Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Point and Click Linux [Slashdot:] 9:19:42 PM      Google It!.

Learning Management Systems: The Wrong Place to Start Learning. The debates surrounding learning management systems continue as George Siemens weighs in with this good analysis of where they miss the mark. "The very notion of 'managing learning' conflicts with how people are actually learning today... [LMSs] still view learners as canisters to be filled with content." Worth reading as well on this topic is James Jarmer, who comments on LMS marketing tactics, and Albert Ip, who reports that LMSs "failed miserably in terms of version management of more dynamic content or allow just-in-time creation of content by the instructor based on perceived performance abilities of the cohort." By George Siemens, elearnspace, November 22, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect] [OLDaily] 9:17:15 PM      Google It!.

Gush 1.2.1 Update for Linux. This is just a minor update to the XPI included in the Linux download. The new XPI is still compatible with pre .9 versions of Firefox, and is now compatible with versions .9 and up. If you've already installed Gush 1.2.0 you do not need the update. Thanks to Eric Lindvall for his help. By Wes. [Gush Blog] 7:35:11 PM      Google It!.

Federal Judge: Keystroke Logging Isn't Wiretapping [Slashdot:] 11:34:49 AM      Google It!.

A Kinder, Gentler Copyright Bill?. The Senate passes a copyright bill that is not as bad as digital rights activists had feared. The bill drops language that would have banned tech that would have allowed people to skip commercials. By Katie Dean. [Wired News] 11:26:38 AM      Google It!.

Software Detects the True Artist. Dartmouth College computer scientists create software that uses statistical techniques to authenticate art, to sort out real works from fakes. Their first finding: A painting purportedly by Perugino may have been done by four different artists. By Noah Shachtman. [Wired News] 11:23:49 AM      Google It!.

Shhh ... Do You Hear Gunfire?. Police departments around the country turn to sound-analysis technology to detect and report gunshots. By Amit Asaravala. [Wired News] 11:23:07 AM      Google It!.

Guidelines for Selecting Quality K-12 Online Courses - Patricia Deubel, THE Journal. According to Ruben Lopez, Florida ’s former chief technology officer, e-learning will become the cornerstone of how K-12 curriculum will be delivered in the future (Miller 2003). By 2006, it is estimated that a majority of high school students will h [Online Learning Update] 11:20:56 AM      Google It!.

Aston is first university with converged network - Mark Samuels, Computing. Aston University has become the first UK higher education institution to roll-out a fully converged voice, video and data network.The £4m installation uses Cisco's IP communications technology to deliver audio and video to academics and students.The ne [Online Learning Update] 11:15:09 AM      Google It!.

Pain link to permanent brain loss. Chronic pain may permanently shrink decision-making areas of the brain, researchers believe. [BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition] 11:13:35 AM      Google It!.

Linus, Monty, Rasmus: No Software Patents [Slashdot:] 11:11:55 AM      Google It!.

The subject of how a site gets into Google News came up at the ONA conference a couple of weeks ago. Google claims that it's totally algorithmic, but the choice of which sites to include is made by human beings, using a very flawed set of criteria. John Battelle writes about a case where one of the publications indexed by Google News went after Russ Beattie (they've gone after me too, and Adam) and he's pleading for Google to remove the site. This just shows how far out of whack things have gotten. It's time for Google to either withdraw Google News, or stop claiming it's algorithmic, or even better, make it algorithmic. They've figured out how authority works in the search engine, why can't they do it in News. Disclaimers: 1. Scripting News is not considered authoritative by Google News. 2. I think that's ridiculous. [Scripting News] 11:10:23 AM      Google It!.

Kazaa Offers Unlimited Free Internet Phone Calls. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sharman Networks Ltd., distributor of the Kazaa file-sharing software, on Monday launched its latest version which enables users to make free online calls anywhere in the world. [Reuters: Technology] 11:07:17 AM      Google It!.

Last Rites Sounded for Life-Changing Video Format. LONDON (Reuters) - It changed the lifestyles of a generation but after a lingering death, the last rites have been sounded for the revolutionary VHS home video format. [Reuters: Technology] 11:06:35 AM      Google It!.

Report: Broadband In US Homes Nearly 20 Percent [Slashdot:] 11:05:14 AM      Google It!.

BrainPort Allows People To Reclaim Damaged Senses [Slashdot:] 11:04:25 AM      Google It!.

Podcasting mechanics. After I posted yesterday's audio interview, Paul Schaeflein wrote to point out that I ought to be using RSS 2.0 enclosures in my feed so that enclosure-aware aggregators can download media objects. ... [Jon's Radio] 11:01:35 AM      Google It!.