Vicki Suter, Bryan Alexander,and Pascal Kaplan write in EDUCAUSE (EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 40, no. 1 (January/February 2005): 46–59.) how social software can be managed to integrate physical conference space and internet space.

Maybe in the future or in another place, till then it is 'old fashioned word of mouth' and e-mail.

Pipedreams

Interactive waterfall composing, rainforest

playing the universe from a beach

The Artikel '"Memories for life" Managing information over a human lifetime', (pdf) by Andrew Fitzgibbon and Ehud Reiter concerns itself with the need to store, search and model all our vast amounts of digital information for life.

"This tsunami of data presents numerous challenges to computer science, including: how to physically store such "digital memories" over decades; how to protect privacy, especially when data such as photos may involve more than one person; how to extract useful knowledge from this rich library of information; how to use this knowledge effectively, for example in knowledge-based systems; and how to effectively present memories and knowledge to different kinds of users. The unifying grand challenge is to manage this data, these digital memories, for the benefit of human life and for a lifetime."

At MyLifeBits there are more papers, presentations and links on the subject. 

The Transliteracies group conducts research in the technological, social, and cultural practices of online reading. The investigation into new digital practices involves individual, organisational literacy and semi-"literate" machines.

"The idea is to exploit cross-disciplinary expertise to approach online reading from multiple angles simultaneously, rather than just as an engineering problem, just as a hermeneutical problem, or just as a social problem. "

" Networked, digital environments also make more important the social, collective experience of reading (as instanced by Web blogs or the Google search-engine technology that filters hits according to popularity or relevance in a community of referring Web pages, each of which is in effect a "reading" of the referred page). Finally, the new online reading complements the emerging technologies that increasingly allow computers to read/write autonomously to each other across platforms and applications-as in the XML-based technologies that underlie the new online text archives, "Web services," and RSS newsreaders."

A (free) conference will take place in June. Seed-questions are being spread to discuss issues at the virtual round-table before the conference. 

Instead of purchasing frontal talks at conferences, the idea of a symposium with e- collaboration seems much more attractive. Workshops can facilitate 'birds of a feather', from beak 2 beak and build flocks. After all, all can be mined on the web.

The Social Software in the Academy Workshop at the USC Annenberg Center just recently seemed to provide such an exemplary event. One of the co-chairs was Dana Boyd, the presenters' bios are also available. The papers and materials can be viewed here. Ssaw also tagged with social bookmarks. The 'event space' also provides a 'brain-dump' of all the talking.

Very inspiring, wish I was in California and not Sydney!

This initial personal feedback is by no means comprehensive! Late night memory fragments:

It seems there was a compatibility problem with the venue's projector and the new media downunder. The first presenter, Thomas N. Burg did not loose his cool and continued about Government (overseas!) sponsored innovations and research w.r.t. social software for learning organisations.

Over the top of boat-building and raging party noises, the other speakers could be filtered out by an attentive audience.

Rebecca Blood argued for an enabling 'participatory media' usage, especially citizen science projects could significantly impact on social and ecological concerns. In Q/A time the problematic relationship of education and blogs were raised, she responded by saying: 'Blogging is in an uneasy relationship to everything, education, business etc.'

Mark Bernstein brought a lively, spot-on presence into the space responding to Robert Ackland's research he summarised: 'Liberals talk to the world, conservatives link to their network'. He also mentioned new EU privacy rights regarding the publication of personal images without permission. A Mobloggers nightmare! Looking foreward to his talk tomorrow..

Last minute the audience came out and reported on how little current social technologies, like blogging are actually utilised and 'taught' in their workplaces. An unsettling thought that some of these graduates of the Australian educational systems, could actually get a job with IBM  and did not have the media literacy to blog (pdf) the Intranet there…..

blogtalkdownunder

Incompatible A/V equipment?, what now?




Rebecca Blood about bottom-up blogging,super!
(Please don't sue for the bad image!)
blogtalkdownunder

As I could not make it to the blogtalkdownunder workshops, there is only this post ,'From BlogTalk to Blog Walk' here so far. More later.

