Friday, March 05, 2004

OpenCourseWare and MIT's "intellectual philanthropy". Lisa Currin, MIT’s Double-Secret Hidden Agenda, eLearn. Currin reviews the background and the scope of MIT's OpenCourseWare, quoting the 'tute's Ann Margulies who expresses the wish that other institutions follow their lead in making educational materials available to a wide audience over the internet. The article reports that MIT may have as much as 2000 courses represented by 2007. Several faculty members relate their experiences with the program, including Prof. Ron Larsen, who with others aims to "create an online forum where practitioners, professors, and students can ask questions and share solutions." (Source: the Kept-Up Academic Librarian) [Open Access News] 4:21:21 PM      Google It!.

HP: Blog Epidemic Analyzer FAQ. [Scripting News] 4:19:50 PM      Google It!.

Microsoft Gadget Keeps Record of Your Life [Slashdot] followon to work at MIT MediaLab -- BL 10:25:33 AM      Google It!.

Bloggers' Plagiarism Scientifically Proven [Slashdot] 10:21:18 AM      Google It!.

Tokyo Narita Airport Gets PDA Voice Translators [Slashdot] like baby babblefish -BL 10:20:32 AM      Google It!.

Japan Seeks Robotic Help in Caring for the Aged. The Japanese government's decision to push for home care for the elderly has fueled demand for robotic home care devices. By James Brooke. [New York Times: Technology] 7:18:43 AM      Google It!.

Does SenseCam Make Any Sense?. Microsoft researchers are busy at work on dozens of futuristic devices like the SenseCam, a 'visual diary' worn around the neck that captures 2,000 images daily. On the horizon are forge-proof ID cards and traffic-savvy alarm clocks. [Wired News] 7:16:28 AM      Google It!.

Warning: Blogs Can Be Infectious. Confirming what many have suspected, a study finds that the most popular bloggers aren't the most original. But they do have a knack for swiping material from other, lesser-known blogs. By Amit Asaravala. [Wired News] 7:14:22 AM      Google It!.

EIM introduces over 200 new courses online. Emirates Internet & Multimedia (EIM) introduced 208 new courses which will increase the existing EIM's LearnOnline menu to more than 1000 courses made available to all subscribers in UAE. The new courses cover a broad spectrum of topics in personal co [Online Learning Update] 7:08:42 AM      Google It!.

Call for self-archiving. Katie Mantell, 'Self-archiving' urged for developing world scientists, SciDev.Net, March 5, 2004. On a widely distributed letter by Subbiah Arunachalam, Leslie Chan, and Barbara Kirsop, calling on authors from developing countries to self-archive. Excerpt from the SciDev article: "Many current initiatives to free up access to scientific research focus on the development of open-access journals, which provide free online access to users, normally covering their costs by charging scientists to publish their research. The authors of the letter welcome this as a long-term strategy. But they add that for those in the developing world who cannot wait, it is better to encourage researchers to archive their published research in institutional archives." (PS: This call is exactly right, but shouldn't be misunderstood as applying only to scientists and scholars from the developing world. Self-archiving benefits all researchers. If the concept is new to you, see the Self-Archiving FAQ.) [Open Access News] 6:56:52 AM      Google It!.