Links 04/10/08
When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information and all kinds of mystery about humankind, you can’t survey that going through page after page without a sense of awe. I can’t help but look at those pages and have a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God’s mind.
Francis Collins describes more in his book The Language of God.
TED: Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis
Al Gore delivers another fine presentation about climate change and what can be done about it.
Ars Technica - Blogging meets literary analysis: why people read blogs
Many studies have been conducted about why people blog, but I think this topic is far more interesting. What is it about blogs that keep people engaged? I hope more studies like this are conducted in the future.
Londonist - “Rape is Like Being Force-Fed Chocolate Cake” Blogs BNP Official
This is beyond outrageous. Conservative British National Party member Nick Eriksen has this to say about the concept of marital/date rape:
Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal…To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting force-feeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence.
Then again, this is the same commendable person who has also said this:
Some women are like gongs — they need to be struck regularly.
I can't seem to find out if this guy is married. I'm guessing not.
YouTube - Cheney in 1994 on Iraq
If only he had listened to his own advice later.
Links 12/21/07
NYT: Apple Rumor Site to Shut Down in Settlement
What exactly did Apple gain in pursuing this to begin with? It sure isn't good PR...
Ars Technica: Exclusive: Retail chain scalping Wii allotment on eBay
Ars breaks a story on a chain of gaming stores that are not selling Wiis in their storefronts. Rather, they are putting them straight onto eBay at a nearly 100% markup. While not outright illegal, this is certainly no way to gain consumer trust.
Currently, the accused retailer has an official response on its website's front page. Check it out.
Ars Technica: RIAA writes its own "news" for local TV stations
My love for the RIAA never wanes, so I have to pass this piece along about a somewhat factually-sketchy informercial the organization wants aired in news broadcasts.
I think this quote sums it up well:
For an industry already the target of so much consumer suspicion, feeding misleading claims and self-serving footage to ostensibly objective "news" outlets just doesn't seem like a great idea.
Blogging and Professionalism
The Issue
A while ago, Ars Technica ran an interesting piece about the dangers of your online identity to potential employment opportunities, and they recently followed up with another article about the issues facing teachers who blog or participate in social networking. Due to the high scrutiny teachers are held under – especially in regards to student/teacher interactions – online activities could lead to a perception of misconduct or the potential therefore. This may sound like stretching, but such feelings have led the Ohio Education Association to discourage any teachers from participating in online communities.From the Ars article:
...The Ohio Education Association (OEA) has sent out a memo to teachers in the state, discouraging them from maintaining public profiles at all.
"While this advice might seem extreme, the dangers of participating in these two sites outweigh the benefits," the memo read, according to the Columbus Dispatch. "Because of the high standards placed on school employees and the risk of job and career loss, the OEA recommends avoiding even the appearance of impropriety."
The article continues, citing that online content can be used against Ohio teachers:
The flier also pointed out that anything found online could be used at evidence in disciplinary hearings. Teachers who post too much information online could risk disciplinary action or even lose their licenses, said the director of the Office of Professional Conduct in the Ohio Department of Education, James Miller.
Finally, the article discusses the risks of a student setting up a fake profile for a teacher online that could lead to a damaged reputation.
My Take
Addressing the problems of fakes initially, I seriously doubt that teachers avoiding online social activities such as blogging will prevent a student from setting up a fake profile for you somewhere. This is a risk regardless of your internet habits. However, if you do regularly blog or participate in social networking sites, you will probably be more likely to discover a malicious profile than if you completely abstain from such activities. In this case, I think the Ohio Education Association is naïvely incorrect. Let's face it, who will be more likely to defend themselves from a fraudulent online profile: a teacher who is savvy in social networking or one who only uses the the internet to look up recipes and cute pictures?As far as blogging goes, here are some general guidelines I follow:
- I seldom post about work. When I do, it's
usually something pretty mundane, and I never, ever
will use this blog to verbally attack any of my
coworkers or direct administrators. I will
occasionally post about larger issues in my field
of work for which I carry a strong opinion, but
those posts will never target things going on at my
specific employment location.
- I try to keep things pretty clean around here.
There may be content you disagree with. I may even
upset you at times. However, there is nothing on
this site that you could define as impropriety. I
will even tag a link post if it contains any
potentially offensive language or content.
