Google Is Forcing Social Down Your Throat
This has got to be a mistake, right? "Google Reader's team decided to show your private data to all your GMail contacts. This is now the default, no need to opt-in." I don't use GMail very much so it's not so much an issue. More...

Criminalizing Ripping CDs and Using Wget On Mac Windows and Linux
The story is a bit convoluted, but the upshot is that the RIAA has argued in a U.S. court that ripping your CD and storing the music files on your computer is illegal. This is significant, first, because it defines people as 'pirates' even if they never share music files, and second, because if the definition holds, it makes criminals out of pretty much every person who owns a computer. More...

2007 Faves
I have collected my photos from this year and assembled my favorites into a slide show. I hope you enjoy viewing these as much as I enjoyed taking them. And with that, I bid adieu to 2007 and look forward to 2008. Thank you for your continued readership and for giving me a place to air my thoughts, beliefs and opinions. Stephen Downes, Flickr December 31, 2007 [Link] [Tags: Flickr] [Comment]. More...

Viral Antimarketing in Politically Conservative Talk Radio
I talked a bit last week about some of the techniques of association used by advertisers and political organizations. Susan Smith Nash offers an extended entry on a similar theme, looking at the technique of "antimarketing" on conservative talk radio in the U.S., "when there is deliberate misinformation, or when the buzz is negative." It's not just political. More...

When Information and Interaction Change
I listened to this presentation from George Siemens this afternoon. He associates our attitude toward information with progress in society. "The more broadly we are connected to individuals of diverse viewpoints... the better we understand that subject area." What I like is the relation between the idea of associative trails between people and associative trails between bits of information. More...

Learning 2.0: A Study On the Impact of Web 2.0 Innovations On Education and Training in Europe
From the newsletter: "IPTS will set up a database comprising examples of initiatives that use social computing for learning. We invite all learning stakeholders in Europe to submit information on as many innovative Learning 2.0 projects as possible to our database." I see no reason why people with learning 2.0 projects outside Europe should also submit information. More...

Designing and Developing E-Learning Projects: A Three-Tiered Approach
Saul Carliner excerts from his forthcoming book, The E-learning Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Online Learning , in eLearn magazine, identifying three major types of projects, from small (bronze) to huge (gold). More...

The Apple
Via WikiEducator, a link to yet another educational community, The Apple. Cap Capozzoli writes, "I have joined recently and find that I am only discussing topics with other educators from around the world. Take a look at it if you are interested in joining a network specifically geared towards teachers and education. Some great resources and people!!!" More spreading of the meme, maybe - but it's still worth a look. More...

The End of Religion and the End of School
The parallel between religion and education, at least historically, is clear. I once commented, "Defenders of the faith have to show why a laying of the hands is essential to their art - an impossible challenge, because it amounts to quantifying the aethereal." Which applies equally to the church and to the school. More...

Maybe We All Own the MLE After All
The invalidation of the Blackboard patent riday caught the attention of numerous writers over the week-end. The Chronicle's coverage, which added no new information, was linked by many. Meanwhile, Michael feldstein catches Blackboard playing fast and loose with statistics. More...