Warning: This is an archived course website that is part of my teaching portfolio, so some links may no longer work. Please contact me with any questions about this site.



Week 16 and Finals Week: That’s All, Folks!

Posted April 27th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

This will be my final update to the class website, so I should probably write something profound about what we’ve accomplished this semester. Realistically, though, I know that most of you are busy with final papers, final projects, and final exams, so I will keep this short and save my wistful reflections for our last class session. Here’s the schedule for Week 16:

On Tuesday, we will finish Always On by discussing pages 161–236. Adam will lead our class discussion that day in Ross 420. In addition to discussing the reading assignment, we will complete the university-required course evaluation. The questions on that form are important, but I am much more interested in your feedback about topics that aren’t on the standard form. Hence, I will ask you to answer a few short questions that will help me do a better job of teaching this course (or another one like it) in the future. Before you come to class, think about what we read, what you wrote (and when), and how we conducted our class discussions; you’ll have the chance to give me feedback on all of these topics.

On Thursday, we will spend most of the class session in an informal peer-review workshop. Please bring a printed rough draft of your final paper to Ross 406. It’s OK if your final paper is still quite rough; just bring what you have and be ready to read a few other drafts and ask your classmates tough questions about their papers. If time permits, we will discuss a case study about blogging and professionalism. I will send you a PDF copy of the case via email; please read it before class and bring a printed copy of the case to class.

We will not meet as a class during finals week, so the last thing you need to do for English 411 is submit your final paper to my mailbox in Ross 206. Final papers are due no later than 11:45 a.m. on Friday, May 8. If you’d like to discuss your paper, please come see me during office hours this week, or email me to set up an appointment during finals week.

Thank you for a truly outstanding semester!

Week 15: Always Reading Always On

Posted April 19th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Welcome to Week 15! Only two more weeks to go, and only one more book on our hefty reading list: Always On, by Naomi S. Baron. I think it’s fitting that in an English class, we conclude the semester with a book that focuses specifically on the role that language plays in online environments. On Tuesday, Whitney will lead us in a discussion of pages xi–98. (We’ll meet in Ross 420.) On Thursday, Robert will lead us in a discussion of pages 99–160. (Watch for an email about where we’ll meet.)

A reminder about your small additional reading assignment: please read the photocopied pages from They Say / I Say before class on Tuesday and bring that handout to class. We’ll spend a bit of time on Tuesday and Thursday talking about strategies for the final paper, so come ready to ask specific questions about what is (and isn’t) appropriate for your paper.

Last but definitely not least, don’t forget that Tuesday is the final due date for short papers. According to my records, everyone needs to submit a short paper on Tuesday. I will do my best to grade these quickly and get them back to you during Week 16. (When I’m grading 17 papers this week, I’ll remind myself to give my students more rigid deadlines next semester. So much for my experiment with flexibility!)

If you have questions about your final paper, or about anything else related to class, please stop by during my office hours (immediately after class) or send me an email.

Week 14: Remixing English 411

Posted April 12th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

I apologize for posting this update so late in the weekend. (It’s Sunday night, so technically this is still the weekend!) Here’s a quick reminder about what we’ll be doing this week:

On Tuesday, we will meet in Ross 420, then walk to Howe Hall to hear the keynote speech at the ComETS Symposium. The keynote will be given by George Siemens, a professor at the University of Manitoba who is best known for a pedagogical theory known as “connectivism.” Please take a few minutes to review some of the sites linked on Siemens’ biography page before class on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Alyssa will lead us in a discussion as we plow through two days’ worth of Remix. Please read pages 177–224 (Tuesday’s assignment) and 225–294 (Thursday’s assignment) before class. (If remembering page numbers isn’t your strong suit, I can simplify things: please finish reading Remix before class on Thursday.)

Finally, I have decided to bump the final short paper due date from this Thursday (the 16th) to next Tuesday (the 21st). I hope the extra days will be helpful during this hectic time of the semester. If you’d like to meet with me to discuss ideas for your final short paper, please come see me during office hours on Thursday. (I will need to cancel my office hours on Tuesday, since I’ll be staying at the ComETS Symposium for the rest of the afternoon.)

Week 13: Mixing it up with Lawrence Lessig

Posted April 3rd, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

I thoroughly enjoyed our second Best of Delicious session yesterday, and I wish I had scheduled more of those days on the syllabus. It seems like our conversations are always more lively when we’re talking about what we’ve read in the news lately. Perhaps we should take a few minutes at the end of each class to talk about what we’ve been posting to Delicious lately. (If you’d like to do this, let me know and I’ll try to make time for it.)

Next week, we will dive into our sixth book of the semester: Remix, by Lawrence Lessig. On Tuesday, Kyle will lead us in a discussion of pages xiii–83; on Thursday, Kendra will lead us in a discussion of pages 84–176. Given the topic of the book, I think we’ll need to be in the lab for both class sessions.

