I don't really get many comments, and I've always wondered about that. Part of it definitely involves commenting on other people's work so they start reading yours and commenting back. That creates an opportunity for people to use AI to support social network optimization (SNO): \"Investigation of 4,929 Substack comments reveals real people using AI agents to comment on their behalf. Data on the 1:1 engagement signal, live Turing tests, canary traps, and what automated engagement means for online writing communities.\" It's not just on Substack. \"On LinkedIn, ghost commenting is an industry. The practice scales. Commenting builds algorithmic visibility without providing a traceable email.\" So comments, I guess, are a bit like money. Great wealth is prima facie evidence of cheating. (p.s. fair warning; I'm pretty sure this article is in large part authored by AI, but of course I can't prove it - but I did learn the definition of 'canary trap' as a result of it, so there's that).
. ", "image":"", "date_published":"2026-04-17T12:39:00-05:00", "author":"Stephen Downes"}, { "id":"79154", "url":"https://www.downes.ca/post/79154", "external_url":"https://blank.page/", "title":"Blank.Page", "content_html":"Another item just for myself. Blank.page is a simple text editor. What makes this somewhat distinct is a voice microphone based input that actually appears to work fairly well. Here's the source on GitHub (had to search for it; it's three months old and might not be fully up to date). There's also a newsletter (with no content yet).
. ", "image":"", "date_published":"2026-04-17T12:18:00-05:00", "author":"Stephen Downes"}, { "id":"79152", "url":"https://www.downes.ca/post/79152", "external_url":"https://graphite.art/?utm_source=the-index", "title":"Free online vector editor & procedural design tool", "content_html":"This is mostly a reminder for myself. Graphite is an open source vector graphics creation and editing tool. You can run it locally in a browser with no login or registration; it exports SVG, PNG, and JPG files. \"Starting life as a vector editor, Graphite is evolving into a general-purpose, all-in-one graphics toolbox that is built more like a game engine than a conventional creative app. The editor's tools wrap its node graph core, exposing user-friendly workflows for vector, raster, animation, and beyond.\" Here's the source on GitHub. There's also a newsletter.
. ", "image":"", "date_published":"2026-04-17T11:51:00-05:00", "author":"Stephen Downes"}, { "id":"79151", "url":"https://www.downes.ca/post/79151", "external_url":"https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2026/4/16", "title":"Can We Teach Critical Thinking", "content_html":"It's always nice to see a reference to my old friend Tim van Gelder (I spent three months on a fellowship with him in Australia in 2001). Here the reference is to Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Lessons From Cognitive Science. In this undated article (a repost from some time in the past) author Althea Need Kaminske summarizes the paper but also slants it to a degree, I think. For example, I don't think that when van Gelder says 'critical thinking requires practice' he is saying \"instruction on critical thinking needs to done explicitly and deliberately.\" I also don't think he is saying critical thinking skills in one domain cannot be transferred to another domain, only that \"students also must practice the art of transferring the skills from one situation to another.\" Critical thinking can be taught, and the skills by their very nature are general and widely applicable, but (says van Gelder) instructors have to do more than teach theory and hope students acquire the skills. Learning critical thinking requires practice.
. ", "image":"", "date_published":"2026-04-17T11:36:00-05:00", "author":"Stephen Downes"}, { "id":"1", "url":"http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm", "external_url":"http://www.downes.ca/news/OLDaily.htm", "title":"OLDaily", "content_html":"OLDaily, HTML edition", "date_published":"2017-05-17T12:08:00-05:00", "author":"Stephen Downes"} ] }