- This site and my other online activities focus
on my life outside education. I have diverse
interests that I don't have the freedom to share
and explore in an education setting. This is the
venue in which I express these.
- I don't talk to my students online. Some of my kids have found this site. Really, it's pretty boring for them, but I do have a standing policy that I will never email or IM with my students. Sorry kids, you get me at school. We might run into each other at the mall, but that's it.
I do believe potential employers and administrators have a responsibility in this as well. Quite simply, check the context in which something was written, and this includes the date. I know that I've been active in online communities since I was a teenager, and some of that stuff will surface if you search for me on Google. This is very likely true for other bloggers as well. Before you decide to hold something over someone's head, check to see if it's even relevant anymore. Chances are that you don't like being judged by things you did or said when you were seventeen. Don't do that to others.
My online identity is an integral part of who I am. If you are an administrator or a potential employer looking at this, great. Seriously. Feel free to ask me about this site. I'll talk your ear off about what I do here. In fact, you will find out more about me by spending an afternoon on this site than you will by asking me questions. Yes, I do believe that one must be careful if he or she chooses to engage in online networking, but outright prohibition may be a bit extreme. Just behave responsibly online, and you won't have much to worry about.
Links 11/04/07
Nate Anderson covers an interesting story about a man named Philip Smith who was taken to court for defamation after blogging about a bad experience he had with an eBay listing company. The court sided with Smith, saying he was acting as a journalist in his writing.
From the article:
"The fact that Smith reports negatively about his experience with BidZirk does not dictate that the article's function or intent was not news reporting or news commentary," wrote the judge. Furthermore, he noted explicitly that "some bloggers are without question journalists."
I wrote about this same topic some time ago in a case of Apple versus some bloggers, and I'm happy to see this precedent continue. I still say that many blogs provide a clearer an more unbiased picture of the world than many members of the mainstream media.
Daring Fireball: Apple Needs a Nikon
Speaking of bloggers who qualify as journalists, John Gruber writes about the benefits of having a true competitor and how Apple has no real competitor in terms of design – especially in the realm of portable music players. I keep hoping the Zune will put some heat on Apple, but I'm not holding my breath.
Storie di Apple: Discs, filesystems and Macs - Interview with Drew Thaler
This is a very insightful interview with Drew Thaler who worked at Apple during the OS 9 to OS X transition. He now works for Sony of PS3 game filesystems. Topics include CD/DVD burning development on Macs, iTunes, ZFS, font rendering, and working with Steve Jobs. It's a good time to be had by all.
1UP.com Review: Super Mario Galaxy
I'm excitied about too many games right now to be this broke. From the article:
In short, Galaxy is one of the most impressive, engrossing games in recent memory -- and quite the contrast to the rest of this year's triple-A gaming crop, which tends toward the dark, the M-rated, and the first-person perspective...Galaxy proves that Mario matters just as much today as he did 25 years ago, and that makes him one of a kind in this medium. But don't play Galaxy simply because Mario is the timeless godfather of gaming. No, play Galaxy because it's fantastic.
Links 06/29/07
The iPhone site got a makeover today. Gone is the black spartan appearance. Now it looks a lot like the iPod + iTunes page.
Ars Technica: Notebook mania leads to revised PC market projections
As notebooks prove themselves more and more capable of replacing desktops for most people – with the exception of serious power users – I expect this trend will continue.
Copyblogger: Do You Make These Mistakes When You Write?
Coppyblogger reminds us of some common grammar mistakes many are guilty of (including myself).
Presentation Zen: One secret to a healthy life (and a great presentation)
The problem with most presentation is that they are too long, not too short. Performers, for example, know that the trick is to leave the stage while the audience still loves you and don’t want you to go, not after they have had enough and are "full" of you.
Blogging and Journalism
Weblogs – more commonly known as blogs – come in a variety of flavors. Many are casual daily journals that act as online diaries. Some have specific topics such as law, technology, or politics. Others are aimed at professional development and self improvement. A few are just pleasantly quirky (yet intelligent). Additionally, many blogs, like my own, fall into multiple categories simultaneously. With over seventy million blogs representing peoples from all over the world, the blogging community has became a force difficult to ignore.
