisture.  

In addition to all the upgrades in this configuration, this laptop also includes many impressive features such as and 4GB RAM for amazing speed and efficiency, a 500GB hard disk drive to store plenty of data, Bluetooth® and 802.11 Wi-Fi for connectivity, a backlit keyboard for working in dark environments, and a 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty!  

The Getac B300 also has advanced security features to safeguard important data, such as a fingerprint scanner, TPM V1.2, and a cable lock slot. With an extensive list of security, power and connectivity options, as well as 15-hour battery life, the Getac B300 rugged notebook is designed for a productive, worry-free mobile computing experience. Learn more and order your B300 rugged laptop today...

 
Trimble Ranger 3

Save $750 off MSRP and get a FREE Carrying Case with your order until Jan. 3, 2014!

The Trimble Ranger 3 has the mobile computing tools field service workers depend on. Standard features include: an ultra-fast 800MHz processor, 256MB RAM, and 8GB of Flash storage for amazing speed and performance; a 30-hour long-life, hot-swappable battery that can work all day without being recharged; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for wireless connectivity; an integrated SiRFstarIII GPS receiver for mapping and navigation applications; a compass to capture bearing data; and an accelerometer to capture motion data. The Trimble Ranger also features a high-resolution, sunlight-visible VGA touchscreen display that presents graphics and maps in vivid detail.

The optional Trimble Ranger 3 configurations include an include WWAN wireless connectivity, an integrated 1D laser barcode scanner to track your assets, and a 5MP digital camera with flash and geotagging mode to capture color images in the field with their precise locations stored. 

This rugged handheld computer is truly ready for the outdoors! To learn more and take advantage of this special offer on the Ranger 3, visit 
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FREE Ranger 3 Carrying Case
Place an order before January 3, 2014 and Group Mobile will also include a free Ranger 3 Standard Carrying Case with your order! 


*Offer good through January 3, 2014

New! – DRS ARMOR X10 Rugged Tablet

The all-new ARMOR X10 Rugged Tablet with Intel® Core Duo™ Mobile technology is one of the most durable, reliable and easy-to-use tablet computers on the market today. Housed in a specially designed aluminum DuraCase™ chassis with ShutOut™ sealing technology, the ARMOR X10 Tablet meets IP 66 level protection from dust, dirt, water and other damaging elements while still offering no-flap input connections and hot-swappable battery access without the need for tools. Click here to read more about the all-new DRS ARMOR X10 Rugged Tablet.

For more information regarding rugged mobile computing visit www.groupmobile.com or call us at 1-866-RUGGED-8.

Character Encoding

In the computer world, we use the term "character". A character is an abstract concept, defined by specific parameters, but is the basic unit of meaning. The "A" Latin is not equal to the Greek "alpha" or Arabic "alif" because they have different backgrounds, come from different languages ​​and are pronounced slightly differently, so we can say that they are different characters. The visual representation of a character called "glyph" and different sets of fonts are called glyphs. Groups of characters belonging to a "set" or "repertoire".

When you type something on the keyboard, or upload a file, how does the computer know what to display? That's what the character encoding. The text on the computer really is not composed of letters, is a series of pairs of alphanumeric values. The character encoding acts as a key to interpreting these values ​​correspond to which characters, so much as the spelling indicates which sounds correspond to which letters. The Morse code is a kind of character encoding. It indicates how long and short groups of units (such as beeps or light) should be interpreted to form characters. In Morse code, the characters are only in English letters and numbers. There are many character encodings for computers that translate letters, numbers, accent marks, punctuation marks, international symbols, and so on.

There are many different character encodings, and there are many valid reasons for this. Which character encoding to use depends on what you need us. If you communicate in Russian, it makes sense to use a character encoding that supports well the Cyrillic alphabet. If you communicate in Korean, it will serve well to represent a Hangul and Hanja. If you are a mathematician, I want one that has all the mathematical and scientific symbols, as well as Greek and Latin glyphs. And, if you want all these documents can be viewed by anyone, you'll want an encoding that is fairly common and easily accessible.

• Unicode - encoding standard that aims to universality. It now comprises 93 different scripts organized into blocks, with many others in the works. The Unicode works differently than the other set of characters in that, instead of hard-coding a glyph, each value is directed to a "code points". These are the hexadecimal values ​​that correspond to the same characters, but the glyphs are provided independently by the programs, such as web browsers. These code points are commonly depicted as follows: U +0040 (which translates into "@"). Under the specific encodings are UTF-8 Unicode and UTF-16. The UTF-8 tries to maintain maximum compatibility with ASCII. It is 8 bits, but it allows all the characters through a mechanism of replacement and multiple pairs of values ​​carattere.L 'UTF-16 waiver of the perfect compatibility with ASCII for a more complete compatibility with the standard 16-bit.

• ASCII - The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is one of the oldest character encodings. It was originally designed on the basis of the telegraphic code and has evolved over time to include more symbols and some non-printing control characters are now obsolete. It is probably the basic coding that you can have in modern systems, as it has a limited Latin alphabet without accents. The 7-bit encoding allows only 128 characters, which is why there are several unofficial variants in use throughout the world.

• ISO-8859 -The group of the most widely used character encodings of the International Organization for Standardization is the number 8859. Each specification is designated by a code number, often preceded by a descriptive abbreviation, such as ISO 8859-3 (Latin-3), ISO 8859-6 (Latin / Arabic). It is a superset of ASCII, which means that the first 128 values ​​are the same as the encoding of ASCII. However, it is an 8-bit code, and then allows 256 characters and includes a much wider array of characters, each with specialized encoding of a different set of criteria. The Latin-1 includes many accented letters and symbols, but was recently replaced with a revised set called Latin-9, which includes updated glyphs such as the Euro symbol.

