SWE - Fall 2007 - (Page 42) Battery makers are becoming increasingly inventive in bringing longer life to wireless devices, allowing students to remain online for much longer periods. — the first of its type of simulation computer games that let players live in a virtual world with identities they create. Zwicky said she visits several “Sims” sites and remembers seeing a T-shirt for sale with the slogan, “I don’t have a life but my SIMS do. ” Zwicky said she has become accustomed to being the lone female in her computer-programming classes. She will be the only one in the fall semester game-programming class that Krause is teaching. Back in high school, she was the only female in her second semester computer-programming class at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Ill. Krause, whose undergraduate and graduate degrees are in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, wants students to understand that women can enjoy wonderful careers in computer science. “I have had such a great career,” she said, noting that she spent 14 years outside the classroom prior to becoming a teacher. Krause worked at IIT’s Research Institute and then worked at publishing firm RR Donnelley, where she won a group patent while working part-time and raising her three children. Krause and her teammates designed a digital page imaging system to win the patent. Whether or not videogaming will become an avenue for women to make their mark, the relevance of the major is echoed by Elmhurst junior Travis Duffield, a music education major, who said half of his peers bring their own XBox 360 or Sony PlayStation PS3 to play videogames in their dorm rooms to “blow off steam.” Duffield found the most engaging teacher at Elmhurst College to be a music-theory professor who used a projector hooked up to a computer to show videos and play music from YouTube to illustrate a theory. “He would play music that related to what we’d be talking about that day,” Duffield said of the professor. “It made the class more interesting. It was multi-dimensional.” Practical Considerations Two laughingly old-fashioned hurdles to staying online constantly are the limited life of batteries, and the scarcity of electrical outlets. “There aren’t many power outlets even in places with high-speed Internet access,” Jones said. “Given the battery life of most laptops, that doesn’t guarantee much usage.” Battery makers are becoming increasingly inventive in bringing longer life to wireless devices, allowing students to remain online for much longer periods. The Underwriters Laboratories has developed a new standard that sets requirements for micro fuel cell systems such as those used in laptops. The latest fuel cells, now used primarily by the military, let laptop users insert a new fuel cartridge into the machine, doing away with the need to plug the laptop into an outlet to recharge it or to carry a heavy battery pack, said John Drengenberg, consumer affairs manager at the Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, Ill. Underwriters is a not-forprofit organization that certifies product safety and writes safety standards. Jones said he believes another major question revolves around the iPhone, Apple’s new cell phone version of its iPod portable music player. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs called it one of the company’s most important products ever. Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo on Jan. 9, 2007 and launched it on June 29. The iPhone’s functions include those of a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile phone, and Internet services like e-mail, text messaging, web browsing and wireless connectivity. It can also play YouTube videos and its input is accomplished via touchscreen, with virtual keyboard and buttons. Though the iPhone is pricey for today’s college students, Jones said the device has the potential to make a big splash on campus. Since laptops weigh 6 to 8 pounds and require peripherals, the lighter, smaller iPhone could become students’ first choice for note taking, scheduling, collaborating and accessing the Internet, Jones said. A rival to the iPhone, the Foleo by Palm Inc., will be on the market by the time school starts. The Foleo weighs 2.5 pounds and is designed to be used with a wireless smartphone. Other rival phones include Nokia’s N95, the T-Mobile Wing and the Samsung UpStage. Duffield said an existing popular gadget among students is Texas Instruments’ latest TI-83 series of a graphic calculator, which lets Sophomore Elizabeth Zwicky will be the only female student in her game-programming class this fall. 42 SWE FALL 2007
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.