Fortnightly Mailing

Simon Willison's Google TechTalk on the implications of OpenID

Below, via Stephen Downes, is an interesting talk given on 25 June 2007 by the (fast-talking) Simon Willison on OpenID, a method of dealing with identity on the web that is beginning to catch on. Abstract:

"Simon Willison OpenID is an emerging standard that provides simple, decentralised authentication for the Web. OpenID follows the Unix philosophy, solving one small problem rather than attempting to tackle the many larger challenges posed by online identity. This talk will explore the implications of OpenID, and explore the best practices required to take advantage of this new technology while avoiding the potential pitfalls."

"Simon Willison is a consultant on OpenID and client- and server-side Web development, and a co-creator of the Django Web framework. Before going freelance Simon worked on Yahoo!'s Technology Development team, and prior to that at the Lawrence Journal-World, an award winning local newspaper in Kansas. Simon maintains a popular Web development weblog at http://simonwillison.net/."

Previous posts about OpenID

• 13 May 2007: OpenID - one reason why single sign on is risky;
• 20 May 2007: OPenID - decentralised single sign-on for the web.

Computers 'can raise attainment' - results published from Becta's ICT TestBed research

Source: ICT TestBed Final Report. URL below

According to this 24/6/2007 BBC report, issued before Becta has published the results, the final phase of Becta's 4 year £37m ICT Test Bed project (in which 23 primary schools, five secondaries, and three further education colleges have had substantial extra investment in ICT) shows that learning using ICT (in the ways provided by the schools and colleges) produces improvements in learner attainment. I'll reserve judgement on the report, which appeared today [790 kB PDF] on the TestBed project web site, and from which the chart above is taken, until I've read it. But my initial reactions were:

1. you'd expect improvement given the amount of additional funds the test-bed schools and colleges received - the key question is could the same amount, spent differently, have had a similar or greater effect?
2. how, in such a study, do you avoid a Hawthorne effect, in which the "shaping" of behaviour by the investigation process is partly responsible for at least some of the changes observed?

Becta press release.

Updated 8 July 2007 by the addition of a link to Becta press release, and the two concluding questions.

British Standards Institution seeks your views on e-learning standards

I have a small role in a contract that Schemeta has with the British Standards Institution to write a scoping study concerning the future development of e-learning standards. I know several readers have strong views about e-learning standards, their desirability, utility, and priorities for their focus. If you are interested in contributing your views to the study, please respond to this 20 minute web survey.

Disclosure statement

Openlearn. A conference in October 2007 at the Open University.

The OU is holding a conference in Milton Keynes on 30 and 31 October 2007: Openlearn - researching open content in education:

"The ways in which people can learn are changing with new opportunities to learn at a distance, to learn as part of global community and to learn using new technologies. Open and free educational resources are an important component in this expanded world of learning and major initiatives are now underway to provide such resources."

"This conference recognises the research challenge alongside the business challenge of providing, using and sustaining free and open resources and invites contributions and participation from those who are interested in how to research open content and what the findings are from those working in this challenging area."

Conference flyer [700 kB PDF] for onward distribution.

Blackboard v Desire2Learn - claim construction briefs filed

Image from D2L Claim Construction Response Brief

On 29 May Blackboard filed its Opening Claim Construction Brief [1MB PDF] with the Texas Court that is handling Blackboard's patent infringement claim against Desire2Learn. On 15 June Desire2Learn filed its Claim Construction Response Brief [200 kB PDF].

Both briefs link to a number of supporting appendices with back-up evidence, which include things like dictionary definitions of key terms, emails, and, in D2L's case, the Wikipedia History of Virtual Learning Environments [400 kB PDF] page originally created by Michael Feldstein, and to which several readers of Fortnightly Mailing contributed content during late summer 2006. As an aside, page 4 of the D2L brief has a nicely illustrated explanation of role-based access control.

I'm no lawyer, but as I understand it the purpose of the Briefs is to enable the court to rule on disputed meanings for key phrases in the patent (Blackboard and D2L are already agreed upon the meanings of other key phrases). So this is not about judging the claim, but about creating the framework within which the claim will subsequently be judged. So dry, wordy, and from the point of view of the protagonists, important stuff.

All the documents are currently available from the patent information area of the Desire2Learn web site.

Note. Other posts about the Blackboard patent:

• 26 February 2007 - US Patent and Trademark Office orders inter partes re-examination of Blackboard Inc.'s Patent Number 6988138;
• 1 February 2007 - Blackboard issues "Patent Pledge";
• 25 January 2007 - United States Patent & Trademark Office orders re-examination of Blackboard Patent;
• 9 December 2006 - Two contrasting views about software patents. A debate between Eben Moglen and Blackboard's Matt Small;
• 2 December 2006 - Blackboard: two separate re-examination
  requests to the US Patent and Trade Mark Office; and an application to the Court from Desire2Learn for a stay in proceedings;
• 27 October 2006 - EDUCAUSE on Blackboard: "patenting a community creation is anathema to our culture";
• 16 October 2006 -  John Mayer interviews various lawyers with patent knowhow;
• 10 September 2006 - The new "post-patent" environment for e-learning: a perspective. Guest contribution by Jim Farmer;
• 9 September 2006 - Blackboard's work for IMS;
• 8 August 2006 - Did the US Department of Justice know about the patent when it cleared Blackboard's acquisition of Web CT?;
• 26 July 2006 - Blackboard's US Patent 6988138.

