Shelly Palmer’s Daily Radio Report

Groupon is now offering higher education as one of its daily deals. The National Louis University is offering an introductory course at 60% off tuition for anyone seeking a graduate teaching degree. $950 could buy you the beginning of a career change. In other news, Iran is suspected of hacking a Dutch security firm that supplies security certificates for the CIA and massive technology companies. The Dutch government was so affected that it warned its citizens not to use its websites for the social security agency. The need for governments to have cyber-armies is growing. And finally, if you’re a Dish Network subscriber, you could soon have access to Blockbuster’s streaming movie library. The new service is expected next month and would be Blockbuster’s first foray into subscription-based streaming video. The deal would include Starz programming, giving it an edge over Netflix.

Schools around the country are spending billions of dollars trying to get more technology in the classroom, but it may not be helping students’ test scores. It’s argued that connected devices and better computers help students learn at their own pace, while standardized testing may be flawed itself. Technology is meant to aid, not replace teaching. In other news, Facebook is developing a translation tool that could help its over 750 million users connect no matter what language they speak. If a post is in a different language than a users’ default, Facebook will translate the text in real-time. And finally, Amazon.com is finally testing a redesign of its website that will make it easier to navigate on a tablet computer. Amazon is also making a big push towards digital content, with the new layout emphasizing purchases of digital goods.

Netflix’s price hikes have officially rolled out, doubling the cost of some plans. Combined streaming and single DVD-rental plans now cost about $16, but if you mostly use instant watch you can enjoy the $7.99 option. Check your account and make sure you know what you’re paying for. In other news, Microsoft is finally departing from Window’s “Start” bar interface with the tablet-compatible Windows 8. The newest iteration is due out fall of next year and boasts lots of bright colored boxes whooshing around the screen. If you can’t stand the interface, you’ll have the option to use the traditional one. And finally, about 251,000 encrypted cables being shared between WikiLeaks and the Guardian newspaper are now all over the Internet. The documents could potentially put U.S. informants at risk, as numerous names and confidential information can be found within.

9/11 Memorial

Shelly Palmer chats with Sean Anderson, CTO of the 9/11 Memorial about the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center. Him and his team have worked to integrate technology into amazing ways to remember and honor the thousands of people lost during one of America’s worst tragedies.

The U.S. Justice Department is suing to block the potential merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. It’s argued that the $39 billion merger would be a violation of antitrust policy by limiting wireless competition. AT&T still wants to pursue the deal and will have to spend an eternity battling the government in court. In other news, Google launched an offline version of Gmail that lets users organize their mail and draft messages that will send once you go online. Offline versions of Google Docs and Calendar will roll out soon, with offline document editing in the works for a future release. And finally, Facebook is working on a platform that will make it easier to share your music, movie and videogame activity with friends. Basically, this just means that your news feed will become cluttered with more stuff your friends are doing

Outside firms provided Libya the technology necessary to spy on its citizens. The French firm Bull SA built Libya a monitoring headquarters that allowed Gadhafi’s regime to track phone calls, instant messages and email. Technology can be used for good or evil and putting it in the hands of oppressive regimes is nothing new. In other news, the creation of a GPS-equipped collar could change the way we study wildlife. Scientists hope the tech will better track how animals organize and live in the while, and create digital diaries of its day. The smart collar could help protect areas terrorized by mountain lions, wolves and coyotes. And finally, Verizon announced that many customers would be eligible for an early phone upgrade. Select customers who would have been eligible between September and May of next year can upgrade to a newer subsidized phone.

The US Appeals Court for the 1^st Circuit ruled that video recording police officers and public officials is protected by the first amendment. Provided your recording takes place while they are performing their public duties, public video is now an established right. In other news, Amazon has been working on its own tablet computer and Forrester Research is making bold claims of its future success. Published in Forbes, the group believes Amazon could sell 3-5 million tablets by the end of the fourth quarter. As seen with the HP TouchPad’s recent popularity, a low price tag could be the key to finally competing with Apple’s iPad. And finally, Walmart recently launched its platform for renting online movies and its proven to be its largest online success to date. Walmart’s Vudu service has already eclipsed Sony and Amazon’s streaming video efforts.

A survey by the American Red Cross reveals that people are turning to social media for disaster response. Victims are using social media to report disasters, communicate with loved ones and ask for help. 39% of online users expect first-responders to arrive in under an our of posting for help online. In other news, General Motors has teamed up with the electronics manufacturer LG to co-develop electric vehicles. LG isn’t a stranger to the automotive world, as it already develops batteries and inverters for electric vehicles. Auto companies are hoping co-development will help bring cheaper electric cars to the market more quickly. And finally, according to Bloomberg, BlackBerrys being launched in early 2012 will have the capability to run Android applications. RIM is desperately trying to regain sales and the addition of over 250,000 apps might help save fleeing consumers.

Time Warner Cable recently announced that it would begin subsidizing the Slingbox set-top box for Wideband Internet service subscribers. Slingbox lets you watch your cable television service over the Internet on any other TV its hooked up to. Most cable programmers argue that use should be restricted to one household. In other news, Google recently agreed to pay out $500 million dollars in a lawsuit that alleges the company knowingly accepted illegal pharmaceutical ads. The AdWords listings were for Canadian online pharmacies that unlawfully imported drugs to U.S. consumers. The settlement is the largest ever made by a U.S. company. And finally, Reuters recently reported that Apple plans on releasing a cheaper version of the iPhone 4 aimed at emerging mobile markets. The phone will have an 8-gigabyte flash drive and serves to compete against Nokia’s international handset dominance.

Facebook will soon update its privacy settings to allow better user control over what you share. The update will let you customize exactly who gets to see every piece of your information from religion to photos. The update is drastically needed after years of complaints for users and the government. In other news, adult filmmakers have started a massive legal campaign, suing over 200,000 people who have illegally downloaded pornographic movies. This dwarfs legal efforts by the music industry whose largest lawsuit sought damages from 23,000 people. If you’ve been served a letter, your ISP knows what you’re using its connection for. And finally, China officially passed the United States as the world’s largest personal computer market. The diminishing U.S. manufacturers and dominance of China’s own Lenovo is shifting the consumer market. China has become the Holy Grail for tech manufacturers.