Edu_Rss

I'll be watching you
Every breath you take…Every move you make…Every bond you break…Every step you take… Metro May Alter Policy on RecordsFriday, December 3, 2004Washington Post Metro directors are proposing changes to the way they make information available to the public, including tightening the dissemination of data generated by SmarTrip From EDUCAUSE Blogs - on December 13, 2004 at 11:01 p.m..

Morning in Singapore
Let's see. I left Boston on Sunday at 6, and flew from Newark, NJ at 11pm. They served dinner at 12:30 AM (rice and spinach because heaven knows we vegetarians don't like to combine elemental foodstuffs into interesting new creations) and I "slept" from 1:30-7:30AM. For some reason, they didn't serve breakfast until 1:30pm on Monday, then at 5:30pm on Monday we landed here, except that it was 6:30AM on Tuesday. I read the Sunday edition of a Singapore paper on the plane just to see what's up. There was almost no news about Singapore, except for the reality TV... From Joho the Blog on December 13, 2004 at 10:48 p.m..

Were Olympics "Indecent"?
Hollywood Reporter: FCC Requests Tape of Olympics. The Federal Communications Commission has asked for a tape of NBC's broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics after it received at least one indecency complaint. No, it's not April Fools Day yet. This is apparently real. Shudder for our nation, if this kind of idiocy preoccupies people who have serious duties to perform. From Dan Gillmor's eJournal on December 13, 2004 at 10:46 p.m..

Keep an Eye Out For Phishers
A new round of annoying idiocy is probably making its way into your Inbox as I type this. This one comes, supposedly, from PayPal and asks for just two little bits of information--your account name and password. Hey! Sure strange unknown anonymous person claiming to be PayPal! I'll send you my information. If you haven't seen the previous examples of phishing from CitiBank or NationsBank then you're in for a treat. So how do you know if it's a real transaction? First of all, no... From Brain Frieze on December 13, 2004 at 9:56 p.m..

What's up with articles lauding Costco?
First Greg Atkinson (the well-respected Seattle chef) writes in the Seattle Times Pacific Magazine: In our experience, Costco employees are an enthusiastic, hard-working lot who genuinely want me to find what I need when I shop where they work. And generally speaking, I do. I certain From Oren Sreebny's Weblog on December 13, 2004 at 9:02 p.m..

New URL for Combined Edubloggers Links Feed
http://groups.blogdigger.com/groups.jsp?id=697 A few weeks back I posted about a feed I had created using Rollup.org that rolled together the RSS feeds from such Edublogging luminaries as Alan Levine, Brian Lamb and Will Richardson. No sooner did this get started then Rollup.org announces that it is closing its doors (lending some real credibility to EdTechPost on December 13, 2004 at 8:52 p.m..

Measuring the Credit Hour
Sometimes the simplest concepts are the most problematic. Take, for example, the notion of the "credit hour." It seems like a self-evident term: one earns a college "credit" for an "hour" of academic work. But quantifying work is a very complicated affair and one "hour" of work is often a... From PEDABLOGUE on December 13, 2004 at 8:52 p.m..

Corporate E-Learning: Focus on Tasks
Amy Gahran is quickly learning the reality of corporate e-learning: "In my opinion, too much corporate training is basically an information dump rather than skill development." Her solution is to create e-learning that focuses on the task and on new information that an employee would be interested in. I would simplify it even further and focus on the decision-making. For example, providing learners the answers to "The 10 most important things you need to know about this task" From elearningpost on December 13, 2004 at 8:47 p.m..

Designing an Intranet User Survey
"A survey is an excellent tool to keep in touch with the changing needs of the user community, and to help intranet owners gather requirements for improving and advancing an intranet." Here's how to go about designing and effective intranet survey. From elearningpost on December 13, 2004 at 8:47 p.m..

Napier's Chessboard Calculator
Isn't Napier the logarithm guy? Yes indeed. A man of varied talents, he popularized the modern decimal point notation and argued that the Pope of 1593 was the Antichrist. And created one of the first devices to automate binary arithmetic. Using nothing more than a chessboard and some counters, he developed ways to multiply, divide and even find the square roots of binary numbers. From kuro5hin.org on December 13, 2004 at 8:45 p.m..

sIFR 2.0
I added support for sIFR 2.0 to Flashify the blog's date and entry heading. This version solved the problems I encountered when implementing the previous version. Next: tweeking the ActionScript to add dynamic effects to the text. From Open Artifact on December 13, 2004 at 7:58 p.m..

Online Plagiarists Are Easy to Catch
Back on Sept. 14, I explained why it's stupid to post plagiarized content online. Basically, it's incredibly easy to get caught stealing someone else's intellectual property. It's also likely that you'll be publicly humiliated for this transgression, and possibly fined... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 7:55 p.m..

links for 2004-12-13
Future of Advertising - iPod Mini Ad (categories: ads_and_marketing)... From Monkeymagic on December 13, 2004 at 7:54 p.m..

The Deadly Duo - Spam and Viruses - November 2004
Holiday season drives a higher than expected spike in spam volume. From ClickZ Stats on December 13, 2004 at 7:45 p.m..

