College to Address Copyright
It won't be business as usual next year at Ithaca College as instructors will now have to obtain copyright clearance for materials traditionally shared - legally, they thought (probably correctly), under fair use - in student course packs. In addition to the cost, instructors will now have to spend a certain amount of time each year chasing down permissions for thirty or more items. More...
Hung Out to Dry by the Sponsors
Hung Out to Dry by the Sponsors
With WalMart selling sanitized versions of music and video and greater corporate influence reaching intoi affairs of academia and culture, it's worth looking at this cautionary tale about what happens when creativity pushes the edge in a sponsored world. More...
Does the End Justify the Means?
Does the End Justify the Means?
This response to David Weinberger and Doc Searls's article 'World of Ends' challenges some now popular opinions, and especially the idea that value in a network is created at the end, not the middle. More...
Ed Blogging 2003
Ed Blogging 2003
Some highlights for the year in the world of Ed-Blogging. I don't agree with the picks, but hey, if I don't like them, as they say, I should write my own - this is the blogosphere after all. More...
2004: The Turning Point
2004: The Turning Point
In this article I base my projections not on stock prices, sales trends or focus group analysis. More...
In Princetonian's Spare Telling, Class of '33 Drifts Into Winter
In Princetonian's Spare Telling, Class of '33 Drifts Into Winter
"A great strong class," read the byline for many years, though of late the adjective "small" has been added. I never belonged to a "class" the way these Princeton alumni did. More...
New Year, New Way
New Year, New Way
I like this analysis of the use of certain words in news coverage, usage which has bothered me for some time. "To have a chance," writes the author, "we will need to strike the word "taxpayer" from our vocabulary." Quite right. The use of the word 'taxpayer' signifies some sort of special disconnected citizen, one who views any investment into society as a burden. "Citizens are up to something very different," he notes. More...
Top Ten Trends for 2004
Top Ten Trends for 2004
Subtitled: "It's All About Productivity Now. Dramatic Productivity Gains from New Technology Dominate the Landscape." Honestly, if it's all about productivity, I want to pack up my computer and take up a new line of work. These ppredictions by Sam S. Adkins of the Workflow Institute seem well grounded, but they miss the wonderment that defines real change. More...
The Wardriver and the Cop
The Wardriver and the Cop
Cute story about obtaining wireless internet access by parking outside a school. For those haven't memorized the jargon, 'WEP' stands for 'Wired Equivalent Privacy', a security standard for wireless networks, and 'AP' stands for 'Access Point', a place where you can log on to the internet. More...
So, Scrooge was Right After All
So, Scrooge was Right After All
It's still pretty slow out there, so I'm continuing to mix the holiday reading with the e-learning stuff. In this item, the economic advantage of gifts is discounted - you are more likely to get less for your $50 if you exchanged gifts than if you spent the money on yourself. More...