Third Pan-Canadian E-learning Workshop
Video from the CANARIE e-learning forum is now available. It's in Real Media format, so I wasn't able to view it. More...

RSS: A Quick Start Guide for Educators
Introduction to RSS for educators that is receiving wide praise in the blogosphere. Provides instructions not only on how to set up an RSS reader but also ideas on how to use RSS in the classroom. More...

File Swappers Win Big
A Canadian judge shoots at the music industry's legal case and leaves nothing but chicken feathers... woo hoo! "But then, after the industry's case was already weak and wobbly at the knees, he delivered the knockout punch: According to the judge, there is no compelling evidence that either downloading or sharing of digital music files is even illegal. In other words, regardless of the other flaws in the industry's case, the CRIA didn't have a leg to stand on in the first place." More. More...

More Corporate Blogging Resources
The theme of most advice to corporations considering an excursion into blogging - if you believe, say, Microsoft's Robert Scoble or Six Apart's Mena Trott, is "be honest" - in other words, a complete break from the usual practices in corporate communications. More...

WebFeat technology powers ISI Web of Knowledge Cross Search
It is interesting to see Thomson's ISI Web of Knowledge in the race to archive and index open access databases. The service is now up to eleven databases and climbing. I think this is a good development - I have long argued that free online resources should be offered alongside commercial resources, and that publishers are doing their best to keep the free competition out of the marketplace. More...

Metadata Resources Guide
I don't think I've run this item before. Even if I have, it's worth passing along again. This metadata guide is a comprehensive list of resources (especially government resources) dealing with different metadata standards and application profiles. More...

Heritage Projects : A Different Perspective
This article describes how the National Research Council's Institute for Information Technology is using broadband access and such things as 3D modelling to create new ways to experience Canadian culture. More...

Use of Browser Cookies to Store Structured Data
The patent listed here isn't as broad as depicted in Good Morning Silicon Valley, where it is represented as a "patent on cookies", but it's pretty broad and could cause widespread disruption. More...

The 2003 E-readiness Rankings
When a similar was issued last year I wrote a longish paragraph critical of the methodology. The same criticisms apply this year of this report, which irrationally places Australia ninth and Canada tenth. More...

Why Pay For A CMS When You Can Get It For Free?
Pretty simple advice, which I enthusiastically endorse. The author writes, "If she put on the green eyeshades, she would realize that she could save the entire cost of the CMS system while providing the faculty and students with better function." If university officials are wondering where to find out about free content management systems (because, of course, they do not advertise nor submit their software for review by the popular consultants), here is a site that lets people take them for a test drive. More...