The Secret(s) to OpenStack's Overnight Success
Matt Asay, ReadWriteCloud, June 12, 2013

OpenStack is an open source cloud services platform, similar to Amazon's web services, but created by a company called RackSpace and opened up to the community. It is free open source software released under the Apache license (so says Wikipedia). Here's a half-hour video introduction to OpenStack. It includes an object store, an image service, a computing service, and block storage (see the diagram above). Here's another intro. What does it mean, really? Today, people pay for web server hosts - that's how I run this website, for example. In ther future, they will be able to pay for object storage and computing power, including services and functions, as as my website gets more popular, these services will scale up with it, without me having to worry about adding extra machines and storage. And I'll be able to use it to support applications and services that can be run on a desktop, mobile phone, or inside a car - wherever I want.

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Research: The Growth of Global E-learning
Catherine Upton, Jerry Roche, Elearning!, June 12, 2013

Good issue of Elearning Magazine with data-filled stories on the growth of global e-learning ("More than 40 percent of global Fortune 500 companies used technology during formal learning hours last year, leading to a 14.7 percent increase in learning/training budgets") and how e-learning is evolving ("e-learning continues to grow among both corporations and public sector. Today, learning is being transformed via enabling technologies like mobile, video and social"). I can't say I'm crazy about the magazine-style layout, but I guess that's how they roll.

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Sonder | The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
John Koenig, YouTube, June 12, 2013

This is both the triumph and deep sadness of life: "sonder - n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own." From The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. "When your life moves on to the next scene, theirs flickers in place, wrapped in a cloud of backstory and inside jokes and characters strung together with countless other stories you'll never be able to see. That you'll never know exists."

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Ground-breaking eLearning project – 'Vidunena' launched
News.LK, June 12, 2013

‘Vidunena’ an eLearning initiative launched in Sri Lanka by mobile service provider Mobitel, e-learning services copmpany Felidae, and the Sri Lankan ministry of education. "Vidunena offers interactive video content which can be used by both the student and teacher... content comprising rich interactive videos, animations, animated games and simulations created using the latest in audio and video technology, green screen and keying technology as well as open source capturing and editing tools." The platform also supports real-time participation in video classrooms.

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The iSchool Movement: Reflections From the Profession
Meghan Ecclestone, Faculty of Information Quarterly, June 12, 2013

This aerticle is a few years old but I just saw it today and I'm passing it along because the "iSchool Movement" is completely new to me. From their website, we learn "The iSchools organization is a collection of Information Schools dedicated to advancing the information field. These schools, colleges, and departments have been newly created or are evolving from programs formerly focused on specific tracks such as information technology, library science, informatics, information science, and more." The interview itself is pretty short and basic, with only tantalizing hints about a "path structure". This article says "A path is a type of meta-structure that links conceptually similar information in a ... Intermediate school." Via Academia.

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