Month: September 2001

MIT: OpenCourseware. Move to open courses MIT: OpenCourseware and CMU's Carnegie Technology Education (CTE) program show that trend toward open sharing of information among universities is gaining strengh. CTE program is actually used at my uni right now to certify certain courses. This is a very good trend, indeed. A few weeks ago I put… Continue reading MIT: OpenCourseware

Convert PowerPoint to Flash Interesting new app that converts PowerPoint to Flash. I don't do a lot of PowerPoint anymore, but this would have been helpful since a lot of people have the ability to play Flash animations, but not as many can play PowerPoint stuff. [Scobleizer]

The PHP Accelerator (Cache). The Accelerator is a plugin extension to PHP that accelerates script execution typically between 2 and 3 times by caching compiled code for instant reuse the next time your scripts are accessed. If you look at Nick's history, he says he started learning how to use the Zend engine only on… Continue reading The PHP Accelerator (Cache)

Study: Who Needs Privacy Laws?. As Congress returns to town, a libertarian group is telling legislators that technology can protect privacy better than laws. Liberal privacy advocates call the new study nonsense. Declan McCullagh reports from Washington. [Wired News]

Stop The Upgrade Insanity : [A 12-18 month upgrade cycle] gives the manufacturers time to make really significant improvements to the hardware — not just changing a color or adding a FireWire port, but something that really makes a difference. (Low End Mac via Applesurf) [Applesurf]

PR: Bitstream Develops Font Subsystem for Linux. “Bitstream Inc. announced today the beta release of btX, a font server for Linux. btX gives Linux the same font presentation as that found on the Macintosh and on Windows. With btX, developers can render hinted, anti-aliased, and kerned characters, producing great looking text on screen.”… [Meerkat: An… Continue reading PR: Bitstream Develops Font Subsystem for Linux

Wired: “Today, the distance learning market continues to grow, but much of the momentum has slowed. Many e-learning startups have gone belly-up, realizing the enormous costs of launching efficacious courses online.” [Scripting News]

Adam Curry: “You can integrate Internet technology into education without it being about the technology, but just using the technology to improve basic skills, such as writing, presentation, structural thinking and communication ” [Scripting News]

Darwin Magazine: Sharp Focus. In my reporting, I fly around the world to interview people in person. Is videoconferencing technology poised to reduce the number of times we have to get on planes? Can it improve collaboration and communication? Or is it yet another technology that's perpetually going to remain five years off? [Tomalak's Realm]

Kevin Lynch: “The challenge for companies like Macromedia is to provide integrated solutions to enable customers to easily design, develop, deliver, and display dynamic Web content and applications that result in a great user experience. If we can accomplish this, our customers will be best-positioned to build the next generation of the Web.” [Scripting News]