Saturday, June 14, 2003

High School Is Virtual, but the Caps and Gowns Are Real. The graduates of the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School one of a growing number of cyberschools finally met after years of studying online. By Sara Rimer. [New York Times: Education] 10:30:45 AM    comment []

History for Hire in Industry Lawsuits. A scientist financed by, say, the tobacco industry, is expected to declare whose wallet is behind his research. But what about a historian? By Patricia Cohen. [New York Times: Education] 10:29:54 AM    comment []

xian: jjg on user-centered design. Good (public) interview getting underway in the Well's Inkwell conference with Jesse James Garrett, author of The Elements of User Experience (New Riders, 2003), a book I've promised to review in this space and will get around to eventually, I promise! Garrett is a groundbreaker in the less-than-a-decade old discipline of information architecture. Much of his work and his ways of organizing the design process have become hugely influential. The diagram that inspired his book circulated the web for years as a fundamental IA meme. [Radio Free Blogistan] 10:24:05 AM    comment []

Vietnamese cyber-dissident to face trial next week (AFP). Son, a medical doctor, was arrested in Hanoi in late March 2002, a few weeks after translating into Vietnamese and publishing online a feature entitled "What is democracy" extracted from the US State Department's website. He is also said to have published a letter on the Internet in protest over his interrogation by the police and the confiscation of some personal belongings, including papers and computer equipment. We know his trial is scheduled for Wednesday at the Hanoi People's Court, but we don't know if it will be a closed trial, one western diplomat said Thursday. A court official confirmed Son's trial date was scheduled for June 18 and said he would be tried on "espionage charges." He was unable to provide any further details. The foreign ministry said it was unable to provide any information. Most trials in Vietnam, particularly those involving political and religious dissidents, are off-limits to diplomats and foreign journalists. Son has been kept in police detention since his arrest, which Amnesty International said Thursday could be a breach of Vietnamese law. . . . . It is inconceivable that his actions can be considered as 'criminal' under international law, Amnesty said. On the available evidence we regard him as a prisoner of conscience. 3:37:02 AM    comment []