Parental Involvement
It's been shown over and over that parental involvement in a child's education can drastically change its outcome. Recently released No Child Left Behind guidelines from the Bush administration have for the first time codified how schools should help create... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

Web Log Analysis: A study of instructor evaluation done online.
Increased enrollments, changing student expectations, and shifting patterns of Internet access and usage continue to generate resource and administrative challenges for colleges and universities. Web Log Analysis: A study of instructor evaluation done online.... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

Grades and Student Motivation
On his weblog, Dennis Jerz responds to James Lang's essay, "Failing to Motivate" in a recent issue of The Chronicle. Lang's article anecdotally addresses the assumption that a low grade can motivate a student to work harder, arguing that "we... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

Student Engagement, Revisited
I caught news of the just-released 2004 National Survey of Student Engagement in a recent article in The Chronicle (which is available online for a limited time). Addressing the degree to which students are "engaged" in their studies, it also... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

Constructing Content
One of the things I like most about my job is that I get to observe a number of non-tenured teachers each year. I'm especially enjoying it this year because I'm not teaching and it gives me a chance to... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

A typology of virtual communities
"Despite the growing popularity of virtual communities, there is no consensus among researchers regarding the appropriate definition or types of virtual communities. In this paper, a virtual community is defined as an aggregation of individuals or business partners who interact... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

The People - Process - Product Continuum in E-learning.
"The process of creating e-learning materials" is described by covering the three P's: People, Process, Product. The E-Learning P3 Model... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

Linking Thinking - Self-directed Learning in the Digital Age
[Learning] is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder in your veins, you may miss your only love and lose your monies... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

Things I Would Like to See Happen Next Year
In the coming year, I hope we can begin looking at new models of learning that will allow us to measure the real value of technology in education. XplanaZine... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

A Learning Theory for the Digital Age
Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 6:55 p.m..

wiki fixi?
Due primarily to winning the Bram Stoker Award this year, a biographical wikipedia entry has been started on my horror writing. I feel I shouldn't tamper with it (since I'm obviously biased), but would some kind wiki-friendly soul reading this message consider editing it to reflect my scholarly personae, too?... From PEDABLOGUE on December 13, 2004 at 6:51 p.m..

Pa rum a pom pom
MaxSpeaks - the best place for clarifying updates about the Republican assault on Social Security:We are seeing the beginning of a drumbeat orchestrated by the Bushists that because your benefits "won't be there," they can't be cut. You can't cut what isn't there, get it? From homoLudens III on December 13, 2004 at 6:46 p.m..

Is a smaller school always a better school?
Districts are seizing on size as the key to reform. Are they mistaking a starting point with a silver bullet? From Christian Science Monitor | Learning on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 p.m..

A student odyssey into a world of immigrants
Across the country, professors are using community involvement to enrich their courses. From Christian Science Monitor | Learning on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 p.m..

Internet Radio, Not Satellite, Is The Greater Threat To Traditional Radio (sub. req.)
Or so the The Wall Street Journal suggests in its latest magazine-like special section on technology. Some 19 million listeners tune in to Internet radio weekly compared to roughly 3.4 million satellite listeners; traditional radio swamps them both with an estimated weekly audience of 277 million.The article suggests the lines "may soon blur." Actually, they've been blurring for quite some time. Hundreds of traditional radio stations are streamed online while Sirius satellite radio provide From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 5:57 p.m..

e-Learning is dead. Long live learning.
The field of learning was co-opted a few years back when software vendors decided that "learning" was the next hot thing for the technology market. Marc Prensky says that it was never e-learning anyway, just e-teaching. I would go one... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 5:56 p.m..

Design Learning that Digital Natives Will Love
Prensky puts a lot of emphasis on understanding what people he calls "digital natives" expect in terms of learning, training and work. The central notion of the presentation is that digital natives want to have fun, they are used to... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 5:56 p.m..

Grading system gets an F
I have heard faculty colleagues lamenting the creeping consumerism that leads students to think that they are buying an A, but I've never seen that consumerist attitude so starkly and blithely displayed as in Slater's essay. I *have* had students... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 13, 2004 at 5:56 p.m..

The Summer After Sony
(Cue more thinking out loud, building on a few conversations I've had with others:) Oral arguments in Grokster will be in March (btw, someone let me know when the actual date is announced - gotta make travel arrangements)  I can't imagine a decision coming down before the end of the term ~ mid-June.  What do we have to look forward to come summer, after the decision is handed down? Either way, things will get messy.  Generally speaking, if Grokster wins, we should expect the return of INDUCE, right?&nbs From A Copyfighter's Musings on December 13, 2004 at 5:48 p.m..

Spreading Like Wildfire
This is a great story. A student is assigned a 'compare and contrast' essay on his exist exam. He compares 'piracy' and 'stealing' music, and concludes that they are different. He is failed on grounds of content. The teacher says he is "splitting hairs". He appeals, posting his essay and the grading sheet to his website. His cause is picked up in a big way by the blogosphere, many (if not all) of whom conclude that an injustice From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Montreal Academics Who Blog
Via Seb, this list of Montreal area academics with blogs or wikis. Every city is probably similar, which gives us some idea of the scale of the academic blogging phenomenon. By Michael Lenczner, YulAcademics, December 10, 2004 [Refer][Research][OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

I-Names Explained
Another effort to create a distributed authentication system, this time based on the appeal of blocking spam. Downside? It'll cost $25 for your name. Via Seb Schmoller. By Various Authors, December, 2004 [Refer][Research][OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Working Laterally: How Innovation Networks Make an Education Epidemic
This article promotes the idea of innovation networks in education. Why innovation networks? "Teachers do it anyway," note the authors, and "most innovation is the activity of networked teams, not individuals." The latter part of the report outlines five conditions required to foster innovation networks: a climate fostering motivation, opportunity, skills and means to innovate; a means of protecting against innovation overload and focus on good practice; a mechanism to transfer innovation laterally through a peer to peer process; the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to cr From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Issues of Interface
Summary paper describing literature on the effects interfaces on three kinds of interaction: interactions with course content, interactions with instructors, and interactions with classmates. The conclusion: interfaces matter. The impact is not so much that interfaces should be studied more (I think we knew that) but that interfaces should be taken into account when evaluating the effectiveness of online learning. Via Online Learning Update. By Karen Swan, Third EDEN Research Workshop, From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Link
http://www.masternewmedia.org/Stephen_Downes_interview_20041210.mp3 By Anonymous, December 13, 2004 12:29 p.m. [Refer][Research][Reflect] From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Can For-Profit Schools Pass an Ethics Test?
Skirmishes along the private education front. In this lead article, private colleges face scrutiny into their recruitiment practise - this after the Apollo Group (University of Phoenix) agreed to pay $9.8 million to settle charges that its recruiting practices violated Title IV of the Higher Education Act, according to this article. In another story, the Colorado Christian University has filed a lawsuit after being denied its application to the state's new college voucher program - it was ruled that it had not sh From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

