Monday, June 10, 2002

Four news items from today's CETIS update #

I read CETIS to keep up with the latest on standards development in educational technology standards.  From today's update (which is unusually rich): June 10, 2002 IMS Learning Design specification clears first hurdle The IMS Learning Design specification has passed the first stage in the process of being released by IMS. June 10, 2002 CampusSource - a European OKI? CampusSource is an open-source initiative from Germany, with strong parallels with MIT's Open Knowledge Initiative. June 10, 2002 CanCore produce survey of learning object metadata implementations CanCore, the producers of a profile of IMS Metadata for use in Canada, have released a survey of metadata implementations. The survey covers application profiles (like CanCore itself), metadata creation tools, and repositories. June 10, 2002 ADL release updated sample run-time environment for SCORM 1.2 The Advanced Distributed Learning Network (ADLNet) have released a new version of its Sample Run-Time Environment (RTE) for SCORM 1.2.   Posted by Raymond Yee on 6/10/02; 11:19:33 AM from the Unclassified dept. Discuss

Battle over the future of broadband #

From Salon: The trend profoundly concerns consumer advocates and some Internet policy experts. They warn that if the FCC goes through with its plans, cable companies and the Baby Bells will quickly establish a monopoly on broadband service over their own networks. Consumers accustomed to thousands of competing ISPs to choose from for dial-up narrowband Internet access will be left with just one or two options for broadband service. One worry is that the lack of competition will yield high prices and poor service. But the far more urgent concern is that media conglomerates will use their control over broadband pipes to restrict access to content, information, or technologies that compete with their own content or otherwise threaten their interests. Good news from new technology developments?  From The New York Times:  At the core of their plan is the inexpensive wireless data standard known as Wi-Fi or 802.11b, which is already shaking up the communications industry, threatening to undermine the business plans of cellular phone companies by offering a much cheaper method for mobile access to the Internet. The pair's company, known as Etherlinx, has taken the 802.11b standard and used it to build a system that can transmit Internet data up to 20 miles at high speeds — enough to blanket entire urban regions and make cable or D.S.L. connections obsolete. You can also read the associated Slashdot thread on this article.   Posted by Raymond Yee on 6/10/02; 11:15:07 AM from the Bach dept. Discuss

I miss teaching at ATDP #

Thanks, Lloyd, for reporting on the ATDP orientation this last Saturday.  Boy, do I miss teaching at ATDP, which was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in my last twelve years in Berkeley.  (Well, I won't be completely missing ATDP since I hope to come guest lecture in Lloyd's Advanced Internet class.) I'm glad that both a philosophy and world religions class are being offered this year.  (I taught The Nexus of Newton and Nietzsche for two summers which was a blend of a class in philosophy, world religions, social analysis, and critical reading of texts.) I'm very glad that Laura is also teaching this summer (The Writing Process) and was "excited, nervous" to meet her students.    Posted by Raymond Yee on 6/10/02; 11:06:55 AM from the Unclassified dept. Discuss

SF Chronicle: Reagan, Hoover, and the UC Red Scare #

This report on the FBI's involvement at UC should be closely read as Americans considering expanding the resources given to the FBI in the current post-9/11 world.  Some key conclusions from the report But as the Cold War waned, the FBI departed from its mission of protecting national security and engaged in sprawling covert intelligence operations that involved thousands of UC students and faculty participating in legitimate debate about public policy. For years the FBI has denied engaging in such activities at the university. But a 17-year legal challenge brought by a Chronicle reporter under the Freedom of Information Act forced the FBI to release more than 200,000 pages of confidential records covering the 1940s to the 1970s. Those documents describe the sweeping nature of the FBI's activities and show they ranged far beyond the campus and into state politics. The FBI records -- in addition to other official papers and scores of interviews with current and former FBI agents and university officials -- reveal that the FBI: conspired with the head of the CIA and a senior member of the university's Board of Regents to pressure the board to "harass" faculty and students involved in protests, misled the White House by sending the president information the bureau knew to be false, and mounted a covert public relations efforts to manipulate public opinion about campus events and embarrass university officials. Along the way, the FBI campaigned to destroy the career of UC President Clark Kerr -- even though the bureau's own investigations repeatedly found him to beloyal. At the same time, the FBI forged a close relationship with Reagan -- a more aggressive informer than previously disclosed -- catalyzing his transformation from liberal movie star to the staunch conservative who became one of the 20th century's most powerful figures.   Posted by Raymond Yee on 6/10/02; 10:55:24 AM from the Unclassified dept. Discuss

IMLS Report on Tech Use in Libraries and Musuems #

A must read for our project.  From the executive summary: This section first presents key cumulative findings of the survey that measured technology use and digitization activities by museums and libraries. It then presents a series of tables and graphs that compare survey responses by museums and libraries based on a variety of categorizations. The most significant of these categorizations is the one on which most sections of this report are based: museum, public library, academic library, and State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA). Further categorizations are by such measures as budget size, size of populations served, and current extent of technology use and digitization. [link via BENTON-COMPOLICY list]   Posted by Raymond Yee on 6/10/02; 10:47:35 AM from the Unclassified dept. Discuss

Cringely: More Microsoft shenanigans #

I must say that I quite enjoy Robert X. Cringely's weekly "Notes from the field".  From the latest: Microsoft rewrites Another spy said Microsoft asked him to write a white paper for distribution outlining why one of its products is head and shoulders above the competition -- and to write a shorter piece for internal Microsoft use only. "Obviously, the marketing folks want to be able to point to so-called 'independently done' research that proves their stuff is better, but the engineers actually wanted to hear the truth," my spy said. Last week I reported on growing suspicions that Microsoft's XP online update system is wreaking havoc on Sony laptops. Add IBM to that list, as another spy reported this week an infliction against an IBM ThinkPad that rendered his system helpless. My spy even had to return the notebook to Big Blue when he couldn't restore the OS.   Posted by Raymond Yee on 6/10/02; 10:44:43 AM from the Unclassified dept. Discuss