Convergence Technology
Top Ten IT Skills for 2014
Global Knowledge’s Paul Simoneau projects a list of major IT skills he suspects will be in demand in 2014, taking into account a number of different surveys and reports. Below is the skills list, along with a few words of explanation from Paul. 1. Programming and Application Development – “Major organizations are planning to transition…
Read MoreBaseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and malware
Network security remains an important element of IT/convergence training, as this article from Infosecurity magazine’s website proves. The United States is now the world leader (a whopping 44%) in hosting malware, according to a report by Solutionary. Part of the reason seems to be the boom of domestic cloud providers like Google and Amazon which…
Read MoreIt’s the cloud closer to the ground
A lengthy discussion of IT/convergence trends is always a staple of the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) quarterly meetings with the Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) that helps shape program curriculum. One recent meeting mentioned something called “the fog” that Cisco is developing. PC World provides an overview. As we’re surrounded by more and…
Read MoreBunches of bits and bytes
Everyone knows megabytes and gigabytes. Most know terabytes. (Old 1980s owners of Commodore 64s also know kilobytes.) But the digital world is expanding rapidly, creating massive amounts of data that need to be stored somewhere. How do we talk about that kind of volume? Consider these data measurements: Brontobyte Exabyte Geopbyte Petabyte Yottabyte Zettabyte Can you…
Read More802.11ac is finally here
If you don’t already know about 802.11ac, InformationWeek provides an overview of this new wireless standard. According to the article, which of these statements are myth and which are fact? 802.11ac performance advantages are minimal 802.11ac requires ripping and replacing my wired infrastructure Not many 802.11ac clients are available 802.11ac is 5 GHz only and leaves 2.4…
Read MoreNorth Pole IT spec sheet
Rumors have long swirled regarding a possible massive upgrade of the IT infrastructure at Kris Kringle’s sprawling North Pole plant. The stories appear to be true. Kringle’s spec sheet was recently obtained by an underground group of yuletide hackers. Multinational companies have reportedly begun assembling proposals and budgets. Servers and routers to maintain the proprietary…
Read MoreIs Teaching Wireless Networking in Your Future?
Bill Saichek and Karl Dietrich, both Co-PIs on our grant, recently presented a session at the 2013 HI-TEC conference “Is Teaching Wireless Networking in Your Future?” This session covered the basics of wireless networking, the latest WiFi technology; 802.11n, the future 802.11ac (Gigabit WiFi), teaching tips/tricks/hints for wireless, hands-on exercises and CWNA certification, and the Achilles…
Read MoreGraduates on the job
All of the hard work the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) undertakes is designed for one single end goal: give students the skills they need to land good jobs in an IT industry in dire need of qualified workers. We asked some of our Convergence College Network (CCN) partners to connect us with recent graduates. …
Read MoreCamp Android
An unusual program for teenagers was running simultaneous to the National Convergence Technology Center’s (CTC) annual Summer Working Connections professional training event this summer. In an out-of-the-way, second-floor classroom at Collin College’s Preston Ridge campus in Frisco, Texas, 20 teen girls spent five days learning app-programming basics during “Android App Camp.” The Collin College camp…
Read MoreTop 3 ATE/NSF Information, Geospatial, and Security Technologies Blogs
The 39 centers of the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program lead dynamic, productive partnerships among industry, community colleges, and other education sectors. The National Convergence Technology Center in Frisco, Texas is one of eight centers that fall under the “Information, Geospatial, and Security Technologies” focus. All of the centers’ core functions include…
Read More