By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Banno, et.al.[Edit][Delete]: Private Language, Philosophy Forums [Edit][Delete] July 11, 2006
Can there be a private language, that is, a language that you think in, but never speak to anyone else? According to Wittgenstein, there cannot be, because you would never know whether you are using it correctly. Language is, therefore, an irreducibly public phenomenon. Is it the same with knowledge? Can there be private knowledge? It seems there must be, doesn't there - after all, only you can know whether or not you are actually in pain. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Chris Barlas[Edit][Delete]: Digital Rights Expression Languages (DRELs), Jisc [Edit][Delete]JISC [Edit][Delete] July 7, 2006
Very good article written for JISC on digital rights expression languages (DRELs), a set of languages aptly described as ways of codifying "instructions for digital rights management systems". People familiar with DRELs may want to skip directly to part 9, which describes the author's projections on the role of DRELs in the future, though the paper is sufficiently up to date readers may find it useful to look at things like the description of DReaM-MMI, which was only made public in March of this year. I like the distinction between enforcement and trust systems, but I think the article cedes too much to the DMCA-style regulations allowing distributors to supersede fair use provisions. It is not mentioned, for example, that only 59 nations have signed the WIPO provisions in this regard, so it is hardly a 'world standard', as implied in the text. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Dave Munger[Edit][Delete]: Language and Time: More on Whether the Future is Literally in Front of Us, Cognitive Daily [Edit][Delete] June 20, 2006
This is worth bringing up, for those who believe that we all perceive one and the same reality. The basics of such a reality are space and time, right? But: "English-speakers have two conflicting representations of time. The 'ego-moving' metaphor suggests that we are moving forward through time, so 'forward' implies a later date. The 'time moving' metaphor suggests that time is like a conveyer belt, on which events move from the future to the past, so 'forward' implies an earlier date." It's easy to say we cannot debate the reality of space and time. But as soon as you press the question as to what these are, our apparent consensus falls apart. More...