Friday, April 29, 2005

Bye-bye blackboard...from Einstein and others. At Oxford, they have a blackboard that Einstein used while giving a lecture. In early 2005, blackboards were given to British celebrities to "chalk". The results are shown in this exhibit, Bye bye blackboard ..... A very cool concept, in my opinion.... [GalaxyGoo Blog] 1:47:27 PM    comment []

boingboing on a Second try for personalized postage stamps Reader Apul Patel says, Stamps.com will again offer customers the opportunity to place their personal photographs on postage stamps. Hilarity ensued when they tested the service last year, as documented previously by BoingBoing. The company warns that it has new guidelines in place to prevent a repeat of such pranks. That sounds more like a challenge than a warning. Link Reader comment: JMG says, Did you guys read the new content restrictions on that PhotoStamps site? "...Stamps.com reserves the right to charge a processing fee of $10.00 for each image, graphic or photograph that you submit as an order in the PhotoStamps service which violates our content restrictions. In addition, in the event you violate these Content Restrictions and you intentionally publicize such violation, you acknowledge that Stamps.com will suffer substantial damage to its reputation and goodwill and that you can be liable for causing such substantial damage. " Sounds like we'll need some third-party blog to "intentionally publicize" our "violations" on our behalf... Link (Thanks also Patrick) 10:47:11 AM    comment []

Army, in Manual, Limiting Tactics in Interrogation. The new manual will specifically prohibit practices like stripping prisoners, imposing dietary restrictions and employing dogs. By ERIC SCHMITT. [NYT > International] 9:46:40 AM    comment []

The democratic divide, by Stephanie Birdsall, in First Monday. Remote Internet voting has been proposed as a solution to low voter turnout. It is tempting to see the use of Internet technology by a large segment of the population as a quick fix for making the voting process more accessible to a larger number of people. This argument, however, demonstrates a disconnect with the reality of Internet use; that is, that it happens in a place. Internet use is not an ethereal, boundary–less activity, it is situated in a spatial/geographic context. Reviewing this geographic context using Geographic Information System technology can reveal the serious limitations of a "point and click" solution to improving political participation. 8:46:49 AM    comment []

Jamais Cascio on The Greening of the Creative Class?. Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class made a bit of a splash last year. His argument -- that "cultural creatives" (an intentionally broad social-economic category) were most attracted to diverse, tolerant urban environments -- resonated with many, particularly those who were encompassed by his "creative class" definition. Florida asserted that the American locations driving the boom of the late 1990s, as well as what we here call the "Tech Bloom" of the 2000s, had particular social-cultural elements in common: relative population density; lively artistic communities; diverse cultures; an embrace of (or at least strong tolerance for) gay communities; and a multiplicity of universities. Urban centers that encouraged contact and connections across a wide array of cultures tended to stimulate the new ideas underlying the digital economy. Florida's argument is controversial, to say the least. His definition of cultural creatives includes professional categories other sociologists might otherwise omit, and it remains to be seen whether his assertions about the connection between creative workers and economic growth will hold true over the long run. Still, his basic argument -- that knowledge and media work represent key engines of economic growth, and environments supportive of cultural and intellectual diversity are attractive to these kinds of industries -- does seem to capture some of the underlying drivers of the current state of American society. In his research, Florida does not pay much attention to the environmental attitude of his creative class, other than lumping it into "lifestyle." But while reading an article in yesterday's Christian Science Monitor -- "In Portland, living the green American dream" -- it struck me that there seems to be significant overlap between the creative class professionals and the rapidly growing circle of people embracing green/sustainable design in their lives. People who seek out urban environments with a combination of diverse stimuli and dense connections increasingly also are the people looking for material surroundings with a combination of smart design and high efficiency. The creative class is taking on a distinctly Viridian shade of green. Continue reading "The Greening of the Creative Class?" [WorldChanging: Another World Is Here] 8:46:33 AM    comment []

Really super work by our students last weekend: Student plays pack theater at 'Surfacing'. There was not an empty seat to be found in Webster University's Studio Theater of the Loretto Hilton Center. The title "Surfacing" glowed green, projected high on a wall as five plays were performed. April 22 through 24, the Emerging Playwrights' Festival featured a variety of work, entirely student produced, including writing, technical work, acting and directing. [The Journal] 4:44:32 AM    comment []

Ads That Know What You Want. Online marketers take a shine to ads tied to internet users' personal interests. In the process, they're increasingly tracking people's activities across networks of websites. Joanna Glasner reports from San Francisco. [Wired News] 3:44:23 AM    comment []

Alumni organizations do more than ask for money. At some universities, alumni events are scheduled around sports, but Webster University has managed to hold on to a thriving alumni tradition without an athletic influence. Some Webster alumns more than 50 years removed from their graduation date, but still participate in alumni events and come back year after year for Homecoming Weekend. [The Journal] 2:44:14 AM    comment []