By Stephen Downes
May 11, 2004
Google Blog
For the last few week,
this page has served as a place-holder with one word
suggesting what was to follow. The Google blog has finally
launched with what I think is the best single response to
complaints about outsourcing to India and elsewhere: "It's
not their fault they have a lot of brilliant computer
scientists who don't care to relocate to the States."
Speaking as another person who does not care to move to the
United States, it's worth observing that one person's
outsourcing is another person's home, family and local
industry. "We're not shipping jobs overseas, we're
accommodating people we want to hire who don't feel like
uprooting their lives, even for Charlie's cooking." Right
on Google. By Evan Williams, Google, May 10, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
The Great Blogger Relaunch
Blogger
has upgraded its software, probably the largest upgrade
since Pyra launched the service. The new interface (I tried
it out this afternoon) will feel familiar to Blogger users,
and some of the new features - comments, syndication using
the Atom format, enhanced templates, email blogging,
personal profiles - will be well received. As major as this
change is, it's still incremental; watch for more to come.
The 'flyby' (link near the top of the page) is an
interesting alternative to the text. More. By Biz Stone, Google / Blogger, May
10, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
What Is Social Capital
There seems
to be this desire on the part of some to reduce every sort
of good to some sort of 'capital' - human capital,
knowledge capital, and now, social capital. Social capital
is, according to one definition, "the degree to which a
community or society collaborates and cooperates (through
such mechanisms as networks, shared trust, norms and
values) to achieve mutual benefits." According to another,
"Over time, social capital builds what may be termed as
social infrastructure." Bleah. Terms like social capital
should be banned. Let's call it what it is: popularity,
connections, relationships, friends. Terms like 'social
capital' blur such distinctions in the process of
commodifying something more subtle, more valuable, than
crass material benefit. By Luigi Canali De Rossi, Robin
Good, May 6, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Is a Degree Still Worth
Having?
Questions are being raised about the
usefulness of a university degree, at least according to a
couple of new studies described in this BBC article
(referred via elearnspace). In particular, the university
degree is no longer the ticket to a better paying job that
it once was, leaving students who take out large student
loans looking at dim financial prospects. That said, the
vast majority of students regarded the experience as
positive, leading one to suspect that for many people
(myself included) the purpose of a university education was
not merely financial. By Mike Baker, BBC News, April 23,
2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Play Games, Be Better
Students?
Short article touting the benefits of
computer games in learning. Nothing new here, but there are
some good quotes, a link to the Education Arcade symposium, and a
reference to Civilization III, my diversion of choice. By
Daniel Terdiman, Wired News, May 11, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Copyright Arrest in Japan
A
Japanese professor who developed a file-sharing program
called Winny was arrested "on suspicion of developing and
offering free downloads" of copyrighted material. Isamu
Kaneko, a 33-year-old assistant professor at the University
of Tokyo, developed Winny in 2002. The software has become
popular because it allows anonymous file sharing. By
Associated Press, Wired News, May 10, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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