billso.com

One of the nice things about this summer is that I’ve had more time to read. Here’s a sample:

When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow. In this short story, a sysad faces the ultimate outage. Available for free as PDF, HTML and a podcast at his web site, or buy the the Locus award winning compilation from Amazon.

Companies should learn how to play “tag”

Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. A mind-bending book about the modern Web, with serious implications for competitive strategy. This may become an optional reading for IS 7010 in the fall. I was pleased to learn that my tagging strategies can work better than traditional knowledge management techniques! Weinberger’s discussion of Wikipedia is balanced and interesting. Can companies satisfy new key success factors by letting users sort data as they see fit? See these interviews at Boing Boing, read chapter 1 for free at the book’s website, or buy the book at Amazon.

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. A 1991 steampunk classic by two excellent writers. In 1855 England, a new ruling class has taken power with the help of mechanical computers. But watch out for those pesky Luddites! Buy the book at Amazon.

Cory Doctorow has posted a wrapup announcement about his copyright course at the University of Southern California, with links to several student projects.I first heard about Cory’s course on BoingBoing, a blog that he edits. The Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article about Cory on April 6. I didn’t follow the class blog or Cory’s podcasts very closely over the term, as I had 4 graduate sections of my own to teach, along with my own writing for this blog.Of all the student projects in the course, my favorite is teachingcopyright.org. This site by Richard Esguerra helps California K-12 teachers fulfill that state’s requirements for technology grants. I’ll take a look at the site and try to use some of this material in my fall courses.Cameron Parkins did an interesting project on the restrictive copyright policies of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. USC asserts copyright over student films, and dissuades students from posting their work on the Web and sites such as YouTube. I’m surprised by Parkins’ assertion that SCA faculty and staff avoid discussing this policy with students. His white paper attempts to address these problems.I hope that Crystal Larsen’s examination of Major League Baseball’s press credentialing policy results in some changes. As we approach another season of steroids and violence, MLB needs all the good press it can get. Credentialing bloggers would provide baseball fans with some interesting reading.I do agree with RobotSkirt’s comment about Cory’s announcement: Cory’s students may have done some excellent work, but “brilliant” seems a bit extravagant for an undergraduate COMM499 course.

From the Associated Press, here’s a report that more high school students are using MP3 files provided by textbook publishers. Listening to Spanish lessons on an iPod beats sitting in a language lab, and it seems that students might spend more time on the lessons. According to a 2006 marketing survey, half of all US teenagers own a digital audio player. At some schools, students can borrow players to listen to lessons.
The article also notes that several universities have partnered with Apple to offer branded iTunes stores. These stores can integrate with a university’s web sites, including WebCT, to provide free hosting of MP3 files for college courses. The university receives an affiliate fee for any iTunes audio and video sold through the store.

I heard Mike speak at an HTCA meeting on November 16, 2005. An MP3 file is available on HPU’s media server, thanks to Dolly Samson.

• http://hpu.edu/index.cfm?section=News8264&contentID=8400
• http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2007/01/22/daily36.html