Well, since i already do PHP fairly well, and i do perl with occasional competence, and i've mangled some python in my time, i decided that I should start learning Ruby too. Ruby is installed on OS X right from the start…. why? well here's to finding out… yesterday i nabbed some other people's projects […]

SOFTWARE ECONOMICS. Fresh off the controversy over Orrin Hatch's failure to register software, we have an interesting post from Kevin on the problems of open source software:… [OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY] This is an interesting post and set of comments, but I think some of the comments are somewhat biased. Such is life, I'm just happy […]

A TOY (paper) ROBOT!!!!!. Roll Fold your own giant paper robots! Many delightful designs, including the Whale-Copter(?), the Kanga-Bot, and a suprisingly familiar little guy. Hours of fun, at least until you pass out from blood loss following massive paper cuts. (Link courtesy Pixelsurgeon by way of Veer.) [MetaFilter] origami and robots, that's two tastes […]

Web as Exhibitions. WebExhibits is like buttah. Parts of WebExhibits have been linked to before. But the place itself is about much more than time and art, with an incredible library of high quality links that one can get pleasurably lost in for quite a while. [MetaFilter] sharing the wealth with this one, if you […]

We have to fight for our right to party.. The Right to Party. “This time, for real, I‰??m calling for the establishment of a Party Party, or, at the very least, for a Party Party attitude. I‰??m issuing a call to arms for those of us always in need of, as the great Jeff Spicoli […]

Favorite island in the South Pacific? Place to stop in Europe?. Let's see whether the blog works in reverse… At the end of July I must give a talk in Sydney, Australia.  The plan is to fly west around the world.  It would be possible to stop somewhere in the South Pacific, perhaps most easily […]

GVU – Global Virtual University. Quote: “The Global Virtual University (GVU) is an online university for sustainable development, and has a particular objective to meet the educational needs of the developing world. The agreement to start the university was officially signed in September 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, where the […]

Lisbeth is a Ph.D!. My long-time cool colleague, Lisbeth Klastrup has succesfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation on virtual worlds today in Copenhagen! Congratulations, Doctor Klastrup!!! (My own dissertation is due October 1st, btw.) [The Ludologist] Congrat's to Lisbeth, Wooo Hooo! the newest Dr. Klastrup has a position at itu.dk which is awesome!

Communication & Collaboration Convergence. Uh oh, there's that word again.  Convergence.  The solution to all our problems. Siemens has released OpenScape, which integrates phone, voice mail, e-mail, text messaging, calendaring, instant messaging, and conferencing services. Its all centered on IM to synchronize use of different modes of communication, with a SIP server (Session Initiation Protocol) for […]

Blog -> BBS: WebDawn reverses the pattern. Another fusion of the patterns of weblogs and BBSes, this time in reverse. Mark Carey has created a new view of his Web Dawn weblog, reconfigured in BBS format: Forum View provides an alternative view to the blog, giving a more accurate view of the conversations taking place. […]