Teaching Object-Oriented Programming: A Comparison Of Java And Objective-C

The programming language Java has been for many years the language in which many Web applications as well as large server applications have been developed.  More recently, it has also been used in the development of Android applications.  It has often been adopted as the primary teaching language in both introductory and advanced programming courses.  Due to its use on the iPhone and the iPad, Objective-C is gaining popularity and is now taught in some programming courses.  Not as well designed as Java and not as general-purpose as Java, Objective-C is unlikely to supplant it in college courses

Academic Programs Adequate For The Software Profession?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, close to 1.8 million people, or 77% of all computer professionals, were working in the design, development, deployment, maintenance, and management of software in 2006.  The ACM model curriculum for the BS in computer science proposes that about 42% of the core body of knowledge be dedicated to software engineering, including programming.  An examination of the curriculum of a typical computer science department shows that, excluding programming courses, no courses specific to software engineering are required for the BS, although several are available as elective courses.  Academics typically resist the demands of the industry, in part because some of them are for specific software tools, design methods, or programming languages whose use does not last.  Under market pressure, more required software engineering courses may slowly be included in the curriculum.  The usual solution is for businesses to offer their software professionals needed courses in software engineering

The Emerging Music Business Model: Back to the Future?

For many years, the music industry has consisted of two main components:  the concert industry and the recording music industry.   Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, thanks mostly to CD sales, the recording music industry was dominant in terms of revenue and visibility.  It reached record US sales in 1999 and 2000 (over $14.3 billion in 2000,$13.2 billion of which for CD albums), and between the years 2000 and 2007, the industry has seen a decline of 44% in its sales of physical records.  Reluctantly, the recording industry has joined the digital world by signing agreements with a variety of organizations providing music downloading, in particular with Apple and its iTunes downloading service.  It earned 1.4 billion dollars from music downloading in 2007 (with another billion from other digital sales such a cellular phone ringtones).  Obviously, digital sales have fallen short of compensating the industry for its losses of physical record sales.  The concert industry is re-emerging as the potential dominant component of the music industry.  In contrast to the recording industry, its revenues have not been affected by illegal Internet downloading.  On the contrary, it is making use of the Internet to increase them.  Recording artists are taking advantage of the weakening of the recording labels and of the opportunities offered by the Internet to loosen their dependence on the labels.  Finally, the once well-defined separation between the concert industry and the recording industry may be disappearing: concert organizers are getting into the recording business and majors are getting into the concert business

Music Industry: Toward A New Business Model?

The last ten years have seen many changes in the music industry, mainly caused by Internet music downloading, legal and illegal.   The traditional business model of the recording music industry, based on the sales of CDs in retail stores, seems to be on its way out.   No clear new model has emerged yet, but several trends are noticeable for the recording music industry.  First, the decline of CD sales since the peak year of 2000 has accelerated, totaling 30% in the USA.  Second the recording music industry is going through a restructuring, marked by sell offs and mergers among the recording labels, by the disappearance of music retail stores, and by the foray of the majors in new directions, such as concerts.  Finally, revenues from digital music sales are increasing, partially compensating for the decrease in CD sales.  Whereas the providers of content, namely the labels and the artists, can be seen as victims of music downloading, the providers of the technology have benefited.  The sales of its iPod/iTunes systems have provided Apple’s more revenues than the sales of its computers.  Other manufacturers are also entering this market.  Meanwhile, academics and policy makers have been studying new types of copyright licenses.  One idea is to impose a global license, paid by Internet service providers, and repaid to them by Internet users.  Many technological and legal questions must be resolved for such a scheme to become viable

Fighting Internet Piracy: The French Experience With The Hadopi Law

With the ever-increasing speed of the Internet and the ever-increasing power of personal computers and mobile devices, illegal downloading affects not only recorded music, but also movies and other medias. To stem the loss of revenues caused to copyright holders, France passed the Hadopi Law in September 2009 to be enforced by a new agency - the Hadopi Authority. The Hadopi Authority’s mission includes three major objectives. 1) to enforce the copyright law on the Internet through legal actions against violators, 2) to educate Internet users about illegal versus legal activities with respect to the copyright law, and 3) to facilitate the development of Internet services providing legal access to copyrighted works. To deter piracy and, at the same time, to serve as a pedagogical tool, Hadopi uses the “graduated response system”. Users who participate in illegal downloading are first warned two times. After a third violation, their file is forwarded to a court for possible prosecution. Between October 2010 and March 2012, the Hadopi Authority performed several surveys of Internet use to measure the effectiveness of the Law. The resulting reports show some modest positive changes in the behavior of French Internet users

