Posts from — October 2004

Conservatives May Abandon Bush. Of all people who may not vote for Bush, former Congressman Bob Barr? Check out his latest article: Now we have the election of 2004. For the first time in my voting life, the choice in the race for president… [TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]

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yes, the only conservativism bush seems to have is progressive promotion of religion, which isn't conservative at all.

NY Times: Bush 'Utterly Incoherent'. From Saturday's New York Times editorial : And the president was utterly incoherent when asked about whom he might name to the Supreme Court in a second term. His comment about how he didn't want to offend any judges because… [TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]

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bush pursued a primary tactic of name calling….. not suprising.

More on grad/junior faculty relations. via Sharleen Mondal : One thing I don't understand is how junior faculty (who I assume are hired in large part because of their critical thinking skills) can justify cruelty to grad students by stating that they're just treating grad students how they were treated as a grad student. Hearing this “logic” next to perhaps the same person's essay on how we should challenge marginalizing discourses within systems of power seems…well, you get the idea. [Topic Exchange: Channel 'invisible_adjunct']

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nice exchange over on topic exchange about the role of professors in relation to grad students and in the end it is about heirarchy in the professoriate.

Another e-disappointment. In a press release “E-learning attracts the 'usual suspects” the UK Economic and Social Research Council reports that new technology hasn't so far changed the way that adults learn … or tempted more people to become 'learners'. Despite Government efforts… [Designing for Civil Society]

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if you think about how they structured this study… it isn't surprising that they found this result and reported it. if you instead looked at the targetted audience and its growth over the years, i think you would find the opposite results. in short, how you structure your study structures the knowlege it generates.

Third Party Presidential Candidates Arrested at “Debate”. You know, stuff like this really gets my blood boiling and re-affirms my interest in voting for good ol' Ralph in this upcoming election. We all know that the “debates” we've been watching on television aren't public, as they should be, but private events. Not only are the two major parties the only parties represented in these “debates,” but the Commission on Presidential Debates has gone so far as to arrest Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) and David Cobb (Green Party) as they tried to force their way into the debates. [Kairosnews - A Weblog for Discussing Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy]

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being present should not be a problem, if they are disruptive that is something else. i mean they have a right to be heard too… the problem of course for the debates right now is that they are funded by people who would prefer no significant changes, funded by conservative organizations, ie businesses….. businesses are almost always conservative because change costs money.

Digital Libraries: The Catalyst to Transform Teacher Education РCHERYL MASON BOLICK, et al; AACEJ. Digital libraries are changing the way academic disciplines within universities are conceptualized. The nation䴜s scholars are investing their careers and millions of dollars to use technology to rethink the nature of their disciplines. These advances [Online Learning Update]

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probalby not…. or my prediction is that it won't… digital access is transformative, but not in f2f institutions, i think that is pretty clear.

cool toys….

Leading Scientific Publisher Plans to Digitize Content Dating Back 100 Yrs.. From Reuters: “German science publisher Springer Science + Business Media will start in January to put all back issues of… [beSpacific]

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great news!

Ubiquitous Network Societies.

An international experts workshop on Ubiquitous Network Societies will be held in the March/April 2005 timeframe at ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The workshop plans to address a number of questions, including:

• What are the important technical developments that will enable the shift to a ubiquitous communication environment: sensor networks, flexible software platforms, smart devices, RFID, embedded technologies, context-aware technologies?
• What are some of the key sectors for the early application of ubiquitous technologies: e.g. transport, bio-medical?
• What are some of the important public policy mechanisms for encouraging deployment, e.g. spectrum management?
• What is the impact of ubiquitous technologies on the overall telecommunication industry?
• What corporate strategies are optimal for both traditional & non-traditional enterprises in the shift to ubiquity?
• What consumer protection safeguards are required, for instance privacy safeguards?
• How can we ensure social inclusion and diversity in an increasingly ubiquitous technological environment?
• What will be the impact of ubiquitous technologies on the evolution of society and social behaviour?

A background resources website provides a number of related background resources, in particular, on the following subjects: 

• General Resources
• Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
• Consumers, privacy and ubiquitous technologies
• Convergence for ubiquitous networks
• Human-machine communications

[ITU Strategy and Policy Unit Newslog]

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i'm going to try to go to this….

POTUS, Batteries Not Included.. Surely, you don't believe that THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES would cheat during a presidential debate? How could Salon suggest such a thing? No. It can't be. There must be another explanation for the rectangular bulge between his shoulder… [Kathryn Cramer]

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probably true…..