If you don’t know much about Lessig, try to find some time before class on Tuesday to read/watch/explore a few of these links:

Last but not least, a reminder about making progress on your final paper: on Thursday, please bring an annotated bibliography (a list of sources with notes about and/or quotes from each source) containing at least ten sources. I will review your bibliography and give you some feedback and/or suggest additional sources you may want to consider.

Best of Delicious #2

Posted April 1st, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Well, the votes are in and the results suggest that your interests are all over the map. We can’t cover everything you suggested, so for our second Best of Delicious day, we’ll focus on two broad topics:

1. Government Use of Web 2.0 Technologies. How is the U.S. Government (and the Obama administration in particular) using the web to redefine the idea of participatory government? Are we seeing a genuine shift in how democracy is enacted, or is this just another case of, ahem, putting lipstick on a pig?

Please familiarize yourself with the White House’s “Open for Questions” website, then review these three articles (and explore the sites they link to):

2. Privacy, Identity, and the Workplace. New technologies may help us find jobs … then lose them. What rights, if any, should employees have when they make digital faux pas? How can companies encourage their employees to communicate online without embarrassing themselves or their employers? How can we we manage our online identities to help, not hurt, our professional careers?

If time permits, you may also want to explore the three “Deep Web” search engines mentioned in the first article: Spokeo, Pipil, and CVGadget. I would be interested to hear your reactions to how these sites function and what type of results you found for yourselves and/or friends.

We’ll meet in Ross 420 on Thursday. Bring your opinions and be ready for an engaging discussion!

Week 12: Individual Conferences and More Deliciousness

Posted March 27th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

We wrapped up Convergence Culture this week, which means we’ve made our way through five of our seven books for the semester. No small feat! We won’t start Lessig’s Remix until Week 13, so Week 12 will provide you with a bit of a break as you work on your next short paper and begin moving forward with your final paper.

In place of class on Tuesday, I will hold individual conferences with each of you on either Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Please visit the wiki link I sent out via email in order to schedule your conference. Come to my office (435 Ross Hall) ready to share your ideas for your final paper and ask me questions that might help you focus your research and writing.

On Thursday, we will hold our second “Best of Delicious” day. As you will recall from last time, each of you needs to add a comment to this post containing links to two recent Delicious posts you’d like to discuss in class. (Please create links to the sites, or at least copy and paste the URLs). If someone else has nominated a post that you like, too, you can “second” that post in your comment. Make your nominations before you come to your conference with me; that way, I can send out the list of sites/articles you need to review before Thursday’s class. I will add another post to the class website on Tuesday evening with this list.

Finally, a reminder that due date #5 for your short papers falls on Thursday. Only two dates remain, so if you have only submitted one short paper, you will need to turn in papers on both of the remaining due dates.

Spring Break, Final Papers, and Midterm Grades

Posted March 9th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

I’ll be leaving for a conference tomorrow and I may be “ambiently unfindable” for a few days (I’m not sure how good the WiFi signal will be at my hotel), so I wanted to post one last update to the class blog before spring break. Here’s a quick rundown of where we stand and where we need to be when we meet again on the 24th:

  • We won’t be meeting as a class this week, but you should keep up with the reading assignments in Convergence Culture. When we get back, Emily Y. will lead our discussion on the 24th and Emily S. will lead our discussion on the 26th. Watch for email messages from them about where they want to meet.
  • The fourth short paper due date is this Thursday, but due to my absence, you can submit your papers to my mailbox (in Ross 206) any time before you leave for spring break. I will pick up the papers on Monday, March 16th. If you have not submitted a short paper yet, you MUST submit one this week.
  • Your midterm grades for in-class participation and contributions to our Delicious links will arrive in your email inboxes soon. Please refer to the assignments page for details about the criteria I used to assign these grades. Remember, both of these grades are midterm grades, which means that they only represent half of the semester. If you are unhappy with your midterm grades in these categories, you have plenty of time to increase/improve your comments in class and your contributions to the class website.
  • Your final paper proposals are due after we return from spring break, on Thursday, March 26th. These proposals should be approximately one page long (a full single-spaced page, not one double-spaced paragraph) and should 1) outline the topic you want to explore, 2) state the argument you plan to make (this may change as you research and write the paper, but you need a starting point), 3) list the sources you intend to use to support your argument, and 4) address the “unaswered questions” that you plan to research over the second half of the semester. Please see the assignments page for more information about the final paper. If you have any questions about your paper topic, please email me over the break; I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Enjoy your break from English 411 for the next two weeks. I look forward to seeing you on the 24th, rested and ready to discuss Convergence Culture!

Week 8 and 9: Finishing Ambient Findability and Starting Convergence Culture

Posted February 27th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Week 8 marks the midpoint of the semester, and we will celebrate the occasion by finishing our fourth book (we’re more than half-way through our reading list!) and starting our fifth: Henry Jenkins’s Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. For Tuesday, please read pages 119-179 in Ambient Findability and come to class (in Ross 406) ready to spend some time in the book. (We’ve been exploring some tangents lately, which is fine, but I don’t want to neglect Morville’s text.) For Thursday, please read pages 1-58 in Convergence Culture. Tracy will lead our discussion that day; watch for an email from her about where to meet.

