Get Lots of Women Tech Bloggers’ Feeds in One (OPML) File!

Anne Zelenka of Anne2.0 has really pulled of quite a feat and helped answer the question “where are the women bloggers?” in a neat way using cutting edge tools. She created a bit of code that grabbed the blogroll from misbehaving.net, home of one of the most extensive lists of women bloggers, found the RSS feeds for those blogs and squeezed them all into one OPML file. That means there’s one URL to copy and paste into your RSS reader and kapow – you’re subscribed to a huge number of women tech bloggers. Nice! Here’s that URL: WomenTechBloggers

update: Anne says “I don’t think it’s all that useful right now… it’s a huge number of feeds to suddenly start paying attention to. Still, interesting as a beginning exploration.” But I think she’s wrong. My initial thoughts after the more link… Continue reading →

Educational Multimedia: Open or Proprietary Infrastructure?

George Siemens over at eLearn space likes iTunesU, Apple’s new system to facilitate academic content delivery via iTunes. But a fight is underway between Apple’s use of “Digital Rights Management” (content reuse restrictions) and many folks on the web, now including the people behind the GPL (general public licence) software framework. Will largess and convenience defeat grass roots openness and collaboration? Impassioned discussion on the conflict between the newest version of the GPL and DRM over at the always interesting Dan and Dave Show podcast.

Alternatives exist! Check out the Educational Podcast Network, where you can find everything from the Countryside 4th Grade Podcasts to the School Improvement Industry Weekly podcast.

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Scoble on Web2.0 is Real

Microsoft super blogger Robert Scoble did a short email interview over at Net Squared and one of the questions he was asked was whether Web 2.0 is hype or for real. Part of his response included the following:

Yes, there’s a bit of hype there, but there’s also a trend that you can’t escape. More and more people are using the Web everyday and for more stuff. We’re now even able to see when our next bus will arrive in Seattle using a Web browser. Is there something unique? Yeah, the bandwidth has gotten better, the browsers with the latest technologies have gotten much more ubiquitous…

I agree that there is some hype (imagine the mockery if I didn’t!) But I think there are major indications that Web 2.0 is a real cultural change underway.

What are my favorite examples of this? The fact that RSS feeds are now available from most major online news sources and search engines is one. The fact that Yahoo has bought Flickr, Del.ico.us and Upcoming.org all in the last year or so is another. (I’m not necesarily thrilled about these acquisitions, but I think they are demonstration of the reality of Web 2.0) The fact that the number of blogs coming online is absolutely exploding and that this is occurring in a number of different contexts. My three favorite examples of late demonstrating the applicability of blogging in a variety of contexts? SciencBlogs.com (a network of science blogs), Blogging for a Cause (cancer support and networking blog) and Blue Fox Farm (a small organic farm and CSA that blogs).

What evidence do you have or is your favorite that Web 2.0 is not just hype? Plus don’t forget to check out the rest of the Scoble interview.

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Who Owns That Domain?

From Will Richardson’s blog comes this anecdote from a trip he just took to meet with 100 tech coordinators from Pinellas County Florida schools. He found that a greater number than would have been the case in the past knew what blogs, podcasts and wikis were. Only about 10 knew what RSS was.

Richardson concludes the wrap up with this:

As we were discussing the concept of readers as editors, I showed them the white supremacist created Martin Luther King site . Well, actually, I showed a picture of it since it was being blocked at the time, and after pointing out the obvious racist tenor of the site, I asked how many could go and find out who owned that domain, who created and updated it.

There was a deafening silence.

Not. One. Person.

Mercy.

Well, I’m guessing that some readers here could find the following info useful: Whenever you want more info about any web page, there’s one place I recommend going. Who owns the domain name? What has the page looked like in the past and throughout it’s life? How much traffic does it get? Who is linking to it? How can I know when it changes in the future? These are just a few of the questions you can find answers to at the awesome meta tool URLInfo by FaganFinder. I often use particular tools from this set individually, but there’s really no reason to know more than this one page: faganfinder.com/urlinfo. Make sure you check out the “cache” tab, item “internet archive” when you’re there.

The direct answer to Richardson’s question is that you look up the WhoIs info to learn who owns the domain. But why stop there? Thought that might come in handy.

If there is more specific info than WhoIs on who specifically updates a page, somebody let me know – it’s news to me.

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Pew Study Says the Net Will NOT Ruin Your Life

Another striking survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project has been released; this one is titled “The Strength of Internet Ties.” The summary reports that,

Rather than conflicting with people’s community ties, we find that the internet fits seamlessly with in-person and phone encounters. With the help of the internet, people are able to maintain active contact with sizable social networks, even though many of the people in those networks do not live nearby. Continue reading →

Edu Wikis Gain Cred

Tim Stahmer has a good introduction to wikis in the newest issue of Technology and Learning magazine, titled “Think Outside the Blog.” (login or ttjo54@netscape.net and bugmenot via BugMeNot.com)

A couple of particularly interesting points from the article include:

  • Wiki power is described in the positive – a wiki is something that lets authorized users contribute content. I think focusing on contribution instead of changability when opening the conversation could be a good first step.
  • On Wikipedia: “The most famous example of a wiki is Wikipedia…Although Wikipedia’s success has been tarnished a little by vandalism, some misinformation, and fights over certain controversial topics, the wiki concept – an open site maintained by its users – has been a hit.”
  • Highlighted benefits include: the ability to write and research collaboratively and concurrently without the limitation of having to always schedule face-to-face time, the presence of the content in the larger context of the web – thus enabling participation and visibility via parents, other schools and the general public.
  • The article says that wikis are currently in use for school planning and interaction with parents, offering updates more continuously than printed newsletters and in some cases serving as a school’s entire web site.

The article then presents three options for schools interested in setting up a wiki:

  • Hosting your wiki on a wiki farm, examples provided include Wikicities, Wikispaces and PBWiki – all 3 great recomendations. I’m especially excited that PBWiki, the wonderful host of BlogSafer.org (anonymous blogging guides for people living under repressive governments) got a mention here.
  • Installing wiki software on your own server space, or asking your Internet Service Provider if they have wiki software ready to run (the article says wikis are popular enough that many ISPs now offer this).
  • Setting up a wiki behind the school’s firewall for security reasons. The author points to a narrative of his own set up of MediaWiki, the software behind Wikipedia and Wikicties, on a Mac with OS X. Other good options to look at include PMWiki and Kwiki, though those may be less user friendly for absolute newbies.

I am really happy to see this article appear in print. It’s a whole lot better than the episode of CSI I saw last night about a blogger involved in a murder! In order for these powerful new tools to be used to their potential, they need to be taken seriously and be discussed in detail in a variety of settings.

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