Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
September 6, 2007

Luciano Pavarotti

The best that can be said of someone, I think, is that not only was he a great talent, but that he was a good man.

, September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Wikipedia] [Comment]

Rogers
As I write today I am in the unusual situation of having access to my website to work but not from home - my server, which is actually based Houston, can be accessed via CA*Net, through which I access the net here, but not through Rogers Internet. So the site is up and working but I can't get to it when I'm at home. Weird. So I'm compiling traceroutes and staying late at the office and... listening to opera. Some People, Website September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment]

And Then There Were Three, Err, Four, RSS Mashup Tools
It's getting really simple to mix and match RSS feeds. As it should. Now this in when the goodness is really going to start to happen. "DAMIA can accept XML as well as RSS (and spreadsheet) inputs, as well as emitting XML, ATOM and RSS, which could be interesting..." Tony Hirst, OUseful Info September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: RSS, XML, Metadata] [Comment]

ISO Rejects Microsoft's Office Doc Format
Not that this is the end of it. After all, they tacked software patents into agricultural bills in Europe. So we can expect to see continued attempts to have Microsoft's Office formal as an ISO standard. The standards process, after all, is biased toward adoption. You can't just kill a proposal - you have to 'vote no with comments', which means that, once the comments are 'addressed', there is a very strong impelling force to vote 'yes'. And the Microsoft proposals are thus slated to come back next year. Michael Calore, Monkey Bites September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Patents, Microsoft, Copyrights, European Union, Patents] [Comment]

It's Not About Web 2.0 It's About Learning!
More reaction to the whole Gary Stager thing. Jeff Utecht - one of Stager's targets - writes, "nothing has ever been accomplished by looking backwards. We need to focus on teaching teachers these new literacy skills so they can in turn teach students." Tom Hoffman, meanwhile, notices that most of the criticisms are coming from outside the United States. Dave Warlick implies that James farmer (and maybe some others) cross a line in his criticism. Dean Shareski has a nice take: "So when Stager asks, 'Why wouldn't we at least try to make schools better?' The answer - it's not a priority." Stager, meanwhile, replies on my website, "It is physically impossible to respond to every one of your concerns, but I'd be happy to try if I knew what they were." Well, I wrote them all out a couple of days ago and posted the link on his website. Not sure what else I can do - mime? Jeff Utecht, The Thinking Stick September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: United States, Visualization, Web 2.0] [Comment]

Where Do You Do Research?
We have seen a 'plateau' in published research, as noted elsewhere, but as this author argues, it's not because of a decline in inputs. So where is the 'missing' research going? Here's a clue - you're looking at it. Rich Hoeg, eContent September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Books, Research] [Comment]

10 Future Web Trends
I am inclined to agree with George Siemens when he says that these are not 'future' trends but technologies that are well under way and to some degree here today. Semantic web, artificial intelligence, virtual worlds... these, and related technologies, fill the pages of this newsletter every day. I've written my own version but with a foot much more clearly in the future. Richard MacManus, Read / Write Web September 6, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Connectivism, Newsletters] [Comment]

 

This newsletter is sent only at the request of subscribers. If you would like to unsubscribe, Click here.

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. Click here to subscribe.