I will be at a conference during Week 9, so we will not meet as a class that week. However, please keep up with reading schedule by reading pages 59-173 in Convergence Culture before you leave for Spring Break. Also, the fourth due date for short papers is Thursday, March 12. However, I won’t be back from my conference until the 15th, so you can submit your short papers any time before you leave for Spring Break. Please put your essays in my mailbox in Ross 206. If you have any questions about paper topics, please come see me during office hours or email me before I leave for my conference on March 10.

Last but not least, it’s time to start thinking about possible topics for your final paper. Proposals for the final paper are due on March 26, and we will discuss the format and length of these proposals in class, but you should spend some time over Spring Break brainstorming ideas for your paper. You may want to extend one of the topics you’ve written about for a short paper, or you may want to write about something entirely new. Whatever the case, please feel free to float ideas past me during office hours or via email. I’ll respond as quickly as I can.

Week 7: Ambient Findability

Posted February 20th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Next week, we’ll begin discussing our fourth book of the semester, Ambient Findability, by Peter Morville. For Tuesday, please read pages xi-63 and spend some time poking around Morville’s two websites. For Thursday, please read pages 64-118. On Thursday, Jill will lead our discussion; watch for an email from her about where to meet that day.

Thursday is also the third due date for your short papers. If you’d like to discuss your paper, please come see me during my office hours on Tuesday or email me this weekend. I’ll try to return your last batch of papers on Tuesday.

Finally, let me reiterate the offer I made in class on Thursday: anyone who creates a new Internet meme and manages to have it go “viral” this semester will receive a generous helping of extra credit on your final grade. Please don’t spend too much time on this (as we discussed in class, predicting which memes will become popular is almost impossible), but if you have an idea, I would love to see what you come up with.

Best of Delicious #1

Posted February 17th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

I just finished combing through all of your votes for the “best of Delicious” day we’re having on Thursday, and I see two big themes emerging:

1. Facebook. Yes, we’ve already talked about Facebook this semester, but I have a feeling we’re not done. Before class on Thursday, please read these three articles:

2. Internet Memes. Not sure what a “meme” is? Browse The Daily Meme and Know Your Meme first, then read these three articles:

We’ll be in the Ross 420 lab on Thursday. Come ready for a lively discussion, and think about connections between these pieces and the books we’ve read so far this semester.

Week 6: Wrapping up Infotopia and Catching Our Breath

Posted February 13th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Next Tuesday we will conclude our discussion of Infotopia, with Andy leading the way. Please read pages 147-225, looking for connections between Sunstein’s ideas and the rhetorical focus we’re taking in this class. Depending on how our discussion goes, we may return to Amazon.com and/or Wikipedia at the end of class to get a little more experience participating in collective deliberation systems. Watch for an email from Andy about where he’d like to meet; if you don’t hear from him, plan on meeting in our regular classroom (Ross 406).

On Thursday, we will have our first “Best of Delicious” day. Sometime between now and Tuesday’s class, please take a few minutes to review the recent posts on our class homepage (you can access the older posts on Delicious itself), then select at least two posts you’d like to discuss in class on Thursday. Post your choices in the comments of this blog post (please create links to the sites, or at least copy and paste the URLs). If someone else has nominated a post that you like, too, you can “second” that post in your comment. With any luck, some consensus will emerge (many minds will produce knowledge!) before class on Tuesday, and I’ll announce the “official” pieces we’re going to discuss in class on Thursday.

If this process doesn’t make sense, please let me know. We’ll work out the kinks this time around, and our other Best of Delicious days will probably go a little smoother.

Week 5: Another Perspective on the Power of Collective Wisdom

Posted February 6th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Next week we’ll stick to the syllabus without much variation, focusing almost exclusively on Cass R. Sunstein‘s book Infotopia. As you read, you’ll notice several similarities between this book and Here Comes Everybody, but don’t assume that Sunstein and Shirky are identical twins, intellectually speaking. In our class discussions, we’ll ferret out the differences between these two books and find connections with other thinkers and writers. For Tuesday, please read pages 3-102 in Infotopia; for Thursday, please read 103-145. Emily C. will lead our class discussion on Thursday.

[Interesting side note: Cass Sunstein was recently appointed by President Obama to run the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.]

Thursday is also the second due date for your short papers. If you would like to discuss potential topics, please email me or see me during office hours by Tuesday at the latest.

One last administrative note: I’ve noticed a few duplicate posts to our Delicious.com list over the past two weeks. Before you add a post to the class site, please take a few minutes to review the recent posts of your classmates. The easiest way to keep up with the Delicious posts from the class is to use an RSS feed reader like NetNewsWire (Mac), FeedDemon (Windows), or Google Reader (platform independent). Once you download one of these programs (or create an account with Google Reader), you can easily add our Delicious feed to your subscription list.

