OLDaily By Stephen Downes May 15, 2002 New Computer Graphics Create Extreme Reality I talked about a ubiquitous information and learning environment today and from EDUCAUSE Review comes this link to an item that illustrates my point exactly. The idea is that you can see what you are working on through the head piece, while the computer adds information. For example, a construction worker might wear the device working at a construction site to "see" locations of pipes and wiring that are behind walls or underground. By Kimberly Hill, NewsFactor Network, May 14, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] It's 1994 Power Point slides from my keynote at today's Distance Learning Network conference in Hull, Quebec. The slides are very sketchy but there's a treat for you at the end - a *draft* diagram of the distributed learning object repository network i have been discussing in recent weeks. Thanks to Rod Savoie and his amazing skills in information representation. By Stephen Downes, Distance Learning Network, May 15, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] The Rubicon is behind us! The IMS Retools. Brief overview article outlining some of the major organizational changes and new emphasis of the IMS project as a result of its recent meetings in Boston. The changes are major and I expect some more detailed reports will be released in the future (perhaps even by IMS!) MS Word Document. By Norm Friesen, May 14, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] How Copyright Became Controversial A cogent and frustratingly fair treatment of the issues involved in the current copyright debate, this article neatly summarizes some of the major recent cases involving copyright law and presents the positions of four major factions in the debate: "1) supporters of government-mandated DRM technologies, 2) supporters of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention language, 3) those who emphasize the importance of copyright’s “fair use” doctrine and criticize the DMCA for undermining it, 4) critics of the current state of copyright law, including all uses of the DMCA, and highlight its clash with free speech rights." By Drew Clark, Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy, April 19, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] EU policies for the Knowledge Society Though just updated, this document is a little bit dated (2001). Doesn't matter - European policy has been following the path described in this document to the letter, and this extensively annotated article is one of the best overviews of the European approach to information and communications technology around. Covers the coordinated approach to copyright, privacy, access, government services and interactivity. By Bernard Smith, NordInfo, April, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Content Management for Information Professionals Slide presentations and a summary are now online from the Content Management for Information Professionals conference held last April. Normally I highlight a few papers, but in this case, the value is in the aggregate: no individual paper defines the issues in a way I would like but for people involved in content management the set of papers taken as a whole constitutes a useful resource. New jargon of the day: "golf-course-ware" - high priced and glossy system sold by power salespeople to top executives while they play golf. If you are in an executive position - please, allow your staff to make the software decisions. Your job will be safer. By Various Authors, South Bank University, April 11, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] The Creative Commons Launching tomorrow (or today, if you are reading this Thursday morning), is the Creative Commons, Lawrence Lessig's initiative that will draft and print out custom licenses for authors, musicians, and other content creators who want to provide free online access to their works and yet retain enforceable rights e.g. to block the publication of mangled, misattributed, or commercial versions. By Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons, May 15, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter? Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list at http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/subscribe.cgi [ About This NewsLetter] [ OLDaily Archives] [ Send me your comments]