 

The Economist's (April 2006) survey of new media, with audio files

The era of mass media is giving way to one of personal and participatory media, says Andreas Kluth. That will profoundly change both the media industry and society as a whole.

The 22/4/2006 Economist has a "pull-out" survey of new media, by Andreas Kluth, The Economist's Technology Correspondent.

Among the audience, by Kluth, and It's the links, stupid - an accessible, realistic, and I felt authentic, piece about blogging - are freely available on-line. For the rest, unless you have a subscription to the Economist, you have to pay for access.

Sitting alongside the survey are 5 audio discussions, available for free download as MP3 files, as follows:

• Author interview, with Andreas Kluth, Technology Correspondent of The Economist (10 minutes, 4 MB) Play Download.
• Blogs as leading indicators, with David Sifry, Founder and CEO, Technorati (18 minutes, 8 MB) Play Download.
• The demand for everything, with Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired (33 minutes, 14 MB) Play Download.
• Wide world of wikis, with Jerry Michalski, Founder and President of Sociate (22 minutes, 9 MB) Play Download.
• From Gutenberg to Mcluhan to What's Next, with Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future (26 minutes, 11 MB) Play Download.

The impression you get from the survey, and from the audio discussions, is that the penny really is finally dropping outside the "internet classes" that in the developed world citizens are becoming producers of digital content, rather than mainly being consumers of it.

Personally I find myself smiling wrily (smugly?) at this, having been heavily involved in 1996-1998 in a working group in Sheffield on the development of a strategic framework on the information society for the city. The strategic framework, which formed part of a much longer ICT strategy, contained as a strapline:

"Sheffield will help develop all its people to become producers as well as consumers in the ICT economy"

At that time it was an uphill struggle - basically we totally failed - to get the powers that be to accept such an approach. They tended to say things like "are you trying to tell me that everyone's going to turn into a javascript programmer...??". The document languished.

Wireless power limit raised to bridge digital divide

According to the excellent e-commerce and IT law newsletter OUT-LAW.COM, from law firm Pinsent Masons, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries Ofcom has allowed fixed broadband internet providers to double the power of their signals, with a view to helping bridge the digital divide.

"The new rules apply to the 5.8GHz frequency, which is used by fixed WiMax radio technology for wireless internet connections. The frequency is subject to light regulation from Ofcom which allows the registration of terminals at its website."

According to Ofcom's announcement [33kB PDF]:

"Concern has been raised that a so-called digital divide exists in the availability of services, particularly broadband, in rural and urban areas in the UK. Ofcom's Communications Market Report: Nations and Regions showed that the gap is closing and 41% of adults in rural areas have broadband internet at home compared to 45% of adults in urban areas. Changing regulation in this band, enabling greater geographical coverage, could help to increase access to wireless broadband in rural areas."

According to OUT-LAW.COM:

"Ofcom has also said that it will soon change its regulations so that users of equipment that communicates via ultra wide band (UWB) technology will no longer need licences. The very short range systems are commonly used for video wireless or camera wireless systems. The rule change will bring the UK into line with an EU Directive which demands that regulations be changed by 21st August."

GWEI - Google Will Eat Itself

Source: GWEI web site

There serious political (and artistic?) intent behind Google Will Eat Itself, which purports to be buying Google shares with advertising revenue raised from carrying Google Adsense ads on a network of web sites. At the current rate of progress GWEI will own Google in a little over 200,000 years.

A Race to the Bottom - Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies

Report prepared by the London-based Privacy International following a six-month investigation into the privacy practices of key Internet based companies.

"The ranking lists the best and the worst performers both in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 across the full spectrum of search, email, e-commerce and social networking sites."

Google is singled out for particularly trenchant criticism, and is put in the  "Comprehensive consumer surveillance & entrenched hostility to privacy" category. As you would expect, Google contests this assessment, and here is a piece by Matt Cutts (a Google staffer) countering the Privacy International claims. Meanwhile, Privacy International accuses Google of smear tactics against it. Services covered in the report include:

• Amazon
• AOL
• Apple
• BBC
• Bebo
• eBay
• Facebook
• Friendster
• Google
• Hi5
• Last.fm
• LinkedIn
• LiveJournal
• Microsoft
• Myspace
• Orkut
• Reunion.com
• Skype
• Wikipedia
• Windows Live Space
• Xanga
• Yahoo!
• YouTube

An interim report is available in PDF format [60 kB PDF], with a fuller report due in Autumn 2007.

Women In Art

There is a fair chance you'll already have seen this beautifully made animation. But I had not, and I am also soft touch for Bach Cello Suites. So it qualified as an "Oddment". Thanks to Jools Duggleby for sending me the link.