• ISO-10646 - this is not an actual encoding is only one set of Unicode characters that has been standardized by ISO. It is especially important because it is the repertoire of characters used by HTML. It lacks some of the more advanced features that allow the comparison provided dall'Unicode and writing from right to left as well as from left to right. However it works very well for use on the Internet because it allows the use of a wide variety of scripts and allows the browser to interpret the glyphs. This makes it a little 'easier localization.

Sampel ASCII Table

However, there are drawbacks in the use of each set. ASCII is limited in its marks, it does not work very well for text typographically correct. Often you copy / paste from Word just to have some strange combination of glyphs? This is the drawback of ISO-8859, or more correctly, its interoperability with the alleged code page specific to the operating system (I'm talking about you Microsoft!). The main disadvantage dell'UTF-8 is the lack of adequate support in editing and publishing by applications. Another problem is that browsers often do not correctly interpret and display the order of bytes in a UTF-8 encoded character. This results in unwanted display of glyphs. And of course, claim to use a coding and use the characters of another without declaring / referenced correctly on a web page makes it very difficult for browsers display the pages correctly and for the search engines index them properly.

For their own documents, manuscripts and so on, you can use whatever it takes to get the job correctly. As for the web, however, it seems that most people agree on how to use a version of UTF-8, which does not use the byte order mark (byte-order mark), but not unanimously accepted. As you can see, each character encoding has its own use, context, strengths and weaknesses.

Firefox 9 Ready for Android Tablet

The last official release of Firefox is now 9.0.1 and this version at the moment are few clear differences compared to 9.0, although the differences should be relevant to the resolution of a bug that is best documented at the time of writing this news ; the link for more information reference this . Within twenty-four hour Mozilla will make available an automatic update for those who have already installed Firefox versions 8 and 9. Here are the download links for Firefox and Thunderbird in the latest versions

The developers of the Mozilla Foundation have just released a new release of Thunderbird, an email client of the most popular and appreciated. Thunderbird 9 on users' PCs brings interesting news: the software is based sull'engine Mozilla Gecko version 9 offers improved support for Personal thus increasing the ability to customize the interface.

From notes rlascio mention the possibility to hide the menu bar for Windows users called with the Alt key, are also reported general improvements to the graphical interface with the resolution of various bugs. 9 The release of Thunderbird is more or less simultaneously with the distribution of the first update for Firefox 9, web browser made ​​available in recent days.

The browser is able to maximize the usable area of ​​the screen and for the management of tabes was expected to show a solution only when you need it, so to maximize all the space left for navigation. 9 in Firefox is also exploited the action bar of Android to integrate the tools most widely used: in this way the user has at his disposal only the graphical elements of which may need while using the browser. In other words, 9 with Firefox on Android tablet were banned tinsel and little-used tools, highlighting the essential.

From the notes release also says that the developers have improved HTML5 support integrating such as the ability to use the webcam available on the device. Firefox 9.0 for Android is available on the marketplace Journal. As is clear from the notes of release, the developers have done a great job to improve the ' usability of tablet using the Mozilla browser. The size of the panel and the need to manage the various instruments using only the fingers and impose targeted choices important, but as you can see from the video follows the final result is very interesting.

In recent days we have dealt with several times of the activities of Mozilla for the first release of Firefox 9 , then the availability of Thunderbird 9 in conjunction with the first update to Firefox, and only a short while ago we posted some details on the agreement signed between Google and the Mozilla Foundation. We continue this long list with the news today regarding the announcement of Android tablet device 9 for Firefox.

All About Warranties

Three Year Warranty
Almost all of the rugged computers come standard with a 3 year warranty, while most commercial, plastic computers come standard with only a 1 year warranty. Not only does this save you a lot of money in case of a failure, but it also speaks to the quality that is built in to a rugged computer. If they were not extremely reliable, the rugged computer manufacturers could not afford to provide a 3 year warranty.

Extended and Expanded Warranties
Warranty extensions can be acquired to extend the warranty from three years to four years or five years. Also, some warranties can be upgraded to include "no-fault" warranties, on-site warranties, or 24 hour turnaround warranties. Extended warranties can also be acquired on major peripherals and docks which are not included in the computer's warranty, or are only warranteed for one year.

Read more about Rugged Computing in our Guide here! For more information regarding rugged mobile computing visit www.groupmobile.com or call us at 1-866-RUGGED-8.

Getac V200 Fully Rugged Convertible Closeout Specials

Getac V200 Fully Rugged Convertible with 4GB RAM, 2MP Bottom Camera, & High Power WiFi - While Supplies Last!
Take advantage of reduced pricing on the fully rugged Getac V200 convertible notebook. This model includes an Intel i7 processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 1200 NITs touchscreen display, 802.11 wireless, Bluetooth, bottom 2MP camera, and 5-year warranty!  Order here.
MSRP $4,299. Group Mobile's price $3,299!


Getac V200 Fully Rugged Convertible with GPS, Gobi, & Pass-Through - Ready for Immediate Shipment!
Take advantage of reduced pricing on the fully rugged Getac V200 convertible notebook. This model includes an Intel i7 processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 1200 NITs touchscreen display, backlit keyboard, 802.11 wireless, Bluetooth, Gobi, GPS, pass-through antenna, 2MP camera, and 5-year warranty!  Order here.
MSRP $4,849. Group Mobile's price $4249 — Save $600!