Week 4: Amateur Hour Continues

Posted January 30th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Our class discussion yesterday convinced me that we haven’t heard enough from the naysayers of technology, the prophets of doom who see the rise of amateur production online as a harbinger of societal collapse. So, in the interest of equal time (well, not quite equal), we’ll add Andrew Keen‘s views into the mix next week. Keen published a provocative article in The Weekly Standard two years ago, then expanded the article into a book, The Cult of the Amateur. After the book came out, Keen engaged in several public debates (some in person and some in print) with David Weinberger (we will read an excerpt of his book, Everything is Miscellaneous, later this semester), Kevin Kelly (the founder of Wired magazine), Emily Bell (director of digital content for the Guardian newspaper), and others. In class on Thursday, I made the mistake of wearing my opinion of Keen’s book on my shirtsleeve, but I hope you’ll approach these sources with an open mind.

On Tuesday, Samantha will lead our discussion of Here Comes Everybody, pages 143–232. In addition, please print and read Keen’s original Weekly Standard article on “Web 2.0″ and Michiko Kakutani’s New York Times review of The Cult of the Amateur. You may want to read the sample chapter of Keen’s book (linked above), but it isn’t required.

On Thursday, Devin will lead our last discussion of Here Comes Everybody, pages 233–304. In addition, please read one of the debates between Keen and Weinberger, published in The Wall Street Journal. We will dive into this debate in class, so be sure to print it out and bring it with you. Again, you may want to read or watch some of the other debates (linked above) for background information, but in class we will focus on the Keen vs. Weinberger debate in the WSJ.

Week 3: Here Comes the Next Book

Posted January 23rd, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

In a matter of two short weeks, we’ve polished off the first book on our reading list and established a nice framework for our class discussions throughout the rest of the semester. Thank you to Tyler and Stephen for bravely volunteering to lead our first two student-supervised discussions, and thanks to the rest of you for contributing so well to those discussions.

Next week, we’ll dive into our second book, Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody. For Tuesday, please read pages 1–80, and either read or watch Shirky’s lecture at last year’s Web 2.0 Expo. (The video and the text are almost the same, but I suggest watching the video to get a sense of Shirky’s personality and presentation style.) On Thursday, we’ll discuss pages 81–142, with Brendon kicking off our class discussion. In addition, come to class on Thursday with at least one example of collective social action on the web. These examples can be from the news or from your personal lives, and they can be either positive or negative. (In other words, I don’t expect everyone to show up with a cheerleading story about how the web has made our lives so much better; sometimes collective action on the web amounts to little more than mob rule, with disastrous consequences.)

Next Thursday is also the first Short Paper due date. If you’d like to submit a paper, please review the assignment guidelines and remember our in-class conversations about possible topics and approaches for these papers. If you have any questions about a potential topic, email me and I’ll get back to you quickly.

Once again, most of the Delicious links this week have been great. From time to time, I’ve noticed a post that seems a bit unrelated to the focus of our class. I want to keep this assignment as open as possible, but if you post a link to something that’s only tangentially related to our readings, remember to use the “Description” field to connect the link with what we’ve been discussing (or what we will discuss) in class.

Week 2: From the Monastery to the High-Tech Laboratory

Posted January 16th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

If you’re reading this post, it means you have successfully survived the first week of the semester and the first week of English 411. Congratulations! Given the weather we’ve had, making it to Friday alive is no small feat. I’m writing with just a few updates and announcements for Week 2.

I have updated the course calendar to include all of your presentation days. I did my best to accommodate your preferences, but some books were in greater demand than others. I think I was able to give all of you one of your top three choices. Please check the calendar to see when you’re presenting; if there’s a serious problem with your scheduled date, let me know and we’ll figure out a way to reschedule your presentation. I’d like to talk with each of you about a week before your presentation, just to make sure we’re on the same page regarding topics, formats, etc… As your presentation date draws near, please come see me during office hours or email me to schedule a time to review what you have planned. (Tyler and Stephen, you’re presenting next week, so the conversation we had on Thursday will have to do.)

Our class discussion on Thursday was a nice start to what I hope will be an ongoing energetic conversation about the texts we’re reading. We may not start out every class session with a formal list of topics and page numbers you want to discuss, but try to keep that model in mind as you make note of things you want to talk about in class. I have just one suggestion that might make our class discussions even more successful: try to cite the text when you’re making a specific point about the authors’ arguments. Our discussions don’t need to be overly formal, but I think our in-class dialogue will be more productive if we can see and read the passage you’re referring to.

Last but not least, let me mention how impressed I am by your Delicious posts this week. You have been posting interesting, relevant links, and most of you are doing a great job providing insightful commentary or asking though-provoking questions. Keep up the excellent work on this front!

If you have any questions about these items, or about anything else related to English 411, please feel free to email me this weekend. Otherwise, I’ll see you on Tuesday, ready to pick up where we left off.

First Post: Getting Things Started

Posted January 13th, 2009, by Quinn Warnick

Welcome to the English 411 class website! As you can see, the site is still “under construction,” but most of the components are now in place. I have uploaded the policy document, reading list, and assignment descriptions, and the calendar (with your discussion dates listed) will be added soon.

