Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Sakai, and Why I hate Java, Chapter 22. So a note in my discussion area prompted me to try to install Sakai, the open source learning management system. As a result I hate added yet another chapter to my legion of "I hate Java" stories. Everything went fine until I tried to insatll it. I have Java correctly installed, as per the instructions - a JRE (Java Runtime Engine) that I use for Java plugins on websites. Should work, according to the quick-start instructiona. But, of course, it doesn't. The first sign of trouble: "Unable to locate tools.jar. Expected to find it in /usr/lib/SunJava2-1.4.2/lib/t ools.jar" And when it ultimately died: "JAVA_HOME should point to a JDK not a JRE." Sheesh. I spent more time trying to install the Java SDK, which had the net effect of disabling my JRE, so now nothing works. In all fairness, this is a Tomcat bug, not a Sakai one. And I may have been the only person ever to try to run it with nothing but a JRE. Still. My point is that this is typical of Java - the rule, not the exception. And that - Chapter 22 - is why I hate Java. By contrast - I picked up a Python text in Ottawa, found it was already installed, installed and ran IDLE (the editor) without a problem, ran various programs - everything works beautifully and you don't need to worry about having the x.y.z version of the thing. Sakai? Python. QED. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, December 29, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect] [OLDaily] 9:48:25 PM      Google It!.

Staccato. If you like music, you'll need this site (or ones like it). Why? See the next link. For those of you who are wondering why I would write about music in a learning technology newsletter: the very same story is being played out in our field. The DRM lock-down of educational content versus the (one-day-to-exist) Ed-Staccato. And if you have any doubt of where my allegiances lie: it's with the latter. By Various Authors, December, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect] [OLDaily] 9:44:22 PM      Google It!.

Oracle Takes Over Rival PeopleSoft. The Oracle Corporation has taken control of PeopleSoft, making Oracle the world's second-largest maker of business-management software. By By BLOOMBERG NEWS. [NYT > Technology] 9:40:44 PM      Google It!.

Internet Use Said to Cut Into TV Viewing and Socializing. The average Internet user in the U.S. spends three hours a day online, with much of that time devoted to work and more than half of it to communications. By By JOHN MARKOFF. [NYT > Technology] 9:40:00 PM      Google It!.

Federal Appeals Court Sides With VoIP Providers [Slashdot:] 3:32:34 PM      Google It!.

Bringing Down A Copycat Site [Slashdot:] 8:46:17 AM      Google It!.

The BitTorrent Effect. Movie studios hate it. File-swappers love it. Bram Cohen's blazing-fast P2P software has turned the internet into a universal TiVo. For free video-on-demand, just click here. By Clive Thompson from Wired magazine. [Wired News] 8:43:35 AM      Google It!.

High-Speed Video Using a Dense Camera Array [Slashdot:] - controlable super slow motion could enable  a synchronizing with the  viewers speed dynamically with a  little  well chosen biofeedback link. --  thnk immersive at  different levels of attention. -- BL 8:42:29 AM      Google It!.

Guidelines for Establishing Interactivity in Online Courses - Mark Mabrito, Innovate. Students are most successful in online courses that provide ample opportunities for them to interact with the instructor, other students, and the course content. An interactive online course must engage students as active learners rather than as passi [Online Learning Update] 8:36:43 AM      Google It!.

markwagner: Online Course on Blogs and RSS in Education (Update 2) [Edubloggers Links Feed] 8:32:47 AM      Google It!.