Fortunatley, according to a recent Ars Technica story, (also linked to in my Links Blog), the House of Representatives is beginning to realize the importance of the blogging community and the journalistic potential of the individuals involved.
From the article:
Instead of requiring journalists to be tied to a news organization, the bill now defines "journalism" to focus more on the function of the job: "the gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public."
Traditionally, one has had to be associated with an established media outlet (i.e. News Corp., CNN, The Wall Street Journal, etc.) to be considered a "real" journalist with all the rights and responsibilities associated with the label. This bill could completely change that, granting journalistic rights to any individuals documenting events that serve the public interest.
The defining of "public interest" is important, though, in that not every person who runs a blog is necessarily affected by this bill. Again, the Ars article makes this point clear:
The Free Flow of Information Act was reworked after its introduction with the specific intent of including bloggers under the broader definition of journalism. According to a section-by-section analysis of the bill, "The act would apply to web logs ('blogs') that engage in journalism." Although the law is not likely meant to include every person who writes on the Internet, it doesn't create a litmus test for what constitutes "engaging in journalism."
Some media outlets like the Newspaper Association of America and the National Association of Broadcasters are supporting this bill. While specifically aimed at the revealing of confidential sources, I think the important aspect of this bill is the credibility it lends toward bloggers.
In all truth, I have come to prefer blogs over newspapers and televised news programs when it comes to information aggregation. So much traditional media has been relegated to simply "reporting the facts" in an ADHD-inducing matter that seldom allows for deeper analysis of the issues.
In contrast, there are many blogs that are great sources of investigative reporting and political commentary, but very few of these are controlled by a corporate agenda, nor are they motivated by what stories generate the best ratings (though one online publication recently admitted to publishing fluff for the sake of page hits). They are independent world citizens who care about keeping the public well-informed and work hard to do so. That passion gives them a legitimacy that no affiliate label could ever achieve. Let me defer to Jon Stewart in his April 27 interview with Bill Moyers:
[You can] find people that are doing incredibly complex and interesting and urgent journalism ... A lot of those blog reporters and all of those things are bringing a lot of urgency and a lot of momentum to stories that wouldn't normally carry any momentum.
In a world of news dominated by celebrity gossip, miracle cures, and top 10 lists, journalistic blogs are a breath of fresh air. Can bloggers be legitimate journalists? This House bill is a firm step in the direction of "yes."
Links 05/07/07
From the article:
Instead of requiring journalists to be tied to a news organization, the bill now defines "journalism" to focus more on the function of the job: "the gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public."
As Jon Stewart pointed out in an interview with Bill Moyers, many bloggers are as effective (if not more-so) than many mainstream journalists who answer to larger organizations. This bill is a very good thing.
Ars Technica: Why writing in games matters: Part I—advancing the art of storytelling
Ars Technica looks at the scarcity of good writing in video games, some of the obstacles, and possible reasons and solutions for including better writing in games.
Opposable Thumbs: Blu-ray laser shortage ending; PS3 price cuts should follow
I'm sure Sony will keep prices where they are for a while to help recoup losses, but it's good to know they consider price drops as a viable strategy.
Think Progress: Gingrich To Conservatives: Don’t Talk About Iraq, Katrina, Walter Reed, Attorneys, Or Bush
Wow. It's petty dire when your own political party is trying to distance itself from you.
From the transcript:
Well, President Bush is not the future. He’s not a solution. He doesn’t solve Social Security. He doesn’t solve Medicare. He doesn’t solve the economy. He doesn’t solve the environment. He doesn’t solve education.
Autism, Solitude, & Blogging
No matter how many people I am around, I am still very much alone.
Autism and Asperger Syndrome can be very lonely conditions. There are few points when an individual dealing with these labels will feel truly comfortable interacting with peers and acquaintances. Even when social interaction occurs, a level of detachment exists that impedes the communication between the autistic individual and the neurotypical individual. Parents and teachers are constantly looking for ways to help their autistic child branch out better and feel more comfortable in social situations – from peer buddies, to journals, to visual cues, and many other strategies.
