OLDaily

Feature Article
Boxing gRSShopper
Stephen Downes, Half an Hour, 2020/09/18

This is a long, detailed, and technical description of how I created the Docker container for gRSShopper. My image is by no means complete - a fair bit of gRSShopper still isn't working due to issues involving containers, Perl modules, and security settings. But the outcome is that people can run a basic version of gRSShopper simply by running the Docker container. Why write an article like this? I wanted especially to document the hurdles I encountered, the things I needed to figure out, and my thought processes along the way. Maybe you'll find this interesting, probably not. Also, I feel like I shouldn't get to comment and be taken seriously on technology like this unless I'm willing to dive in and actually work on it. This field has way too many people who make pronouncements from a second-hand perspective. So think of this article also as me posting my credentials.

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What's Wrong with Social Science and How to Fix It: Reflections After Reading 2578 Papers
Alvaro de Menard, Fantastic Anachronism, 2020/09/18

This article revisits the replication crisis in the social sciences. Disciplines like education, economics and demographics come out the best in a bad lot. "It is difficult to convey just how low the standards are," writes Alvaro de Menard. "The marginal researcher is a hack and the marginal paper should not exist. There's a general lack of seriousness hanging over everything.... Pusillanimous reports repeat tired clichés about "training", "transparency", and a "culture of openness" while downplaying the scale of the problem and ignoring the incentives. No serious actions have followed from their recommendations."

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Why It’s Time to Reboot Canada’s Failed Digital Agenda
Michael Geist, 2020/09/18

I think I'd use the word 'derailed' rather than 'failed', but I also think Michael Geist is right to suggest that maybe it's time for a reset (not just in Canada, but perhaps globally as well). There are three priorities: consumer telecom pricing, privacy protection and a modernized internet legal framework as priorities. We're stalled on all of them. In Canada we still pay among the highest mobile rates in the world, and rural broadband access is inadequate (and it is a national embarrassment that an indigenous CBC commentator has to participate on television from her car because there isn't adequate bandwidth where she lives) and government actually took some steps backward over the summer. Privacy protection is lagging and as Geist notes some provinces have felt the need to launch their own initiatives. And there are concerns about the evolving regulatory environment - we're not to the point of banning applications for political reasons, but we're skirting that line, which is an unwelcome development. Image: Michal Jarmolik.

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Can universities rebuild students’ trust in data?
Chris Thomson, JISC, 2020/09/18

"After many students’ experiences this summer," writes Chris Thomson, "I hope universities will look at ways to work collaboratively to use their data ethically and with transparency while also considering lived experiences." After the auto-grading fiasco over the summer, they had better. As the article notes, this year's cohort in the UK experienced algorithms and data-driven decision-making as a potent and personal issue. And I think universities need to rebuild trust in numerous areas, not just data. They have come across this year as not caring about student well-being, as valuing tuition revenue more than public health, and as slow and reluctant to adapt to new technology. Of course, to the extent these are true they have always been true, but like so many things this year, they are being seen in a new light.

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Unwanted Expenses for Bloggers: Instagram May Charge Fees for Links in Captions
Sangalang Kristine, The Blog Herald, 2020/09/18

This is another one of those cases that leaves me wondering why anyone would use the service (for the record: I don't). The story is a bit speculative, but is based on a patent application. "It seems that Instagram will allow users to add links to their posts but a pop-up will appear asking if the 'user wants to activate the link' for a fee." I put items like this into a category of "finding an alternative to advertising."

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How Do You Build an API Server?
Anthony Heddings, Cloud Savvy IT, 2020/09/18

An application programming interface (API) allows one computer program to access data from another. It defines how the request is made, what authentication (if any) is required, and the format of the data. This article briefly describes how to build one using a Node.js application called Express. This is essentially server-side Javascript. The data can be accessed by a remote service or even by Javascript running on your web browser. Though the article doesn't mention it, cloud providers are offering API Gateways. These sit in between your API and the open web and offer "features such as rate limiting, authentication and key validation." This is all relevant to be because gRSShopper is based on a set of APIs, which means I (or you!) can redesign the front end anyway we want.

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Finding the Silver Lining in 2020 — 10 Developments in Online and Remote Education That Make Us Hopeful
Maria Andersen, Coursetune, 2020/09/18

Bryan Alexander recommended this article on Twitter, and I agree that it's a nice recap of some of the silver linings from our current Covid pandemic. For example (all quoted): Internet and technology access has become a top priority in education. Remote learning ensures that students who could not physically make it to a campus on a given day (missed bus, sick family member, childcare) will have an opportunity to learn. Assessment is getting a big shakeup. Educators are being given a lot of new freedom to “explore what works”. Some kids are actually thriving in remote learning and online learning environments.

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Apple Would Have to Share Payment Tech Under Rules Mulled by EU
Natalia Drozdiak, Alexander Weber, Bloomberg, 2020/09/18

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a technology that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in your phone to enable things like Apple Pay and Google Pay. It's very short range - on my Pixel 4 I have to hold the phone right up to the reader and squeeze the sides. These RFID readers are everywhere here in Canada; I haven't had cash in my wallet since March. It never occurred to me that the manufacturer would limit its use to, well, itself, but I didn't count on Apple, which won't allow any other service to use it. According to Bloomberg, the EU is mulling a requirement that would force Apple to open its platform. But Apple is lagging globally; as this report notes, it's not yet available in India. "Samsung and Google do not take a cut on the interchange fees for payments made on their NFC payments apps, but Apple does, and disallows other NFC payment apps on Apple devices." This is why I stay far far away from anything Apple.

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