CanCore en Français: Activities of the French-speaking CanCore Community
Norm Friesen cleans house for his winter holiday. "Bonjour," he writes, "Quebec, like a number of other provinces in Canada, has been developing its own adaptation or application profile of the CanCore guidelines to address its linguistic and other, local needs." This link points to a summary report by Pierre Bernard of that initiative. By Pierre Bernard, November, 2004 [Refer][Research][OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Open Affordances Panel
Some great coversation during the Open Affordances Panel on Friday with Ross Mayfield, Ziauddin Sardar and myself, hosted by Ulises Mejias. Here's an excerpt: "I think the most profound impact of the internet is going to be on Islam. Up to now, the tools for education and the tools for interpretation have been in the hands of a select group of scholars. And these scholars specify certain criteria that have to be fulfilled before you qualify to interpret the sacred text. Now what is happening is that with the internet, an individual can empower himself or herself very quickly and argue and From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Learning Objects, Metadata, Blogs And RSS: The Future Of Online Education According To Stephen Downes
Robin Good and I had a nice chat on Friday; he had the audio recorder running and links to the interview (the audio is also available on my site in MP3 format. Just to be clear, because a couple of people have raised this: I did not say I would never link to Robin Good again (my goodness), I asserted merely that I would not link to posts sponsored by Marqui. Quite a difference! By Robin Good, Robin Good, December 10, 2004 [Refer] From OLDaily on December 13, 2004 at 5:45 p.m..

Apple's Student Blog
Apple has started a community blog site  that hosts the thethoughts and comments of students.   I haven't found anything especially compelling about it  yet, but the model is interesting and I thought that it might be worth passing along.    http://education.apple.com/students/blog/ From EDUCAUSE Blogs - on December 13, 2004 at 5:02 p.m..

OhMyNews Interviews Dan Gillmor
Korean open source news innovators OhMyNews interview Dan Gillmor about his latest leap. Obviously I don't have the name recognition (or savings account) of Gillmor, but I'm sure inspired and comforted knowing I'm not alone:Dan Gillmor's announcement that he will leave the San Jose Mercury News next month in o From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:57 p.m..

New blog popularity tracker "LinkRank" launches
PubSub is launching a new tool called LinkRank that tracks the popularity of blogs based on the strength, persistence, and vitality of links appearing in those blogs. Steve Rubel from PubSub says: Here's how this works. Here's the chart for BoingBoing (link), which right now is the leading blog among all of the sites that PubSub tracks. You can view the Top 100 list here (unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

Patent Vulture Firms Circle Broken Patent System
Our own Jason Schultz has a terrific op-ed in Salon today. The gist: when a patent portfolio is more valuable as a weapon for a patent "vulture" firm than necessary protection for a live company, it's (yet another) signal that the patent system is seriously broken: Many have compared these new patent licensing firms to terrorists, and in some ways, the analogy is apt. When the Soviet Union collapsed, one of the biggest worries was that rogue military personnel might sell off one or more of From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

How and Why People use cell phone cameras
6-part taxonomy of mobile picture taking uses Abstract: This paper presents an in-depth study into how people use their camera phones. Using a combined method of interviews and grounded discussions around a sample of actual photos, the study examined people's intentions at the time of capture and subsequent patterns of use. The result is a 6-part taxonomy describing the way images are used both for sharing and personal use, and for affective and functional use. The implications of these findings for future products and services are discussed. Notes: Rowanne Fleck, Universit From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

What is Media Ecology?
Media ecology looks into the matter of how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value; and how our interaction with media facilitates or impedes our chances of survival. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

The Podcast Notebook
When someone asked me to define podcasting (out of frustration for the existing definitions, I came up with the following two paragraphs: What's a podcast? Podcast is a term used to describe an audio or video program which can be automatically downloaded to anyone who subscribes to it. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

Announcing genesis
genesis is open-source software (LGPL) and its main objective is to allow you to build powerful, scalable applications in a simple, productive and testable way. Although its long term goals are much more ambitious, right now it focuses on two main areas: UI programming: your form is just an annotated POJO and... that is it; no further requirements. Annotations will allow you to automatically populate comboboxes and tables, to enable/disable widgets, make them visible or not, clear fields based on conditions etc., in a declarative way. Programming a complex UI become From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

Hitachi Color ePaper by 2006?
SorobanGeeks has a picture of a new prototype electronic paper from Hitachi, which according to a story on the subscription-required Nikkei Net, is just 3 millimeters thick. It also appears to be in color, presuming that this picture is an actual device and not just a mockup. Hitachi plans to release a product using the ePa From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

Defining Citizen Journalism
Sheldon Ramption from the PR critics at the Center for Media and Democracy has made some edits to the citizen journalism article on  Wikipedia and is welcoming others to add their input. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

MobileJourneys Launched
The Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) has launched a program to promote the creation of innovative mobile content, condemning a lot of current mobile content as “pedestrian". Work created through this program will be showcased online at www.mobilejourneys.com and through a WAP site specifically designed for the Mobile Journeys program. There are also plans for real world exhibitions later 2005. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

The Open Source Movement Aims for Hollywood
Brian Flemming has two rules for your film. One: you can t spend any money making it. Two: you have to let everybody copy and make new things from it. Else, you have no part in his experiment. Or the future of film. Flemming is the filmmaker and mad scientist creator of Free Cinema, a film activism experiment inspired by the free culture and unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

