By Stephen Downes
December 5, 2003
Brazil Bets on Linux
Cybercafes
It's not your online courses costing
hundreds of dollars that offer hope for Brazil's
unemployed, it's access to cybercafes using open source
software. "More than saving money, which is important
enough, the free system will allow us to create a network
of knowledge in the field," said Americo Bernardes,
director of the National Program for Informatics in
Education (Pro-Info). That's about right. By Denize
Bacoccina, BBC News, December 2, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Pirated Movies Flourish Despite Security
Measures
So where are we headed: metal detectors
and frisking before people enter the movie theatre? The
MPAA has launched a campaign against what it calls video
piracy complete with carefully scripted advertisements
("Alls I want to do is make movies," says the actor playing
a set painter in a carefully scripted plea to protect the
'little guy' from piracy). This campaign is failing
miserably. "Hollywood's all-out war against movie piracy is
turning into a big-budget bomb, with illegal copies of
virtually every new release — and even some films that have
yet to debut in theaters — turning up on the Internet."
Funny thing is - I would still pay my ten dollars to go see
a movie in a theatre even were it available for free on a
DVD. Movie publishers don't understand what it is they're
selling. They're not selling content. They're
selling the Saturday night date, the evening out with other
people, the big screen experience. That's why I pay three
dollars for twenty cents worth of popcorn while I'm there.
Because I'm not buying popcorn, I am buying an experience.
Movie producers must ask, what is the value
proposition? Because if they lose that, they lose
everything, and the piracy won't matter. By Lorenza Muñoz
and Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times via Baltimore Sun,
December 4, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Copywrong: Copyright Laws are Stifling Art,
but the Public Domain Can Save Us
This longish
article is a lucid and well written explanation of the
dangers of excessive copyright regulation. The central
premise, expressed in the first sentence, is that "artists
steal." That is, subsequent work is built on prior culture.
But this historical engine of development is being choked
by copyright, forcing new forms (such as hip hop)
underground, preventing certain work from being made. "Not
only are we in danger of losing our history, we're in
danger of it getting skewed. As certain people control it
for longer and longer periods of time, we learn about it
through one channel. So it's not that different from media
consolidation--whoever controls the information controls
the way it is perceived and viewed and delivered." By Fiona
Morgan, The Independent, December 3, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Thinking XML: Learning Objects
Metadata
Short but comprehensive overview of
learning object metadata, intended mainly for technologists
who are unfamiliar with the educational application of XML.
Good list of resources at the conclusion. By Uche Ogbuji,
IBM developerWorks, December 2, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
In Defense of Textbooks and Their "Imposed
Patterns"
Mostly I disagree with what the author
advances in this article, but it is what we call in the
trade a 'great rant' and well worth reading. The author,
who recently served on Prentice Hall's "Master Teacher
Editorial Board," argues that textbooks are the students'
best hope against poor or indifferent teaching. What I like
about this article is its honesty. There is no doubt that
the publishing gnomes think that they are the bast bastion
of civilization, holding the fort against the great
unwashed. It's a crock, of course. We do not need to depend
on the decisions made by textbook editors. With access to a
world of online resources, we can choose for ourselves. By
John Ludy, Faculty Shack, December, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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