MySmartChannels
Interesting RSS hosting service that allows you to create RSS feeds (and to allow you to require password assess for private RSS feeds) and subscribe to hosted RSS feeds. There's a lot here; you have to create an account and look around to explore. Some of the tech is irksome: the site doesn't display properly on the Firebird browser, the password constraints mean that I will forget my password, and it's constantly opening new windows. But there is some interesting stuff for those who dig, including SOAP access and a nifty way of converting a channel into a Microsoft Smart Tag. More...

iTunes Auction Treads Murky Legal Ground
Some tough questions are being raised by George Hotelling, who is selling a song purchased through the Apple iTunes service in an auction on eBay. The question is: does Hotelling have the right to resell something he has bought and paid for? It is a right that people have had historically for all manner of products, including the right to sell used cars, used homes, used books and used CDs. But what if the asset is digital? Vendors today simply assume that the rules of commerce are now going to change. More...

Microsoft, City to Build School
Its last partnership with private enterprise, a much-maligned contract with Edison Schools, having failed, the City of Philadelphia is turning now to a partner with deeper pockets: Microsoft. More...

Blackboard Expands Reach in Deal to Set Up Chinese Colleges With Its Software
It was a banner day for Blackboard yesterday as the company reached a deal to provide software for the Chinese public-private education company Cernet, which in turn provides software for more than 1,000 universities in the People's Republic. More...

Sidebars
I haven't had time to read the articles in detail, but via Slashdot today came this link to Sidebars, a wonderful publication out of BCIT. I love the 'outside-in' and 'inside-out' theme for the articles. I had a quick look at a few of the articles and found them to be crisp, well written and informative. Have a look. More...

With E-mail Dying, RSS Offers Alternative
Written mostly from the point of view of the content provider, this column argues that as email dies (and it is, without a doubt, very ill indeed), providers should look at RSS as an alternative distribution channel. More...

Sipping Merlot's RSS Feeds
The story of the day is MERLOT's launch of its RSS feeds - 20 in all, featuring new and reviewed resources in nine different subject areas. But the highlight of the day is Alan Levine's scathing criticism of the feeds. More...

RSS to replace email? Nah.
Jon Udell expresses doubt that RSS will replace email. His mail argument is that his current combination of spam filters work fine (though his email account is groaning under the volume). "It would be nuts," he writes, "to throw out the SMTP baby with the spam bathwater," though some tweaking (to verify that the sender is allow to send from that address) amy be needed. I don't agree, and here's why. More...

Leonardo Notebook
Wonderous. That's the only word I can use to describe the experience of reading Leonardo's notebooks online. Well, not 'reading' per se, because my capacity to read the hand-scrawled pages is limited. Still, looking at the actual script and diagrams gives me a thrill, and helps narrow the bounds of years and language that separate us. More...

Hi-tech Tome Takes on Paperbacks
It's like this thing that never dies: the e-book returns with a new brand (Hewlett Packard) and a new sales pitch (it can hold a whole library) but it's still the same single-function device it always was. If you want to do anything with text other than read it, this device is not for you. More...