An interesting collection of podcasts can be heard by Dave Winer - coffee, plus many more topics.

Global voices by Rebecca MacKinnon summarises the 'unsung heroes' of the blogosphere. Good idea to introduce a bit of heteroglossia into a global mono-culture.

Joichi Ito's blog speaks from a tripod position of: Business Admin.,Technorati and Creative Commons. A rich source from a stakeholder.

And lastly, for all who missed out on the Deakin lectures 'The Creative Commons:intellectual property & public broadcasting & opportunities for common sense & public good' in May 2005, there are many of the lectures as transcripts / pdf.

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Being, Sun, Nature, Life, Water,Love, Peace, Friendship, Togetherness, Joy, Creatures,Bio-diversity, Silence,Art, Slow food, Free Resources, Open Access, Common ground, Knowledge, Music, Experience, Interactivity, Mindfulness, Attention, Awareness, Universe, Contentment, Mobility, Freedom from Choice.......

Disclaimer:
I do not support mining, especially uranium, nor do I support locking exotic wildlife in to cages.

Ein Australischer Vater und sein Sohn wurden heute zu $A 800 wegen Körperverletzung verknackt. Einem jungen Ureinwohner, der unerlaubt ihr Land betreten hatte, legten sie eine Schlinge um den Hals und zogen ihn mit einem Lieferwagen an einem Fluss entlang. Der Teenager kam mit Schnitten und Prellungen davon. Die Aborigines in Süd Queensland sind empört und protestieren gegen diese Rechtssprechung und werfen dem Rechtssystem 'Rassismus' vor.

Dies sind keine Einzelfälle, Ku Klux Klan- style Übergriffe sind laufend in der news.

Blogstartheater is an experimental vlog in participatory mass media from the Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU. Anyone can broadcast their episode. Episode 3 'Out there' is worth a watch.

Interaktiv-einfach ist ein 'mediendidaktischer Werkzeugkasten für den Umgang mit neuen Medien in der Erwachsenenbildung'. Hauptsächlich auf Freeware basiert,wird gezeigt wie 'mit einfachen Mitteln und plattformunabhängig Lehr- und Lernprozesse vorbereitet, durchgeführt, unterstützt und evaluiert' werden können. Auf dieser Site führt Ursula Bohren Magoni und Rosmarie Voegtli-Bossart selbstgesteuerte Lernende von e-Didaktik, über Medienkompetenz zu reichhaltigen Ressourcen über e-learning.
Ihr Blog  bietet aktuelles zu Blogging, e-learning und Medienkompetenzen.

Out of Africa human beings headed straight for the beach. Led by a liking for sea-food early humans moved from Africa, India, Indonesia and then Australia 65,000 years ago. Later the Middle East, Asia and then Europe were also colonised. Recent DNA studies claim these results. Ancient Australians arrived 46,000 - 50,000 years ago.

More

For German readers there is more information on 'Out of Africa' via Telepolis, 17.05.2005

Adam Crouch's concerns as a business analyst are with 'how economic and political factors can affect the business climate'. On March 27 he gave a succinct summary of what business stakeholders should bear in mind when conducting business with China.
Great economic blogging, pity it is not kept current.

Today the front page of the paper-version of the S.M.H. features a huge picture of a hunter standing in a rainforest. The 1st sentence runs as follows: "If the tourists are coming to crocodile country, then it is time for the crocodile to go" To boost paying tourists to come to the World HeritageNational Park Kakadu, they are 'dispersing' (a rich verb in Australia) and 'disposing  thoughtfully' of hundreds of crocodiles.

212- million- years-old croc-like reptiles were recorded. A12 m long reptile has been around  for  110 million years ago, weighing 10 tons. In Australia it has been recorded, that it lived 40 million years ago and 'is very similar to today's modern-day freshwater crocodile' . Even in Germany they existed 49 million years ago.
A Jurassic 10 m croc had apparently a near bullet-proof skin.

After surviving dinosaurs and a long evolutionary time, this species now gets utilised as raw materials for bags, kebabs, casino entertainment or are hunted privately or professionally smuggled.

