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Secure blogging by email

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Alex at Slackerbit.ch has a new script available for Blogging by email securely with GnuPG and Movable Type:

To add some security to the script, it only posts entries that have a good GnuPG signature, and even then only if the fingerprint of the key used to sign is allowed to post. And signing emails with gpg is a snap with mutt.
By adding custom headers to the mail, you can even set the category of the entry and ping TrackBack URLs.The script takes the value of the X-MT-Category header, and if that matches the name of an existing category, this is set as the primary category for that entry.And pinging TrackBack URLs happens via the X-MT-Ping header. This header can appear multiple times, and each URL gets pinged.

The signing of blog entries is something Bill Kearney is thinking about today as well. Interesting stuff. [By way of...Ben Hammersley.com]

Make Your May Vacation Plans Now...

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OregonLive.com: Oregon Special Election News Elderly people, the disabled, state troopers, school teachers and others are bracing for state funding cuts after Oregon voters rejected an income tax increase. The proposed tax hike, which lawmakers said would have spared the state from having to make $310 million in cuts, was rejected Tuesday. The state already slashed $700 million from the budget last year, and lawmakers have failed in five special sessions to solve the state's budget crisis.

Portland Public Schools will now cut an additional 9 school days, in addition to the 15 they have already cut from the school year....

About

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Tim LauerTeacher, Portland Public Schools, Portland, Oregon

This weblog is mainly a place for me to note and organize information I find relating to education and the use of technology in education. In addition it acts as a platform for discussion with others with similar interests.

NY Times Magazine: Warren Zevon

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In His Time of Dying The show's only guest would be Warren Zevon, the songwriter known for the twisted humor of songs like ''Lawyers, Guns and Money,'' ''Werewolves of London'' and ''Poor Poor Pitiful Me'' and for troubled love songs like ''Hasten Down the Wind'' and ''Accidentally Like a Martyr.'' Zevon, 56, is a dying man.

News That Comes to You

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J.D. Lasica on RSS news readers: Instead of the hunt and peck of Web surfing, you can download or buy a small program that turns your computer into a voracious media hub, letting you snag headlines and news updates as if you were commanding the anchor desk at CNN. [By way of: Ranchero.com]

Hiptop Nation hits the New York Times

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"Hiptop Nation is a place where people share their experiences with the world while wandering around with these little Sidekick devices with cameras," said John Lester, a 35-year-old Boston resident and one of about 300 participants in Hiptop Nation . "It gives you a sense of connectedness because not only are people posting to the blog wirelessly but they're reading it wirelessly." [Smart Mobs]

I'm sitting in a meeting right now... thankfully there is wireless here... but if not... a Hiptop would be very nice...

Phil Wainewright on Wi-Fi

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AppSwitching Diary: Web Based Applications With Wi-Fi WiFi's combination of broadband and wireless fundamentally changes the equation. Once you can take your broadband connection with you, then the balance tilts decisively in favor of web-based applications that you can access wherever you are, irrespective of their or your location.

In this post, he mentions his experience using a T-Mobile Hotspot at a Starbucks. I have had an account for a few months and find it quite useful. When traveling between schools, or between meetings, I find myself with some time to kill. I can now easily stop at a Starbucks, have a cup of coffee, and catch up on email, or other such work.

Just recently discovered that a coffee shop near my school has free Wi-Fi. That is where this post is coming from.

O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference

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O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2003 Join the leaders from the many worlds of pervasive computing to explore and invent the new Internet infrastructure and culture. Speakers include: Howard Rheingold, Alan Kay, Clay Shirky, Eric Bonabeau, Tim O'Reilly, David S. Isenberg and many others.

I attended last year and found it to be one of the better conferences I have ever attended. This year's lineup of speakers and topics looks even better. While the registration fee is a bit steep compared to regular education conferences, they do offer a 50% discount for academic instructors. From talking to conference chair Rael Dornfest, teachers qualifiy for that. Now I need to find some funding.... :-)

Pointer to Discussion Board Reviews

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Discussion Boards
Found this nice Hot Scripts site on discussion boards today. It offers a nifty little quick review that covers features, platforms, cost (all have free versions), ratings, etc. on over 150 types of boards. You also get links to the download and home page sites for each board. I'm setting one up for my sons' ball team to use. [The Educator Asylum News] This reference points to a listing of many discussion boards. Have been looking for such a resource and found it this morning thanks to NetNewsWire, and The Educator Asylum....

Portland's Budget Woes Make the NY Times

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New York Times: Schools Ending Year Early to Cut Costs But nowhere except Oregon have so many districts announced plans to severely shorten the academic year. The superintendent here, James R. Scherzinger, has ordered administrators to prepare to cut 15 days from the calendar, and he said that unless voters approve a tax increase in a referendum on Jan. 28, a prospect pollsters say is quite unlikely, he will urge a cut that totals 24 days.

The nation learns that Oregon can't fund its schools...

Customer Owned Networks vs. Telcos...

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Shirky: Customer-owned Networks and ZapMail To understand what's going to happen to the telephone companies this year thanks to WiFi (otherwise known as 802.11b) and Voice over IP (VoIP) you only need to know one story: ZapMail.

The business Fred Smith imagined being in -- build a network that's cheap to run but charge customers as it if were expensive -- is the business the telephone companies are in today.

Another interesting article by Clay Shirky about the growth of Wi-Fi and Voice Over IP and how the proliferation of these technologies is challenging the business models of phone companies....

Apples New Laptop...

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Apple's New iSUV By Paul Boutin Jobs and company have hit the same consumer brain button that keeps the H2 on backorder. While everyone else was out cost-cutting, Apple built a lust object. Sitting among the rows of jaded industry journalists at Jobs' feet, two things were obvious: Nobody, but nobody, really needs this computer. And everybody wants one.

Lazyweb Request Page...

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LazyWeb Do you have an idea that you think others might be able to solve?Make a LazyWeb request by writing it on your own blog, and then sending a Trackback ping...

What a great idea... Have an idea and don't know how to implement it? Throw it out there for others to help you solve... An RSS feed too, so you can have all the great ideas come to your RSS reader...