An Introduction to Weblogs and RSS...

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O'Reilly Network: Understanding Weblogs [Dec. 30, 2002] One of my favorite stops when browsing O'Reilly Network is the list of weblogs running down the right side of the home page. Explained simply, weblogs, or blogs, are informal writings, discussing something of interest or simply trying to make a point. O'Reilly weblogs tend to be technology-focused. But other weblog sites, such as Boing Boing, or Brian Jepson's Radio Weblog, cover a wide array of topics.

A good introduction to weblogs and RSS. A good article to share with those new to the idea of weblogs and syndication...

Wireless Access In The Classroom

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New York Times: Professors Vie With Web for Class's Attention Universities are rushing toward a wireless future, installing networks that let students and the faculty surf the Internet from laptop computers in the classroom, in the library or by those ponds that always seem to show up on the cover of the campus brochure. But professors say the technology poses a growing challenge for them: retaining their students' attention.

Say Goodbye to the Pay Phone...

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Requiem for the Pay Phone | By Yuki Noguchi, Washington Post Staff Writer - Monday, December 30, 2002;At one time, voices glanced against its metal walls. Dates were made here, secrets exchanged. Once people lined up, shifting from foot to impatient foot, pointedly lifting their watches, Hey, lady, how long you gonna talk?

I remember two summers ago driving across the country with my daughter, someplace in Wyoming, making plans to spend the night in North Platte, Nebraska. Thinking how nice it was not to have to stop and make a call, but rather just use the cell phone...

Social Software: In-Room Chat

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OpenP2P.com: In-Room Chat as a Social Tool [Dec. 26, 2002] The in-room chat created a two-channel experience -- a live conversation in the room, and an overlapping real-time text conversation. The experiment was a strong net positive for the group. Most social software is designed as a replacement for face-to-face meetings, but the spread of permanet (connectivity like air) provides opportunities for social software to be used by groups who are already gathered in the same location. For us, the chat served as a kind of social whiteboard.

This is an interesting article by Clay Shirky. I often use instant messaging while in meetings. Believe it or not it is usually work related. Checking of facts or seeking clarifying information, but his idea of a digital whiteboard is something I would like to try.

I had the opportunity to see Clay Shirky speak at the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference last spring. He is a great speaker and has great insight into how tools such as blogging, instant messaging and ubiquitous network access are changing how people communicate.

Speaking of the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference, this may be a better venue for a blogging in education get together than the traditional venues such as NCTE, IRA or other such groups...

Tim O'Reilly Interview

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OpenP2P.com: An Interview with Tim O'Reilly [Dec. 03, 2002] Very interesting interview with Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Publishing. It covers, among other things, networking technology like Rendezvous, digital rights management issues....

We're really at a bit of an impasse right now, because the music industry and the film industry want to restrict technologies that have substantial uses--uses that are very desirable to consumers for sharing their own information.

Moblogging: Mobile Blogging with Phones and PDAs...

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Joi Ito's Moblogging, Blogmapping and Moblogmapping related resources. This site is a good place to keep tabs on moblogging.

Moblogging is the term coined to describe blogging from mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs. The feed in the right sidebar is from a blog I am playing with. I am making posts from my Sony Clie NR70V via my Ericsson T68 cell phone. I am using my Clie to compose an email message that is sent to a copy of Radio which is running on my home computer. Radio has a feature that allows you to post to a site with an email message...

Some folks have tweaked Movable Type to do the same thing but with the distinction of also allowing image posts. Understand that Radio can do this too. I am going to see about setting this up so I can take pictures with my Clie (NR-70V) and post them to a blog...

BBC NEWS | Technology |

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BBC NEWS | Technology | Fans' desires swamp the web Do you have a favourite author or series of stories? Are you unable to wait for the next instalment of a particular television programme? If you are a devoted fan of any of these then you may have come across the phenomenon of fan fiction. This is when fans write their own stories using their favourite characters. Until recently fan fiction was limited to small groups of individuals but it is now becoming a global phenomenon thanks to the internet.

Nando Haircut

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nandosmallhaircut.jpg More playing around with Movable Type. Last night I took my son to get a haircut. Took my digital movie and captured a few seconds of the experience....

The Billboard is Listening...

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These billboards are all ears
The billboard is listening.

In an advertising ploy right out of Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," electronic billboards in the Bay Area and Sacramento are being equipped to profile commuters as they whiz by -- and then instantly personalize freeway ads based on the wealth and habits of those drivers.

For example, if the freeway were packed with country music listeners, the billboards might make a pitch for casinos. If National Public Radio were on, the billboards could change to ads for a high-quality car or a gourmet grocery.

The billboards -- in Palo Alto, Daly City and Fremont -- will pick up which radio stations are being played and then instantly access a vast databank of information about the people who typically listen to those stations. The electronic ads will then change to fit listener profiles. [Smart Mobs]

Aerial ISPs: strato-blimp wireless providersThese

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Aerial ISPs: strato-blimp wireless providers
These high-tech blimps could carry up to 4,000 pounds of telecommunications gear and float it up to 13 miles into the stratosphere. At that height, far above any conventional commercial air traffic or turbulent weather patterns, the Stratellite would act as a wireless communications hub to provide wireless voice and data services for an area of up to 300,000 square miles. "It's perfect for outlying areas that can't get broadband telephone or cable [TV] access," says Sanswire CEO Michael K. Molen. "[Subscribers] just put up a small antenna and they're in business." [Smart Mobs]