For more information regarding rugged mobile computing visit http://www.groupmobile.com/ or call us at 1-866-RUGGED-8.

AMD Radeon HD 7970

Present a short preview of the features of the Radeon HD 7970, the only one in which can reveal details in advance of the moves with which AMD will change its offer to the market in early 2012.

At the close of 2010, with the launch of the Northern Islands and the family of Radeon HD 6900, AMD introduced a first ex-design with the past with Southern Islands the distance is even more pronounced because of the big model of the architecture of the heart. After a year of stagnation for the entire field of 3D graphics, especially in the niche of products dedicated to high-end gamers and more advanced users and enthusiasts, the news that AMD has in place are really a lot.

Start from the production process with the jump from 40 to 28 nanometers that has allowed to cram into the silicon of the Radeon HD 7970 Tahiti well 4.312 billion transistors. This production technology allows the graphics processor to operate at a frequency of 925 MHz while still leaving considerable room for growth, margin will be just that the playing field on which the partners of AMD will be able to indulge themselves with the factory overclocking, so as to offer the avid gamer products higher performance than standard.In terms of memory, suggest the introduction of the controller with a 384-bit wide bus (six-channel 64-bit) supports five GDDR5 memory operating frequency of 5.5 GHz equivalent to a theoretical maximum bandwidth of 264 Gbytes / s.

Full of new architecture
With Southern Islands AMD introduces a new generation of architecture identified as self-explanatory as the Graphics Core Next present the overall scheme referring to the reading test in the next issue of PC Professional for an analysis in detail. The core architecture has 32 ​​drive bays, each of which integrates 64 stream processors for a total of 2,048. Right here w find one of the most interesting because the designers have abandoned the approach AMD Vliw5 and Vliw4, used respectively for the Radeon HD 6800 series to 6900 and for those in favor of something more flexible and less structured. A Compute Unit is organized into 4 units inside SIMD ( Single Instruction Multiple Data ), each of which contains 16 stream processors, in turn, operated by a single programmable scheduler. Alongside the SIMD units are 4 texture units and a structure of registers and cache completely redesigned for high performance not only with typical workloads of video game graphics engines, but also with multimedia applications, computing, productivity and scientific.

Performance, but always under control consumption
Among the many new features stand out the new control technologies and energy efficiency related to the placing of double-flow performance, a product of this caliber, is the first goal in the ladder of priorities. Hence that behind names such as AMD and Powertune ZeroCore lie Power monitoring and control of power supply voltages, currents, consumption, frequency and temperature without interruption while the GPU is active. The operating frequency is handled with extreme granularity so as to offer maximum performance within the parameters of maximum consumption. When the control system detects a situation of static image rather than being idle at preparation of the system here is the emerging energy-saving solutions: from 24 watts down to less than 3 watts thanks to the effective shutdown of the GPU, the maintenance of the circuit only refresh the memory controller and PCI Express. All this not only when you have one card in the PC, but also in the case of Crossfire configurations.

Facebook for all according to Vodafone

The Blue Vodafone aims to fulfill a very specific task: to allow mobile access to Facebook in the most immediate way possible, even to those who are unaccustomed to using a smartphone. The price of 79 euros including VAT appear to be targeting this product especially to the young, the Blue Vodafone is indeed the solution for Facebook currently cheaper than available today. The messaging is typically the ideal ground for this model, which has a QWERTY keyboard is fairly effective. Blue is the result of a joint development between Vodafone Italy and Facebook, that developed in a phone fully integrated with the structure and functions of the popular social networks.

Your profile is available just turned the phone and it remains visible on the home screen. The operating system, in Italian, is the owner, you can only install applications in Java.
The frame is compact, despite the full keyboard, and the materials are robust. The thickness of only 12 mm makes it possible to easily carry the phone in his trouser pockets. The keyboard is well designed, has rows of spaced keys and typing is fast enough. A programmable button can be associated with different functions. Just below the display is a small optical trackpad for navigation help.

The Blue Vodafone keeps its promises: the use of Facebook is very intuitive and the hardest part is probably the inclusion of your username / password the first time you turn on your phone. The notifications of status updates and messages are automated, or you can configure the programmable key to do the update manually.

Apart from the simplicity and cost, the Blue Vodafone has other advantages. Indeed, it has very limited features and functionality. The lack of 3G connectivity and Wi-Fi is felt much, making the viewing of streaming video (often found on the pages of their friends) very difficult. The camera returns 2 Mpixel color washed out and lacking contrast, the videos are recorded at low resolution and framerate low. For Web browsing is the Opera Mini browser, but only 200 MHz processor makes a lot of trouble with complex pages. He is better with music, thanks to the integrated MP3 player, FM radio and the ability to add a Micro SD card on which to store the songs.

The lack of advanced sensors and connectivity (Bluetooth is present and the only micro-USB port, but lacks the data cable in the package) is reflected positively on the life of the battery, you can easily gain the day of use.
The Blue Vodafone may just be good to those who only plan to use Facebook, check emails and listen to music, for all others it is better to spend a few tens of euros more and adopt the Smart, a real Android smartphone offered far more powerful and complete always from Vodafone to 99 Euro VAT included.

NPAs

We had a meeting this morning about National Progression Awards (NPAs).

My team are developing a large suite of NPAs (19 in total). There are currently seven available to centres (such as PC Passport and Digital Literacy) and another 11 under development (with one not yet started).

We had hoped to validate three before Christmas but this was delayed due to a last minute hitch (the industry representative on the validation panel was unable to attend). The three delayed awards are:

1. Still Images, Audio and Video (SCQF Levels 4 and 5)
2. Animation (SCQF Level 5).

We have re-arranged the validation event to mid-January.

