By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Server.com
Trey Martindale digs up this link to server.com, a site that rpovides hosted applications - such as an RSS aggregator, email service, or discussion board. In the wake of such popular services as GMail, Yahoo Groups and Bloglines there ha emerged a school of thought that such online services represent the 'operating system' of the future. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Flickr without the Flash
Description and link to Lickr, a Flash-free alternative to the online photo sharing site, Flickr. Lickr is a site that speaks to me - I complained to Flickr about their Flash interface shortly after their launch. They stayed with Flash, their site was a hit, and they became rich and famous. I'm happy for them, but I still want a Flash-free interface. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Random Images
This little script accesses the random images page on stock.xchng, codifies it into a Javascript and delivers it for display on any web page. Eventually I'll adapt it to Creative Commons or OurMedia images (what these sites don't have is a nice randomizer). My intent here is not to provide random images for the world (so if it overloads my server I will take it down) but to make the script available for others to use. OK, that's the end of my vacation projects - here are some regular links, and I'll catch up with a full newsletter tomorrow. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, April, 2005 [Refer][Research][Reflect]. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Half an Hour
You may recall just before my break I created a script that dynamically rotated my website themes. The purpose here was to create a system that allowed the same themes to be used by multiple websites. So I created this version, running on Blogger. But it also occurred to me as I was doing this that I needed a space to write randomly, on topics that interest me, for myself. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. ID and SCORM
Some good points in this presentation, but author David Wiley takes a stance that is more to the middle of the road for my liking (Scott Leslie calls him a "a lone voice in the wilderness," and he probably is in the ADL crowd, but from my perspective he is more establishment - it's all point of view, I guess). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. ADL Plugfest 9 Proceedings Available, Some Notable Presentations
Scott Leslie links to presentations from the ADL Plugfest held in February and now available online. There is a lot of content here, too much to summarize (because it's too much to read before today's newsletter deadline). More...