Blog Pile

RSS: Another Killer App Contender?

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“I could have had class. I could have been a contender. Instead of what I am, a bum”

In the July/August 2003 Technology Source, Mary Harrsch makes a claim (#623?) for RSS – The Next Killer App For Education.

As blogged by David and George, the slapping of “kller app” may be over the top, but it helps to spread the word a bit.. even if the author has completely neglected the RSS work happening right around here somewhere and up in the northern hintelands of Canada 😉

Blog Pile

BlogShop Flies Like an Eagle

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Yesterday’s workshop, or “blogshop” for faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community college went very well. It was much to cover (and most was not) in 2 hours, but we got many of these teachers excited, curious, interested in the tools available via a blog. The blog provides all of the information needed to do this as a […]

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QuickTopic and Quick Doc Review

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Some very slick small tools that might be helpful as teaching tools (and other uses). You have to like something with the tagline “your free, preposterously easy instant discussion space” (almost as good as “software that doesn’t suck”)

QuickTopics is a simple platform for web based brief discussions on a single topic (un threaded), that can also have people participate by email. I found it by stumbling through a blog (the url has vanished from my leaky biological memory) where an instructor was using it in a teaching blog as a way for students to respond to weekly topical issues he posed on the blog.

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Stomp Click Here

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One of my major, growling rotweiler pet peeves are the millions, no billions, or web pages that have “click here” links for hypertext. It completely defeats the entire concept of hypertext as an in-context connection to related content.

Well-written hypertext subtly weaves the link by the choice of words used to indicate the link relationship. “Click here” distracts by drawing attention to itselfe rather than the content. And pity the poor person who is using accessibility technology to “read” a web page! It looks really stupid when printed.

“click here” is lame, lazy, and an insult when I view a web page. I know it is a link (unless it is mystery meat navigation).

Blog Pile

Onyx-RSS update

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Thanks to Randy B for noticing that the Onyx RSS parser we use in the RSS to JS demo has been updated. Something about cache-ing issues and line breaks (shrug). Keep up to date. It is a full time job and a half.