The other awards are quite far along the development cycle and will be validated in February (three more) and March (the last three).

The NPA that is about to commence is called NPA in Social Software and includes a new unit from the suite of Digital Culture units.

I'm confident we'll have the full suite of NPAs available to centres by May of next year.

Contact Shirley if you want more information.

Need to Finish Your Holiday Shopping? Here are Some Last Minute Gift Ideas from Group Mobile at Incredible Prices!

Place your order by December 23rd before 1:00 p.m. PST and choose overnight delivery to receive your order by Christmas!

Getac B300
MSRP $4,697. Group Mobile's price $3,697.
Save $1,000 while supplies lasts!

Take advantage of reduced pricing on 4th generation models of the fully rugged Getac B300 laptop. This model includes an Intel i7 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, 1400 NIT touchscreen display, backlit keyboard, SuperMulti DVD drive, 802.11N wireless, Bluetooth, PCMCIA Type II + Express Card, SmartCard reader, fingerprint scanner, GPS, and a 5-year warranty! Learn more about the 4th generation Getac B300...

fliTablet
Buy one fliTablet floor tablet stand at regular price 
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The fliTablet™ hands-free tablet floor stand is compatible with the original iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, Kindle Fire 8.9" models, Samsung Galaxy 10.1" models, Panasonic Toughpad, Motion CL900 series tablets, Trimble Yuma 2, Getac Z710, and many other lightweight tablet computers. The fliTablet enables you to comfortably use your tablet computer in a variety of positions and settings — all hands free! Tablet computer not included. Learn more about the fliTablet hands-free tablet floor stand...

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Group Mobile 7" Fully Rugged Android Tablet 
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This fully rugged Android tablet available at Group Mobile is compact and durable enough to stand up to business outside the four walls. It offers unique features for ultimate flexibility and field workforce efficiency including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® wireless, and optional integrated 3.75G WWAN. It is a great rugged solution for mobile business demands. Learn more about the Group Mobile 7" Fully Rugged Android Tablet...

*Offer good through December 31, 2013.

Christmas party

We had our Christmas party yesterday. It began in the customary way, with a secret Santa in the office, before we headed off to the Merchant City for our Christmas lunch. Some of you may recognise Santa as the man who normally organises examinations in English.

There are a few sore heads today, but everyone made it in to the office. We stop this afternoon until Thursday, 5 January.

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog. Our readership has steadily grown over the years, and it is now one of the main channels of communication between SQA and centres. The team wish you a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Bobby, Caroline & Lois Hilary

Merry Christmas

The team's Christmas Party was held yesterday so a few of us are feeling a bit sensitive this morning.

The photo shows Santa drawing the Secret Santa before we left for our meal. I was lucky enough to get gold coins.

We close today until Wednesday, 5 January. The team wish everyone a relaxing and happy holiday.

Evaluation of the Heads of Computing event

After every major event, I organise a survey to gauge attendees' satisfaction with the event.

I did a survey after the recent Heads of Computing event. Nineteen attendees (around 50%) completed the questionnaire. The results can be seen here.

Overall, the response was very good, with almost 80% of respondents considering the event "good" or "very good" and 95% expressing overall satisfaction with the event. But we'll look at the criticisms and try to address these next time.

Merry Christmas

We stop for Christmas tomorrow and return on Tuesday, 5 January. It's that time of the year when you reflect on the past year.

One of the highlights was the addition of Hilary to the team, who joined us in June. Hilary replaced Shirley, who many of you know well, but she is full-time and Shirley was part-time, meaning that the team grew. As you probably know, my portfolio is roughly split between Caroline, who takes care of HNs, PDAs and vendors, and Hilary, who takes care of NC, NPAs and SVQs. The team tries hard to be known and visible to the sector and, I think, many of you have got to know Hilary already.

We've had a fairly productive year. Several NPAs were developed, the HND Interactive Media was completed, and a complete suite of SVQs was developed. Two special projects also occupied us - one linked to FITs and one linked to CEOP. The CEOP one was particularly pleasing since we have carved out something of a reputation in the Internet Safety/child protection area.

The HMIe report on the sector (the Aspect report) came out in November and was quite complimentary about SQA's work. In spite of the sector's well known problems (with uptake, achievement and teaching), I believe that the subject has had something of a resurgence in terms of popularity, with early indications about student registrations sounding very positive.

There have been disappointments too. The same report that complimented the range of qualifications also pointed out that there remains too much assessment. I also think that we still take too long to develop qualifications (the HNC/D Computer Games development has slipped a little). And, although the readership of this blog has steadily risen, it's not used interactively, with very few people using it to provide feedback.

I usually provide the names of people for you to contact -- but not today... we'll be enjoying Christmas with family and friends for the next couple of weeks. Have a good one too.

Choose a processor

The heart of every personal computer is its processor, which is why when you go to buy one is absolutely essential to choose one that is good and above all to make our case, first of all, though I want to dispel a myth useful to lower the price of your new laptop. When you look at the processor, avoid trying to force things out of the last model, this for a few main reasons: firstly the price, if a product has just come out of course will cost much more, then this second technological world is constantly changing then you will have the "latest model" only for a short time, do not always follow the technology, but you have to buy what you need, and finally, the latest processors will also be many times more powerful but are also those who consume more battery your laptop, so if you have to work very much avoided using the battery model very "greedy" in terms of energy consumption.

