Skype re-visited

When I first picked up on Skype in September 2003, I wrote the following: “I just hope they haven’t missed the boat… people would have killed for this in the mid-90’s when Voice-over-IP was hot and VoxChat, iPhone, and some of the other radical companies were breaking new ground. If this works as promised, then someone will have to outlaw it… always a good test!” (full entry here).

Well guess what: (a) they did not miss the boat; (b) they are that good that there will probably be the legal battles I predicted. For instance, see Leigh Phillips on ‘Skype vs FBI?’.

Anyway, Skype’s combined quality, easy of use, and cool feature set (no-brainer impromptu conference calls, calls to landlines and mobile phones on the way) make it a winner.

Blog Software Breakdown:
“This chart displays attributes of different user-installed blog software packages side-by-side for comparison. Only server-installed scripts will be included in this list. (Sorry, no Radio, Blogger, etc.) I created this chart to help figure out what blog tool best suited my needs. Hopefully, it will be useful to the self-hosted blogging community as well.”

Blog Software Breakdown:
“This chart displays attributes of different user-installed blog software packages side-by-side for comparison. Only server-installed scripts will be included in this list. (Sorry, no Radio, Blogger, etc.) I created this chart to help figure out what blog tool best suited my needs. Hopefully, it will be useful to the self-hosted blogging community as well.”

Blog Software Breakdown:
“This chart displays attributes of different user-installed blog software packages side-by-side for comparison. Only server-installed scripts will be included in this list. (Sorry, no Radio, Blogger, etc.) I created this chart to help figure out what blog tool best suited my needs. Hopefully, it will be useful to the self-hosted blogging community as well.”

JIME: The Educational Semantic Web

Just out: a special issue of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education on The Educational Semantic Web, May 2004. All online (including high-quality PDFs to print out if you want ‘em), with extremely perceptive articles, commentary, counter-commentary, and living argumentation threads embedded throughout the journal.

Here’s one of the cogent commentaries by Rod Sims, just for a taste:

“Similar projections were made for the PLATO system in 1979, where users, networked across the world, would be able to access ‘over 10,000 hours of computer-based learning resources’. There were also comparable promises made with the release of HyperCard in the 1980s. From my perspective, each new generation of digital technology has provided the opportunity for a new generation of researchers and developers to create new strategies and systems for learning with technology. But too often it seems, lessons learned from the past appear forgotten.”

But I’ve quoted him out of context, and context is everything, as he and many of the authors rightly argue. Needless to say, don’t take my word for it: go read it.

RDFMapper Version 2.0: “RDFMapper is a web service that searches an RDF or RSS file for resources with geographic locations, and returns a map overlayed with dots representing located resources. Clicking on a dot displays a web page representing the clicked resource”

RDFMapper Version 2.0: “RDFMapper is a web service that searches an RDF or RSS file for resources with geographic locations, and returns a map overlayed with dots representing located resources. Clicking on a dot displays a web page representing the clicked resource”

RDFMapper Version 2.0: “RDFMapper is a web service that searches an RDF or RSS file for resources with geographic locations, and returns a map overlayed with dots representing located resources. Clicking on a dot displays a web page representing the clicked resource”

CNN.com: Dog DNA shows influence of man:
“a surprising 30 percent of genetic differences among dogs can be accounted for by a few hundred years of intense inbreeding — far more than the so-called racial differences between humans”

CNN.com: Dog DNA shows influence of man:
“a surprising 30 percent of genetic differences among dogs can be accounted for by a few hundred years of intense inbreeding — far more than the so-called racial differences between humans”