Technology
gregladen | September 2, 2008Speaking at LIFT 2007, Sugata Mitra talks about his Hole in the Wall project. Young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own -- and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves?
In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.
In the…
clock | September 2, 2008In Business Week:
That is why isolating people in organizational silos is one of the biggest obstacles to innovation. Companies that are serious about innovation do everything possible to break down silos and encourage communication and collaboration across the organization and beyond.
But read the rest of the article as well. Sound familiar to any of you?
clock | August 31, 2008Just as I posted this clip about the way kids use blogs and social networks, David Warlick posted this intriguing analysis of the way kids use online technologies. Dave posted an interesting graph that shows that kids assess that they acquire various skills equally in school and in off-school online environments.
What?
Yes, there used to be a time when you went to school to learn A, B and C: facts, learning skills, social skills with peers, and then went home to learn skills D, E and F: how to deal with adults, perform acts of personal hygiene, and learn to do household chores.
But today, the…
jlynch | August 30, 2008Sheril has just announced that Barak Obama has answered fourteen questions posed by the Science Debate 2008 team. I haven't had a chance to read his responses yet, so wander on over yourself to see what he has to say.
clock | August 29, 2008Online maps 'wiping out history':
Internet mapping is wiping the rich geography and history of Britain off the map, the president of the British Cartographic Society has said.
Mary Spence said internet maps such as Google and Multimap were good for driving but left out crucial data people need to understand a landscape.
Mrs Spence was speaking at the Institute of British Geographers conference in London.
Google said traditional landmarks were still mapped but must be searched for.
Ms Spence said landmarks such as churches, ancient woodlands and stately homes were in danger of being forgotten…
clock | August 26, 2008
Thanks Bill for drawing my attention to iNaturalist which has the makings of an awesome site!
What is it?
It is essentially a Google Map where people can add pins every time they see an interesting critter: a plant, fungus, animal, etc. What is recorded is geographical coordinates and time when it was posted.
Moreover, people can link from the pins to pictures of the sighted critters if they upload them on Flickr (nice way to interlink existing social networking sites instead of reinventing the wheel). And they can put additional information, e.g., description of the habitat where they saw…
clock | August 26, 2008Judge Rules That Content Owners Must Consider Fair Use Before Sending Takedowns:
A judge's ruling today is a major victory for free speech and fair use on the Internet, and will help protect everyone who creates content for the Web. In Lenz v. Universal (aka the "dancing baby" case), Judge Jeremy Fogel held that content owners must consider fair use before sending takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA").
clock | August 25, 2008Science promotion is not science outreach, damn it!:
We've all encountered this: the science communication department at a large university is usually devoted to marketing the research of that particular university. The so-called "outreach" products of such departments - the public talks, articles, and events for school groups - are all forced to suit this purpose. Mediocre research is described in glowing terms as "world-class" or "ground-breaking". Poor communicators are put forward again and again so that they can be seen as a leader in their field.
This is promotion, not outreach.…
clock | August 25, 2008
[Comic strip taken from Unshelved]
The anti-technology curmudgeons are back. Not just worrying about technology in classrooms (for which Dave has a great response), but culture in general.
Nice to see a couple of good responses to the doom-and-gloom crowd.
First we: DIGITAL_NATIVES by Jonathan Imme:
There used to be a time when we would be called 'nerds' or 'techies'. Strange people with a near-obsessive compulsion to embrace new technology, and who'd rather communicate with their friends online than offline. People for whom the Internet itself was the ultimate source of information for…
clock | August 24, 2008You know I am excited about Carrboro Creative Coworking. Looking at the pricing list which was released today, I think there will be a place for me there I can afford....
clock | August 24, 2008I love the way Web works! So, I was on FriendFeed earlier today and I saw through this link there that Paul Jones posted a note on Pownce (on which I am registered but never check) about this article in Raleigh N&O:
An iPod Touch for each student?
A Chapel Hill middle school could become the first in the country to give an iPod to every teacher and student, an experiment that would challenge teachers and administrators to ensure the hand-held devices are used as learning tools, not toys.
It's still not clear how the iPod Touches would be used at Culbreth Middle School. And school…
clock | August 24, 2008Links by Myrna the Minx, something for you to bookmark and use. I'll probably use FriendFeed and visit some of my favourite blogs (including Pam and the Blenders who will be there - see the NYTimes article about the bloggers at the Convention).
clock | August 23, 2008I have no competing interests, nobody is paying me to say nice things, but I have helped set up a CollectiveX group site and it was easy and I like its functionality a lot:
drorzel | August 23, 2008To: Windows Vista
From: Chateau Steelypips
Please note that when I change your settings, I do it for a reason. You do not need to be aware of the reason, just know that there is one.
In particular, when I change the "Windows Update" setting to something other than "Install updates and automatically restart any damn fool time you please," that means that I do not want you to install updates and restart unless I specifically tell you to do so. I don't care how "critical" the updates are, I don't care how many days it's been since the last time I updated-- I'm the one who decides when you…
clock | August 22, 2008Watch what Clay Shirky said at Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008 (transcript here):
The quote that everyone likes, for a good reason, is the following:
I was having dinner with a group of friends about a month ago, and one of them was talking about sitting with his four-year-old daughter watching a DVD. And in the middle of the movie, apropos nothing, she jumps up off the couch and runs around behind the screen. That seems like a cute moment. Maybe she's going back there to see if Dora is really back there or whatever. But that wasn't what she was doing. She started rooting around in the cables. And her…
clock | August 22, 2008Vedran keeps cranking these at an incredible rate (the first numbers indicate these aggregators are quite comprehensive and the feedback is that they are useful) - here is the latest one: Aggregator of RSS feeds about Gynecology
clock | August 22, 200812 New Rules of Working You Should Embrace Today. As you know, point #4 is one of my pet peeves:
4. People don't have to be in an office. This is the one I wish most businesses would get, right now, right away. It's so obvious once you get away from the traditional mindset. Traditionally, people worked in offices (and of course most still do). They go into the office, do their work, go to meeting, process paperwork, chat around the watercooler, clock out and go home.
These days, more and more, that's not necessary. With mobile computing, the cloud, online apps and collaborative processes,…
jlynch | August 21, 2008With the recent tragic loss of over 150 lives in Madrid, the following strikes me ...
American Airlines deliberately flew two planes 58 times in December that it knew had broken parts and thus could be unsafe in certain situations. For this - and improper drug and alcohol testing - the FAA fined the company $7.1M. That, frankly, is ridiculous.
American should have been put out of business. Yes, air travel is safer than any other form of travel, but when accidents happen they can, and do, have large death tolls. If a company puts its customers at risk, that company should not be allowed…
clock | August 20, 2008Jessica reminds us that several scientists and geeks (i.e., Web designers and programmers) are running for various political offices this year. Some of them even got together on an ActBlue Geek Page.
Of them all, I particularly like the savvy campaign ways of Sean Tavis who is running for Kansas State House, trying to displace a Creationist, anti-woman Neanderthal from that seat. Both Kevin Z and Ed Cone noted his online savvy and ability to raise funds online by using the Web well. Listen to this NPR story about this and read his XKCD-style stick-figure cartoons.
And if you want to donate…