It is easy to choose a processor, the main two houses that produce them, the AMD and Intel, usually they say that Intel is more expensive while AMD are cheaper and equally-performing, the second this writer is not true Each model has its specific characteristics of both price and is therefore an AMD can pay more but be more of a handsome Intel or vice versa.

In any case, when you go to check the processor of your new laptop, without waiting to see the model on the market and release date, you must always keep an eye on two essential parameters, the number of cores and the working frequency, which is expressed in Ghz.

The Core are in short computing cores of a processor, the latest models have different core but keep in mind that, generally more cores mean more power, but it always depends on the work you do with your laptop, often In fact, we can accommodate dual-core models without problems even if they are recent.

The GHz is always in short, a way to indicate very roughly the speed, the more Ghz usually means more speed running even if this parameter also includes other values. Finally, they are also to be considered for purchase and consumption of the cache size.

With these parameters, you can definitely make you a good idea of ​​the value of the processor that fits the laptop you want to buy, of course, all this should be compared with the type of work you are doing with the laptop you buy, and mind you one thing, the final price of the product you buy depends on the processor goes up, so if you want to pay almost certainly say that you are buying a processor model with highly evolved, however, we invite you to follow the suggestions given.

Apple MacBook

If you are looking for a good laptop can be a very good idea to rely on a MacBook, Apple, with its native operating system, creates several problems for years to its competitors. Let's talk about reliable and fast computers that have created a dense crowd of fans and have divided, indeed literally split in two, the computer world.

To complete our offer information we could not talk about these laptops, more than at other times trying to outline the advantages and disadvantages. The MacBook is immune to viruses in their configuration, they are fast and reliable, also Apple provides a very complete service for its customers. Many people criticize the fact that not all programs are compatible with the Apple operating system, but this is not always true, most programs are compatible and also the most widely used Windows operating systems can be installed on the latest MacBook models. Add to this the aesthetic, without any doubt Apple products are among the most fascinating from a purely stylistic point of view.

The disadvantages lie in the impossibility to use programs of all types as with windows systems, but the problem is almost entirely overcome, however, remains a small number of programs can not be used. The use of Mac-illiterate may also have some initial problems, but get carried away with this operating system is anything but difficult.

In short, buy a MacBook, available in many models with different prices, it's definitely a good idea, powerful, reliable, safe, respectable, which are portable in some models can reach heights of technical excellence and stylistic.

What good is a notebook you can use everywhere if you can't see the screen everywhere?

The General Dynamics Itronix GoBook VR-2 Semi Rugged laptop just won two awards for its new DynaVue technology. Military and Aerospace Electronics gave the GoBook VR-2 the Editors Choice 5 star award stating that "The DynaVue touchscreen display technology does not rely on adding light to improve visibility but focuses rather on a light-filtering technology that improves contrast ratio, color, sharpness and detail." LAPTOP also gave the GoBook VR-2 the best laptop of the year award stating "General Dynamics Itronix answers that challenge with the GoBook VR-2, which incorporates groundbreaking DynaVue display technology for the best outdoor readability we've seen on any laptop. By cleverly bumping up the contrast ratio and balancing it with the right amount of brightness, workers can use the VR-2's 13.3-inch touchscreen even in direct sunlight."

Click to learn more...

Rugged Computers for Business Travelers

Group Mobile offers several business rugged laptops, which are designed with the Business Traveler/Road Warrior in mind. Business rugged laptops are stronger and more durable than commercial plastic laptops. The business rugged laptops have magnesium alloy cases, shock mounted hard drives, long battery life and spill proof keyboards without compromising functionality, style and weight.


Visit our Business Travelers Computers page or call us at 1-866-784-4338 to learn more about these rugged computers.

HN Computing update letter

I sent an update letter to centres today (it will be dispatched to centres on 6 January). The letter includes details about assessment exemplars, an update on the HND review and the final version of the credit transfer table.



Most of the SQA team are about to stop for their Christmas holidays (SQA stops on Thursday but some staff are taking annual leave or TOIL before then). We return on 5 January.



Have a good holiday.

HNC/D Computing and Networking QDT meeting

Some time ago, I wrote that there was a dedicated blog to keep you up-to-date with the review of HNC/D Computing and HNC/D Networking. We held the third meeting of the QDT yesterday. The blog has a full report.

I don't plan to post many more messages about this development on (this) main blog so please bookmark and read the dedicated blog if you want to keep up to date with what's going on.

Blogger has recently introduced new templates for reading blogs via a mobile device (such as a smartphone or tablet) and I have enabled that functionality on these blogs. So, if you're reading this on your phone, I hope that it looks good!

PC Passport hits second top spot

LearnDirect published their top 10 courses of 2005 in terms of public interest - and PC Passport was number 2 (behind ECDL) beating well established courses such as Higher English.

Contact Joan Morris for more information about PC Passport or join the online community.

Computing Subject Network: Special Aspect report event

Scotland's Colleges organises regular subject networks when Computing lecturers get together to discuss curricular issues. There was a meeting on Friday dedicated to the recent HMIe Aspect report for the subject.



I was asked to speak about SQA's response to the report. My presentation [PPT] pointed out the good and not-so-good comments made about qualifications and assessment. My proposed actions included: continueing to try to reduce the amount of assessment, increasing the use of objective tests (and online assessment using SOLAR), and more innovative forms of assessment (using Web 2.0 tools and services). I will take these forward in the New Year. Feel free to use the comment facility if you think SQA should do anything else.

Overall, the report was pretty positive about SQA and the curriculum in general. The main criticism was about teaching and learning, and it was interesting to listen to some of the ideas about how this could be improved.

