by Stephen Downes
October 17, 2007
Truth in Advertising
I've seen this about three times today, including once in my own comments and now here as well, an argument of the form "the theory that X may be wrong but it's still useful." That's like saying "this map may have the roads all wrong but we can still follow it" or "this restaurant is dangerously unsanitary but we can still eat at it." People should stop arguing like this. (Oh, and another theme that has come up several times recently (here, for example, is that of consultants giving presentations containing questionable or false information). Audiences need to demand more. Don't just keep repeating the same thing - if somebody rebuts it, you should take that seriously, as if it really was refuted or something. Or defend the original work with some argument of your own. But for goodness sakes, don't just say: well we know it's wrong but we can still use it. Miguel Guhlin, Around the Corner v2 October 17, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none]
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Learning Objects - The World Has Become Our Repository
"Much like the 'most famous scream in Hollywood'," writes Draper, giving us both an example of a scream and an example of reuse, "there exists a plethora of educational content (much already digitized) that is just as effective in its reuse as it was in its first use." Darren Draper, Drape's Takes October 17, 2007 [Link] [Tags: none]
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My Facebook Friends Do My Work For Me
Sweet. Maybe my Facebook freinds could do my work for me too. First, there's my promotion case to finish - I have done all the editing on the text, but still need the list of papers and presentations finished and formatted. Oh, and I need a video presentation for the USQ conference... Related: Facebook's core users laugh at attempts to do business in it. Brian Kelly, UK Web Focus October 17, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Books, Video]
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Giving Your Facebook Profile a Second Life
I guess it was inevitable that there would be a Second Life application in Facebook (just as interesting would be a Facebook application in Second Life - but I digress). But I will not be installing the application. Here's why: I was not able to choose my own name in Second Life, I had to select from a list. It is no part of my 'identity'. And so it doesn't become a part of my Facebook profile. Alja Sulcic, iAlja October 17, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Second Life, Books]
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Sakai License Weakens (Edu)Patent Protection
I read this in Michael Feldstein and just sighed. The Sakai Project is moving to the 'Educational Community License 2.0' which, as it turns out, appears to significantly weaken patent protection. Why the move? Well, "the patent license granted in the Apache license conflicts with the institutional policies of many of our contributors," writes Chris Coppola. Chuck Severance has