A gentle transition from Java programming to Web Services using XML-RPC

Exposing students to leading edge vocational areas of relevance such as Web Services can be difficult. We show a lightweight approach by embedding a key component of Web Services within a Level 3 BSc module in Distributed Computing. We present a ready to use collection of lecture slides and student activities based on XML-RPC. In addition we show that this material addresses the central topics in the context of web services as identified by Draganova (2003)

A project management module for virtual teaching

This paper presents design and results of the pilot deliveries of an on-line project management module. The module was part of the First Cycle Degree strand of the European Union funded GENIUS project. The scope and structure of the project management knowledge and competency domain was analysed using a process of decomposition and graphical representation using concept maps. A number of perspective views of the domain emerged which were mapped and analysed to determine a web resource structure and cross-linking methodology. The on-line delivery strategy was positioned on the technological dependency / pedagogical intent space in sympathy with the underlying pedagogical theories employed and the overall learning objectives. The two pilot deliveries demonstrated, qualitatively and, in a limited way quantitatively, that the resource and pedagogical approach were liked by the students and achieved the stated learning objectives and the desired project objectives of the First Cycle Degree strand of the GENIUS project.

Prime: A framework for co-located multi-device apps

Even though mobile devices are ubiquitous, the conceptually simple endeavor of using co-located devices for multi-user experiences is cumbersome. It may not even be possible when certain apps are not widely available. We introduce Prime, a thin-client framework for colocated multi-device apps (MDAs). It leverages wellestablished remote display protocols to enable spontaneous use of MDAs. One device acts as a host, executing the app on behalf of connected clients. The key challenges is dynamic scalability: providing high framerates, low latency and fairness across clients. Therefore, we have developed: An online scheduling algorithm that provides frame rate, latency and fairness guarantees; a modified 802.11 MAC protocol that provides low-latency and fairness; and an efficient video encoder pipeline that offers up to fourteen times higher framerates. We show that Prime can scale a host up to seven concurrent players for a commercially released open source action game, achieving touch-To-pixel latency below 100ms for all clients

High performance staged event-driven middleware

In this paper, we investigate the design of highly efficient and scalable staged event-driven middleware for shared memory multi- processors. Various scheduler designs are considered and evaluated, including shared run queue and multiple run queue arrangements. Techniques to maximise cache locality while improving load balancing are studied. Moreover, we consider a variety of access control mechanisms applied to shared data structures such as the run queue, including coarse grained locking, fine grained locking and non-blocking algorithms. User- level memory management techniques are applied to enhance memory allocation performance, particularly in situations where non-blocking algorithms are used. The paper concludes with a comparative analysis of the various configurations of our middleware, in an effort to identify their performance characteristics under a variety of conditions.peer-reviewe

Breaking the MBA delivery mould: A multi-group international MBA / practitioner virtual collaborative project

The marketing education project presented here brings together a major UK financial institution in the banking sector and a selection of its high value clients (B-to-B) via e-mail, telephone, video conferencing and other web-based technologies, with two geographically dispersed MBA classes in the UK and the US. Student groups were set up in virtual teams to target critical customer issues, analyzing gaps in the client-company interface. The two MBA courses included Customer Management & Quality Systems delivered at the University of Manchester, Manchester Business School (UK) and International Marketing, delivered at Missouri State University (US). The groups worked as a "think tank" collaborating to solve important customer service issues