Edu_Rss

Graeme Daniel - Climate Change Learning Resources - WWWTools
'I have no doubt that we will be successful in harnessing the sun's energy.... If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago.' - Sir George Porter, quoted in The Observer, August 26, 1973 (via Quotations about the Environment, quotegarden.com). Thus begins this compendium of useful resources on global warming. [Link] [Tags: ] [Comment] From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Tom Haskins - Democratizing elearning - growing changing learning creating
Interesting discussion of democracy in the workplace. I am unconvinced that democracy inevitable leads to aristocracy, as suggested here. "Democratization is part of a natural cycle of governance... Democracies become bureaucracies. Protecting the rights of the citizens then calls for layers of management, mountains of paperwork, countless committees and oodles of budget overruns. The staggering costs, inefficiencies and stagnation provokes a privatization phase. An aristocracy takes control, consolidates power, imposes standards, and adds short-sighted incentives." Privatization isn't "p From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Beth Kanter - Tools for Gathering Data for Blog and Web Page Metrics - Beth's Blog
Is traffic the metric for weblog success? I am not willing to believe it is - for otherwise, I should be aiming for BoingBoing or Instapundit style numbers, which means doing what they do. But I am not interested in doing what they do - I find their interests a bit lightweight for my tastes (and let me be clear - this strictly about tastes, not some sort of pretension). If I had to measure, I would want to track something like 'impact' - ah, but that is a much harder thing to track. You don't get it without readership, to be sure. But what you really want - can I coin a term? - From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Pete Johnston - It's All In The Context - eFoundations
Good discussion about context in the context of learning object metadata (this topic is finally getting some airtime) including a useful list of types of context about half way through. Interesting not: the author writes, "There seemed to be an acceptance that contexts may be intended / projected / designed for." My take would be that while it is true that you can design for context, it is much less true that you can do so successfully. [Link] [Tags: Learning Ob From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Ian Delaney - Blogging Asia - twopointouch
Fascinating. "46% of the online population in Asia have a blog (compared to just 8% of US web users)." [Link] [Tags: Web Logs] [Comment] From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Aaron Swartz - The City with No Heart - Raw Thought
I remember back several years ago when Aaron Swartz, along with some other people, made RSS what it is today. He was 13 years old or something at the time and spoke as eloquently in software as anyone I've read. He is a few years older now and beginning to explore the world, giving us here his impressions of Los Angeles (with a drive-by glimpse of Cory Doctorow and Danah Boyd while he's at it). Best line: "I [Swartz] should become an academic, she [Boyd] says. Shake up the system just like her. But why join the system in the first place?, I say." From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

Michael Robertson - The Biggest Gamble of Your Life (Is College Worth it?) - REEF
From a purely economic point of view, university is becoming a less and less attractive investment, according to this article. "Universities are increasingly like casinos selling hope with no mention of the underlying economic realities... The expensive traditional 4 year liberal arts education approach is now failing the majority from an economic perspective." [Link] [Tags: ] [Comment] From OLDaily on December 7, 2006 at 5:45 p.m..

The brain flows
As long as computers have existed, people have compared them to the human brain. Most of these analogies break down almost immediately. Brains aren’t mechanical; they’re biological. Brains are analog; computers are binary. Brains have emotions; computers don’t. In 1982, Sun Microsystem’s John Gage first said what has become a truism: “The network is the computer.” [...] From Internet Time Blog on December 7, 2006 at 4:45 p.m..

Execs Stay Connected, Tethered to Office
Technology blurs the boundaries between work and home life for many high-level executives. From ClickZ Stats on December 7, 2006 at 3:45 p.m..

Isenberg on Wikipedia on Net neutrality
David Isenberg has an excellent post on the implication (based, alas, on a misuse of something I'd blogged) that because we may not know exactly and precisely how Net neutrality will be applied in every instance, we therefore do not know what Net neutrality is. To use David's implied analogy, we don't know in every instance ahead of time whether a killing was a murder, we're quite clear about what murder means. [Tags: net_neutrality david_isenberg wikipedia ]... From Joho the Blog on December 7, 2006 at 12:48 p.m..

My endless pursuit of me: LeWeb podcast available
Nicole Simon has posted a podcast interview with me. It's one in a series of podcasts in anticipation of the Paris blogging conference I'm going to next week (lucky me!). [Tags: podcasts nicole_simon le_web paris ]... From Joho the Blog on December 7, 2006 at 12:48 p.m..