One strategy that has made a huge impact with me is blogging. What you are reading right now is the single most comfortable form of social interaction I could possible have with you. I express and communicate things through my blog I might have difficulty with face-to-face (or face-to-shoes as the case may be). Blogging has helped my social development, plain and simple, and this improvement has been slowly filtering into other social situations.
Before you dismiss this intervention, consider this. If you have an aspie or a high-functioning autistic individual in your life, how much does he like to write? Chances are, the answer is, "a lot." Blogging is a great outlet for writing. Whether it's poems, short stories, nonfiction, daily journals, or something else entirely, you can put it on a blog. Suddenly, the writing is no longer in a private notebook. It's on the web for anyone to see!
Privacy can be a concern here. MySpace has especially received its share of bad press when it comes to individuals stalking our children. Here's the thing: it doesn't have to be MySpace. Blogger, TypePad, and LiveJournal are all examples of MySpace alternatives. Also, as the adult, you should set up the account under a username that tells nothing of the child's identity. You can control what information is included in the "About Me" section, and you can decide whether or not other people can make comments on the site. Blogging can be a very safe way of communicating with the world. Much of the stigma comes from the many people who use blogging irresponsibly.
During the life of this blog, I have posted numerous entries on presenting. I've reviewed an office suite and an operating system. I've discussed internet ethics, game ratings, the recording industry, and, of course, my experiences with Asperger Syndrome. What might your child accomplish? What voice might he or she discover that lay repressed in other settings? Give this a try. Set up a safe blog for your child. Give it some time, and see what kind of product is produced. You might even learn some new things about your own child.
Blogging Considerately
In his initial post, O'Relly writes:
A culture is a set of shared agreements that allows us to live together. Let's make sure that the culture we create with our blogs is one that we are proud of.
I agree with this whole-heartedly, and I think the best blogs around create a very good culture by setting a positive example when they write. Robert Scoble, Garr Reynolds, Kathy Sierra, and Guy Kawasaki are all great examples of this tack. As a result, by and large, the people who participate in the micro-community developed around these blogs tend to follow the given example.
The New York Times has an overview of the potential code, and the concept has seen support and adaptation from some like David Weinberger and BlogHer (whose guidelines actually served as inspiration) while gaining some thoughtful criticism from others like Jeff Jarvis and Robert Scoble.
David Weinberger writes:
We've always been responsible for comments: There's always been a line we wouldn't allow commenters to cross, or if there's been no line, we've been responsible for that as well. But we need to be OK with setting out explicit guidelines.
On the other hand, Jeff Jarvis counters:
You either trust me and respect me based on what I say here or you do not, and there are plenty in the latter camp. Transparency and publicness are what drive that. Not some silly code and badge.
The way I see it is that Matthew 7:12 states it plainly: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Confucius said, "What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others," and the Mahābhārata states, "This is the sum of duty; do naught unto others what you would not have them do unto you." I could really go on and on here. What we refer to as the Golden Rule has seen incarnations in several religions and cultures in varying points of history. If we try to live by this principle offline, then we should also do so online.
I don't enable comments on this site. (I don't have the time to read and respond to them at my current point in life.) My readership is more than welcome to send me a message at the email address on the About Rob page. However, even if I do enable comments in the future, I still don't think I'll adopt the O'Reilly code verbatim. There is value in anonymity as well as danger. I don't feel I own your words. However, I do expect you to engage me the way I would engage you in conversation – fairly and respectfully.
Quick Links:
PS - I resent the New York Times article title. It does a little too much to equate "nasty" with "blogs" in the public mind. Also, those web badges on the O'Reilly draft are ... not pretty.
Links 04/06/07
It sounds like this could be the final post at Creating Passionate Users. I hope it isn't.
Shacknews: Half-Life 2, Doom 3 Assets in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?
If this is true, it could spark a pretty nasty backlash from the hardcore gamer crowd as well as incite legal action from id Software and Valve.
WSJ: Using Even New PCs is Ruined by a Tangle of Trial Programs, Ads
Walt Mossberg rants about the amount of trial-ware, ads, and "special offers" that litters any new PC bought from a major vendor. He says such practices are a result of lack of respect for the consumer, and I agree. However, it's important to note that the consumer would be paying more for the computer without all of that advertising in place. It's like magazines. A bridal magazine that's 200 pages and 75% ads will cost much less than a 50 page psychology journal with no ad revenue.
