e-Clippings 4.4.2003

One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with
potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with
consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
Maya Angelou

Surviving is important, but thriving is elegant.
Maya Angelou
please visit www.qotd.org)
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Some quick updates from the Newsroom here at e-Clippings:

1. If you go here: http://www.masie.com/researchgrants/#future
You can take a look at the research I'll be doing on the
e-learning side of the house for the next few months (in addition to
work, school, family, sleep). If you have any thoughts on this topic
–
PLEASE- don't hesitate to email with them. I truly want to make
this report as engaging and valuable as possible – input from this
group would be a big help.

2. I will be attending the ISPI (www.ispi.org) Conference up in
Boston, Mass. –12-15 April. If any of you are headed that way,
let me know – I'd love to meet up with you!

3. This one, to me, is just stunning to see come out of GAO. This is
much overdue.
Federal Programs: Ethnographic Studies Can Inform Agencies'
Actions. GAO-03-455, March 2003.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-455
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Digital Games Research Association Conference 2003
4-6 November 2003
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
http://www.digiplay.org.uk/digracfp.php
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discussion of a product, company or person does not represent any
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organizations retain complete copyright.
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NEWS

DUTCH P2P PLATFORM PROVIDER IS A PRANK: (Source: IDG.net) Internet
users hoping for a rush of new file-swapping services have been
tricked. A February announcement from a Dutch company promising a
platform for such services turns out to have been an April Fools' Day
joke.
http://www.techinformer.com/go.cgi?id=795194

CHALLENGING MODEL LAW: Academic-library groups are denouncing
copyright-protection bills that legislatures in several states are
considering. The groups say that the bills, if they became law, could
erode fair-use rights by making it illegal to use copyrighted
material in ways not expressly permitted by the copyright owners.
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003040101t.htm

STUDY IN THE WAR ZONE: The Louisiana Board of Regents has created an
electronic campus for the state's military personnel who have been
called to duty so they don't fall behind on their college work during
the war in Iraq. (3/31/2003)
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/03/2003033101t.htm

(found at Stephen Downes' OLDaily)
LIKE It is in PDF format, which makes it impossible to link to
specific articles. Too bad. LIKE (Learning In a Knowledge Europe) is
one of the better e-learning newsletters I've seen, well written,
factual, and sensitive to industry trends. Check out this blunt
assessment, from page 9: "Is there a future for e-learning? Is e-
learning profitable? Such questions reveal an idea of e-learning as a
solution, a product in itself. And they contain their own response:
No - e-learning thus defined does not really have a future." By
Various Authors, March, 2003
http://www.eife-l.org/LiKE/default.htm

(found at Stephen Downes' OLDaily)
Providers Have To Start Putting Excitement Into E-learning Why did
the state of Victoria withdraw an ambitious online training program
intended to teach 55,000 teachers about harassment and related
issues? Administrators say it was due to be withdrawn at the end of
2002, but the author suggests that its withdrawal after reaching only
68 percent of its intended audience tells a different story. But what
story? Mary Bluett, the Australian Education Union's branch
president, argues that the program was unpopular because it was
generic training. "None of the examples related to education." By
Eric Wilson, The Age, March 25, 2003
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/24/1048354523149.html

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TRENDS SECTION

(From: the Internet Time Blog)
Transforming e-Knowledge : Last week I finished reading Transforming
e-Knowledge by Donald Norris, Jon Mason, and Paul Lefrere. This book
is a fantastic collection of stories, memes, theories, predictions,
scenarios, reference lists, and diagrams about the future of knowing.
I read the hardcopy on my travels the last couple of weeks, but the
entire book is online. For free.
Story: http://meta-time.com/blog/archives/000512.html#000512
Book: http://www.transformingeknowledge.com/

Adding Excitement To E-learning: Simulation programs ease the cost,
stress of training. By Jennie L. Phipps
http://www.industryweek.com/CurrentArticles/Asp/articles.asp?
ArticleId=1415

(From: the Internet Time Blog)
eLearning is dead. Two weeks ago at the eLearning 2003 Conference in
Manchester, UK, I announced that eLearning was dead.
http://meta-time.com/blog/archives/000510.html#000510

The State of Digital Rights Management:Bryan Alexander reports from
the Berkeley DRM Conference
http://www.mindjack.com/feature/drm.html

WHAT'S NEXT: UTILITY COMPUTING: (Source: Darwin) Looking for a
dramatic change in the way the data center is run? You may have just
found your answer.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=795336

International Forum of Educational Technology & Society: Formal
Discussion Initiation: A theory for eLearning
http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss_march2003.html

"Somewhere a Place to Learn" by Clive Shepherd: IT Training
Magazine:March 2003: Okay, so it's not really possible for e-
learning to take place anywhere. Maybe the coiner of "anytime,
anywhere, anyplace" should have included "as long as you have a
computer with internet access and the anyplace is reasonably
conducive to concentration." Given, that's not so catchy. Clive
Shepherd dissects e-learning's trademark to find where it holds true
for effective learning. He begins with a reminiscence of the infancy
of computer-mediated learning (the good old days of the 1990s),
discusses learner options brought on by the growth of e-learning, and
explores the pros and cons of learning at home, at the office, and in
an e-learning center.
http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/aplacetolearn.htm

