By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Lorcan Dempsey[Edit][Delete]: Flickr and the Library Pictures, January 11, 2006

Interesting item on a collaboration between Flickr and Library Australia which allows people to upload images to the Picture Australia service through Flickr. The tag-line is what's intriguing: "Putting the library in the user environment, rather than expecting the user to be in the library environment. Creating structures for user contribution. Presenting a library service through emerging web and social tools." Yeah. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Bruce Schneier[Edit][Delete]: Real Story of the Rogue Rootkit, Wired News [Edit][Delete]Wired news [Edit][Delete] January 11, 2006

The office is shut down for our big move (which is no joy for me, but that's a different story). So this morning it was down to the dentist, where my results were unusually happy. So, in a slightly less gloomy mood, I walked across the street to the mall, went to the Sony store, and complained about the Sony rootkit to a sales clone. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Shelley Powers[Edit][Delete]: Debate on DRM, Burningbird [Edit][Delete] January 11, 2006

Good discussion of digital rights management. Read past the initial post and into the comments, where the real action happens. I appreciated, though, the author's comments on debate: she's quite right - the A-listers of the world don't debate, they quip - and usually only to each other. But what happens in the comments is a known-down all-out debate, with some knowledgeable people (Seth Finklestein, Julian Bond, Michael Bernstein) who do debate - and on other peoples blogs. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Michael Feldstein[Edit][Delete]: Blackboard by the Numbers, E-Literate [Edit][Delete] January 13, 2006

Michael Feldstein analyzes Jim Farmer's study. "OK. So. Blackboard pays a quarter of a million for a new customer. That's adds up to be more than 30% of the total amount of money that they bring in. How, exactly, do they stay in business? How do they grow?... Blackboard needs to acquire 185 new customers every year to hold steady, 371 to get 5% growth, and so on, up to 742 new customers needed to grow at 15%. How many new customers a year has Blackboard been getting? 152. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Jim Farmer[Edit][Delete]: On the Cost of Selling an Enterprise Learning System, January 13, 2006

A must-read if you are interested in the learning management system (LMS) marketplace. "Using industry-average data, the cost of selling a Blackboard enterprise learning system is estimated to be $259,000 per sale. Analysis of the third-quarter 2005 data estimates this cost at $280,913. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Diana G. Oblinger and Brian L. Hawkins[Edit][Delete]: The Myth about Online Course Development, EDUCAUSE Review [Edit][Delete]EDUCAUSE REVIEW [Edit][Delete] January 13, 2006

The myth is that "A Faculty Member Can Individually Develop and Deliver an Effective Online Course." The authors explain, "Developing and delivering an online course requires numerous and varied skills--skills that are unlikely to be found in a single individual. Teams will probably be more effective." It is interesting to contrast this article with one on the same subject I wrote in 1998. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Brian L. Hawkins[Edit][Delete]: Twelve Habits of Successful IT Professionals, EDUCAUSE Review [Edit][Delete]EDUCAUSE REVIEW [Edit][Delete] January 13, 2006

From the most recent issue of EDUCAUSE Review, this article offers a reasonable - though not perfect - list of factors promoting success for IT professionals (of course, the definition of 'success' here is implicit). Things roll along fine until we hit principle number 5, where the article takes a turn, equating 'success' with (it seems to me) obedience. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Teemu Leinonen[Edit][Delete]: (Learning) Nodes are Here - Still and Again, FLOSSE Posse [Edit][Delete] January 13, 2006

Teemu Leinonen points out that the current bout of scepticism regarding learning objects is a continuation of a longer-running discussion. And the idea of 'object' or 'node', he writes, is already well-enough entrenched on the web. "There is maybe nothing new in the LO thinking. We already have the Web where content is as reusable and modular as it can be. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Teemu Leinonen[Edit][Delete]: Thriftiness is a Virtue - in Learning and Education, As Well, FLOSSE Posse [Edit][Delete] January 13, 2006

The concept in a nutshell: "The whole idea behind the free or libre learning is thriftiness. We can not afford to loose people who are interested in to learn: whatever they do it inside the formal system or informally with content from libraries / Internet and in online discussions with their peers". More...