Universal, Netbook and Seat Mounts

NotePad V - Universal Computer Cradle
The NotePad™ V Universal Computer Mount meets military standards (MIL-810G) for resistance to shock and vibration and is built for the most rugged environments.

RAM Pod I for Netbooks
The RAM Pod I universal vehicle mounting base quickly and easily installs into a variety of vehicles and other applications.

RAM Seat-Mate Mount with Universal RAM Tough-Tray Laptop or Netbook Holder
Truly innovative in design, the RAM Seat-Mate™ mount is able to actively hold onto the seat and stabilize itself. For anyone who needs a temporary mobile workstation, the RAM Seat-Mate mounting solution is absolutely perfect.


Universal NotePad with Seat Mount
Gamber-Johnson's new Universal Seat Mount can be mounted in any vehicle and be used with virtually all full size notebook computers.

See all of our Universal, Netbook and Seat Mounts here. For more information regarding rugged mobile computing visit www.groupmobile.com or call us at 1-866-RUGGED-8.

Digital Passport

As you most likely know, we've been revising PC Passport for a while. Quite early in that development, the QDT realised that we wanted to change a great deal about the award so that it embraced lots of modern knowledge and skills. As a result, we made an early decision to create two awards: an entirely new one and one based on the current award. The development effectively split into two, and we've been working on the new award for most of the time.

The new award will be called Digital Passport. It will be a National Progression Award (NPA) at SCQF Levels 4, 5 and 6, and consist of three units (at all Levels):

1. Information Literacy
2. Network Literacy
3. Social Media Literacy

The qualification will be hierarchical (like the original PC Passport award) so that you can teach multi-levels in the same classroom.

We think that this new award is the most up-to-date digital literacy award in the UK. It will deliver essential digital skills for 21st Century citizens. It was designed to embrace the essential skills that various government reports have highlighted. We hope that it will become as popular as PC Passport in its heyday.

We haven't forgotton about PC Passport. We've been working on updating this to modernise its contents. But the changes will be minimal and a clear evolution of the current award, so that if you currently teach PC Passport it will be straight-forward to move over to the new one.

The validation event for Digital Passport takes place in January, with the corresponding event for PC Passport later in the year. We hope to have both awards available to centres from 2015-15.

I'll be writing to centres early in the New Year with more details but in the meantime contact Hilary for more information.

Abit AN8 Fatal1ty

Description:
Based on the chipset NVIDIA NF4, Fatal1ty AN8 Abit is a good choice for those looking for performance and features. Supports processsori 64/64FX Athlon and Athlon 64 X2 dual-core technology with support for Hyper-Transport and Cool 'n Quiet . The maximum amount of RAM installed is 4 GB even though, if the four banks are installed, the memory controller integrated in CPU AMD Athlon 64 provides to automatically lower the frequency of operation up to 333 MHz . Connected to the motherboard are the board " AudioMAX "that houses the codec ALC658 and allows you to connect up to 5 jack and 2-channel S / PDIF.

This mainboard and 'cooling system has two OTES (Outside Thermal Exhaust System) to ensure good operating conditions. One of these, the OTES RAMFlow, must be mounted above the memory modules DDR to facilitate heat dissipation . However, four 40 mm diameter fans generate considerable noise and also using the control system FanEQ, supplied with the card , the minimum speed of rotation is still quite high. Moreover, the small fan that cools the chipset does not seem to excel in quality. The area of the socket of the processor is free from obstruction during assembly. The same applies to the area around the heat sink anchor system. A small negative note, however, the choice of ABIT position the floppy drive connector on the short side opposite to the motherboard socket. This can create problems during assembly. decidedly negative reviews for the choice of the location of the four SATA connectors and three USB .

Perfectly in line with the slot PCI Express 16x, these connectors are likely to be "blacked out" in a more or less part of a video card like the last generation. Shrunk spaces between the slot PCI Express PCI and the first "traditional". The ability to set values ​​of the FSB in the range between 200 MHz and 410 sets good conditions with regard to the ' overclocking . These expectations are in the ease of use of the BIOS , and a great ally, the possibility to restart the machine with settings default without resetting the BIOS settings after a launch failure, it is undoubtedly interesting. In fact the BIOS is still quite immature: the potential of the system are severely limited by the inability to fully exploit all the possibilities available to the user. The design is certainly very attractive. LED diagnostic or purely aesthetic and display, populate the AN8. Really appreciate the effect Overall, the colors chosen in the design phase are well suited to the color choices of producers closer to the needs of modders .

Benefits:
Many features.
Highest level of performance.
Good cooling system.
Design very close to the needs of modders.

Disadvantages:
Very noisy fans for cooling.
Improper positioning of the SATA and USB connectors are likely to be overshadowed by some of the latest generation video cards.
Bios immature may create some inconvenience.
Very high price.

Format
ATX (30.5cm x 24.5cm).

Chipset
NVIDIA NF4 Ultra single chip, Gigabit Ethernet and NV Firewall NV integrated.

Socket
939

CPU Support
AMD Athlon 64/64FX, Athlon 64 X2 dual-core K8 939-pin with 2GHz system bus and Hyper Transport Technology

Memory Supported
up to 4GB DDR 400/333/266 non-ECC (Dual Channel)
Front Side Bus
400/333/266

Your site is ready for mobile?

Smartphones and PDAs are becoming more common. Becomes a necessity to make their usable and accessible on mobile devices.

How to make your site accessible to mobile phones last generation? The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), an association that aims to improve standards, protocols and language for designing web applications, has created a special branch of his project to study issues related to mobile: Mobile Web Initiative .