Most importantly, your Delicious bookmarks are now being aggregated on the site’s homepage. All you need to do to add a link to the homepage is bookmark the site in your Delicious account and tag it with “english411″ (no spaces between “English” and “411″). When you find a site that might be worth sharing, remember to give your bookmark a descriptive title, then use the “Notes” field to summarize and/or comment on what you’ve bookmarked. If this seems confusing, don’t worry — you’ll get the hang of it very quickly. In class on Thursday, we’ll look at some browser-based tools that will simplify the bookmarking process.

Before class on Thursday, please complete the following tasks, if you haven’t already:

  • Create a Delicious account and send me your username.
  • In that same email, let me know your top three choices for dates you’d like to lead the class discussion.
  • Read pages xi-75 in Reinventing Knowledge.

I thought our first day of class was excellent — your definitions of technology gave me a lot to think about, and if your enthusiasm and participation today are any indication of things to come, we’re going to have some wonderful conversations. I’m looking forward to picking up where we left off when we meet again on Thursday. Until then, try to stay warm!

  • Delicious Links

    Cyber-snooping

    Here is just another case of cyber-snooping. In 2006, two employees were fired from Houston's Restaurant because they were making rude comments about their boss on a MySpace private discussion board. The managers got the password and were able to discover what their employees were saying behind their backs. The employees who were fired are now taking the matter to court for unjust termination. It's another example for being careful about what you say or put online. Even if something is password protected, there are ways to get around it.
    —Posted by JRTanner on 5/4/2009


    Swine flu iPhone app awaiting approval

    The Swine Flu Tracker may soon be a new free app to download for iPhone users. The app would offer information on the current threat level, updates from the World Health Organization, and facts about the virus. The app will be free and if approved, it will be available for download within the next week or two.
    —Posted by yaddof on 5/3/2009


    Sarah Palin (AKGovSarahPalin) on Twitter

    #1 Governor on Twitter. Time to jump ship...
    —Posted by punkdc on 5/3/2009


    In digital age, can movie piracy be stopped?

    "If a person is a true movie lover, they will want to respect the art, the artists and the countless people behind the scenes who make the magic happen," said John Malcolm, director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America. Wolverine is one of the latest action movies to be pirated before its release in theaters. The impressive part (or maybe really sad part) is that it was stolen more than a month ago. Technology is a great thing, but not when it is used for this purpose. Why steal a movie that wasn't even complete at the time? I just don't understand wanting to steal, let alone an unfinished product. While people still record movies on their phones, quality of pirated material is also improving, which could cause some serious problems in the future.
    —Posted by JRTanner on 5/3/2009


    #hashtags - What's happening today on twitter

    Hashtag tends on twitter. Seems super interesting.
    —Posted by punkdc on 5/3/2009


    ABC Will Add Its Shows to Hulu Site

    The title says it all, soon we will be able to watch our favorite ABC shows on the third most popular video site, Hulu. Shows like "Lost" "Desperate Housewives" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will all be online by late summer. While most of ABC's shows will say on ABC.com, executives at ABC believe that by distributing to Hulu will attract more fans. Will ABC be able to attract more fans on Hulu? And will shows on Hulu increase or decrease the unlawful distribution of television shows?
    —Posted by alyrutt on 5/1/2009


    Many New Twitter Users Not Coming Back for More

    60% of new Twitter users do not come back after their first month of joining. Retention of users to the site is around 30%, meaning that 7 out of 10 users do not come back to the site. Facebook and MySpace on the other hand hold a retention rate of 70%. If Twitter wants to flourish, it must first keep attracting users to the site and keep them there. Major celebrities joining the site seem to not make an impact on user loyalty to the site, so what will?
    —Posted by drahn61 on 4/30/2009


    60% of New Twitter Users Bail within a Month: Twitter Quitters Just Don't Get It

    I guess this kind of answers the question. Twitter does need a handbook. Either 60% of people don't learn how to use it properly, or they don't see the benefit once they do learn. The author of this article observes about his own use of Twitter that "for about a year and a half, I used Twitter in the most passive way possible...It took me almost no effort, and reaped almost no reward." His response to the objection that people simply use Twitter to post their every move and meal is, "Frankly, if that's how you're using Twitter, you're doing it wrong, and you should stop without subjecting your friends to a full week of that rubbish". He also emphasizes that he's not "dissing" people stop using Twitter, but he says, "we won't miss you if you log off until you get a clue".  In honor of Engl 411, I’m finally going to go create a Twitter account. I think my first tweet will be that I got a Twitter account, my second that I ate a sandwich, and my third that I used the toilet. Cheers.
    —Posted by stephen.anderson on 4/29/2009


    Google's Book Search Deal: 5 Pros and 5 Cons

    Publishers and Google finally agree on something, maybe. The proposed deal is that Google would be able to search books and 20% of the content would be freely available online. 100% of the text would be freely available at library computer stations. The article nicely outlines additional aspects of the deal. But I think this first part is the most interesting. We've talked a bit about how libraries are attempting to adapt to new technologies, and this could be one way. I also think that the 20% searchability is important. For most of the research I do, I really only want one chapter (less than 20%) of a book. This would be very handy for research purposes, but I wonder how it will affect how we read books. In the same way the iTunes allows me to only buy one song from an album, will we just read one chapter of a book. And because of that will we see 2-chapter "EPs" for books?
    —Posted by stephen.anderson on 4/29/2009


