The Spoke
Microsoft has very quietly launched a new blogging service, The Spoke, which is, as InfoWorld describes it, " targeted at tech-savvy people in their teens and 20s." According to the article, it's "part of Microsoft's Academic Developer initiative." Interesting. Anyhow, I created my own blog on the service, Downes Contra Microsoft, and began subversive operations immediately, calling for categories on 'Perl' and 'Open Source'. More...
24 septembre 2018
The Spoke
Liability and Federated Identity: Much Ado About Nothing?
Liability and Federated Identity: Much Ado About Nothing?
This is arcane and mysterious business, but so it the stuff behind automated tellers, and look at what an impact they've had. And it's pretty much the same issue: "I guarantee you this is Sally; if I'm wrong, I pay you." Why is this important? Well, federated learning object repository networks are emerging, and guarantees of identity are needed to keep the system secure. More...
Access Barriers in Africa
Access Barriers in Africa
Peter Suber summarizes this nicely: "While there are many opportunities for African universities to receive free or discounted electronic subscriptions to scientific journals, many universities are unaware of them or prevented from taking full advantage of them. More...
Personal Knowledge Mapping And The Concept Of Data Emergence
Personal Knowledge Mapping And The Concept Of Data Emergence
Some worthwhile observations on where previous knowledge management initiatives have gone wrong. More...
Women now lead half the public HE institutions in Utah
Women now lead half of the eight public colleges and universities within the Utah system of higher education, a percentage higher than the national average of female presidents of higher education institutions, writes Monica Levitan for Diverse Education. More...Student backlash over call to end free tuition for Scots
Students have hit out at suggestions that free university tuition in Scotland should end as senior academics questioned the sustainability of the Scottish National Party’s flagship policy. A university principal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “it is time to look at a gradual increase in tuition fees for Scottish students – or at least consider it”, as the current funding model is “unsustainable”, reports The Herald Scotland. More...Universities the weak link when hackers strike Japan
Overseas hackers are thought to have made off with information on Japan's maritime strategy in a March attack on specific people at national universities, which a Nikkei survey has found to be growing targets for their relatively lax security and sensitive knowledge, write Masaharu Ban and Tadao Gen for the Nikkei Asian Review. More...Kenyan university, Chinese to build cancer institute
The University of Nairobi, one of Kenya’s top universities, has signed an agreement with Guangzhou Cherami China-Africa Investment Management to construct and operationalise a cancer institute in Nairobi. The proposed University of Nairobi-Cherami Cancer Institute is envisioned to be the premier cancer diagnosis, treatment and referral centre in Sub-Saharan Africa, reports Xinhua. More...Colleges told they must have counsellors on campus
The Visvesvaraya Technological University in India is taking stress and emotional disturbances among its students seriously – all its affiliated colleges have been told that they must have counsellors on the campus. The order is: Counsel the students and hand-hold them in all times of difficulty and give them career advice, writes Kumaran P for the Bangalore Mirror. More...100% completion of student sexual harassment training
Harvard College mandated for the first time this year that undergraduates complete an online sexual harassment training, or else face consequences. Failure to complete the module, college administrators warned over the summer, would result in students being barred from enrolling in classes, writes Jamie D Halper for The Harvard Crimson. More...