This is yet one more way Dell, HP, and others sell computers at such low prices. I'm not convinced the tradeoff is worth it.
The Macalope: Run for Your Lives
The mythical Macalope reports on the recently reported iPod "virus" and its severe limitations. He christens it "The Lamest Virus Evah™!"
Human Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies
This paper takes a look at how science fiction movies speculate about how we will interact with technology in the future. Several movies are covered, and I especially liked the author's thoughts on Minority Report.
Links 03/29/07
The San Francisco Chronicle has a decent overview of the events surrounding the abuse aimed at Kathy Sierra and the subsequent hiatus of Creating Passionate Users. Again, of all people, I have such a hard time believing she was made into a target.
Playlist: iTunes Completes Me
...and this wasn't a feature from day one because?
Scribd: They didn't study
Here is a small but amusing collection of "creative" answers from students who either became too frustrated with the material or just had no clue what they were doing.
Infinite Loop: Minireview: NeoOffice 2.1 for OS X
All in all, this is a highly-recommended download. But that doesn't mean there aren't any downsides. This Aqua version is a far cry from early X11 StarOffice ports that looked like they were running on Windows 98, prehistoric save dialogs and all. But if you're one to complain about UI consistency, you may be less than impressed by by the look and little things, such as the way the home and end keys on the keyboard behave like they do on a PC (or a Microsoft application). And NeoOffice's look is very much inspired by Microsoft Office.
Also, performance was sluggish on his PowerBook G4. On the other hand, it's pretty zippy on Intel Macs.
OpenOffice.org: Press Release – OpenOffice 2.2
This update patches some newly discovered vulnerabilities, improve on-screen text appearance, and has other small improvements.
Jerks, Passion, and Disgust
CPUs: Death threats against bloggers are NOT "protected speech" (why I cancelled my ETech presentations)
One of the scariest things about online communication is the fact that anyone can hide behind a wall of anonymity and behave in the most depraved ways their minds can imagine. For some reason, they think this is okay. However, what we say and do, anonymously or otherwise, has real effects on real people.
My thoughts are with Kathy at this time. Her blog was a major inspiration to me when I set up this site over a year ago and it continues to be. In all, this site has seen 462 entries made to its various sections during that time, but not one entry comes close to matching the material I would find on Creating Passionate Users. Her voice is an important one, and I seriously hope that a few jerks don't end up silencing that voice.
I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy with the individuals associated with the activities she mentions. Even if you are not directly involved, the actions you condone by your silence and the character of the individuals you choose to associate with speak about your true character. If you don't want people to think bad things about you, choose your preferred activities and associations accordingly.
We're all humans. Let's please treat each other that way. Kathy, I hope to see you posting again soon. Until then, I'll keep you in my prayers.
(3/27) Update 01: An individual who had founded one of the sites involved in this mess (now taken down) has posted an apology and explanation of his original intentions for said site. You can read his post right here.
(3/28) Update 02: Computerworld has an interview with Kathy Sierra regarding this situation. She sounds very discouraged but reasonable. I've linked to the Macworld version of the article because its all on one page. Macworld: Death threats force blogger to sidelines.
(3/28) Update 03: Kathy has updated her original post, closing comments. She says even more grief and abuse has come from this attention, and now personal information of hers has been leaked onto the 'net by anonymous sources. This is truly tragic.
(4/2) Last Update: I promise I'm ready to move on now. Just two more links:
• Kathy Sierra: Update/Joint Statement with Chris Locke
• Chris Locke: Coordinated Statements on the Recent Events
Links 03/16/07
- Signal-to-Noise ratio and the elimination of the nonessential
- Slide design: signal vs. noise (redux)
CPUs: Seven Blog Virtues
Kathy Sierra posts some great tips (in PDF format) on producing a well-received blog. This is essential reading for all of us bloggers out here!
DT: 12 Ways to Boycott the RIAA
Mark Fleischmann:
The RIAA’s degeneration into a corporate bully is both sad and self-defeating. Warring against consumers has not reversed declining CD sales or replaced eroding revenues with legal downloads. It has merely turned off a new generation of consumers, possibly forever.
I think the RIAA should start reading Creating Passionate Users.