By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. BlogMatrix Sparks
I downloaded and installed this piece of podcasting technology, and while it's not yet everything it could be, it's definitely worth passing along. The idea of Sparks is that it allows users to subscribe to both blogs and podcasts - the application will list all new podcasts for easy listening. But it also allows users to create and upload their own podcasts - I created my own podcast (a review of this software) very easily this afternoon. More...
A Billion Essays
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A Billion Essays
Technorati this week passed the one billion link mark, a number that causes databases to groan and commentators to stare in awe. Will Richardson: "One. Billion. Pieces of Writing. You can't deny the power of that." 8,586 of those are mine - the total number of OLDaily posts. Edu_RSS, meanwhile, has just passed the 90,000 link mark. More...
Podcasting and Vodcasting
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Podcasting and Vodcasting
A definitive white paper, this essay begins with definitions of podcasting and vodcasting, explains how it works, outlines the skill sets required, and lists a number of potential applications. There's enough information in here to enable most people to learn how to podcast, and yet the writing is clear enough to allow non-technical people to follow the description. More...
Golden Swamp
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Golden Swamp
Judy Breck, who wrote the Small World Network Primer I listed yesterday, writes today to let me know that she relaunched her blog, Golden Swamp, about a week ago (the archive lists posts from April, 2004). More...
Creative Archive Licence Group
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Creative Archive Licence Group
Seb Schmoller sends along this link to a new licensing scheme launched in Britain. Pretty clearly modeled on Creative Commons (though you won't find that on the site anywhere, or at least, I couldn't find it), the license offers rights to content created by the BBC, Open University, and other British public institutions. More...
NCQ Talk
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. NCQ Talk
I never link to content from Learning Times because of their login requirement - not simply because readers get enough spam, but also because I have long since forgotten my userid and password (who can keep track of hundreds of accounts?). So it's a bit of a surprise (and possibly temporary) to find this content available on the free and open non-spam internet: NCQ stands for 'Nerd - Canadian - Quaker' and consists of a set of biweekly podcasts along with some supporting documentation. More...
Server.com
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Server.com
Trey Martindale digs up this link to server.com, a site that rpovides hosted applications - such as an RSS aggregator, email service, or discussion board. In the wake of such popular services as GMail, Yahoo Groups and Bloglines there ha emerged a school of thought that such online services represent the 'operating system' of the future. More...
MIT Students Pull Prank on Conference
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. MIT Students Pull Prank on Conference
Everyone has gotten a good giggle over this one. A group of computer science students created a random essay generator, printed out a random essay, and got it accepted at an academic conference. Read the fine print and you see it was accepted as an "unrefereed submission". But still. Pretty funny. More...
Go Test Go
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Go Test Go
Greg Hodgins wrote in to let me know about Go Tests Go, a service that provides online tresting to Java enabled mobile phones. Tests are geared toward professional or scholastic test or exams, such as foreign language certification and are used by students for practice. More...
Brian Lamb, Learning Objects, Wikis, Flickr, RSS-- They Wanted it All (No Fooling)
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Brian Lamb, Learning Objects, Wikis, Flickr, RSS-- They Wanted it All (No Fooling)
As Alan Levine writes, "we got some good things going here." Brian Lamb is dishing out learning chaotic style and people are eating it up. Good presentation summary with numerous links to resources, wiki pages and other arcania. More...