Netflix adds social networking
Tim Finin points to interesting news from Online DVD rental leader Netflix, which is looking for ways to keep ahead of its competators.In its latest move to fend off competitive threats, Netflix will let subscribers invite friends to peek at DVDs they've watched and read their opinions of the movies. If the invitation is accepted, the sender automatically gets reciprocal rights to read the friend's lists and reviews.Netfli From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

New Wearable Armyware
Military forces are increasingly relying on wearable computers and other gadgetries designed by commercial companies, only slightly more ruggedized because of mission critical requirements. In this long article, Military &amp Aerospace Electronics gives various examples of how these wearable technologies are networking soldiers. For instance, the military version of unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

It's the form, not the content
Great quote from a Miami Herald article about newspapers and the 21st century: Now many in the industry say they've come to realize it's not the content that's the problem, it's the form of the newspaper itself. How true, and it applies to local television news as well. The Herald editor notes that the newspaper of tomorrow will be delivered via new "gizmos," and I have to concur. The only problem, however, is this. Do/will media executives understand and act u From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 4:56 p.m..

on simplicity
[editorial note: this post is likely to take a somewhat philosophical tone, so if that doesn't float your boat, see you next post] There is too much there there. Like so many other 'meaningful' discoveries in my life, this seems so patently obvious that taking the time to write it down seems ridiculous, let alone making it into a Walden-esque weblog soliloquy, but here I am attempting to do exactly that... I have this personal little theory about noise. When it comes to things in my life that vie for my attention, there are low frequency activities and high fr From Stand Up Eight on December 13, 2004 at 3:51 p.m..

OhMyNews Quizzes Gillmor
As noted here last week, San Jose Mercury News technology columnist/blogger Dan Gillmor is leaving his high-profile position to start a citizen-journalism initiative. South Korea's OhMyNews.com, the most successful citizen-journalism venture on the planet, interviewed Gillmor about his plans and his thoughts on what's sometimes c From Poynter E-Media Tidbits on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 p.m..

Newspapers Have Gotten the RSS Message
All the buzz of the last couple years about RSS (a.k.a., webfeeds) has had an effect, it seems. The Media Drop has compiled a list of RSS feeds by newspapers, and the list is long. It links to the RSS listings pages of each newspaper's website. Alas, this is only a list of U.S. newspapers -- but still is a useful resource. If your newspaper is not on the Media Drop list, Poynter E-Media Tidbits on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 p.m..

Ready for Take-off?
Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz does a favor for former Post reporter and Washingtonpost.com co-founder Mark Potts with this article on Potts' fledgling citizen-journalism venture, Backfence.com.The hype has begun. We've seen a wave of coverage of citizen-journalism initiatives in the U.S. (including from me), but most of the players are still in the "vaporware" stage, including Backfence. We'll have to wait till next year to see if these new ventures c From Poynter E-Media Tidbits on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 p.m..

Edublog Awards: results
Edublog Awards voting is finished:Well, what can I say, a great bunch of people sharing a great bunch of blogs, thanks to all who came along & voted! Basically, congratulations to everyone who was nominated. As Ive gone on about ad infinitum the idea of how results m From Mathemagenic on December 13, 2004 at 1:52 p.m..

BlogWalk 6.0 - Social software in corporate settings - Chicago
After blogging on the move in Umea, Sweden BlogWalk travels across the ocean!  BlogWalk 6.0 When: 21 or 22 January Where: Chicago (to be more specific: most likely Evanston which is near by) Focus: Social software in corporate settings Local host: Jack Vinson More: Mathemagenic on December 13, 2004 at 1:52 p.m..

You Can Tivo It, But Media Can't
According to Drudge, digital video recorder leader TiVo is sending news organizations cease-and-desist letters, asking them not to use the word "Tivo" as a verb. Obviously, it cannot keep users from using it, and I doubt the company would want to even if it could. The factor at play here is the trademark-law provision that says that if a company doesn't defend a trademark sliding into use as a verb, it loses rights to it all toge From Poynter E-Media Tidbits on December 13, 2004 at 12:56 p.m..

Sesión sobre Buscadores
Enlaces para la sesión sobre Búsqueda de información en la Red: Recursos: Portal de Buscadores Noticias sobre buscadores: Métodos de Busca y Google.dirson... From eCuaderno v.2.0 on December 13, 2004 at 12:53 p.m..

Libraries Without Walls 6: Evaluating the Distributed Delivery of Library Services: An international ...
Libraries Without Walls 6: Evaluating the Distributed Delivery of Library Services: An international conference organised by CERLIM, The Centre for Research in Library and Information Management - 16-20 September 2005 - Aegean Island of Lesvos, Greece From Peter Scott's Library Blog on December 13, 2004 at 12:49 p.m..

The Glasgow Digital Library has just produced a series of freely available e-books relating to Glasg ...
The Glasgow Digital Library has just produced a series of freely available e-books relating to Glasgow and Scotland. These books have been digitised and converted to web format at the Centre for Digital Library Research from a variety of special collections. Research is continuing into e-book development and indexing, and is partly funded by the University of Strathclyde Research and Development Fund From Peter Scott's Library Blog on December 13, 2004 at 12:49 p.m..

Hey Phentermine Pusher: You Left Your Roach Prints in Our Spam Honey Pot
Spammers can hid, but they are not invisible. On Dec 10, I invited readers of this blog to send us some Trackbacks to MLX Packages... while I am eager to see this technology used, this was actually a bit of bait. Our regular MLX spammer bit the bait completely. Within a few days, they triggered 1200 identical Trackback insertions of the same URL. I allowed them to think their tactic worked, but this was all a ruse to get them to stick their spam roach feet in the honey pot, where they left some i From cogdogblog on December 13, 2004 at 12:48 p.m..

