Edu_Rss

Goodbye Epson. Hello Canon.
I've gone through five (5) Epson CX5200 and CX5400s in the past 2.5 years or so. They just keep breaking. In a variety of ways. And I don't do that much printing. So, when my latest CX5400 printer died, I decided to switch, after decades of being an Epson customer, to Canon. I now have a Canon MP780 multifunction printer and scanner. (From NewEgg, btw.) One problem so far: The software doesn't recognize that the system has a sheet feeder for the scanner. That doesn't much matter to me, but it's a bad sign. Does anyone have any reliable, cheap-ish... From Joho the Blog on October 12, 2005 at 9:46 p.m..

Usability and IA workshops (Adelaide)
I'm pleased to announce that we've organised a pair of workshops for Adelaide, as follows: Usability Testing Fundamentals (Wednesday, 30 November 2005) Information Architecture Fundamentals (Thursday, 1 December 2005) We have been running these workshops for some time, and they... From Column Two on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..

Ambient findability: findability hacks
Peter Morville has published an excerpt from his new book on findability hacks. To quote: Seriously, findability is one of the most thorny problems in web design. This is due in part to the inherent ambiguity of semantics and structure.... From Column Two on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..

Too fuzzy: personas and scenarios
Michael Andrews raised some concerns about personas and scenarios. To quote: Personas and scenarios are meant to make an abstract, intangible interaction process more concrete. But more often than not, they fail miserably: offering a simplictic, waffly caricature of something... From Column Two on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..

A Question of Principles , http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/2005/10/question-of-principles.html
A major controversy is swirling around an Indian school, the From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Against Writers' Welfare , Blog of Proximal Development
In Grade 10 I had a teacher named Jamie Bell who, in English class, assigned as a writing project anything I want to write (or draw, or create, or design). I eventually submitted a journal filled with short shories, musings, drawings, crossword puzzles, city plans, and more. I have written in my own way, with my own voice, ever since. Makes me think. "By producing the kind of writing their teachers seem to want, students hope to gain a good mark. Over the years they lose the six-year-old's sense of having things to say of their own." The fostering of one's own voice, at a time these From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Playing with Rails , D
Just for fun, D'Arcy Norman plays with Ruby on Rails and while he had more success than I did, still runs into some interesting issues. His installation actually works - I'm told that mine does as well; it was being blocked by a closed port on the NRC server (well, that plus my system password had expired in mid-install). There will be a part two as once I get my system functioning I want to explore application development, including some of the table joins D'Arcy talks about (essential for the newsletter you are reading today). [ From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

E-Learning in Canada: A Brief Overview , Global Learning FachNews
It's a very brief overview, an consistent with other pictures of Canadian e-learning I'm seen, though this report concentrates almost exclusively on the corporate sector, not mentioning the work that is taking place in universities and government agencies. [ From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Does Education Inflected Architecture = Web 2.0? , E-Literate
The real question posed by Michael Feldstein is not the one in the title but whether 'remix' is a type of consumption, and he argues that it is. He writes, "What I particularly like about reframing this sort of integration as 'active consumption' rather than production (or development) is that it moves the boundary between oeusers and system creators while still allowing that boundary to persist." By contrast, I don't want that boundary to persist. When I buy a chair from WalMart (not that I would ever buy a chair from walMart, but I digress), I may be depicted as a &a From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Can You Tell Blogs From 'Real' News? , Forbes
Yahoo! has started providing blog posts alongside news listings ( From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Content and Connections , Stephen's Web
I'm not sure how to describe this other that to say it is an off-the-cuff conversation George Siemens and I had this morning while waiting in the wings to take part in an online seminar hosted by Teemu Arina in Finland. We discussed the relation between content and connection, pondering how the two combine to create learning, and questioning whgether they are public and social or private and neural. MS-Word format. More from the conference itself tomorrow when I find the link. [ From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Blackboard and WebCT Announce Plans to merge , Blackboard
This is obviously huge news. I'll have more coverage and reax tomorrow. From OLDaily on October 12, 2005 at 8:45 p.m..

Web Site Success Doesn't Mean Web Site Optimization
Top sales and traffic e-tail sites still have room for engine optimization improvement. From ClickZ Stats on October 12, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Of gender, race, and spirituality
A survey of college freshmen shows division of spiritual seekers along lines of race and gender. From Christian Science Monitor | Learning on October 12, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Burmese filtering
The Berkman Center has released the latest in its series of reports on what countries are keeping their citizens from seeing on the Net. The new report is on Burma. [Tags: DigitalRights berkman burma]... From Joho the Blog on October 12, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

A roundtable discussion on eGullet
Recently there was a discussion over on eGullet about The Future of Dining: An eG Roundtable, Clark Wolf, Michael Ruhlman, Steven Shaw. There's a bunch of follow-up discussion topics derived from the roundtable as well that look interesting. I really need to spend more time over at eGullet, I thi From megnut on October 12, 2005 at 11:45 a.m..

