05 September 2002

Of PowerPoint and Pointlessness WIRED.com -- Why teach with PowerPoint? I like it because visual learners can see key terms and rote learners can use the handouts after class. But as Joanna Glasner points out in Wwired if you add too many bells and whistles you can distract the learner.

Are Weblogs Changing Our Culture? SLATE.com -- Interesting back and forth between Andrew Sullivan and Kurt Andersen

Mapping Weblog Conversations Sebastien Paquet -- An interesting method of citing Weblog information. And there's more. The BlogMD initiative (renamed "Weblog MetaData Initiative") is developing a metadata standard for weblogs and weblogs posts. Dave Menendez has developed an RDF vocabulary for describing threaded discussions, including (but not restricted to) blogthreads. Simon Buckingham Shum has been interested in mapping discussions. Jon Schull has worked on a tool for blogthread visualization and has discussed the idea of a taxonomy of blogverbs, to describe approbation, and opposition.

Another Microsoft Initiative that Must Fail YAHOO NEWS -- Bill Gates went to Hollywood to promote Corona, which is a media format that does not support MPEG-4. If Microsoft pursues this strategy, it will inhibit the development of a single digital format. Many developers don't agree with Microsoft's position.

From Ray Ozzie's Weblog Bob and Dan are dead-on:  The browser has served us well.  It has provided a means by which we can have universal access to applications, transactions, and published information.  But in the meantime, the PC has become a powerhouse: cpu, gpu, storage, price.  The Great Conversion to notebook computers is well under way, and it's now clear that the most wildly successful wireless mobile productivity device won't be the 3G phone, or even the BlackBerry, but the ubiquitous and inexpensive WiFi notebook.  In a shape and size to suit every need. For a while, we were seduced into thinking that we should optimize costs by reducing the PC to being a dumb terminal, or by stopping the upgrade cycle, or by reverting to a simpler, generic OS.  But as we by necessity deal with more and more PCs in our lives, and as we use them in more and more locations, and as we've come to terms with the fact that we can't imagine doing our jobs without them in the course of our work with others, it has become clearer that the most critical thing to optimize is our time.  And in order to do that, we need more appropriate technology, not just simpler tech. It's finally dawned on many of us that our software has fallen behind our infrastructure, and that we need significant upgrades to our systems and application software that bring them into an era of ubiquitous computing and communications.  We need to prepare for, and to embrace a whole new generation of system and application software that leverages our computers and networks specifically and tangibly to increase our interpersonal productivity and agility.  To enable us to spin more plates; or to keep them up in the air in a more measured manner. Software that embraces mobility, synchronization, security, and manageability as transparent core attributes.  Software that recognizes "people" as being just as important as "documents".  Software that recognizes transparent peer communications as being equal in importance to server communications.  Software with a new model that synchronizes applications and activities, not just data or documents.  We need to use multiple devices as seamlessly as we use one device; we need to be able to use them collaboratively as intuitively as we've used them alone. Servers and browsers are like two peas in a pod, and the Web has largely run its course.  In terms of the value that we can get from our own personal computers and the Internet, however, we're still at the dawn of a new era.  An era in which software matters, and architecture matters. [Ray Ozzie's Weblog]

Open Nodes WiFi Listings OPEN NODES.com Noel Jackson has started a WiFi public hot spot listing site. It's an attempt to collect self-reported design-to-be-open Wi-Fi nodes.

Errorcom ERRORCOM.com -- Ireland by the Bullocks. Deservingly sharp satire. But will it bring flat rate access or community WiFi hotspots to front-and-centre?

Cell Phone Etiquette Improving UNSTRUNG -- According to a recent scientific poll commissioned by online wireless retailer LetsTalk, more cell phone users are remembering their manners before accepting or making a call. As the number of cell phone users increase, more people are self-regulating their public cell phone use. The poll reports that compared to 2000, fewer people are willing to use their cell phones in movies, restaurants, schools and public transportation. But the single voice I can hear right now is someone on her mobile, using it to awaken a friend (and half a dozen other people aboard the same Irish Rail train carriage). Sent from IBM TransNote abeam Port Arlington.

DC Area Wireless Network Looks Like Model COMPUTER WORLD -- Numerous local, state and federal agencies in the DC metropolitan area have joined together to start The Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CapWIN). This system will allow a wide range of agencies, including police, fire, transportation departments and government offices to share data wirelessly in the event of a fire, terrorist attacks and natural disasters. These agencies will be able to communicate using portable computers, PDAs, cell phones and other text-enabled devices using wireless gateways that bridge compatibility gaps. Begun in 1999 with the goal of resolving long-standing communications problems, CapWIN is being viewed as the model for data-sharing networks around the US.