Friday, December 22, 2006

Django gymnastics. Recently I[base ']ve been noodling with Django, a Python-based web application framework that[base ']s comparable in many ways to Ruby on Rails. It appeals to me for a variety of reasons. Python has been my language of choice for several years, and going forward I expect it to help me build bridges between the worlds of LAMP and .NET. Django[base ']s templating and object-relational mapping features are, as in RoR, hugely productive. And Django[base ']s through-the-web administration reminds me of a comparable feature in Zope that I[base ']ve always treasured. It[base ']s incredibly handy to be able to delegate basic CRUD operations to trusted associates, who can use the built-in interface in lieue of the friendlier one you[base ']d want to create for the general public. The recommended way to deploy Django is to run it under mod_python, the Apache module that keeps Python interpreters in memory for high performance. But a lot of popular web hosting services don[base ']t support that arrangement. For example, I just signed up for an account at BlueHost, the service used by the instructional technologists at the University of Mary Washington, and I looked into what it would take to get Django working in that environment. Despite helpful clues it still took a while to work out the solution. In the process I reactivated dormant neurons in the parts of my brain dedicated to such esoterica as mod_rewrite and FastCGI, but I[base ']d rather have been working with Django than working out how to configure it. By way of contrast, setting up WordPress [~] a more well-known and popular application [~] was a one-click operation thanks to Fantastico, an add-on installer for the cPanel site manager. I[base ']ve heard it said that a compelling screencast is one key factor influencing the adoption of a new web-based application. One-click install in shared hosting environments has to be another. For a while, anyway, until the virtualization juggernaut gives everyone the illusion of dedicated hosting. [Jon Udell] 4:58:57 PM      Google It!.

Sun Releases First GPLed Java Source. An anonymous reader writes "You can now get GPLed JVM sources from Sun. Everyone seemed to be expecting the desktop version (J2SE) but J2ME has been released first. It looks to be buildable for Linux x86, MIPS, and ARM platforms. Sun now calls it 'phoneME.' Enjoy."[Slashdot] 4:56:37 PM      Google It!.

Google Blogger Leaves Beta. VE3OGG writes "It would seem that Google's famed, award-winning blogging software, Blogger, has just left beta, ABC reports, and entered a growing (but still short) list of Google products to move out of beta. Of course, with this change is status also came a few crucial new features for Google's blogging agent, specifically Google account integration, "Web 2.0" code free updates, and tagging."[Slashdot] 4:55:34 PM      Google It!.

Neuroscience, Psychology Eroding Idea of Free Will. pragueexpat writes "Do we have free will? Possibly not, according to an article in the new issue of the Economist. Entitled 'Free to choose?', the piece examines new discoveries in the fields of neuroscience and psychology that may be forcing us to re-examine the concept of free will. The specifically cite a man with paedophilic tendencies who was cured when his brain tumor was removed. 'Who then was the child abuser?', they ask. The predictable conclusion of this train of thought, of course, leads us to efforts by Britain: 'At the moment, the criminal law--in the West, at least--is based on the idea that the criminal exercised a choice: no choice, no criminal. The British government, though, is seeking to change the law in order to lock up people with personality disorders that are thought to make them likely to commit crimes, before any crime is committed.'"[Slashdot] 4:53:35 PM      Google It!.

Judge Rules Against Deep-Linking of Content. An anonymous reader writes "A Texas judge has ruled that, if a copyright owner objects to the linking of content from another web site, that link must be taken down. This case, which may have some far-reaching implications, centered around a motorcross website. The site, run by a Robert Davis, provided links directly to live feeds of 'Supercross' events streaming from the SFX Motor Sports site. The company filed suit, claiming that the direct links were denying it advertising revenue. The article sites previous cases, where sites were prohibited by judges from linking to files which violated copyright law (such as DVD decryption software). From the article: 'But in those lawsuits, the file that was the target of the hyperlink actually violated copyright law. What's unusual in the SFX case is that a copyright holder is trying to prohibit a direct link to its own Web site. (There is no evidence that SFX tried technical countermeasures, such as referrer logging and blocking anyone coming from Davis' site.)'"[Slashdot] 4:52:03 PM      Google It!.