Oracle Buying PeopleSoft...Finally
AP: Oracle, PeopleSoft to merge in $10.3B deal. The agreement, announced Monday, caps a rancorous Silicon Valley feud marked by churlish exchanges between the companies' management teams and colorful courtroom battles. There's something anticlimatic about all this. It was a given, once the U.S. antitrust lawsuit against the deal failed, that a buyout would happen unless a white knight showed up to buy PeopleSoft. Let's be clear on at least one point. This deal is not li From Dan Gillmor's eJournal on December 13, 2004 at 12:46 p.m..

LinkRanks: midiendo la blogosfera
Otra innovación de PubSub: LinkRanks clasifica weblogs en función de enlaces de entrada. LinkRank de eCuaderno (hoy)= 6.667. Vía: Microsiervos.... From eCuaderno v.2.0 on December 13, 2004 at 11:51 a.m..

The present and future value of Python
The universal database is just one example of the kind of next-generation platform service that will be used primarily through managed interfaces. As operating systems consolidate around managed interfaces -- to data, to middleware, to graphics -- they're going to tend to prefer the Java and .NET and Mono VMs over the Perl, Python, or PHP VMs. But the agility of the dynamic languages, and the collaborative energy of their open-source communities, will matter more than ever. Injecting these qualities into the mainstream VMs is something I've a From Jon's Radio on December 13, 2004 at 11:45 a.m..

A sad breakup
I hadn't realized this, but apparently some time ago, Ken and Barbie -- one of the world's most popular couples -- broke up! It seems Barbie has a new boyfriend now, a fellow named Blaine. Here's a photo of the love birds released by their agent Mattel in 2003. Apparently friends and fans are not happy about the end of the nearly 50 year union between Barbie and Ken and have been posting angrily about it over at Amazon, as you can see in the customer reviews at Amazon for Barbie's New Boyfriend Blaine with Boogie Board, Surfer Gear & Exclusive 'Cali-Zine' Magazine From megnut on December 13, 2004 at 10:45 a.m..

OCDE proposal accepted
I was just informed that my presentation proposal "Welcome to the Read/Write Web" was accepted for the OCDE conference in March. Preliminary research: a9 search Will Robinson first pointed me to the term; to me, it better describes what is done with weblogs and wikis that using those proper names. He and ... From Open Artifact on December 13, 2004 at 9:57 a.m..

EPIC 2014: una parábola sobre el futuro de la información en la Red
Cuando preparaba mi intervención para las conferencias de Santiago y Estepona, encontré la película en flash EPIC 2014 (8 mins) de Robin Sloan, a quien le ofrecí un mirror en España para faciltar su descarga. Un supuesto Museum of Media... From eCuaderno v.2.0 on December 13, 2004 at 9:51 a.m..

New GNOME version is available for Linux users - John Blau, IDG News Service
A new version of GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) desktop interfaces is now available for download. The new software, GNOME 2.8.2 Desktop and Developer Platform, includes several improvements over the earlier 2.6 version, according to the From Techno-News Blog on December 13, 2004 at 8:50 a.m..

Firefox surpasses 10 million download mark - Steven Musil, CNET News
Firefox, the open-source challenger to market heavyweight Internet Explorer, has surpassed 10 million downloads in a little more than a month since the browser was released in November. The free Web browser from the Mozilla Foundation surpassed 10 mi From Techno-News Blog on December 13, 2004 at 8:50 a.m..

Global DSL Soars 40 Percent in First Three Quarters 2004 - Rob McGann, Clickz
The total number of global DSL subscribers grew 39 percent to 85.3 million in the first three quarters of 2004. The figure reflects an additional 24 million subscribers worldwide, according to the latest data from broadband research group Point Topic. From Techno-News Blog on December 13, 2004 at 8:50 a.m..

Firm's push for students draws critics -Rob Kaiser, Chicago Tribune
Among a flurry of investigations into for-profit education firms, several are focusing on a public company based in the Chicago suburbs where so-called "admissions advisers" use the same high-pressure tactics employed by telemarketers. At offices o From Online Learning Update on December 13, 2004 at 8:49 a.m..

Changing patterns of Internet usage and challenges at colleges and universities - Tena F. McQueen and Robert A. Fleck, Jr., First Monday
Increased enrollments, changing student expectations, and shifting patterns of Internet access and usage continue to generate resource and administrative challenges for colleges and universities. Computer center staff and college administrators must b From Online Learning Update on December 13, 2004 at 8:49 a.m..

Issues of Interface - Karen Swan, EURODL
Although online learning no longer entails the kinds of interface barriers it once did, recent research is making very clear that interactions with interfaces significantly affect other interactions in online courses. This paper reviews the current li From Online Learning Update on December 13, 2004 at 8:49 a.m..

RSS Submission Service
Once you have created an RSS feed it is important to submit the feed to the RSS search engines and directories. This can be time consuming. As a convenience we have posted a list of sites that accept submissions at RSS Submission Sites. If you don't have the time or energy and you would like to outsource the submission of RSS feeds check out RSS Submission Service. From RSS Blog on December 13, 2004 at 8:00 a.m..

Las administraciones desconocen el 'e-learning'
Sólo el veintinueve por ciento de las administraciones españolas están conectadas a la formación online. De ellas, el veinte por ciento tiene más de un año de experiencia en la implantación del e-lear... (Sigue) From Titulares eLearning WORKSHOPS on December 13, 2004 at 7:50 a.m..

CV&A Consulting y eLearning WORKSHOPS en Online Educa Berlin 2004
Jorge Vila, Socio Director de Calvet, Vila & Arriaga Consulting (CV&A Consulting) y promotor de eLearning WORKSHOPS estuvo presente como ponente en la pasad... (Sigue) From Titulares eLearning WORKSHOPS on December 13, 2004 at 7:50 a.m..

