Edu_Rss

Online Consumers Spending More Per Visit This Holiday
Dollars spent per visit are growing faster than the number of visitors to online retail stores. From ClickZ Stats on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Phil Becker - The Case for OpenID - ZD Net
I have made the same argument on numerous occasions and still companies and organizations have charged ahead with top-heavy and encumbered identity schemes. But now the winds are beginning to shift. "Some have told us they consider the OpenID community to lack a clear process or structure, to not solve the 'real' problems in identity (yet?), or to be only applicable for low-end problems. They are probably right; however, we think of it as the early days of Internet-scale innovation in action, where these characteristics are desirable, not detrimental... Full decentralization and a ve From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Danah Boyd - Friends, Friendsters, and Top 8: Writing Community into Being on Social Network Sites - First Monday
More from Danah Boyd on MySpace. "In thinking about Friendship practices on social network sites, it is crucial to evaluate them on their own terms, recognizing the role of technology and social navigation rather than simply viewing them as an extension of offline friendship." This shouldn't be a deep insight, but I guess there's no end to people who want simply to transfer properties of real world friendships to online friendsters. [Link] [Tags: Usabi From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Announcement - Google and Teach For America - Google
There have been a few fawning comments about this program, where Google places teachers into a classroom, working with a Google mentor, for two years before employing them. I am rather more sceptical. If Google wants to support education, why doesn't it simply pay more taxes, the way the rest of us do it (the same question could be asked of Bill Gates)? Why does Google focus on American classrooms - in my view it should focus on countries that really need teachers, not countries that merely don't want to pay for them. And what are the dangers of having company-selected teachers and G From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Juliette White - Definitions of informal learning
More on informal learning. Tony Karrer responds to my post from yesterday, which leads me to pen this addendum today. Meanwhile, Juliette White writes in to note that my account is very similar to one she posted last April. "The degree of informality of learning is the degree to which you haven't been told what to do i.e. informal learning by definition can only be influenced by From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

grazr - The Next Big Thing - twopointtouch
Tim O'Reilly has found another common term to trademark, labeling the emerging trend toward identity-based content navigation 'Who 2.0' (I still prefer my term, the 'Semantic Social Network). O'Reilly writes: "We are just in the early stages, digital identity doesn't really work yet. But that will, you know, start to coalesce, where all these different sources of identity will start to be resolved and connect to each other. And we'll have a rich identity system y From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Alfred Essa - Blackboard Financials: Why Are Insiders Still Dumping the Stock? - The NOSE
With all the attention being paid to the company as a result of the Blackboard patent, questions are beginning to surface about its long-term viability. Alfred Essa, for example, asks why Blackboard insiders and continuing to dump Blackboard stock. "Even Forbes recently took notice ("five insider selling plays") listing Blackboard as one of the top five companies with significant insider dumping of stocks." Meanwhile, from South Africa, James Kariuki lays it on the line: "like I have said before, online From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Tony Hirst - OU Online Games and Interactives - OUseful Info
As Tony Hirst notes, "In a bid to attract new students, the OU appears to be making use of online games to try and grab the attention of the 'younger' student market." Links to a couple dozen nifty diversions. [Link] [Tags: Games and Gaming] [Comment] From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Leonard Low - Top 10 Freeware Apps for M-Learning - Mobile Learning
The trend in this list seems to be toward multimedia, with things like mobile Flash and video players, video downloaders and audio recorders leading the way. [Link] [Tags: ] [Comment] From OLDaily on December 5, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Wired Test: Mobile Phones
Whether you need a pocket PC, a fashion accessory or a new service, we've got you covered with reviews of the best phone gear out there. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

The Museum of Unnatural History
Classic cartoons like the Road Runner and Bugs Bunny are extinct. No really, take a look at the bones of these once-great specimens of anvil and rocket comedy. By Daniel Dumas from Wired magazine. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Burger King Serves Up Tasty Games
Hungry for broiling-hot hamburger action? Hankering for a few bytes of cheap gaming bliss? Need a whopper of a good time? Have it your way with three BK video games. By Lore Sjöberg. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Pod Living at Its Finest
If you like experimental, space-age architecture you'll love my friend's 225-square-foot Tokyo pod pad. Commentary by Momus. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Video Voice for the Voiceless
Filmmakers using relatively cheap digital technology throw a harsh light on the plight faced by indigenous societies trying to survive the intrusion of a modern world. Jason Silverman reports from New York. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Edifice, Complex
Billowing glass. Rippling titanium. Swooping steel. The engineers and designers at Permasteelisa turn the world's most daring buildings into reality. By Karrie Jacobs from Wired magazine. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Gifts for the Nanogastronome
Any chef worth his weight in sodium alginate needs the proper instruments to create tasty, molecularly balanced meals. Here is our list of holiday gift ideas for the nanogastronomic bon vivant currently building citrus compounds in your kitchen. By Paul Adams. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

New Weapon, Human Tests
Here are several documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act detailing the U.S. military's extensive human tests of its Active Denial System -- a nonlethal weapon that uses millimeter wave radiation to induce instant, searing pain that forces people to flee instantly. By David Hambling. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon
A new radiation weapon that produces the "Goodbye effect" -- making victims run like crazy -- has been certified for use in Iraq. It feels like the skin is being ripped from your face, but the military says it's perfectly safe. A special "Freedom of Information" report by David Hambling. From Wired News on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

California: Protest by College Newspapers
College newspapers nationwide planned to publish identical editorials denouncing the University of Southern Californias decision to bar the editor of the student-run paper from a second term. From New York Times: Education on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Court Reviews Race as Factor in School Plans
There seemed little prospect that plans to maintain racial integration at two urban school systems would survive the Supreme Courts scrutiny. From New York Times: Education on December 5, 2006 at 9:45 a.m..

Sony Hints at IPod/Zune Approach
The electronics company head suggests that we may soon see an offering that's as tightly integrated with an online music store as iPod is with iTunes and Zune is with Zune Marketplace. In Listening Post. From Wired News on December 4, 2006 at 11:45 p.m..

GVTV Quickies Bring Sex-Ed Home
Sex-positive institution Good Vibrations takes its blend of irreverence and sex ed to the web with a new video blog. In Sex Drive Daily. From Wired News on December 4, 2006 at 11:45 p.m..

My Hybrid Saved Me Cash
A Honda Civic Hybrid cost $3,000 less to operate for 3.5 years than a Mazda6 when considering trade-in value and the cost of gasoline. In Autopia. From Wired News on December 4, 2006 at 11:45 p.m..

Ask.com Launches Local Search
The search company debuts AskCity, a local search and mapping tool that lets users find neighborhood hangouts and generate custom maps, then use other web services to make reservations, buy tickets or invite friends to mingle. In Monkey Bites. From Wired News on December 4, 2006 at 11:45 p.m..

Karaoke King of the World
On a cruise ship in the Gulf of Finland, 44 hopefuls from 17 countries compete for the title of world's best cover crooner. By Brian Raftery from Wired magazine. From Wired News on December 4, 2006 at 11:45 p.m..