OLDaily

By Stephen Downes
June 20, 2005

lashing them together
Foucault on the soul: "the element in which are articulated the effects of a certain type of power and the reference of a certain type of knowledge, the machinery by which the power relations give rise to a possible corpus of knowledge, and knowledge extends and reinforces the effects of this power." Rageboy: "Granted, this view smacks strongly of the postmodern. As it should; that's the point. These writers of prescriptions who turn back the clock thinking no one will notice, who invoke moral/ethical categories as if they were as obvious as shoes and sunshine, end up addressing serious matters in a way that cannot be taken seriously. And the kids know it." By RageBoy, Chief Blogging Officer, June 20, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Sakai 2.0.0 Release Available
Sakai, an open source learning management system, has reached another landmark point with the release of Sakai 2.0.0. "This release includes a Gradebook in addition to an updated version of the Tests and Quizzes tool (Samigo). The existing Sakai tools have been internationalized, allowing translation of Sakai 2.0 into multiple languages. Most of the existing tools now conform to Sakai Style Guide. Sakai 2.0 includes support for web-services to allow the development of tools on languages other than Java." Via Scott Leslie. By Various Authors, June 15, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Open Access Self-Archiving: An Author Study
Report from JISC. From the summary: "Almost half (49%) of the respondent population have self-archived at least one article during the last three years in at least one of the three possible ways — by placing a copy of an article in an institutional (or departmental) repository, in a subject-based repository, or on a personal or institutional website." Also noteworthy: "The vast majority of authors (81%) would willingly comply with a mandate from their employer or research funder to deposit copies of their articles in an institutional or subject-based repository." PDF. By Alma Swan and Sheridan Brown, Key Perspectives Limited, May, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

WebCT Price Increases
No links yet (so this simply links to the WebCT CE home page) but I have reports coming in from more than one institution that WebCT is asking for significant price increases (in the 60 percent range) for its Campus Edition learning management system for upgrades to CE version 6. This is combined with price increases for the database licenses necessary with WebCT, since WebCT has separated out the LMS software from the database is runs on - Oracle and MS SQL. By Unknown, WebCT, June, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

MYTH: Patents Protect Small Companies
This blog, which is new to me, addresses that murky area where enterprise, information technology and health care overlap. Some good content, including especially this item, which asserts, bluntly: "If you don’t have the financial resources to support years and years of patent litigation, then your patents have no teeth." Well argued, observing that "Large companies have no problem violating your patents" and "Big Companies don’t have much of a disincentive not to violate your patents." Oh yeah, and from another post: "“NDAs are a) unenforceable and b) even suggesting an NDA makes you look like a complete idiot." Heh. By Christian Mayaud, Sacred Cow Dung, June 13, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Cheater's Guide to LinkedIn v 0.1
While titled to appeal to certain sensibilities (and not the good ones either) this item is nonetheless a pretty good guide on how to take advantage of LinkedIn (or, for that matter, any social network - see the list provided by Scott Allen and David Tetten). Be sure to read the comments, as more tips are added. By Christian Mayaud, Sacred Cow Dung, May 23, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

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