Unoriginal Sin
Lazy students are not the only ones guilty of plagiarizing. We found four scholars who copied the work of others without giving credit. How many more plagiarists are out there? From Chronicle: free on December 13, 2004 at 7:50 a.m..

Red Thai Vegetable Curry
This week I purchased the ingredients for Red Thai Curry, a fantastic dish I was first introduced to at Bangkok Pavilion in my wonderful home of Kansas City. It has fantastic, varied texture, a medley of rose-tinted colors, and a scent sure to get any curry enthusiast's saliva glands working overtime. After returning from the grocery store with my bag of goodies, I wasted no time in preparing my meal. My shopping list included: 1 bag sticky sushi rice 1 can coconut milk Red Thai curry paste fresh basil leaves fresh anise leaves 1 green bell pepper 1 red onion 1 tomato 1 bag f From kuro5hin.org on December 13, 2004 at 7:45 a.m..

Cursos accesibles, reusables y orientados al cliente
En muchas ocasiones suelo encontrarme con una competencia que crea cursos pensando en la tecnología mas moderna, en las conexiones mas rápidas, en los alumnos más motivados y capacitados. Dan por sent... (Sigue) From Titulares eLearning WORKSHOPS on December 13, 2004 at 6:51 a.m..

En e-learning corporativo, ¿se compra por precio, o por calidad?
En e-learning, como en todo, hay que buscar una buena relación calidad-precio; pero sin dejar de ser conscientes de que si el aprendizaje no es eficaz, no sirve para nada, y además genera rechazo al m... (Sigue) From Titulares eLearning WORKSHOPS on December 13, 2004 at 6:51 a.m..

CV&A Consulting y eLearning WORKSHOPS en Online Educa Berlin 2004
Jorge Vila, Socio Director de Calvet, Vila & Arriaga Consulting (CV&A Consulting) y promotor de eLearning WORKSHOPS estuvo presente como ponente en la pasada edición de Online Educa Berlin 2004 que tu... (Sigue) From Titulares eLearning WORKSHOPS on December 13, 2004 at 6:51 a.m..

Optimistic Outlook
Reversing last year's trend, state support for postsecondary education has crept higher in this fiscal year. From Chronicle: free on December 13, 2004 at 6:50 a.m..

Chemo: Testing Who Will Benefit
A new report says a genetic profiling test already on the market accurately predicts which breast cancer patients will benefit from chemotherapy -- and who won't. It could help 80,000 women a year make better choices about their treatment. From Wired News on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 a.m..

Count Calories on the Go
Gadget-loving dieters will soon have no excuse for giving in to temptation while traveling. The big diet brands like Weight Watchers are coming out with calorie counters and nutritional guides for PDAs and mobile phones. From Wired News on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 a.m..

Playing the Dating Game, DS-Style
Though Sprung offers clever dialogue and a unique premise, the repetitive, simplistic gameplay ends the honeymoon early. Chris Kohler reviews the new game for the Nintendo DS. From Wired News on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 a.m..

More Questions for Florida
An apparent whistleblower is generating buzz by saying a Florida official sought vote-changing software, but cautious observers say there's plenty of room for doubt. By Kim Zetter. From Wired News on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 a.m..

Home-Brew IPod Ad Opens Eyes
An animated ad for Apple's iPod made by a schoolteacher is thrilling buzz marketers. Forget word-of-mouth -- the future of advertising is in professional-looking ads that go viral. By Leander Kahney. From Wired News on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 a.m..

Are We Puppets or Free Agents?
Interpretations of the insanity plea have changed through the ages, but advances in neuroscience promise to redefine free will and personal responsibility, and change the way we think about punishment. By Rowan Hooper. From Wired News on December 13, 2004 at 6:45 a.m..

Java and dynamic languages get-together
Tim Bray (who now works for Sun), reports on an interesting get-together to talk about bringing Java and the dynamic languages (Perl, Python, et al) closer together. Intriguing. Even if Sun didn’t approve of other languages on the Java platform, they’d happen anyhow. I approve, and when I started going around Sun asking, it turned out that everyone I asked did too. So I asked Graham Hamilton, who’s kind of at the centre of the Java universe, if he thought it would be a good idea to bri From Oren Sreebny's Weblog on December 13, 2004 at 6:00 a.m..

Graeme Daniel
... in the winter of 1813 & '14... I attended a mathematical school kept in Boston by the Rev. Francis Xavier Brosius . . . On entering his room, we were struck at the appearance of an ample Black Board suspended on the wall From wwwtools on December 13, 2004 at 5:54 a.m..

Gates Foundation Adding to a School Project
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will spend an additional $30 million to create hybrid high schools in which students spend significant time in college classes. From New York Times: Education on December 13, 2004 at 4:45 a.m..

Children of Hispanic Immigrants Continue to Favor English, Study of Census Finds
English remains the language of choice among the children and grandchildren of Hispanic immigrants, despite continuing waves of migration from Latin America. From New York Times: Education on December 13, 2004 at 4:45 a.m..

Upgrade for Blind Borrowers of Audiobooks
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped has decided to switch to a digital system over the next four years. From New York Times: Education on December 13, 2004 at 4:45 a.m..

The Last Time You Used Algebra Was...
It's sad that the mathematical literacy of many Americans is abysmal. But is it necessary that the average high-schooler spend years nailed to the axes of x and y? From New York Times: Education on December 13, 2004 at 4:45 a.m..

Can For-Profit Schools Pass an Ethics Test?
Profits are up, but recently, a number of for-profit colleges have faced inquiries concerning the way they pursue federal funds. From New York Times: Education on December 13, 2004 at 4:45 a.m..

The Juilliard Effect: Ten Years Later
Four years at the conservatory groomed them for a life in performance. A decade in the real world sent them in very different directions. From New York Times: Education on December 13, 2004 at 4:45 a.m..

