TECHburgher :: Putting some sizzle in the Pittsburgh technology sector.

Friday is pretty much everyone’s favorite day of the week. Especially around here at ye ol’ Techburgher. It’s not the lure of two straight days off. Nope. It’s the perfect time to publish our round up of tech news not found in the usual media outlets. Sink your teeth into these juicy bites:

Panopto Updates Lecture Capture Platform

Knowledge capture company, Panopto, announced the pending release of the next version of its free lecture platform, CourseCast v2.1 and the accompanying Blade Pack of value-added features and services. These are significant additions to the CourseCast lecture capture platform, including the ability to remotely manage recording configurations across the enterprise through a single Web site, a background service that transfers new recordings to the server when the Panopto Recorder is closed, speaker biography/abstract support and enhanced LDAP support.

The Council uses Panopto technology to capture segments of our TechVibe radio show. We had Panopto CEO Brad Winney in the studio this past week. Watch the segment here.

Lincoln-Era White House — A New Interactive Web Experience

The White House Historical Association, in a project created with Argentine Productions and Semiotic Technologies (These guys aren’t Council members yet…), have developed an interactive, web-based environment recreating the Lincoln-era White House. The goal of the game-based exploration experience is to give the player a sense of the social and political atmosphere that surrounded the White House during the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It provides background on the steps leading to Lincoln’s decision to issue the Proclamation, and the varying perspectives of important figures in the nation’s capital in 1863.

There are hidden facts in each area that you visit.  On the front grounds, you can learn about Tad’s goats.  In the Library, you can find out what Lincoln liked to read.  Visit  Lincoln’s White House here.

iSquared Unleashes a New Blog

i-Squared Inc., a Pittsburgh based consultancy specializing in Enterprise Content Management (ECM), will promote the value of ECM on a new Blogsite titled, i-Wise ECM Zone.

“One important aspect of this Blog is to educate both IT and business side personnel on how they can get more business value from their portal deployments,” says, Joyce Query, President of i-Squared. Check out the new blog here. 

Bayer MaterialScience introduces Bayblend® M301 FR polycarbonate

Bayblend® M301 FR polycarbonate/ABS blend – an innovative material for the health care market that meets crucial biocompatibility test requirements – is now commercially available.

Developed by Bayer MaterialScience LLC (BMS), the non-reinforced, flame-retardant resin is a polycarbonate blend formulated for use primarily in the health care market, specifically for surface device applications contacting intact skin. The resin meets Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ISO 10993-5 for cytotoxicity, and ISO 10993-10 for irritation and sensitization testing requirements.

The material’s combination of physical properties, flame retardance and compliance with these three ISO biocompatibility standards provides medical device and equipment manufacturers with an added safety factor and increased confidence. This, in turn, may potentially streamline the approval process so they are able to bring life-saving products to market more quickly, according to Bayer.