StigmergicWeb

I was just taking a look at try ruby! (in your browser), a very cool little programming tutorial for the Ruby language. Normally, I would just add this to my del.icio.us feed, but del.icio.us appears to be well and truly bollixed at the moment. (Sorry if this is offensive language to anyone, but it is the only apt description I could think of). Besides, if I post it here, someone else might get some enlightenment from this tutorial.

Almost forgot credit where it’s due - I found this via a post from David Wiley, who is also upgrading to WordPress 2.0 (which I hope to get done tonight!)

I think the title says it all. Despite constant rumors, mostly FUD based, that open source software does not provide a lower total cost of ownership, many schools are finding out that this is not the case:

Using Open Source software Noxon School District saved $92,675.20. Linux and Open Source software allowed this school district to provide cutting edge technology to students.

read more | digg story

This is too useful of a collection to not pass it around throughout the blogosphere. Tips for Very Large Projects at D’Arcy Norman Dot Net

Experience (translation - mistakes and failures) is the best teacher for managing or working in large projects. Repeating the same mistakes as others is highly inefficient - we should all be trying to make some new, original mistakes! Thanks for compiling this, D’Arcy! (but shouldn’t these tips be in a wiki so we can add to them? ;^D )

I just thought it was worth bringing to everyone’s attention that today is Bill Gate’s 50th birthday. My birthday, coincidentally, is also today (although Bill is my senior by 11 years). Happy shared birthday, Bill, and I know you are busy so I won’t be upset if you don’t get the chance to send me a greeting (I’m sure he reads my blog ;^D ). Many people who know me or read this blog might be surprised that I would wish Bill a happy birthday, but regardless of what I or others might think about the quality of some of the products that Microsoft has produced there is little doubt that he has been a great influence on the current state of computer technology, especially defining the desktop experience for most users. I’m a bit saddened to admit this since my allegiance would probably be with Mac or Gnome for desktops, but the reality for most users is some version of Windows (even for me on my laptop). And my impression is that anti-Microsoft sentiment is part of the motivation for a lot of really great open source software, so I guess Bill Gates is to thank for a lot of the great software that I use.

Its great to see that Alec Couros, the open source sheriff of the posse, is spreading the word - Couros Blog » Blog Archive » OpenOffice.org 2.0 Officially Released

I expect there are going to be a flurry of downloads over the next little while. I would suggest you download openoffice.org 2.0 via bittorrent, then leave your bittorrent client open for a few hours to help speed up the process of spreading the new release. This will help to alleviate the traffic on the regular download sites, and you’ll get amazing download times - I downloaded the entire 75 MB in about 10 minutes!

Alec Couros has mentioned that his iPod Nano, like many others’, has suffered from a substantial amount of scratching on the surface. Kevin Rose from Revision 3 and This Week in Tech has cracked the iPod Nano, if you care to watch such a thing. I noticed that they didn’t show a functional iPod Nano at the end of the video!

If you aren’t a regular Slashdot reader, a current discussion there might be worth checking out - Slashdot | The Future of Technology in Schools:

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is running parts one and two of a three-part series dealing with the future of technology in America’s schools. Part one asks whether technology in schools is merely a fad or, as some may argue, a necessity in today’s technology-driven society. It raises some interesting points, such as the contrasting the wide availability of computers in schools to the generally limited use among students. Part two goes in-depth about the technology’s cost, citing the dependence of grants that are disappearing and the effects of reducing technology staff.

If your filters are set high enough, you can get something resembling a reasonable discussion regarding computer use in schools.

mambofrog » Blog Archive » Dave Winer: OPML and The Next Great Thing

If I were a betting man I’d probably put a bundle down on Dave Winer and OPML.

I think Tim’s right. Let’s start getting some conversations going about OPML and education!

I’ve heard about this through a number of sources, including Alec, who views this as I do - a signal that North American institutes of higher learning may start adopting open source software as part of their learning infrastructure. Alec puts it aptly:

Leading innovative institutions will continue to switch to open source software once there is a clear realization that good software does NOT have to be purchased, and that decisions around software are best made in rooms without salespeople.

The original source of this news seems to be this thread on the Using Moodle forum at moodle.org. (You can log in as a guest to access the forum, but you might as well create an account for yourself). The thread begins by quoting this from Cindy Xin’s summary of CADE:

Athabasca faculties were using three different LMS systems at the same time. The University finally decided that it would only support a single system. The questions was which one. Sounds familiar? Selection committee was formed and it decided on WebCT. Bear in mind that Alberta has province wide license on webct. Faculty member didn’t like the decision and consequently formed its own committee and conducted its own evaluation to rate the three systems - webct, moodle, and Lotus Notes Learning Space. Moodle won head and shoulder. The University accepted faculty’s decision. Now Moodle is the choice at Athabasca.

Everyone else is throwing in their 10 cents worth so I might as well :: Apple to ditch PowerPC for Intel processors - ZDNet UK News

Steve Jobs is expected to use Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference today to announce a move away from IBM’s PowerPCs in favour of Intel’s x86 chips

I doubt it. I think the announcement will be that Intel is going to start producing PowerPC chips. Now that not only the Mac but three other highly anticipated platforms (XBox360, PS 3, and new Nintendo console) will be shipping with PowerPC chips, the market for the chips will be lucrative enough to draw Intel into the competition. With competition from AMD on x86 chipsets, Intel needs a new market and the game console market might just be it - supporting Mac is an accidental benefit of all this.

OK - that’s my prediction. We’ll just wait for results from the Stevenote before I either gloat, or erase this post! ;^)

UPDATE - John Gruber at Daring Fireball has put together a much better analysis

UPDATE # 2 - I was wrong … really wrong. Here’s the official news release from Apple. D’Arcy, have you recovered from the shock yet?