128m broadband subscribers worldwide
The global broadband market has grown by 9.3 per cent over the last quarter, with the Middle East-Africa region showing the fastest growth, followed by Europe. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Hutchison 3G UK meets regulatory requirement for 3G coverage
Mobile operator Hutchison 3G UK has reached its required regulatory target, announcing that it has 80 per cent population coverage for video mobile services. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Worldwide VoIP semiconductor market to reach €1.3bn by 2008 – study
The worldwide VoIP semiconductor market is to finally take off dramatically, predicts a report from market advisory firm IDC. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Linux server customer revenue to reach €6.8bn in 2008
The annual growth rate of Linux server unit shipments has been increasing over the past three years from 15 per cent in the second quarter of 2001 to 40 per cent in the second quarter of 2004, according to market advisory firm IDC. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Yahoo to test desktop search in January
Internet company Yahoo is developing its own desktop search tool using technology from desktop search firm X1. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

23m Britons to remain in digital darkness in 2025 – report
Research from BT has revealed a bleak portrait of digital Britain in 2025, with millions of people at the risk of losing access to fundamental services like medical information and education. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

LG opens mobile phone R&D centre in Paris
South Korean mobile handset maker LG Electronics has opened its European R&D centre in Paris to develop multi-media feature phones. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

EU to equip parents with internet safety tools
The EU Telecommunications Council has approved the launch of the Safer Internet Plus programme, a €45m, four-year plan to combat illegal and harmful internet content, in 2005. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Brown Thomas selects BT’s electronic gift card solution
Brown Thomas, an Irish lifestyle store, has introduced British telco BT’s electronic gift card solution, eliminating the need for paper vouchers. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Amazon.co.uk launches DVD rental service
Online retailer Amazon.co.uk has got in on the DVD rental game, and is offering new rental members a ten per cent discount on DVD purchases from the site. From Digital Media Europe - digital media news from across Europe on December 13, 2004 at 3:56 a.m..

Nokia 6630 - Yet another Nokia phone one run short of a grand slam
I want Nokia to succeed (I love my 7610's megapixel camera but the phone is not a grand slam because of its needlessly funky keypad), but why does every phone they produce come up one home run short of a grand slam? Please get it right the next time, Nokia. If Nokia doesn't start consistently getting it right, they will ultimately lose to Sony, Samsung and Microsoft. From Nokia 6630: WTF happened to the RAM? - Russell Beattie Notebook - Home.: QUOTEI can deal with this stu From Roland Tanglao's Weblog on December 13, 2004 at 3:53 a.m..

Getting started with accessibility assessments
Andrew Arch, Sofia Celic, Steve Faulkner and Brian Hardy have written an introductory article on conducting assessibility assessments. To quote: In this poster paper we will highlight the basic techniques that people can apply to identify many of the accessibility... From Column Two on December 13, 2004 at 3:47 a.m..

Podcasting for Beer
Podcasting (covered before in this space) is an interesting new way in which people can organize their personal media spaces, and one advertiser at least has taken a keen interest. Beer company Heineken -- active as a sponsor of many music events -- has launched a podcasting show on www.heinekenmusic.com. The Heineken music events provide a constant stream of interviews, music, and life events.According to Jeroen de Bakker of interactive agency Poynter E-Media Tidbits on December 13, 2004 at 2:55 a.m..

A (Nice, Clean) Blog in Every Home
So I saw the announcement last week that Microsoft is now out with a product (MSN Spaces) to host people's weblogs. What I missed was this priceless post from BoingBoing about what kinds of words are censored if you use the service. (Note: the words aren't censored on that blog.) Thanks to Susan Mernit for the tip. From Poynter E-Media Tidbits on December 13, 2004 at 2:55 a.m..

E-Learning für Mittelstand und öffentliche Verwaltungen
Eigentlich ist in diesem Fall der Untertitel viel aussagekräftiger. Im Rahmen der LERNET HYPHEN Begleitforschung (LERNET HYPHEN netzbasiertes Lernen in Mittelstand und Verwaltungen) ist hier eine bemerkenswerte e-Learning-Dokumentation entstanden, eine Mischung aus Einführung, Überblick und Erfahrungsbericht. Aufgeteilt in einen... From www.weiterbildungsblog.de on December 13, 2004 at 2:51 a.m..

Hey Ann, Just Try It!
On a recent political round table on CNN, Ann Coulter took a swipe at Canadians, saying that we should consider ourselves "lucky that [we] are allowed to exist on the same continent" as the US. Alright, Ann, this isn't the first time that an American has denied our right to exist. It's been going on for most of US history. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that we exist at the USA's continued sufferance. If we're that much trouble, why not do what your implications in those statements suggest. Invade. You're bound to do better than you did before. From kuro5hin.org on December 13, 2004 at 2:45 a.m..

Integrating Security Into The Corporate Culture
Integrating security into a corporation can be challenging, especially when it comes to changing the culture. This paper looks at a positive approach. From Infosec Writers Latest Security Papers on December 13, 2004 at 1:56 a.m..

