By Stephen Downes
April 17, 2003
Taxonomy Browser Online
This is
pretty neat. The author has created a system that reads
taxonomies or ontologies expressed in RDF format and
represents them graphically. Readers who create their own
ontologies can upload and view them. By Abdreas Harth,
April 16, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
At Blackboard's Request, Judge Prevents
Students From Discussing Security of Debit-Card System
The Chronicle covers the recent court action by
Blackboard to block a student presentation exposing
security holes in the LMS's payment system. Not a lot
that's new here, except for an interview with a generally
unresponsive (by court order) Billy Hoffman and a
Blackboard representative who, not being restrained by
court order, felt free to blather on about how bad the
students have been. According to the Chronicle, Blackboard
spokesperson Michael Stanton "said that Mr. Hoffman's
research had reached a low point when he 'vandalized' the
laundry-room switchbox. 'If I take a sledgehammer to an
automatic teller machine, I'm a vandal. I'm not pointing
out inherent security flaws in a system,' Mr. Stanton
said." This is a stupid response. It is not possible to rob
an ATM with a sledgehammer, and you certainly cannot (as
Hoffman did) simply unscrew an insecure casing and derive
the unit's complete functionality, emulate it, and create
your own cash machine. If Blackboard's security is as
flimsy as a screw-plate, then it is inherently insecure,
and no amount of bad-mouthing the students who discovered
this - and who tried to warn the company - can change this.
It seems to me that if Blackboard wants to silence the
students' discussion of the case, then they should apply
the same logic to themselves. Or get some smarter
spokespeople. By Andrea L. Foster, Chronicle of Higher
Education, April 16, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
TALON Learning Object System
I got
this item in my email. From the email: "A set of learning
objects has been created that are designed for some of
the important styles of learning and teaching. They
include; visual
learning, writing skills, critical thinking, time-revealed
scenarios, case
studies and empirical observation. The learning objects are
designed and
described in terms that the average instructor can readily
understand and
redesign for their own courses. They are also designed in
such a way that
they can readily be reprogrammed for new applications in
other courses and
subject areas, with little or no additional programming." I
took a look at some of the objects (some others required
plug-ins not supported by my browser) and they appear to be
as advertised, though the site could provide more
background and information. Still, if you need examples of
learning objects, here's a few. By Jeremy Dunning, Indiana
University, April 16, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Connecting Interested People to New Web
Content With Syndication and Aggregation
HTML
version of a set of PowerPoint slides providing an overview
of content aggregation and syndication with RSS. It's a
pretty good overview, explaining why RSS is useful and
offering readers good resources should they want to follow
up on their own. By Doug Ransom, Power Measurement, April
16, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Naval Academy Disciplines 85 Caught in
Internet Music Raid
The U.S. Navy has
disciplined students caught sharing files with demerits,
extra work assignments and loss of privileges, a far cry
from the court martials or expulsions expected by some.
Interestingly, the punishments had very little to do with
copyright violations and rather more to do with obeying
orders. The students had been warned to curtail their
activity, and "an academy official disclosed that the raid
was spurred less by warnings from the recording industry
than by a threat by a Defense Department agency to stop
paying for the school's Internet connection." The Register also chimes in, adding
barely concealed derision at the music industry's concern
expressed about the students' using "multi-gigabyte drives"
(which, of course, are standard on cheap new computers
everywhere these days). By Ariel Sabar, Houston Chronicle,
April 16, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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