    Swine Flu Frenzy Demonstrates Twitter's Achilles' Heel

    Breaking News: Twitter may not always be the best way to get your information on important topics, like the Swine Flu outbreak (I had NO idea!)! Even though organization's like the Center for Disease Control are tweeting, MSN is reporting that the 140 character limit may be promoting redundancy and a lack of important content, even from relevant sources. Plus, Twitter's also touted in the article as a rumor mill--another debilitating aspect of social network covering news stories!
    —Posted by kakavan on 4/29/2009


    Not Smart: Warner Music Issues DMCA Takedown On Larry Lessig Presentation

    Warner Brothers Media--the movie branch and now the music sector--isn't getting this "fair use" business. Warner Music, in a true act of brilliance, has issued a take-down notice for one of Lawrence Lessig's online videos. As this blog points out, giving Lessig's legal expertise and background in fair use, what would ever make Warner think this was a good idea? Maybe they just didn't think about it?...
    —Posted by kakavan on 4/29/2009


    Getting Paid for Being Copied | PlagiarismToday

    Attributor, a content monitoring company, announced a new possible solution to the war on Copyright. Their new initiative, Fair Syndication Consortium. They plan on working with publishers of all sizes to deal with content reuse by turning copyright infringement and plagiarism into a profit. Bailey and Attributor acknowledges that this is in the early stages and that their are problems, Bailey encourages publishers to join and be a part of the dialog and voice their opinion on content reuse. Will talking about the problem ever lead to a solution?
    —Posted by alyrutt on 4/29/2009


    Sony, Nintendo scramble to challenge Apple for download dollars ...

    Now Nintendo is getting in on the action. Because Apple has offered a variety of games for people to download to their iPhones, Nintendo is attempting to break into the market by experimenting with download-only games. These games are reported to cost more than the average iPhone app price of $10 and could reach a price of $30.
    —Posted by drahn61 on 4/29/2009


    RapidShare shares user info with the record industry

    Well gang, looks like were screwed. RapidShare is now officially sharing their download logs with the RIAA. First they take away my torrents and now this? Where can I download my music without paying for it? Le sigh...
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/28/2009


    Texted « Pain in the English

    Pain in the English is a "forum for the gray areas of the english language". The idea of a forum to discuss the questions about the English language is an interesting idea. In this particular thread, someone is asking how the past-tense of text is pronounced. Interestingly someone cites the OED which apparently does have an entry for texting. But I think the most interesting thing is that the person who asked the question asked, "Does anyone know the rule on this one." I guess even for new technologies we assume that there are rules. But who makes them? Does the OED still?
    —Posted by stephen.anderson on 4/27/2009


    New Sprint 4G commercial

    So I just saw this commercial and thought of our discussion from last week looking at the numbers regarding texting and the money that we spend on our technology. I think this commercial nicely sums up the role that phones, sharing, social networks, and the Internet have in our society.
    —Posted by JRTanner on 4/27/2009


    Web Site Offers Anonymous Chats With Strangers - NYTimes.com

    This article introduces a new social networking site on the Internet - Omegle.com. This social networking site doesn't focus on the connections that people have already maintained among themselves in the non-Internet world, but the introduction of people who don't already know one another in the form of a chatroom. The eighteen year old developer for the website was afraid that people weren't broadening their horizons by not meeting people they didn't know. In my opinion, this idea doesn't sound that great because there are already chatrooms on the Internet, where people may not already have non-Internet related connections. Also, the article talks about how one person was randomly matched up with a fourteen year old, which proves that this "new" social networking idea could be dangerous on both ends.
    —Posted by wawarner on 4/27/2009


    Why Google Wants You To Google Yourself - TIME

    Since "Egosurfing" has become a popular pastime lately, Google has decided to introduce a new feature, known as a "Google Profile" which shows up at the bottom of the first page of results when you google your name. The profile page is similar to that of Facebook, and allows you to link to your blog, twitter feed, personal website, etc. Could this be the next big social networking shift we talked about the other day in class? Google certainly hopes so.
    —Posted by yaddof on 4/27/2009


    CNN 'twitterer' completes London Marathon

    Ok the more of these types of stories I read, the more I get sick of reading these types of stories. I feel like we've reached a point where using Twitter in new and unusual ways should not be making headlines. So this guy ran a marathon while sending text messages into Twitter. How boring those tweets must have been. How much crappier this guy must have run...it's stupid. But he still gets attention.
    —Posted by tmccullough05 on 4/27/2009