BlogTelevision.net
"BlogTelevision.net mines over three million blogs daily to find videos for your entertainment. We find and highlight the videos that people are talking (read: blogging) about! Nothing is censored and we updated at least six times a day so check back frequently. Please note, because we are a 100% automated website we cannot guarantee all videos are safe for viewing at work." From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

An Introduction to Lighting for DV
The objectives of this material are to give you exposure to: 1. Basic lighting concepts 2. Affordable and/or critical lighting equipment 3. Basic lighting techniques 4. Hard to get information 5. References to more information From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

Announcing Prodigem
Ending my radio silence here. I've been heads down working on Prodigem which is a new content hosting web-service I've created. It relies on bit torrent to share the costs of the distribution of large files and is revolutionary in that you need only to upload your file via the web, click a few buttons and not only will it create a torrent for your content, but it will begin seeding it also. This removes all complexity in the administration of bit torrent from start to finish and also enables you to take advantage of better i From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

Mobdex
Sorry I haven't been posting much. I'll get back into more analysis in a bit. Meanwhile, I wanted to throw this out there: Mobdex. It's a demo service I was showing around during my stint when I was looking for funding. It's not a business, just a concept to show that you can actually serve Real Content to mobile phones. What I did was import 600+ Public Domain eBooks from Project Gutenberg and I'm dynamically reformatting th From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

Weight of Words
The 10 ten words of the year according to Merriam-Webster, based on lookups: with del.icio.us and Flickr tags.  Also links to currently blank wiki pages and Wikipedia articles. 1. blog: del, flickr, wiki, pedia 2 From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

Petition for Cert in Grokster Approved
High Court to Hear File - Sharing Dispute [pdf] The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether two Internet file-sharing services may be held responsible for their customers’ online swapping of copyrighted songs and movies. Justices will review a lower ruling in favor of Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc., which came as a blow to recording companies and movie st From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

Online Plagiarists Are Easy to Catch
Back on Sept. 14, I explained why it's stupid to post plagiarized content online. Basically, it's incredibly easy to get caught stealing someone else's intellectual property. It's also likely that you'll be publicly humiliated for this transgression, and possibly fined or sued. It's just not worth it. Speaking of online plagiarists, I just came across a perfect example... From Contentious Weblog on December 13, 2004 at 1:55 a.m..

Autocomplete feature for Google
Google is experimenting with Suggest, a live, browser-based autocomplete service. It's still in beta, so far.... From MANE IT Network on December 13, 2004 at 12:58 a.m..

ASX out of Windows Media
Per Windows Media SDK documentation at Microsoft, the proprietary ASX3 playlist format is now deprecated in favor of SMIL 2.0. Given that ASX3 is the worst of all the stinkers in the land of playlist formats, this is a good thing. It's not surprising that they would figure this out. The Windows Media group is Microsoft at its best. The company is willing to compete on quality to capture the high ground in internet media, and the robustness of their MP3 player smoke From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:56 a.m..

'Body Area Networks' in 2020?
This is almost certain, according to Ian Pearson, a futurologist working for British Telecom. In fifteen years, local area networks will be replaced by body area networks. As writes BBC News Online, "when technology gets personal," you can expect a "pervasive ambient world" where "chips are everywhere." Not only we'll be surrounded by intelligent objects in the streets, but we'll wear clothes made of nano-engineered smart fabrics or we'll carry implants. Pearson thinks that we'll use wearable technol From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:55 a.m..

P2P television?
Guido Ciburski, a television software engineer, wants to launch Cybersky, a Web service that aims to do for TV what already applies to music and video, which can be downloaded free from the internet. At the end of January, his company, TC Unterhaltungselektronic, will unveil its Cybersky TV web service which will enable broadband users to distribute video programmes free, and exchange them with others. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:55 a.m..

Will voices of dissent still be heard?
LA Times - In an apparent reversal of decades of U.S. practice, recent federal Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations bar American firms from publishing works by dissident writers in countries under sanction unless they first get U.S. government approval. The restriction, condemned by critics as a violation of the 1st Amendment, means that books and other works banned by some totalitarian regimes cannot be published freely in the United States, a country that prides itself as the international beacon of free expression. hat tip laurilink. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:55 a.m..

Bill Moyers retiring
Bill Moyers -- to my mind the greatest light of broadcast journalism over the past two decades -- is retiring. From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:55 a.m..

Cohen On Bit Torrent: 'Just pushing around bits...'
"It seems pretty clear that a lot of people are actively interested in engaging in wanton piracy," says Bram Cohen, the creator of Bit Torrent to the Associated Press. "As far as I'm concerned, they're just pushing around bits, and what bits it is they're pushing around is not really a concern of mine. There's not much I can do about it." From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:55 a.m..

Japan sentences web film pirate
For making a pirated film available on the internet, a businessman has been sentenced to one year in jail in Japan. [BBC News] From unmediated on December 13, 2004 at 12:55 a.m..

About the Information Jungle
The Information Jungle Table of Contents... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 12, 2004 at 11:55 p.m..

Nine Rules for Good Technology
Today's educational technology is like a Rube Goldberg contraption: technology-enabled classrooms are a mish-mash of computers with associated wires, video displays, modems, CD-ROM libraries, tapes, and more. To use these tools effectively, teachers must slog through dense operating manuals and... From Teaching and Developing Online. on December 12, 2004 at 11:55 p.m..

Blogging for the alma mater
A student journalist from Syracuse tipped me off to the role blogging is playing on the admissions website at Furman University. There are eight writers introduced there, six living on campus and two enjoying overseas programs. The page is called First Year Journals, but the URL says "diary," so I'm thinking that there is some anxiety over using the word blog. The pieces I've looked at focus on accounts of student life, without links to other sites or some of the other... From Weblogs in Higher Education on December 12, 2004 at 11:52 p.m..

"You don't know me, but...": How did I miss this? (Liz Lawley)
A post by Scoble led me to a post by Will Davies, which in turn led me to Will’s 2003 report for iSociety entitled “You Don’t Know Me, but… Social Capital & Social Software.” After taking a quick look, I... From Corante: Social Software on December 12, 2004 at 11:49 p.m..

Auctioning off unused airport wifi access
I just paid $6.95 for a day of wifi access here in the Newark Airport. Nobody except Tom Hanks uses a full day of airport wifi access, do they? I wish I could sell off my unused hours. Someone want to set up a little airport market for buying and selling unusued capacity?... From Joho the Blog on December 12, 2004 at 11:48 p.m..