VMware Fusion Goes Beta. Rahul writes "Fusion is a new VMware product that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows and Linux in virtual machines on Mac OS X. The Mac virtualization market is presently dominated by Parallels and it will be worth watching if VMware can gain the mindshare despite its late entry. Ars Technica reports: 'The nice thing about VMWare Fusion is that it already supports some of the stuff that the Parallels Beta2 released yesterday just added, such as USB 2.0 and most USB devices, CD/DVD drive support, and drag-and-drop between environments (unless the guest environment is Linux, that is). You can also run multiple Fusion environments at once or assign multiple processors to your virtual machine(s), if you're into that sort of thing.'" [Slashdot] 4:50:52 PM      Google It!.

Flickr Assignment Rubric - in progress. I wanted to capture our "work in progress" as we develop the flickr assignment rubric. Many of the comments that have been made are still contained in this doc. Reading it from top to bottom is not the order in which the comments were made; it's been done asynchronously over the last week. There have been significant changes to the document over this time that are not captured in this 11th hour snap shot of the collaboration. Students (and Lani and I) have been adding comments in different colours to distinguish different authours although this hasn't always been consistent. It may be hard to make out some of the coloured text against the background of the blog. I'm fascinated by the discussions the students have been having as they work through this. They have until tomorrow morning to finalize everything. I will republish the final rubric tomorrow when it's done. Flickr Assignment RubricTo All My StudentsI've started putting together a rubric to grade your future flickr assignment A Difference, December 22, 2006. [Conversation] [Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Edu_RSS Most Recent - RSS old] 4:49:41 PM      Google It!.

A new way to search for CC licensed photos on Flickr. Looking for a new way to search for CC licensed photos? We've just been informed about a tool that searches Flickr for CC licensed content based on their color hue and saturation. Now you can easily puruse the millions of CC licensed photos based on all your color palette needs. Creative Commons, December 22, 2006. [Conversation] [Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Edu_RSS Most Recent - RSS old] 4:47:44 PM      Google It!.

Addictive little online games. It's the Friday before Christmas weekend. Stop pretending you're trying to get any work done today. Your boss is either off on vacation already or has her feet up on the desk, waiting for the appropriate hour to sneak off for a "late lunch" and never come back. To help you in your final hours of pre-holiday work, I compiled a list of some addictive online games, easy to play but hard to master. Have hours of fun. Go on, you deserve it. Line Rider - You know it, you love it. This is the new version, just released. Winterbells - Jump a bunny from bell to bell. Finger Frenzy - How fast can you type the alphabet? (My high is 8.54 seconds. (Slow typer.)) Sober Santa - Steer drunk Santa away from the rails. Falling sand game - Part game, part physics experiment. Throw Paper! - This would be more fun on the Wii. Bejeweled - Billions of collective hours of productivity lost. 50 states map challenge - Place the US states on a map. (I got 92% accuracy.) Cursor Thief - The short little dude wants kottke.org, December 22, 2006. [Conversation] [Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Edu_RSS Most Recent - RSS old] 4:47:00 PM      Google It!.

Time tries to probe Second Life's underbelly. Time magazine explores Second Life in an article this week, and it's all about SL as the land of unleashed desires. Furries, attachable penises, sexual orientation changes, and too much free time all appear in rapid succession. The piece even begins with a lunge into our collective underbelly:I thought I'd want to have lots of sex. Meaningless, multipartnered, degrading sex.Joel Stein makes the classic Gothic argument, seeing SL as a place for uncapping the Freudian gusher:But Second Life is different enough (flying! teleporting! cloning!) that it functions as a therapist's couch on which you learn about yourself by safely exploring your darkest desires.If Time has covered this, SL has clearly entered the mainstream with a red light district attached, a rep for the forbidden, and a broad avenue to haunted spaces. Summary of this past week's uncanny Second Life discussion coming soon.(via GigaGamez) Infocult: Information, Culture, Policy, Education, December 22, 2006. [Conversation] [Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Edu_RSS Most Recent - RSS old] 4:45:27 PM      Google It!.

ECAR Releases Second Annual Student Survey Study Results. ECAR has released its second annual comprehensive student survey focusing on the role of IT in student life, The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2006. Because of the topic's critical importance, ECAR has made the full study, as well as key findings and roadmap, publicly available to all. Visit ECAR on the Web. [EDUCAUSE CONNECT blogs] 4:43:22 PM      Google It!.