The recording music industry and the Internet

Les cahiers du management de systemes d'informationAvailable from INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : DO 8562 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueSIGLEFRFranc

Les cinq fondamentaux d’une initiative circulaire biosourcée réussie dans le secteur de la construction: Comment les professionnels de l’immobilier, les propriétaires fonciers (publics) et les promoteurs appliquent-ils les principes circulaires biosourcés ?

This first publication of the CBCI project (Circular Bio-based Construction Industry) is a practical guide aimed at real estate professionals, (public) property owners and developers. This White Paper will discuss some of the challenges surrounding bio-based and circularity such as; price competition from virgin material alternatives, confidence in quality, hazardous material substance (when reusing in a circular context), lack of existing building data as well as the time delay between building and deconstruction. Next to this, the White Paper aims to illustrate how one could be more successful at taking circular and bio-based construction initiatives. The learnings from interviews and desk research are put together in five essentials, which are explained and illustrated by insights, exemplary projects (case studies) and readily applicable solutions. These five essentials form the outline of this White Paper: 1. AFFORDABLE cost-effective & inclusive reuse, 2. FLEXIBLE prepare for future functions, 3. PASSIVE stay cool & healthy with bio-based materials, 4. INTEGRAL continuously reflect on circular bio-based benefits & 5. TRADITIONAL OWNERSHIP keep it, simple. The thirteen exemplary cases explored for the creation of this White Paper show that it is possible to adopt circular and bio-based construction initiatives. However, it is not always easy and requires perseverance as well as leadership. Therefore, the five essentials and cases in this white paper can be used as inspiration and could help real estate professionals, property owners, developers and other interested parties in the construction sector to realise affordable and feasible circular bio-based constructions. By focusing on the essentials, one could prevent valuable resources (including energy) going to waste, today and in the future

Whitepaper: Circulaire en biobased ambities in bouwprojecten; een integrale aanpak van het aanbestedingsproces

Dit whitepaper is geschreven voor professionals die direct betrokken zijn bij het inkopen of aanbesteden van nieuwbouwprojecten en/of renovaties, gericht aan de vraagzijde, zoals inkopers en beleidsmakers, maar zeker ook opdrachtgevers, vastgoedprojectleiders en facilitair managers. Het is algemeen toepasbaar voor ieder project van enige omvang, ongeacht of de vragende partij een publieke of private partij is én of het gaat om woningbouw, utiliteitsbouw of infrastructurele werken. Ook architecten, aannemers, juristen en bankiers kunnen er baat bij hebben kennis te nemen van alle bevindingen. Zij spelen een belangrijke rol in het circulair biobased bouwen en renoveren

Is mitochondrial dysfunction a common root of noncommunicable chronic diseases?

Mitochondrial damage is implicated as a major contributing factor for a number of noncommunicable chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity, and insulin resistance/type 2 diabetes. Here, we discuss the role of mitochondria in maintaining cellular and whole-organism homeostasis, the mechanisms that promote mitochondrial dysfunction, and the role of this phenomenon in noncommunicable chronic diseases. We also review the state of the art regarding the preclinical evidence associated with the regulation of mitochondrial function and the development of current mitochondria-targeted therapeutics to treat noncommunicable chronic diseases. Finally, we give an integrated vision of how mitochondrial damage is implicated in these metabolic diseases.Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID), Chile FONDECYT 1161156 FONDECYT 1200490 FONDAP 15130011 Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) American Heart Association 19TPA34920001 United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA RO1HD101006 National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia APP1142403 VID, Universidad de Chile ENL 18/19 Australian Research Council DP18010348