The initiative identifies guidelines for designing Web sites accessible by a device called the base, or a device type from the minimum characteristics to serve as a touchstone for all devices (in other words ... too easy to design a site accessible to more advanced smartphones around! A site to be mobileOK must be accessible from one device to "medium", or rather, as we shall see, "medium-low," to include most of the phones on the market for now).

• Learn the basic features of the device : visit Default Delivery Context

• The initiative has produced a series of recommendations known as Mobile Web Best Practices (MWBP), to provide guidance to web developers who want to be "mobileOK".

• See Mobile version 1.0 Best Practices : visit Mobile Best Practices 1.0 Some of the content management platforms provide some default devices to be accessible and usable even from mobile devices (remember that a good part of good design standards for furniture are made ​​from same guidelines for a good design for the desktop Web.) constructed by Plone sites, for example, are already compliant with many of the recommendations described by the MWBP : webmaster will only have to use some additional precautions to ensure that your site displays information and interactions best on a smartphone or a PDA. Another useful tool provided by the W3C mobileOK Checker is: just enter the URL of your site and you will have an analysis based on various parameters to assess how the site is mobile Friendly. Try it now!

• Check what your site is mobileOK : go to the W3C mobileOK checker and 'can then be attributed to the pages of your site mobileOK mark, which certifies a good design-oriented furniture. In this way you will present to its visitors 'desktop' that the information or services you are viewing are also accessible and accessible from their mobile devices.

• Get the brand mobileOK : visit The mobileOK Trustmark

Red Hat and Cisco together

Red Hat, the world's leading provider of open source software, and Cisco will work together to announce that ' integration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux software with Cisco Unified Computing System to create a cutting edge solution that can help users to install applications mission-critical applications in a virtual datacenter with high performance.

Red Hat and Cisco will also work to create an offer of services and global sales channels, customer support and development of tools for deployment and support. The collaboration between Red Hat and Cisco in the open source community is not new and its fruits now seem be ripe for the integration of the demanding computing environments, Red Hat, such as Enterprise Linux and Enterprise Visualization , could take a big lead by the high density of Cisco Unified Computing System, because it's scalable architecture will enable a greater number of enterprise applications to run on systems that have more economic resources than half of the theoretically necessary hardware.

The consequences would be very positive for customers: the possibility to extend their virtual environments, improve business agility and establish policies and network security for virtual environments is consistent for both the traditional ones. Among the most interesting details there The Agreement provides that Cisco Official Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for Red Hat Enterprise Linux customers will be able to buy directly from Cisco a complete solution for additional services and support. The integration of Cisco's Unified Computing System and solutions Red Hat's software seems to be able to offer customers a platform for the installation of IT infrastructure with all the trappings, made ​​strong with both hands to tap the latest technology of two of the most important vendors in the world.

Happy Holidays from Group Mobile!

With the Holiday season in full swing, we wanted to take a moment to thank you, our customers, for your business, your trust, and your loyalty.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And don't forget to watch for our Best of 2011 Rugged Computing Guide

at the start of 2012.

(Until then, click here to read our Best of 2010 list.)

Review of the year

This seems a good time to look over the last 12 months.

The main project has been the HN Review, which culminated in a recent validation. There is still some work to be done, but these new awards are on schedule to be available to centres from next session. Some centres offered the new HNC this year, while some others introduced some of the new units into their existing HNC programme. By all accounts, the new units are popular with centres.

I started the year with an appeal for members for our committees. And we're still looking for volunteers so please come forward if you are interested. January also saw the publication of the Royal Society's report on computing in schools, which made interesting reading. February saw an announcement about new e-commerce units and the a review of the HN Graded Units. March saw the commencement of the HN 2.0 project. In April, I announced new teaching materials for the Computer Games awards, and new Mobile Technology awards. I spent most of May in Australia but managed to visit Clydebank College. In June I served on the validation panel for the new non-advanced awards in Mobile Technology, chaired a Sector Panel meeting, and presented at the annual Scotland's Colleges event.

The second half of the year saw us pass 400 followers on Twitter, and I presented a paper at the Computer Assisted Assessment Conference in Southampton. August began with a visit to James Watt College, followed by a presentation at the E-Assessment Scotland Conference. But the most important development that month was the formation of a Qualification Review Team for Computing, which will try to improve articulation from college to university. September began with an appeal for you to consider becoming an External Verifier. There were Qualification Support Team meetings in the middle of the month, and the validation for the new NC in Computer Games Development at SCQF Level 6 took place later in the month. We opened the annual satisfaction survey in October, and I sent update letters to centres later than month. I also announced that we were about to commence a review of NC Digital Media Computing and PC Passport. November began with me giving a presentation about vocational Computing awards at the inaugural conference of Computing at School, followed by a visit to Cardonald College to attend an ITPCS meeting. We also held the annual Heads of Computing event later that month, which was very well attended and seemed to go well. The year ended with the validation event for the new HNDs. I also managed to visit Forth Valley College. Finally, we closed the satisfaction survey, which, at first sight, provided interesting results.

So, it's been a busy and productive year for the team, and 2013 promises to be just as busy.

NC Computing: Technical Support Arrangements

I noticed that the Arrangements for the new NC Computing: Technical Support are now available on the SQA website [PDF]. This qualification is offered at SCQF Levels 5 and 6.

This new NC award is more technical than existing NC qualifications (such as NC Digital Media Computing) and better suited to progression to the more technical HN awards (such as HNC/D Computer Networking).

