Wordle.net is a service that turns your tag cloud into an image. The following is the image generated from Cindy’s del.icio.us tags. I saw this a few days ago, but I could not figure out how to use the tags from my social bookmarking system in a way that would generate text size differences. Seems to work great with del.icio.us.
What would be cool would be an independent app that would aggregate public tags across multiple services and then could be shared. What would be REALLY cool would be such a service that allowed access from the core aggregator.
I guess I must admit being wrong. My initial reaction to Twitter was based on a present frame of reference without anticipating that an existing frame of reference can be changed by new experiences.
I have discovered I like to keep Twitter open in a side bar while I do other things (see image). This is a capability built into Flock (see image). I have also discovered that Twitter is down A LOT (see image) and you will not necessarily know this until after you carefully craft a message in < 140.
Man, my posts are getting short. Must be the Twitter experience. (Twitter address – so I feel the pressure to post).
I am probably too relaxed in the way I use technology. Got a few free minutes on a very busy day? Take a break and upgrade your browser. You think I would learn.
Mozilla is trying to set some kind of record for downloads with the new version of Firefox and this intent has made news. I follow the tech news. So, I thought I would join in.
I download the browser. Simple enough. I click on the icon. Nothing. I restart. I repair privileges. I download and install again. Nothing. I reread the download page seeking clues. Nothing. I sulk. I search for earlier version to get back to square one. Everything takes me back to the page for downloading the newest version.
I carefully review the support page. There it is – FireFox 3 will only work with Mac OS 10.4. Clear enough. Here I also find the link to download Firefox 2.
Just for the record.
1) Take a careful look at the Firefox download page. The download button clearly says 10.x – to my thinking this would include 10.3.9. Perhaps the reason the download count is so high is that folks like me are downloading multiple times in the hopes of receiving a working copy.
2) I do run the most recent OS ON MY OWN machines. I work for the frugal University of North Dakota. I run what the university provides in my office – it is a matter of principle. You get what the university is willing to pay for.
OK – the following post has little educational relevance. I will allow the following post because a) I warned you and b) this is my blog.
I was listening to the Glenn Beck show on my way to the grocery store. I blame this on my wife. She likes talk radio and I took her car. Beck was talking about the U.S. Constitution and how we presently are straying from the wisdom of the founding fathers (use the link because this seems to be a popular theme at present).
I was thinking about the wisdom of the founders and whether their logic as applied to the world as they knew it trumps our understanding of our world as we know it. Clearly, the principles of this nation have stood the test of time ….
Wait, I take that back. It appears that that our core principles can change as our values change. Why, it turns out it is ok for women to vote. It is not ok to keep slaves. You can drink alcohol, wait you can’t drink alcohol, no – you can drink alcohol.
Saul Hansell in a NY Times article reports that the Associated Press is reacting to what the AP considers excesses quoting by bloggers and is attempting to set guidelines.
The Times article states:
Last week, The A.P. took an unusually strict position against quotation of its work, sending a letter to the Drudge Retort asking it to remove seven items that contained quotations from A.P. articles ranging from 39 to 79 words.
It did occur to me that the quote I provide above may be an example of the violation described. Hmm …
As the article indicates, Fair Use is a “vague doctrine.” My own understanding has been that assumptions about fair use that educators typically understand do not extend to web publication (e.g., blog entries). As I tell my students, the existence of the TEACH act (UTSystem summary) argues that Congress saw the need to address fair use in the online environment and did so under restrictions limiting online access to students in a course and behind a sign-in system. What you commonly see online does not involve a course or a limited audience.
I am not certain the use of brief quotes would even be a “fair use” issue. If the Times analysis provides all necessary details, the use of short quotes in the writing of all professional writers would be suspect. I am guessing more on this issue will follow.
Our kids have had quite a week so for those with an interest in our family here is the news.
Our first grandson (two previous granddaughters) arrived early Wednesday morning. Preston Reid Tanner. Preston, mom, dad, and big sister Addison are all doing fine.
Todd called us last evening. He was in New York with colleagues for the daytime Emmy awards and the science education show he works on, Dragonfly TV, received an Emmy.
I checked the DragonflyTV site this morning – no mention of the award. Perhaps they thought the middle school audience would not be impressed.
Sent to us via Todd’s camera phone.
Finally, daughter Kim called this morning from Ketchikan. She and boyfried Jim are spending the summer working on a whale watching boat. Her MacBook boots to a white screen and there are no Apple Stores with a genious bar in Ketchikan. She called mom – close to the same thing. No boot CD. No dongle to plug in a monitor (may be a bad screen). No firewire to firewire cable to target drive computer to see if harddrive is available. No backups of a great image collection. What did we teach these kids? I am going to miss the blog posts and living vicariously through the images. We are going to have to figure something out – perhaps a loaner is in order.
Way to go kids! Can’t wait to see what happens next week.
Our first grandson, Preston, was born yesterday. I arrived in Minneapolis today to say hello. On the way down I heard a Minnesota Public Radio interview with polar explorer and Minnesota native Will Steger. The interview mainly addressed global warming and the effects that are visible in the arctic. Mr. Steger described his foundation and the educational web site Global Warming 101. I took a look at the site and found that the interview was available on the front page (at least when this was written). Steger emphasizes the role of education and our need to seriously consider the state of the world we will pass on to future generations. Not a bad message for today.
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