Michael Misha's List: Computers: Software, Hardware, and Services

• administrators and IT staff, who must meet CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act)
• CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act)
• A knee-jerk tendency to block Web sites first and make teachers give reasons to unblock them
• IT departments have a slightly different perspective on filtering, but that perspective is not to prevent teachers from accessing the content they need. IT departments are primarily concerned about maintaining a stable network environment on three fronts:
  •    Network maintenance, particularly controlling viruses, spyware and malware. Even non-objectionable sites can transmit malware in ways not obvious to even the most responsible users. Updating and running local anti-virus programs causes a crushing overhead when the IT staff is faced with protecting thousands of laptops, computer labs and individual PCs.
  •    Limited bandwidth. When every history teacher needs their 25 students to access YouTube to see a speech by John Kennedy, the bandwidth of a school district quickly hits its limit and stays there, bottle-necking the entire network.
  •    Limited storage. Even legitimate downloads take up bandwidth and storage space. A gig or two for a single student isn’t a problem; multiplied by thousands of students and teachers using 10GB or more, it creates a technical and financial crush.
• Firewalls, the most basic method of filtering Internet traffic, block by IP address only – a heavy-handed approach that means entire ISPs can be blocked with a single action. Many software-based solutions are only slightly better, requiring locally-installed and maintained clients on every computer and laptop in the network, putting a significant strain on IT resources.

3 more annotations...

• Since the beginning, Apple has offered Remote, which has become a very popular app (and the price is right -- it's free). For the two of you who have never tried it, Remote allows the iPhone to access and control, via local Wi-Fi, iTunes content stored on a computer, which is incredibly useful if your computer or AirPort Express station is hooked up to a sound system.
• Another excellent example of computer-to-iPhone interaction is NumberKey Connect ($1.99) from Balmuda, which allows the iPhone to act as a Mac's number pad.
• this computer-specific software is Mac-only as of press time, supporting both Intel- and PPC-based Macs

1 more annotation...

• Your on-demand content will rise to new levels of consumption once you tote up all the ways you can access content: the iPhone shipped with YouTube, but many alternatives now exist, including Truveo Video Search, Joost, and CBS' TV.com (all free).

• Of course, there's always full-on computer control, and for that you can use the free Mocha VNC Lite. As long as there's a wireless network connection -- including 3G signal -- and a properly configured Mac or PC, you can access your computer and control it as if you were in front of it, all from your iPhone.