This NC was developed by City of Glasgow College, with support from the NQGA team in SQA. Since I was not personally involved in the development, I was able to serve on the validation panel.

You can download the Arrangements for any of our NC or NPA awards here.

Contact Hilary if you want to know more about any of these non-advanced awards, including the new Technical Support qualification.

Multimedia Consultant required

Today I posted a message on the Multimedia Online Forum requesting a volunteer to assist in the next stage in the Multimedia review. The remit consists of carrying out a core skills audit, an audit on teaching and learning materials and assisting in the production of assessment exemplars. The secondment is based on one day a week starting 9th January until 31st March, a total of 12 weeks.

If you are interested in this project please contact me on my usual email address angela.lees@sqa.org.uk

HN Computing Digital Learning Materials

The CD-ROMs (HTML & SCORM V1.2) containing interactive materials produced using Course Genie for the following Units have been distributed to SQA Co-ordinators at all FE Centres:

DH2T 34 - Computer Architecture 1
D75X 34 - Information Technology: Applications Software 1
DH3E 35 - Software Development: Structured Programming
DH35 34 - Computing: Planning
DH33 34 - Computer Operating Systems 1
DH21 34 - Working within a Project Team

This material is also available online at the following URL:

http://www.e-learning-computing.com/

Improved Internet Safety website... and Merry Xmas

Jacque's been working on the Internet Safety website, to bring it up to date. I checked it this morning and it's looking good. It now provides up-to-date information and support materials (including an updated FAQ) on this qualification. Contact Jacque for any queries relating to Internet Safety.

The team's Xmas party is today, and I know many centres stop for the holiday today, so it seems a good time for me and my team to wish everyone a good holiday. As always, its been great working with the Computing community this last year.

Computing Education Steering Group

I attended the second meeting of this group yesterday morning at Jordanhill Campus of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The group is looking at ways of stimulating the interest in Computing and related subjects in schools to address the significant decline in numbers in Higher Education.

It was a productive meeting with a number of concrete proposals coming out of it. We agreed to carry out a survey to get some hard evidence about the issue and also to lobby the Scottish Government to put a priority on Computing education as a strategic issue for the country. We had an interesting presentation and discussion about the purpose and contents of Computing in schools.

We also agreed on another national conference some time next summer. You can get more information about this group from the convenor, Andrew McGettrick.

Asus Eee 1005 HA

Well, a few days ago when I bought a netbook from Asus, the eee105HA. In fact, it all started with a mixture of the death of my notebook combined with the desire to have something portable, allowing me to use in unscheduled hours of work, school, home visits from friends and so on. Finally, after reading several reviews on, I bought one!

Well, what? The screen features LED illumination of 10.1 inches, which means a good image quality and low consumption. The disk with 160 GB, 1 GB of RAM and the rest of that "basic kit" that all laptops have. Ah yes, a detail to be taken into consideration, that even been mentioned in all the reviews I read and it's worth to note, is the keyboard (very comfortable with a good space between the keys) and touchpad, also excellent. Ok ok, a failure is to have no LED to indicate that the caps lock is enabled, but ....

This version I bought came with Windows 7 Starter edition. The first impression I got was "ugh", but after searching on the limitations, I discovered that the only significant thing that could harm me is the fact of not being able to change the wallpaper, which is no big thing, but as I need a copy of Windows for some programs without corresponding Windows, I opted to leave it in a separate partition. Before you ask me, this limitation of classical Starter Editions to only allow three opening windows has been removed from Win7SE. Oh yeah, nice detail, the asus already makes the HD partitioned so that you can install another operating system without having to delete the partition (although among the resources of seven of them is to allow you to make thumbnailing of system partitions).

I then downloaded the Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Karmic Koala . Burn the DVD, I generated the stick and then did the installation. After about 20 minutes the installation was complete. It was then just use the system and install the missing drivers, only ... oops! There was no missing driver! Yes, Ubuntu 9.10 installed and recognized ALL the devices in 1005 , including webcam, wireless, keyboard functions. Even my mini 3G modem he recognized immediately.

Well, that's it. If you are thinking of a good alternative to an effectively portable notebook, the 1005 is a great choice. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the battery it lasts more than 5 hours! That's right! Perfect for college, where there is not always an outlet nearby

ANDROID Trimble Juno T41 shipping in December!

Rugged smartphone designed for professionals in real world conditions

The Trimble Juno T41 is a rugged field computer for data collection and mobile workforce management. It's a developer-friendly computing device with either Android or Windows Embedded operating systems.  

Android models are shipping this month!

If you have End-of-Year budget and you have field workers who require hand held computers that can take punishment, this is the product for you.

The Android Trimble Juno T41 provides: 

• Android 2.3.4 "Gingerbread" operating system, designed with developers in mind (Software Developer Kits are included)
• 3.75G cellular data, text and voice capabilit
• Email, web browser, phone & SMS text messaging, multi-media player
• Fully rugged design to withstand water, dust, shock, drop, vibration and extreme temperatures
• Gorilla Glass protected, 4.3" multi-touch capacitive, direct-sunlight readable display
• Variety of connections including USB, 9-Pin Serial, MicroSD memory card slot and MCX (for GPS antenna)
• 8 megapixel camera with geo-tagging and dual LED flash
• GPS receiver, (WAAS/SBAS) 2-4 meter
• Choice of 256MB or 512MB RAM, with 8GB or 16GB Flash Storage
• Long life battery (with Juice Pack accessory for all day field work)
• And more! 

To learn more or order a Juno T41, call 866-RUGGED8 or visit http://www.groupmobile.com/product.asp/sku=6156.