Intel’s updated cross-platform UI library is built for mobile HTML5 apps and the new App Framework JavaScript library 2.1 is loaded with new features.

The front end GNU Compiler for languages such as C, C++, Objective-C, and Java, has now been upgraded with improvements for devirtualization and bottlenecks fixes.

Marie desJardins, computer science and electrical engineering, has been selected as a participant in the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Fellows Program. desJardins was one of just 31 faculty and administrators chosen from across the United States this year.

The ACE Fellows Program is the premier program for “identifying and preparing the next generation of senior leadership for the nation’s colleges and universities.” More than 300 past ACE fellows have served as chief executive officers of colleges or universities and over 1,300 have served as provosts, vice presidents and deans.

During the year-long program, desJardins will work with the president and senior officials at a host institution, while also completing a project of pressing interest to UMBC. Click here to read more about the ACE Fellows Program and here to see the full list of fellows.

This article walks web developers through the basics of working with the channel messaging APIs in HTML5.

As President Obama begins a week-long visit to Asia, Asian Studies Program Director Constantine Vaporis writes in an Al Jazeera America op-ed that the trip is aimed at reassuring allies in the region that they remain top priorities on his agenda. Vaporis writes adding South Korea and Japan to the itinerary has made the trip even more important as tension between the two countries lingers over the history wars.

“The U.S. administration has made clear that it will not act as mediator between the two sides. Nevertheless, Obama has acted assertively to try to prevent a further erosion of relations between them,” Vaporis writes.

As Obama visits Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia, Vaporis offers suggestions for the president for how he should approach all four visits, but writes it will be important to keep one overarching theme in mind.

“Obama’s four-nation trip sends an important message about the U.S.’s commitment to Asia. Only through cooperation and mutual respect will these countries meet the regional challenges they face from China and North Korea,” he adds.

To read the full column titled “Obama seeks to rebalance ‘pivot to Asia,'” click here.

In his latest column published in Fox News Latino, Public Policy Ph.D. student Justin Vélez-Hagan writes historians may view this as Puerto Rico’s “lost decade” if no changes are made to its economic policies. Vélez-Hagan is executive director of the National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce. He writes Puerto Rico’s economic woes may be rooted in production.

“Many believe that Puerto Rico’s weak economy is partly attributable to a lack of investment in the production of exports, often considered one of the major factors behind the original ‘lost decade,'” Vélez-Hagan writes.

In the article, Vélez-Hagan also contends that even with its economic struggles, it is unlikely Puerto Rico will go through a substantial economic collapse.

“Although it won’t be bailed out by the IMF or World Bank, its economy still has something the rest of the world envies: the financial backstop of the greatest economic powerhouse that ever existed, one that is unlikely to allow a U.S. territory with nearly four million of its citizens to suffer through a Latin American-style economic collapse,” he adds.

To read the full column in Fox News Latino, click here.

On Saturday, April 26, Kimberly Moffitt, an assistant professor of American studies, will participate in a panel at Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre as part of the next Marc Steiner World of the Play discussion. This latest World of the Play discussion is called “Race and Representation: Our Greatest Accomplishment. Our Greatest Shame.” The goal of the event is to examine the impact of racial stereotypes within the entertainment industry and the effect on communities and greater culture.

Kimberly Moffitt will serve on the panel along with Dramaturg and Playwright Jacqueline Lawton and Otis Cortez Ramsey-Zoe, Associate Artistic Director at banished? productions and Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University.

The discussion is scheduled for 5 p.m. For more information on Saturday’s event, click here.

Self-Assessments

What career is best for you?

Are you struggling with picking or major, undecided, or not sure of what you want to do with your major

If you answered yes to these questions, then check out how the Career Services Center can help.

Dependable Strengths is a two-day workshop to help you assess your strengths and identify what you enjoy, what you do well, and events or experiences you are proud of. It motivates you to succeed. By learning more about yourself, you will discover new opportunities. There will be guided group discussions.

Register now for the summer Dependable Strengths Workshop (Friday and Saturday, June 6-7, 2014)                 http://www.careers.umbc.edu/skills/ds.php

Focus 2 is an Internet based self-assessment tool designed to help you explore career options best for you based on you interests, work values, personality, skills, and educational and leisure time preferences. After you take Focus, please schedule an appointment with a career specialist. The specialist will help you clarify your career path and get you headed in the right direction.

http://www.careers.umbc.edu/skills/selfexp.php#focus

Compass Woofound is our newest self-assessment. This is a visual personality assessment in which you select if a picture is you or not you. This assessment provides information about your personality, how you interact with other personalities, career fields best for you, and what majors and classes would be best for you.  

https://umbc.woofound.com/