Culture Philosophy Pop

Miller says that by using ITIL's best practices, "you get everybody in every department playing by the same rules," which delivers big benefits in many IT areas, such as change management. Miller and other IT managers are eager to get their hands on Version 3 of ITIL, which is due in April and will be the first new release since 2000. A lot in IT has changed since Version 2 became available. Security processes, which users say are lacking in the current ITIL version, will get more attention in the new release. According to Sharon Taylor, ITIL's chief architect, Version 3 will also cover an area that has exploded as a major IT management concern since 2000: outsourcing. Version 3 will also provide guidance on the related issue of knowledge transfer. In a data centre relocation, for example, knowledge transfer means ensuring that new employees or outsourcers know how to run the systems.

What's Current for week of April 23

Campus Recreation's wallyball tournament will begin at 6:45 p.m. at the Mark Twain/Athletics & Fitness Center. A and B divisions will be offered for coed and men's teams. Wallyball is a fast, off-the-wall volleyball game played on a racquetball court with three players per side. Call 5326 or go to http://www.umsl.edu/services/recsport/ for more information.



UMSL to Hold 'Semi-Annual Wax & Wayne Day'

UMSL will hold the inaugural "Semi-Annual Wax & Wayne Day" at 9:30 a.m. at the statue near the Millennium Student Center. The hour-long event will feature the sculpture's first waxing by creator and renowned sculptor Jay Hall Carpenter. Carptenter will give a tutorial on the official way in which a bronze sculpture should be waxed. UMSL faculty and students will assist in the waxing.

Survey tests college knowledge of politics

A recent study done at Tufts University in Massachusetts found college students are more likely to know that Gardner and Strickland are an Ohio senator and governor respectively, than that Malakar and Doolittle are contestants on this season's American Idol.

Last spring Melissa Miller and Shannon Orr of the University's political science department surveyed a random sample of 965 undergraduate students to test student's knowledge on political and government questions. The questions ranged from "Whose responsibility is it to determine if a law is constitutional or not" to "What school does Harry Potter attend." Miller and Orr found that more students answered the political questions correctly than the pop culture questions.

"I am always struck by how tuned in students are to politics," Miller said.

iPod Manuals: Everything From Ripping to Hacking

Three books -- iPod & iTunes for Dummies, iPod Fully Loaded: If You've Got It, You Can iPod It, and iPodPedia -- describes how to get the most from an iPod. Which one a reader should start with depends on experience level, ranging from absolute beginners who've never touched an MP3 player to experienced gadget aficionados.

Microsoft and NAMCO BANDAI create video game history

18 Apr 2007 : Microsoft Corp. and NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. today made video game history by announcing the first-ever Xbox 360™ “Pac-Man" World Championship, presented by Quiznos. From April 25 to May 9, fans of one of the world's most beloved video games of all time will compete on the classic arcade game via Xbox LIVE® Arcade on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, evolving “Pac-Man" gameplay from the local pizza parlors and arcades of the '80s to the Xbox 360 and its online gaming community with more than 6 million members. The top finalists from participating countries around the world will be flown to New York City for the finals on June 5, with the winner being crowned the Xbox 360 “Pac-Man" World Champion by Toru Iwatani, the creator of “Pac-Man."

Since launching in 1980 in Japan and in 1981 around the world, “Pac-Man," its host of ghosts and the famous “wakka wakka wakka" sound have become global pop culture icons.