Bad pirate! No TV for you tonight! Bad!
Edgar Bronfman, head of the fourth largest music company, acknowledged in an interview that his kids have downloaded music without paying. He declined to say how he dealt with them. As a commenter (iburl) puts it: So the concequences for 14 year old Susie Q. Public downloading some stupid song that she could have legally taped off of the radio are that her parents and her a put through a protracted form of legal extortion, resulting in the depletion of their family's life savings and plunged into debt, perhaps permanently effecting the child's future education. The concequences for t From Joho the Blog on December 7, 2006 at 12:48 p.m..

UK copyright proposal fails to be horrible
Glyn at the Open Rights Group blog posts about the Gowers Review's government-commissioned report on what to do about "intellectual property." (ORG's press release on the report is here. And—disclosure—I am an ORG's advisory board, although I've missed every phone call.) Apparently, the report is surprisingly not horrible, and is in some ways, pretty good. It does not recommend extending copyright any further for audio recordings. Yay! Of course, the Brits already give them 50 years of protection, which IMO is way too long—but is far better than the US&apo From Joho the Blog on December 7, 2006 at 12:48 p.m..

Pandora’s Jar Rips Streaming Radio
It was inevitable. In general, the rise of streaming radio led to tools like Stream Ripper. The rise of DRMed online music downloads led to tools like AnalogWhole, not to mention circumvention tools like FairUse4WM. And as Pandora rapidly grew in popularity, someone was going to come up with a tool like this to [...] From A Copyfighter's Musings on December 7, 2006 at 12:47 p.m..

MS Buys WeedShare Patent; Will Zune Users Be Paid to Share?
Answer: probably not immediately, although some think it’s certainly on the way. When WeedShare came out, major labels treated its model — paying ordinary fans for sharing music with other buyers — as a passing fad rather than a sign of things to come. They refused to license it, never giving it the fair shot it [...] From A Copyfighter's Musings on December 7, 2006 at 12:47 p.m..

Web 2.0 Workshops in Philadelphia
(Warning: Shameless self-promotion ahead…) So if you’re in the Philadelphia area during January 29-February 3, you might be interested in a series of Ed Tech Live Workshops that are being organized by Steve Hargadon (who never sleeps.) They feature a 2-day Moodle Workshop, a 2-day Drupal Workshop, and a 2-Day Web 2.0 for Educators Workshop [...] From weblogged News on December 7, 2006 at 12:47 p.m..

Where's Your Sex Video?
Private videos seem to be escaping to the internet in droves. Do we care? In Sex Drive Daily. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

A Visual Love Poem for Nico
A Croatian art student wakes to a note from his girlfriend, compelling him to find her love for him scrawled in street art, and leading Table of Malcontents' John Brownlee to relate the only truly romantic gesture of his life. It involved an imaginary six-foot-tall rabbit. In Table of Malcontents. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Attack of 'Spam 2.0'
Bill Gates was wrong: Junk e-mail is clogging inboxes faster than ever. In Furthermore. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Body of CNET Editor Found
Rescuers locate the body of James Kim, according to reports. In Gear Factor. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Sperm Backup: Good or Evil?
In response to questions from commenters about a male birth-control pill, we launch a mini-investigation into whether sperm buildup is a bad, bad thing. In Bodyhack. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Ricky Gervais Gets His Game On
Out of The Office and into Scarface, the British funnyman talks about video games, short attention spans and his super-popular podcast. Wired News interview by John Gaudiosi. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Making Music With a Long Tube
What happens when a woman sings into a metal shaft that is covered with electronic switches and resistors, and hooked up to an Apple laptop? Some very strange, surprising things. Alexander Gelfand reports from New York. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Wired Test: Digital Cameras
Digital SLRs, ultrazooms and pocket cams: Find the camera that's right for you with our hands-on reviews. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

New James Bond Gadgets a Big Bore
What good is a Bond flick without far-fetched gizmos? Here are some ideas to get the franchise back on the right track. Commentary by Lore Sjöberg. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Console Advice From Penny Arcade
Not sure which next-gen gaming system is right for you? Penny will set you straight. Well, maybe. Download the hi-res version of the comic. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Cell Phones Freed! Poor Suffer?
Your legal columnist wins an exemption to the DMCA for consumers who digitally unlock their cell phones to use with other carriers. But now a wireless giant says the new rule will damage the prepaid cell phone industry, and hurt those who can't afford monthly service. Commentary by Jennifer Granick. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

