Me and my Double Helixes
Scroll down just a bit to read this longish article looking at the impact of genetic manipulation on human nature and human freedom. The thesis addressed is the idea that if genetic manipulation is used to overcome human limitations, then the meaning we draw from those limitations will be lost. More...

Weblogging
Interesting bit on weblogs transcribed from PBS's Online Newshour (audio and video feeds are also available). The core message is the use of weblogs to democratize journalism, with a subtext emphasizing their clout and impact, as demonstrated in the unseating of Trent Lott. More...

Open Education: Moving From Concept to Reality
Notes from an online seminar being conducted for members of the open-education.org project. This presentation outlines the history and concept of open content in education, summarizes the DLORN system used to distribute open content, and considers issues related to the management of open content initiatives. More...

Grants Promoting Unfettered Innovation
The focus of this article is the funding of works by charitable foundations, but I would argue that the logic applies equally to government funded initiatives. The author argues that "it's essential that the foundation community recognize a crucial need: to keep tomorrow's information architecture as open, as free for all to use, as possible." The reason for this isn't that the free market is bad; quite the opposite. More...

New Technologies, New Ways to Learn
Replete with resources, this article examines the changing nature of learning as new information and communication technologies are added to the mix. More...

Priming the Pump for Better Classroom Performance
This is an interesting article and worth reading, not because it advances the field to any great degree but because it so vividly illustrates the dangers of working in a vacuum. The story is simple: a Stanford business professor, Paul Romer, developed a tool that assigns and grades student work. Nothing unusual here, though the article makes it sound as though Romer had discovered fire. But thoughout this intervew what emerges most clearly is a lack of awareness of other work in the field. More...

Writing History With Microsoft's Office Lock-in
There's XML and then there's Microsoft XML, and in future Office produces there will be Microsoft XML and user-defined 'arbitrary' XML that can be read by some, but not all, versions of Microsoft Office. More...

Will Plain-Text Ads Continue to Rule?
Jakob Nielsen examines the phenomenon of text-based ads. They have been a success on Google and are beginning to infuse blog-space. I think there are two sides to this story. The first is that, since text-based ads load quickly and don't distract the reader, they are more tolerable. But equally importantly, the Google ads (at least, though not the blog-space ads) are contextually relevant. More...

Copyright
A quick comic-book introduction to the Party line on copyright. More...

Scientists Protest EU Software Patents
What Europe does not need is a U.S. style patent system in which such nebulous concepts as business methods can be owned. This according to a group of high profile European scientists who have launched a protest against proposed reforms to the European patent system. More...