The High Price of Gasoline Sends Shoppers to the Web - BOB TEDESCHI, New York Times
There's nothing like an energy squeeze to buoy the spirits of Internet merchants. Online shopping sites, already on a roll, are getting help from the high price of gasoline, which is prompting untold numbers of consumers to boot up their PC's instead of d From Techno-News Blog on October 12, 2005 at 9:49 a.m..

Yahoo tunes into podcasting craze - Associated Press
Hoping to tune into the latest craze in digital media, Yahoo Inc. is introducing tools for finding, organizing and rating "podcasts" " the audio programs designed to be played on Apple Inc.'s iPod and many other portable music players. The Sunnyvale, Cali From Techno-News Blog on October 12, 2005 at 9:49 a.m..

Intel to Bring Out a Server Chip With Several Processors - LAURIE J. FLYNN, New York Times
The Intel Corporation, the largest semiconductor maker, is expected to unveil on Monday its first server processors that place multiple microprocessors on a single piece of silicon, stepping up its efforts to compete head-to-head with Advanced Micro Devic From Techno-News Blog on October 12, 2005 at 9:49 a.m..

Bradner on Internet wire-tapping
Scott looks at the FCC's decision about how to enforce wiretapping access rules on the Internet. Snippet: The logic that the FCC uses is often rather tortured. For example, it says that a VoIP provider that uses gateways to direct calls to and from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) fits the switching requirement because it "must necessarilyuse a router or other server to do so." Of course, this condition is true of all services offered over the Internet, not just interconnected VoIP. So where should the boundary be? The Thou Shalt Wiretap mandate (the Communications Assistance From Joho the Blog on October 12, 2005 at 9:48 a.m..

Wikipedia: style guide
Wikipedia has a very useful entry on style guides, listing a wide range of different style guides (primarily focusing on writing standards but also covering different areas). To quote: Some organizations other than those above also produce style guides, either... From Column Two on October 12, 2005 at 9:47 a.m..

EBay: No Stun Guns for Big Apple
Customers of eBay have been able to buy stun guns -- some with 50,000-volt capacity -- with no problem. The online auctioneer will now block sales of the weapons to New York residents to abide by state laws. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Einstein's Big Idea Satisfies
Thinking is a hard act to portray with dramatic flair, but this novel, two-hour PBS exploration of the genesis of the general theory of relativity does a game job of it, with some help from wigs and the ghost of Lavoisier. By Jason Silverman. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Apple Posts Best Earnings Ever
Frenzied sales of iPods and computers help the company breeze past its former highs. But even $14 billion in annual revenue isn't enough to impress Wall Street. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Deal Seals Anti-Apple Coalition
Microsoft forks over huge piles of cash to RealNetworks to settle an antitrust lawsuit. Now the longtime rivals can get down to serious business: taking on iTunes. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Making Death True to Life
Director David Cronenberg searches online for tactics to help a Midwestern wimp defend himself in the new film, A History of Violence. First tip: Don't let good manners get in the way. By Frank Rose of Wired magazine. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Honkin' Big Trucks Head to Iraq
A new fleet of massive armored vehicles could withstand battleground blasts from bombs and IEDs. The potentially lifesaving trucks have much in common with South African machines used to enforce apartheid. By John Lasker. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Apple Hones 'One More Thing' Hype
The company's surprise product announcements reveal cult-style paranoia, says one advertising expert. Nonsense, says a former Apple insider: They're just good business. By Pete Mortensen. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Don't Let Fear Kill Muni Wi-Fi
You can count on internet service providers to scream bloody murder -- or bloody cybercrime -- to dampen support for municipal Wi-Fi. But the benefits of free and open access outweigh the risks. Commentary by Jennifer Granick. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Machine Makes Dishes on Demand
Researchers at MIT develop a device that presses out durable plates, cups and bowls at the touch of a button -- then consumes them again after the meal. By Kim Zetter. From Wired News on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Prize to Group That Uses Web to Aid Schools
A nonprofit group that links donors and teachers to supply students with everything from school supplies to money for field trips has won the first Nonprofit Innovation Award. From New York Times: Education on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Truth Test: Is High School Graduation Rate Up or Down?
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Fernando Ferrer, the Democratic challenger, are clashing over an elemental fact: the city's high school graduation rate. From New York Times: Education on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

State Disputes Order to Spend $5.6 Billion on City Schools
A lawsuit accuses Gov. George E. Pataki of failing to comply with a court order to spend $5.6 billion more a year on New York City's public schools. From New York Times: Education on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Tucked in Katrina Relief, a Boon for Online Colleges
A Senate bill proposing assistance for pupils and educators affected by Hurricane Katrina might offer a potential bonanza for profit-making online colleges. From New York Times: Education on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..

Brooklyn High School Is Accused Anew of Forcing Students Out
A nonprofit group charged that Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn has continued to force students out, in violation of the law and the city's pledge. From New York Times: Education on October 12, 2005 at 9:45 a.m..