    Twitter Handbook for Teachers

    The title of this caught my eye. Now, I've never used Twitter. Maybe I will some day, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. But I never would have thought it needed a handbook. Is this the degree of separation we have arrived at in the new digital divide - networks? Even though I've never touched Twitter, this handbook was interesting to read, especially the etiquette section which had some nice points like: Remember "the first rule of Twitter is that it is more permanent than the internet" or "Avoid banal food updates." This is your comprehensive guide to Twitter. Yeah, it's 18 pages. Are we going to have classes on this I wonder?
    —Posted by stephen.anderson on 4/27/2009


    \The Long War: Music Piracy in 1897

    Turns out music piracy isn't something new. This article discusses and article from 1897 discussing music piracy. It turns out that people would copy music and use the mail system to sell the records at a cheaper price. Sounds kind of like how pirates use the internet to do the same.
    —Posted by spiderthumb on 4/27/2009


    Swine flu: Twitter's power to misinform | Net Effect

    This article discusses how the event of swine flu spreads over twitter. It shows that with many misinformed people chatting about this disease, the public may not have the facts straight.
    —Posted by spiderthumb on 4/27/2009


    Computer Program to Take On ‘Jeopardy!’ - NYTimes.com

    There was an old ep of The Twilight Zone involving a "super computer" that sabotaged a nerd's date with the hot girl so she/it could have the nerd to her/itself. Now, IBM is finding a much more productive use of AI: to beat humans in Jeopardy. Watson, the upcoming descendant of Deep Blue, is being tweaked to make an appearance on Jeopardy to compete with the smartest people in the World (and Alex Trebek). What makes this new is developing a computer that understands "human conversational language" to generate solutions. Skynet? If it's too big to move, it's too big to enslave us.
    —Posted by ranhalt on 4/27/2009


    Braille E-Book

    Move over Kindle, there is a new e-book reader in town. The catch is, this is only for the blind. I personally this is a really cool idea. Just goes to show that with all the new technology that is being pumped out, some of it is being helpful to other members of the community.
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/26/2009


    RIP GeoCities, You Will Be Missed

    We talked about GeoCities the other day, and I regret to inform you that GeoCities is no longer around. So lets all take a moment to remember the first webpage we made and honor it.
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/26/2009


    Researchers working on blog credibility ranking systems

    Researchers in Austrila are working on on a blog credibility system. Is this a good idea? Would you be more willing to trust blogs if they were accredited? Could we make this move to Wikipedia as well?
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/26/2009


    Pirate Bay lawyer calls for retrial - The Local

    Good news for The Pirate Bay, we might have a retrial after we found out that the Judge was a member of copyright protection organization. A interesting article talking more about more about the trial.
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/26/2009


    World's first waterproof solar cellphone

    Tired of dropping the phone in the sink or toilet? This new solar powered water proof maybe just the thing for you
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/26/2009


    H1N1 Swine Flu - Google Maps

    Google allows us to visualize the spreading of the H1N1 swine flu. Note that has reached Kansas from airline travel. I am definitely not going to Mexico after graduation.
    —Posted by ranhalt on 4/25/2009


    Why dirty up my hands with newsprint? - CNN.com

    While this short column doesn't have anything revolutionary to offer, it sums up a common position more people in the digital age are taking on the death of the newspapers. For the tech savvy, the old methods just don't cut it anymore--the web has so much more to offer in terms of content, searchability and accessibility. So should we all still be sad?
    —Posted by tmccullough05 on 4/25/2009


    Wikipedia Art dispute pits artists against Wikimedia Foundation

    The Wikipedia Foundation is pursuing a trademark infringement lawsuit against a couple of artists would created a Wikipedia entry called "Wikipedia Art." The purpose of this entry was to allow users to edit and transform the art on the page, but the page was deleted within 15 hours of its creation because it didn't meet the guidelines for being a encyclopedic article. What is ironic about this is that Wikipedia uses trademarks and copyrighted material because of fair use. While I can understand deleting the article because it was meant to be used for artistic expression and not as an encyclopedia article, I think that it is really interesting that Wikipedia would be pursuing legal action.
    —Posted by JRTanner on 4/25/2009


    Despite Economy, One-Quarter Billion Phones Sold During Q1

    I found this blog to be interesting following our discussions this past week about texting and using technology that we are familiar with. For the first quarter of this year, 250 million people bought new mobile phones. Apple alone says that they've sold 3.79 million iPhones worldwide. While this was a drop of 11% from first quarter of last year, it is still a significant amount of phones considering the current economic situation. This is just mind-boggling to me--but I have had the same phone for 5 years and only turn it on about once a week. I think what I find interesting is that not too long ago, cell phones were considered a luxury or something that was nice to have for emergencies and have now become a necessity.
    —Posted by JRTanner on 4/25/2009


    O'Brien: How Twitter might be more popular and less cool - SiliconValley.com

    Apparently Twitter's become so popular, people don't view it as "cool" anymore. Twitter's popularity has grown dramatically as celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey have signed up for the web service. The article talks about how people don't always appreciate being a member of such a huge group when they might have been one of the first members of the social group. Chris O'Brien, the author of the article, wrote, "But once 20 million start using it, well, then you're just part of the crowd. And when you tell someone you're on Twitter, it's no big deal because, hey, it seems like everyone's on Twitter."
    —Posted by wawarner on 4/24/2009


