By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Understanding the Greasemonkey Vulnerability
If you haven't heard, Greasmonkey - a Firefox extension that allows you to write DHTML scripts that apply on remote pages - was discovered to have a major vulnerability. Never exploited (it was discivewred by Greasmonkey developers themselves) it is nonetheless serious enough to require that all Greasemonkey users update immediately. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. A Networked, Media-Rich Programming Environment...
There's a lot here, but follow this line of thinking: imagine that there is a language, but instead of words, this language is made up of small computer programs called 'blocks'. Imagine that these blocks can be combined to express thoughts. And that they don't just have to be organized in a sequence, but can be set up in patterns, inserted into common appliances, used, indeed, anywhere we might use a word today. Imagine a network that allows people to automatically send and receive blocks in predefined configurations and places. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Border Crossings: Reflections on a Decade of Metadata Consensus Building
Good overview of the challenges inherent in building a metadata standard, and specifically, Dublin Core, in this case by Stuart L. Weibel as he leaves the DCMI management team. A primary challenge is metadata creation itself. "Who wouldn't want to spend an extra few minutes (creating metadata) with so much already invested?" As it turns out, almost nobody. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. The Next Evolutionary Step in DVD Rentals: Redbox
The interesting thing about Redbox is not that it is offering one dollar DVD rentals. No, it is that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonalds Restaurants. The rental cost, of course, is mostly for the infrastructure - the plastic disks, the retail outlets, the processing. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
The July issue of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning is now available. My essay, The Economy of E-Learning, is published in this edition. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Predicting the Evolution of Digital Rights, Digital Objects and DRM
This paper (and slides) is the highlight of the the recent ODRL conference, held in Lisbon. The author succinctly captures what makes digital commerce so hard: "Information is not a thing. Some patterns don't just move from place to place. They reproduce. They spread. They evolve." Well, how do you assert rights over that? How do you even describe it. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Birds Imitate Mobile Phone Ring Tones
So if a bird hears someone's telephone and learns to imitate the ring tone, and then you go out and record the bird singing that particular song, and then install the recording on your own telephone, is that piracy. More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Mososo
The key to mobile social software (mososo) seems to be not mobility per se but location-based services. "The basic idea of a MoSoSo is to overlay a location and time element to the idea of digital networking. So it enables you to find people in your vicinity and at that time for social, sexual/dating or business networking. It's worth noting that the time variable is often overlooked in analysis of MoSoSo dynamics". More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. HotGigs Offers E-Learning to Independent Contractors, Staffing Companies, Employers
Interesting lead: "HotGigs, the Contract Talent Marketplace, today launched thousands of business, professional, and technical e-learning courses on its Web site." Of course, when you issue a press release like that, you should follow up by actually putting the courses on your page (or, at least, some mention of them). More...

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. List of FP5 & FP6 projects
This list just goes on and on with dozens of projects funded by the European Fifth and Sixth Frameworks. Everything from The 5th Dimension (Learning Communities in a Global World) to WINDS (Web-based Intelligent Design tutoring System). More...