By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Harold Jarche[Edit][Delete]: Whither ISD, ADDIE and HPT?, [Edit][Delete] November 7, 2006
This month's Big Question from Learning Circuits is notable mostly for containing more acronyms than words (for the uninitiated, courtesy Harold Jarche, HPT stands for 'Human Performance Technology', ISD stands for 'Instructional Systems Design [or Development]' and ADDIE is a process, 'Analysis, Design, Development, Design, Evaluation', stemming from the Systems Approach to Training (SAT)). The question is, are they relevant? Jarche writes, "The short answer is yes, but not everywhere." And me? I might think about this, but frankly, these concepts don't touch my life and work, never have. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Semantics in HTML - 1. Traditional Semantic HTML
Nice discussion of the concept of semantics in HTML, identifying the different types of meaning imparted by different types of tags. Useful as a prelude to deeper thoughts about the semantics of XML. Via elearningpost. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Greg Sandoval[Edit][Delete]: Visa Halts its Service for allofmp3.com, CNet News.Com [Edit][Delete]CNET News.com [Edit][Delete]CNet News.com [Edit][Delete]CNet news.Com [Edit][Delete] October 20, 2006
The Russian service allogmp3.com offers MP3 downloads at popular music for discount prices - usually about 15 cents per song, rather than the usual 99 cents. It pays royalties on this music to the Russian equivalent of royalty collection companies, however, the music industry has refused to accept these payments. The dispute is not over whether artists are being paid but rather about control. That's what the article means by 'unlicensed'. But it's not illegal in Russia and Visa may need to think twice about its actions here, as people depend on it to guarante transactions, not to act as some sort of self-appointed arm for a sectarian view of copyright law'. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Alfred Essa[Edit][Delete]: The NOSE: Information Technology in Higher Education, The NOSE [Edit][Delete] October 20, 2006
More on the Blackboard patent case. Consider this well: "Can Blackboard sue a user for patent infringement? The answer is yes. According to Professor LaFrance, part of Blackboard's strategy 'probably is to discourage universities from developing their own system...because the threat of litigation could cause some universities to terminate those efforts.'" Essa also talks with John Mayer, Executive Director of CALI (Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mark Glaser[Edit][Delete]: Creative Commons + Flickr = 22 Million Sharable Photos, MediaShift [Edit][Delete] October 20, 2006
In case you haven't noticed. What you should take away from this is that you should not be paying for image libraries any more. Though I imagine that the managers of commercial image libraries are trying to find a way to make photo sharing illegal. Watch for it - a few pre-emptive lawsuits in the U.S. about the representation of a corporate logo on a CC photo, or something like that. Something that could chill the whole marke. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Sonia Arrison[Edit][Delete]: Technology's Impact Depends on Values, E-Commerce Times [Edit][Delete]E-Commerce Times [Edit][Delete] October 20, 2006
I believe this: "Technology leaders should use all the tools they can to promote freedom and prosperity throughout the world, but they should remember that the values they help foster may be more important in changing the world than the gadgets they make." My values are slightly different from the author's, but no matter, the point is right. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Marshall Kirkpatrick[Edit][Delete]: Technorati Announces Support for Open ID, Techcrunch [Edit][Delete] October 20, 2006
This is the tipping point. Expect most major online services to support OpenID (or OpenID 2.0 if people can agree on one) shortly. As Marc Canter opines, by the end of the year. Then look for browser plug-ins to support OpenID, as I have urged. What then. More...