Dakota State U. Sells Access to Its PeopleSoft Installation for Other
Colleges' Classes: Wednesday, April 2, 2003: By FLORENCE OLSEN
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003040202t.htm

BLOGS BEGIN GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS: (Source: PC World.com) Online
journals are joining the ranks of traditional office applications.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=794692

"Designing Emotionally Sound Web-Based Instruction" by The
Community Administration Team at Learn Scope LearnScope:February 24,
2003: It's no secret people learn in environments that nurture
learning. When learners are afraid or uncomfortable, they become
withdrawn and the possibility for effective learning is lost.
Classroom curriculum frameworks and teachers alike have evolved to an
age of inclusive education, where every student has equal
opportunities and feels welcome to participate. But how does this
ideology translate to e-learning? This helpful article articulates
specific tools that should be available in any e-learning program to
ensure maximum comfort and enjoyment and minimal fear and envy.
http://www.learnscope.anta.gov.au/learnscope/golearn.asp?
Category=11&DocumentId=2815

"Designing for Learners, Designing for Users" by David Smulders :
eLearn Magazine:February 2003: A shy person opts for an online course
so he can anonymously participate. Someone else signs up because
she's heard about great discussions in chat rooms with people half a
world away. But what if his "raise your hand" button malfunctions or
her class chat room is empty because no one can figure out how to
enter it? The resulting loss of learning negates the purpose of the
course and results in frustration and distrust of online learning.
Smulders contrasts users with learners and form with content,
advocating the creation of effective user-interface design that is
sensitive to their requirements.
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage/sub_page.cfm?
section=3&list_item=11&page=1

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EMERGING TECH SECTION

SPRINT BUILDS PRIVATE NET FOR FEDS: Closed IP network is designed for
secure communications.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110095,tk,dn040203X,00.asp

SMALLER, FASTER HARD DRIVES COMING SOON: Several advances expected
later this year, industry group says.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110107,tk,dn040203X,00.asp

ARMY BEGINS WORK ON NEW COMBAT TRAINING SIMULATION SYSTEM
The Army has awarded contracts to AT&T Government Solutions and
Science Applications International Corp. for the first phase of a
program to develop a new combat simulation training system.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21586-1.html

Paint-On Plastic Makes Cheap Displays: A research team from Germany
has developed a process for producing plastic, full-color flat screen
displays that is simpler and potentially cheaper than today's
manufacturing methods for organic light-emitting diode screens.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_040103_2.asp

MICROSOFT BOLSTERS WI-FI SECURITY IN XP; HP UNVEILS 802.11G LAPTOPS:
(Source: Computerworld) Microsoft is offering Windows XP users free
software that enhances WLAN security in the OS, and HP released
laptop computers that use the evolving 802.11g wireless
standard.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=794933

MOTOROLA CLAIMS MEMORY CHIP BREAKTHROUGH:(Source: IDG.net)
Nanotechnology may open the door to smaller,more reliable and less
power-hungry memory chips in cell phones,
network gear and other devices.
http://www.techinformer.com/go.cgi?id=794871

WEB CONFERENCING COMES OF AGE: (Source: PC World.com) New and
upgraded apps making keeping in touch easier than ever.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=794689

BYE-BYE, BATTERIES?: Long-lasting fuel cells favored to (eventually)
power portable devices.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110120,tk,dn040303X,00.asp

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MOBILE COMPUTING SECTION

Army Uses Mobile Technology, Satellite Link To Track Supplies: To
keep its central asset-tracking system up to date during the war with
Iraq, the U.S. Army relies on mobile units to scan the contents of
supply convoys and transmit the information via a satellite network.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0%2C4902%2C79844%2C0.html?nlid=MW

Centrino-based Tablet PCs On The Horizon: Although they have been
slow to emerge, Centrino-based Tablet PCs are heading for the market,
with early devices to be based on the 900-MHz, ultra-low-voltage
Pentium M processor.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0%2C4902%2C79824%2C0.html?nlid=MW

Analyst: Mobile Computing Should Not Be Ignored: If enterprises don't
see mobile computing as being business critical, they'd better hope
they're correct in that assumption, according to one analyst.
http://computerworld.com/newsletter/0%2C4902%2C79833%2C0.html?nlid=MW

MICROSOFT GIVES VOICE TO HANDHELDS: Windows CE--the company's
embedded OS--gets voice-over-IP support.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110122,tk,dn040303X,00.asp

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GAMING SECTION

Online Gaming Anything but Fun and Games: SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March
19, 2003 - With hundreds of millions – and eventually billions
– of dollars up for grabs, online gaming represents a budding new
industry, which is just beginning to spread its wings, reports In-
Stat/MDR. The high-tech market research finds that while online
gaming won't take over the world, even a moderate number of
gamers (such as 10% of the game consoles), playing for relatively
short periods of time (5 hours a week), would consume more than 5% of
all of the American Backbone Traffic by the end of 2003.
http://www.instat.com/press.asp?ID=576&sku=IN030683IA

