via SiT - The Chronicle: 5/31/2002: The 24-Hour Professor: Online Teaching Redefines Faculty Members' Schedules, Duties, and Relationships With Students

I often feel like a 24-hour professor. I regularly respond to e-mails and newsgroup postings at odd hours of the day, night, and weekend. Sometimes I think my students expect immediate response no matter the time they post their questions. It's a rod I have made for my own back and one which I'll have to wean my students off eventually. It just disrupts my routine too much and leads to false, high, expectations.

I can almost guarantee that they'll be a bunch of questions raised in the next 24 hours since my computer architecture exam is on Thursday morning B-}

Brent has posted his First Impressions of Conversant 1.0b2 after an hour or so of installing it:

I left Conversant with the feeling that I've barely scratched the surface, that Conversant is hugely customizable, that there's a lot of power in there that I haven't touched.

Seth also comments on Brent's experience. Like Seth, I was impressed out how insightful Brent 's feedback was. Brent's a great beta tester ;-) I'm really looking forward to more feedback from Brent.

Naturally, there's room for improvement in any piece of software and as it stands Conversant's power is sometimes obscured by the plethora of configuration screens and options. But once you have climbed the learning curve the full power and potential of Conversant becomes apparent. There's no doubt in my mind that once you 'become conversant' there's no turning back. There's also no doubt that improvements in Conversant's usability will continue to be made and the new users have a major role to play in that process.

For what it's worth I'd recommend everyone with an interest in the groupware, CMS, weblogging, or web application development to check it out. You won't be disappointed.

PS I'm still scratching the surface after two years B-}

via Scripting News - MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | But who are the real pirates?

MPAA executive Fritz Allaway told Bobbie Johnson, "We have seen our future, and it is terrifying." I - like a lot of other independent directors and producers - would like to see the future get much more terrifying for Fritz and his pals; with a radical reform of copyright and patent law, and a curbing of behemoths such as AOL/Time/Warner, News International/Fox and Vivendi/ Universal/UIP.

Corporate multinationals, wielding unchecked power, terrify me far more than kids with video cameras. In fact, the latter, such as the Norwegian schoolboy who cracked the DVD code, encourage me greatly: their resourcefulness and creativity - rather than the special pleading and restrictive practices of the MPAA - represent a possible bright future for our industry.

JISC Briefing Paper - The Potential Role of Wireless LANs in Education

TWiki . Main . ConsumeTheNet

Fed up with being held to ransom in the local loop, phased by fees to ISP's, conscious of community? OK so let's build a fresh network, one that is local, global, fast, expanding, public and user-constructed.

This website outlines the strategy for such a network and the progress being made toward its establishment.

Nominate your node, identify others in your area and map the propagation of CONSUME

There are many local consume groups, look in ConsumeInTheArea for a listing - who knows, there could be one on your doorstep!

via hbwt the way cool macboy.com: Bells & Whistles - Sonata in X!