Are the big guys choosing sides?

The alignment of major tech companies (i.e., Apple’s decision to prioritize Twitter and Facebook) is a trend I find disturbing. In my opinion, one of the problems with services such as Facebook (and more and more Apple) is that the trend toward simplicity which comes at the expense of user control and personal exploration. MacWorld offers a nice summary of the opportunities available in Google+. I am not certain one of the big players is actually any better than another, but it is my assumption that the more services the better.

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Those settings on your DSLR explained

I use my camera just often enough to play with settings rather than shoot everything on automatic and not enough to remember what the settings mean. This summary from MacWorld offers a nice summary.

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Howard Rheingold from MIT Media Lab

This invited lecture by Howard Rheingold from the MIT media lab is a nice analysis of his take on online literacies. His opinions, summarized in the book Net Smart, identifies key online literacies and counters the position that online experiences are making us stupid.

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Diane Ravitch and others discuss teacher evaluation on PBS Newshour

An interesting PBS offering (video and the transcript) on student achievement and teacher evaluation is available online.

Largest correlate of poor performance is poverty. Why blame teachers and unions and ignore the major correlate?

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HyperCard – 25 years later

ArsTechnica offers a nice “25 years later” article on Hypercard. I still love that program/environment and wonder why no one will revive a decent similar product. No, for those of you who keep sending me “similar” products, I have not found something I think is equivalent. I keep thinking it would be the perfect iPad product, but I am afraid such a product would offer users too many DIY opportunities and this is no longer the Apple way.

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Public Photography

The issue of what and whom you can photograph has always been somewhat unclear to me. Here is a LifeHacker post on this topic. I must admit that this analysis seems to avoid the topic that I wonder about – can you photograph people in a public location?

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