JUPITER RESEARCH REPORT – Prophet: A report released by
research firm, Jupiter Research reveals that teenagers in households
with an annual income less than $35,000 a year spend about fifty
percent more time a week playing video games than those in with
incomes above $74,000. The study also revealed that teenagers spend
more time watching television, listening to music and going online
than playing games - but spend more time with games than reading
books or magazines. Some other interesting factors in the report
revealed that teenagers are very budget conscience when it comes to
video games purchases and that only 8 percent think a game having
online functionality is important. The report went on to examine the
likes and dislikes of girls and came to the conclusion that girls
like games but are not being served effectively by the interactive
entertainment market.
http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/pressrelease.asp?id=1981

Bohemia Interactive Studio for some time now has been developing a
Military Grade Program based upon Operation Flashpoint Technology
called VBS1 (Virtual Battlefield System 1). Currently a special
version of VBS1 is being modified by Bohemia Interactive Studio and
US based company Coalescent Technologies Corp. for the US Marines.
This Modification of VBS1 will be used initially in the Deployable
Virtual Training Environment (DVTE) program. Marines will be using
VBS1 in December 2001 with possible expansion through 2002, 2003 and
beyond. Many other Major Military organizations around the world are
also looking closely at VBS1 for Military training purpose.
http://www.flashpoint1985.com/press/vbs1.html
VBS: http://www.virtualbattlefieldsystems.com/

Video Games – The Necessity of Incorporating Video Games as part
of Constructivist Learning BY Obe Hostetter, James Madison
University, Dept. of Educational Technology, Dr. Richard Clemens,
December 2002
http://www.game-research.com/art_games_contructivist.asp

Games Without Frontiers: 10/03/2003: By Jussi Holopainen, Nokia
Research Center Ludology (from "ludus", the Latin word for "game") is
a new emerging discipline that studies game and play activities [1].
Even though there has been quite a lot of historical, psychological,
and anthropological studies on games, they have focused on small
characteristics of games without looking for bigger patterns of
understanding (note that the mathematical 'game theory' does not have
much to say about how we, as human beings, really play games).
http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,5132,00.html

Art games and Breakout: New media meets the American arcade: Tiffany
Holmes, School of the Art Institute of Chicago: (presented at the
Computer Games and Digital Cultures conference in Tampere, Finland as
well as the Art Gallery, Siggraph 2002, and Crudeoils.us)
http://www.artic.edu/~tholme/artgames/

Palm faces WLAN gaming patent infringement suit: By Tony Smith
Posted: 28/03/2003 at 13:13 GMT: Palm has been hit with a law suit
claiming that the ability of its PDAs to network wirelessly with
other such devices on an ad hoc basis, in turn allowing users to
compete in multi-player games, infringes the intellectual property of
one Peer-to-Peer Systems.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/68/29999.html

Computer Gaming Timeline: 1889-2002
http://www.digiplay.org.uk/timeline.php

Computer Gaming Bibliography
http://www.digiplay.org.uk/books.php

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SECURITY SECTION


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HUMOR AND MISC. SECTION

DVD Jon gets retrial date: Hollywood persuades Norway to stage
hearing sequel
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/30062.html

Mapping A Virtual City : What would a virtual city in cyberspace look
like? Well, a sequence of 'satellite' maps of AlphaWorld provide us
with a pretty good idea These fascinating maps show the growth of
buildings, streets, parks and gardens designed and constructed by the
citizens of the virtual world of AlphaWorld over the past five years.
The virtual cartographer responsible is Roland Vilett, the lead
programmer on the virtual world system at Activeworlds.com, which
encompasses AlphaWorld and several hundred other worlds on the
Internet (see sidebar for further details).
http://mappa.mundi.net/maps/maps_013/

the USGS Earthshots web site.
http://edc.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/tableofcontents

A small correction by Congressman Issa...By Guy Kewney,
Newswireless.net Posted: 02/04/2003 at 08:47 GMT: He's not going to
give up gracefully, is he? Having been exposed in a factual
inaccuracy - the GSM network isn't French, as he claimed -
Congressman Darrell Issa has removed the allegation that it is. And
then he's resorted to innuendo...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/30058.html

Today's Refdesk Link of the Day is: April Fool's Day Gallery: The
Museum of Hoaxes: Every April Fool's Day the ritual is the same.
Outrageously false stories — issued by a variety of sources such
as
corporations, non-
profit organizations, journalists, and politicians — appear in
the
media. The challenge for all of us is to sort out the April Foolery
from the weird stuff that's actually true. This site provides
information on the origin and history of April Fool's Day along with
a chronololgy and timeline of memorable hoaxes.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/aprilframe.html

PCWORLD'S MOST POPULAR UTILITIES: (Source: PC World.com)
Ad-aware tops the list, followed by some Internet and system
utilities.
http://www.idg.net/go.cgi?id=795040

Celluloid Heroes Evolve: New filmmaking technology leads Henry
Jenkins to ask: What should be recognized as special effects, and
what's plain old good acting?
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_jenkins040403.asp

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