Tuesday, December 07, 2004

The semantic web, digital identity, and Internet governance. Consider Eliyon, a company that's gathered public information about more than 22 million people to support sales, recruiting, and other applications. As it turns out, I am several of those people. In addition to my current title, InfoWorld Test Center lead analyst, I show up as executive editor of Byte Magazine and contributor to Linux Magazine. And while those were once accurate descriptions of me, I have never been a member of Blue Titan's board of advisors, and I am not the inventor of RSS. It's true I could register with the site, coalesce my correct identities, and purge the wrong ones. But authenticating with a credit card in order to update a profile that Eliyon owns is a nonstarter for me. Back in June, on my weblog, I suggested the alternative that would suit me: I'll maintain my own profile on the Web and syndicate my data to anyone who needs it. Semantic Web naysayers think people and organizations can't be bothered to assert machine-readable facts about themselves. And, today, that is undoubtedly true. But when others assert facts about you -- as they increasingly will -- the tide could begin to turn. Individual acts of self-defense may ultimately combine to bootstrap the semantic Web. [Full story at InfoWorld.com] ... [Jon's Radio] 9:35:33 AM      Google It!.

Online university that gave cat diploma sued for fraud - MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press. A Plano, Texas-based online university that supposedly granted a graduate degree in business to a pet cat was sued Monday for consumer fraud by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. Trinity Southern University, a cellular company and the two bro [Online Learning Update] 9:33:46 AM      Google It!.

British Library's Online Learning Package Now Live. A new online learning package showcasing the British Library's services for public librarians across the UK is now live. The package - supported by the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) - has been designed as a virtual 'tour' showing public librarians [Online Learning Update] 9:29:26 AM      Google It!.

According to NPR, a group of game programmers have filed a lawsuit against their employers citing extreme job stress and health problems. [Scripting News] 9:28:10 AM      Google It!.

U.S. Students Fare Badly in International Survey of Math Skills. The U.S. finished in the bottom half of 40 surveyed countries in a new international comparison of mathematical skills. By By FLOYD NORRIS. [NYT > Education] grade inflation in the US may have been an interim solution to the demand for higher performance -- BL 9:20:16 AM      Google It!.