The Facebook Nightmare Scenario
A great video on YouTube shows what it would be like if Facebook were made real. It’s very funny and a little bawdy by my prudish American standards, so don’t watch with your kids, and turn your speakers down to […]
ShopText Melds Magazines With Digital
Image via Wikipedia Hearst Magazines recently announced it’s rolling out ShopText, a system that uses text messaging to link print products with online. Readers of print can text a keyword to a number, and receive samples, buy products, or access […]
Wikidemia — Scholarship and the Internet
“Wikidemia” is a term I hadn’t heard before I read this very interesting roundtable discussion from the UPenn Department of Romance Languages. At the heart of the discussion is the notion that scholarship without the Internet and its collaborative tools […]
Exploit Your Cognitive Surplus!
Image via Wikipedia One question I’ve been asked consistently since I’ve started writing this blog for the SSP is, “How do you find the time?” In some cases, it’s said with wonder. In some cases, it’s stated with what I […]
Web 2.0 — The Vital Echo Chamber
Skeptics keep you honest, and should be celebrated. A skeptic about Web 2.0 is David Crotty, author of the Cold Spring Harbor Protocols blog “Benchmarks.” In a recent post, he pointed me to a review of Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes […]
Students Cave When Asked to Give Up Digital Tools
A recent exercise at the University of Central Florida in which students could earn extra credit by giving up their digital devices for a week (5 days) ended with only 2 of the 28 earning the bonus points. The digital devices […]
Fed Up, Librarians Feed the Patrons
In a display of customer-centric thinking, librarians are allowing food in their buildings and even introducing cafes, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. As libraries change, they are catering more to their customers. Taking down the […]
Is the Age of Anti-Plagiarism Software Upon Us?
Last Friday, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran a story about the emerging anti-plagiarism software marketplace, with CrossRef’s CrossCheck spotlighted. It’s a good story that broadens nicely upon the CrossCheck angle. Defining plagiarism is potentially fraught with difficulty, but it […]
Friday Fun at Phatfusion: Drive Google Maps!
Looking for that vicarious feeling of freedom on a Friday at your desk? Try GoogleDrive at Phatfusion, a nifty little time-wasting mashup that lets you drive Google Maps. It’s a little fussy, and you should read the instructions, but you’ll […]
Publishers Sue Georgia State Over Digital Coursepacks
The New York Times broke the news yesterday that Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Sage Publications are suing Georgia State for copyright infringement via distribution of digital coursepacks. Georgia State alleges that their use falls within “fair use,” […]
Will Texting and Twitters Kill Email?
There are many signs that email is threatened as the primary mode of communication between individuals. From record levels of spam (96.4% of all email is spam, some claim) to its incompatibility with cell phones, email is threatened with being […]
Racetrack Memory: The Future of Storage?
Image via Wikipedia In the April 11th issue of Science, an article detailing the development of “racetrack memory” in computing devices [paid content] introduces the intriguing possibility that a new paradigm of physical memory could create tiny devices capable of […]
Zemanta – Augmented Authorship Arrives!
In the book, “The Design of Future Things,” Donald Norman observes that automation is a dangerous goal because pursuing it usually passes the point of diminishing returns. In contrast, augmentation of human effort (e.g., bicycling as augmented walking, writing/drawing/painting/composing as […]
Section 108 Study Group Releases Report
Image via Wikipedia On March 31, the Section 108 Study Group released their report and recommendations, three years in the making. The Study Group was convened to make recommendations to the U.S. Copyright Office. Mostly, the recommendations revolve around a […]
Morbid Fascination at MagazineDeathPool.com
I have to confess to a sick joy. I find the blog MagazineDeathPool.com full of dark humor and interesting news, even if it is a bit twisted. It’s also very funny and informative. Written by Grim, an anonymous magazine editor […]