The Sound of Silence
The emerging science of infrasound may help track -- or even predict -- earthquakes and other disasters. By John Geirland from Wired magazine. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Gallery: Body-Contouring Patients
Gastric-bypass surgery can leave people with pounds of sagging skin. For some, plastic surgery is a solution. See before-and-after photos of success stories. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Trimming XL Skin to Fit XS Body
A gastric bypass can help a patient lose several hundred pounds, but no matter how many crunches they perform, the excess skin remains. Now plastic surgeons are finding new ways to deal with leftover flesh. By Kristen Philipkoski. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Remembering James Kim
A friend and colleague reflects on the deceased CNET editor's bravery, confidence and compassion. By Eliot Van Buskirk. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Get Inside a Hight-Tech Racer
Take an exclusive peek at a modded BMW from the garage of Alexander Roy, who uses the latest gadgets to become a racing ninja. by Michael Spinelli from Wired magazine. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Bush 'Privacy Board' Just a Gag
A White House board empaneled to protect Americans' civil liberties has its first public meeting. Reporters are barred from asking questions, and the panel won't tell the public what it's learned about warrantless domestic spying. With friends like these.... Ryan Singel reports from Washington. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Loves Linux, Runs Windows
Europe is struggling to kick the Windows habit. Eurocrats make a lot of noise about moving to Linux, but the actual migrations are few and far between. Bruce Gain reports from Paris. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Wired Test: Video Cameras
Whether you're archiving your family history on DVD, posting straight to YouTube, or making the next Pi, our camera reviews will point you in the right direction. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Gallery: Robots Whip Up Cocktails
You won't find these mechanical mixologists working the rail at your neighborhood gin joint. But these sometimes-sassy robotic bartenders aren't shy about strutting their stuff at Austria's Roboexotica Festival. Photos by John Borland. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

I, Robot Bartender
Got a powerful thirst? Let El Espanol Borracho, Robomoji or another robotic booze-slinger mix up a crazy cocktail that will blow your mind. John Borland reports from the Roboexotica Festival in Vienna, Austria. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

The Last of a Dying Breed
What is being lost as technology kills off the Renaissance man? Our souls, perhaps? Commentary by Tony Long. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Super Lettuce Turns Sour Sweet
Scientists genetically engineer leafy greens to mass-produce miraculin, a chemical that makes pure lemon juice taste sweet when applied to the tongue. By Aaron Rowe. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

The DIY Mobile Phone Revolution
A few big brains in Palo Alto want to ease the corporate stranglehold on mobile communication. By Robert Strohmeyer from Wired magazine. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

DHS Passenger Scoring Illegal?
A government program that's automatically flagged nearly 5,000 U.S. travelers as "suspected terrorists" appears to defy a Congressional prohibition against computerized risk ranking of ordinary Americans. Ryan Singel reports from Washington. From Wired News on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

New York Tightens Rules on Commercial Colleges
The vote came after a yearlong effort by state education officials to find ways to control such colleges more closely in the face of concerns about poor educational practices. From New York Times: Education on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Regents to Increase Oversight of Commercial Colleges
The New York State Board of Regents adopted new regulations that will increase state oversight of commercial colleges when they change owners or seek to move into New York. From New York Times: Education on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Hawaii Schools’ Racial Enrollment Upheld
Students may be denied admission based on their race without running afoul of a civil rights law, a federal appeals court panel in San Francisco ruled. From New York Times: Education on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Studying Philanthropy, and Doling Out Real Cash
Colgate University offers a class in philanthropy where, at the end of the school year, the students will award $10,000 to nonprofit organizations of their choice. From New York Times: Education on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

After Council Balks, Bronx Schools Project Is Withdrawn
The project was intended as a hallmark of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's effort to improve education in neighborhoods with historically lower-performing schools. From New York Times: Education on December 7, 2006 at 12:45 p.m..

Nigel Paine & the elephant
At Learning 2006, I was fortunate to meet Nigel Paine, who was just coming off a round-the-world tour and picking up a Learning Leadership Award for his work at BBC. We missed one another’s keynote sessions, but something drew us together, for we are both true believers in the power of informal learning. As I’m [...] From Internet Time Blog on December 7, 2006 at 2:45 a.m..

Here comes tomorrow…
What will you remember most about 2006? Publication of Informal Learning Visiting Israel and Newfoundland. Mounting the Graphic Learning Gallery at Learning 2006. What are the biggest challenges for you/us as we head into 2007? Convincing management to trust employees to do what is right. Helping people see that ROI is bunk in a world where intangibles are paramount. Maintaining perspective amid [...] From Internet Time Blog on December 6, 2006 at 11:45 p.m..