If safety instructions are followed by visitors and locals, it would be possible to coexist and  entertain a sustainable form of tourism. In only 200 years Australia has a superlative record in eliminating the species of this country. Now the survivor of ancient times is no longer welcome to share its Lebensraum with homo sapiens.

The NewPR/Wiki aims to contribute relevant information to how the world of PR is changing via blogging, wiki and collaborative tools. It features corporate blog lists, problems with legal challenges, blog consultants, conferences and many more useful resources with regard to public relations blogging.

Blogs have been mapped in virtual space by city, country or proximity but not by mode of transport yet. Now NYC bloggers map their blogs via subway lines. The non-commercial site seeks to bring together 'non-commercial' blogs of and around N.Y. It also offers resources relevant to bloggers in NY.

What can be done in a country (Australia e.g.) with mostly privatised (lonely) transport?

From the 16. May the NY Times will cover 'the world of blogs' as a regular feature. D.Carr will write  in the column on new media every Monday. Check it out.

via

Press release

Van Weigel investigates the next-generation CMS and looks at both the capabilities of the learning arrangements and the system in EDUCAUSE. His thrust is 'thinking through the more profound pedagogical implications' and future developments. For him a new approach to learning and CMS "would facilitate (this) student development: (1) a discovery-based learning capability, (2) a 360 degree out-of-the-course capability, (3) a knowledge asset capability, and (4) a teach-to-learn capability". More explorative and collaborative interaction is happening in the Knowledge Rooms.  Try to contruct your own learning space


Robin Good's virtual lecture 'blended learning and synchronous collaboration tools' also takes you through various cost-effective tools to construct virtual learning spaces.

Another one in the Sellafield's Thorp reprocessing plant, about 20 tonnes of uranium and plutonium fuel lost into the Earth's environment. more...

Three sites that I found to be productive resources for ICT and e/m-learning:

New technologies that will impact on the way learning takes place are reviewed by Robin Good. Although written in 2004, it is an essential introduction to the key technologies of collaborating in the virtual sphere.

linqx|dk is a Danish online magazine about ICT and learning, the English version features a huge 'e-learning basics overview'and many useful resources with 'a Danish flavour'. A recent EU report found Danemark to be pioneers in the field of e-learning.

elearnspace 'everything elearning' is a Canadian site run by George Siemens. Interesting articles and resources. He explores 'elearning, knowledge management, networks, technology, and community' and sets it all in 'the whole picture'. His blog keeps you current.

Uranium gear used to supply drinking water contaminated 28 workers with allegedly 400 times the allowed levels of uranium. The 'human error' took place in the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park. Energy Resources Australia (Rio Tinto) might have to pay A$300,000 (US$230,000).

The Aboriginal owners resisted the uranium mine and are still living on their land.

Via
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4520931.stm

How to GPS tag (Flickr) images and incorporate them into Google maps was explained by Seb's Open Research

The results of Seb's geotagged pictures can be viewed.

Barb Dybwad suggests to 'make your own annotated multimedia Google map '... you'll be able to tie in images and video to create an interactive multimedia map'.

More on geophotoblogging

Every day another picture is posted here of our universe. Each shot is explained via hypertext and contextualised. Earth or Mars, heaven on Earth or Io's true colours, it is all there. Even drinking water on Mars can be viewed. Take your time to peep out of our obscured urban atmosphere.

The investigative Mother Jones (May/June 2005 issue)runs an interesting  article  on ExxonMobil 'ideas lobbying'. In 'Some like it hot', Chris Mooney elaborates on the ExxonMobil's $55 million budget over the past six years to 'politicize science' and bend perception.

"Forty public policy groups have this in common: They seek to undermine the scientific consensus that humans are causing the earth to overheat. And they all get money from ExxonMobil." 

via
Tony Stephens, 'The descent of man in an uncivilised world', SMH, 29.04.05,
reviewing
Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress Text Publishing. (looks very interesting!)
and
Dave Pollard's excellent review puts it all in context.