By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Open Media Network
This site, the misleadingly titled Open Media Network, is one part of a wider strategy to see Microsoft DRM technologies become the de facto standard for online multimedia (and in particular, video). More. While it appears that the dawn of free video content has finally arrived, the Microsoft DRM world is a very restricted universe - you have to have Windows, of course, and be using the proper DRM. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Where Have You Gone, Stanley Fish?
Stanley Fish retires and thus concludes his run of columns for the Chronicle of Higher Education. I spent the morning reading a series of remarkable items (a column like this is, after all, the way people used to blog). Among the highlights (in no particular order): The case for academic autonomy, Clueless in academe, Promises, promises, One university under God, and Minimalism. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. We Can Help Bridge the Digital Divide
I agree with the Friends of Development coalition that "that global intellectual property rules must do a better job of meeting the interests of both the developed and developing world." My position is informed by the recognition, as Michael Geist summarizes in this column, that "Canada’s own intellectual property position is closer to the developing world that most might think." It's not simply that we are net importers of intellectual property. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Microsoft launches 64-bit Windows
Every few months I pass along the warning that 64-bit computing is coming soon and that administrators need to be preparing budgets to support the substantial hardware and software transition that will follow. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. For-profit Colleges Attracting More Students, Growing Revenue
Given the increasing demand for higher education and, more importantly, the growth and profits of existing private instutions in a market with limited access and stagnant competitors, how long can it be before the regulatory hold on accreditation is loosened and the floodgates are opened. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Corporate University Exchange
The Corporate University Exchange (CUX) got a nice email from me Friday after sending notice that it has reversed its long-standing policy of requiring user registrations and is now making content freely available on the web. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Allez, Blogs! Allez!
This item speaks for itself. "We discovered blogs in the U.S. in 2001 and wanted to adapt this formidable means of expression for our rising generation," said Skyrock CEO Pierre Bellanger. "The classroom was formerly a closed place but, with mobile phones, it becomes a recordable, open place. The adults do not like it and are lost there." And, "The internet is the most important medium for school kids in France," said Six Apart's Le Meur. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Why Some Social Network Services Work and Others Don't
I think this is right in an important way. "The social networking services that really work are the ones that are built around objects." I've said the same thing elsewhere, but this article makes it clear why this is the case: "social networks consist of people who are connected by a shared object." Now in my way of thinking, the object is itself a stand-in for shared meaning; that's why I call it a semantic social network rather than an object oriented social network. More...
By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Continuous Environmental Scan: Where Do You Get All Your Ideas?
This article describes almost exactly the process I use in my own work, so (naturally) it is well worth passing along. What I like is the author's reference to skill and practice because it suggests (accurately) that with some work it can be done by anyone willing to put in the effort. More...
Frédérique Vidal, ministre de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Innovation et Franck Riester, ministre de la Culture, ont appris avec stupéfaction que Les Suppliantes, pièce d’Eschyle mise en scène par Philippe Brunet, directeur de la compagnie de théâtre antique Démodocos, n’avait pu être jouée en Sorbonne lundi 25 mars./https%3A%2F%2Fprofilepics.canalblog.com%2Fprofilepics%2F1%2F0%2F1076071.jpg)
