By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. 42 Reasons Normal People Can Switch to Macs
A couple of weeks ago I got my first Mac, a very beautiful new MacBook Pro, courtesy my employer (it was my first hardware expense in almost three years, so I don't feel badly). I planned to use it mostly for video production, but it is a lot nicer to use than my old Windows laptop I'll probably bring it traveling with me. Also, the 320 gig hard drive I bought while in Ottawa just plugs and plays. Funny, though - I managed to crash it on my very first session, playing ultra-low notes in GarageBand. It hasn't crashed since, though, and I've been having fun with it. Next up: Final Cut Studio. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Damaka - Experience the Joy of Communicating with a Twist
Review of what looks to be some pretty good software, a bit like Skype on steroids. I haven't tested it, though, so you're on your own. Anyhow, Luis Suarez summarizes the features of this Windows software, which include VoIP, peer-to-peer video, instant messaging, desktop sharing, whiteboard and more. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Virtual Worlds Shake-Up
Stan Trevena points to and comments on a BBC article describing some overdue changes coming to the MMORPG world (for the rest of you - that's what online 3D looked like before Second Life grabbed all the media coverage). "Lord of the Rings Online is about ready to launch. It is very similar to World of Warcraft and has the potential to bleed off players from WOW." No kidding. A 3D world with something to do in it - what will they think of next? While we're at it, Emma Duke-Williams posts a list of 3D worlds. "We just seem to have drifted into SL exclusively." yeah. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Ajax3d Demo
Um, hmm. 3D using Javascript. It works, but is totally not useful in Firefox on Linux (Firefox on Linux has always has rendering issues, and for some reason it doesn't interrupt the right mouse click properly). Still.... very interesting. More...