    Zen and the art of emailing | Technology | Internet | Reuters

    This article talks about the "Zen" of technology and how people should be using technology to their full advantage. The author of the book, "Wisdom 2.0 - Ancient Secrets for the Creative & Constantly Connected" says that Americans are so connected to technology that it is causing stress. The author of the article quotes the book author as saying, "The trick is to be 'consciously' rather than 'constantly' connected." Rather than taking a mindless approach to using technology, the book is suggesting that people take note of what they are using the Internet for.
    —Posted by wawarner on 4/24/2009


    Van Natta as MySpace CEO: 'Effective immediately' - CNN.com

    It's official: News Corp. has named former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta as its CEO. Van Natta served as chief operating officer of Facebook. Could we see myspace trying to make their come back by taking from Facebook?
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/24/2009


    10 ways to make Chrome as good as Firefox | News | TechRadar UK

    Could google Chrome be the next Firefox. This article give ten reasons why this may be and why Chrome may become a competitor to the dominant Firefox.
    —Posted by spiderthumb on 4/24/2009


    Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope Released

    The new Ubuntu has recently been released. The new feature include wi-fi fixes, more productivity software, updated gnome interface, faster start time and more. The next release, Karmic Koala, is already on the way.
    —Posted by spiderthumb on 4/24/2009


    Macintosh botnet on the march

    The iBotnet. It is finally here. Once thought of as impenetrable (mostly because hackers targeted Microsoft), the Mac OS has something to fear. Because of Mac's increasing popularity, hackers are now directing their efforts at the Mac system. One way to know if you are infected, if you own a Mac, is if you installed a "pirated" copy of iWork onto your Mac. I won't judge you if you did, but there have already been a few thousand cases of infected Macs, which might mean a few thousand cases of illegal downloads. One way to keep your computer safe, keep updating your security!
    —Posted by drahn61 on 4/23/2009


    Twitter Roars Past 14 Million U.S. Users

    Is Twitter a threat to Facebook? Well, we've already established that it may be, but it isn't the top dog yet...and Facebook seems to be holding its own (perhaps because all of the baby boomers are on board now?!). With Twitter's explosive growth rate in the past few months (even though it was created 3 years ago), it may soon be able to contend for the top spot...unless our grandparents all jump in on the Facebook fad!
    —Posted by kakavan on 4/23/2009


    Obama cybersecurity adviser tackles "impossible" mission

    Melissa Hathaway has a lot on her plate...like the responsibility of educating the President on the state of cybersecurity (or should we say, lack thereof?) and rallying together governments, companies, and the general public to make the net a safter place...piece of cake, right?! Hathaway's position alone implies that Obama seems to have his sights set on at least a little government-Internet intervention...as we discussed in class, is such a thing even feasible?
    —Posted by kakavan on 4/23/2009


    What Annoys Me About Twitter

    We have talked about Twitter multiple times and when I saw this article I could not resist. As someone who does not have a Twitter account and doesn't really understand the Twitter phenomenon I feel that he has some good arguments for Twitters biggest flaws. Maybe I just don't have the motivation to follow everything that my friends are writing or maybe I am just not that interested in what my friends have to broadcast to the world, call me old fashion, but I prefer to talk about what is going on in people's lives rather than read it on Twitter or for that matter Facebook.
    —Posted by alyrutt on 4/23/2009


    Making Calls and Texting During a Date: Rude or Okay?

    Do we really need to ask this question? Seriously, texting may be ruing out personal relationships...or is it?
    —Posted by tyler.neusch on 4/23/2009


    Op-Ed Columnist - To Tweet or Not to Tweet - NYTimes.com

    Clash of the...Twitans? A New York Times columnist (who comes across as kind of precocious) interviews the creators of Twitter. She tries to limit their answers to her questions at 140 characters, and she really comes across as the Luddite tech-hater template. Still, interesting answers from the Twitter creators.
    —Posted by Farangu on 4/23/2009


    Record attempt reaps 217K texts, $26K phone bill by AP: Yahoo! Tech

    Thought we talked high numbers the other day? Well this guy not only has high texting statistics, but he is about to pay a very large bill. The article talks about a texting challenge between two people to see how high they can push their "unlimited text plan". Apparently, not quite that high.
    —Posted by sammary on 4/23/2009


    Onesongs.com

    This is a site that takes user-generated content and puts it together all under one name to bring music from different artists. Although the site has just started up, they plan to rely on donations and ad clicks to keep it running. Hybrid economy without the corporation to back it up? We'll see how it pans out.
    —Posted by sammary on 4/23/2009


    Study finds pirates 10 times more likely to buy music Arrrrr

    Something I found of interest to our class. The article states more you download the more likely you are to support the artist. My question is, if we had more access to free e-books would we be more likely to support the artist then? Maybe pull a Radiohead and have people pay what they want for a book?
    —Posted by punkdc on 4/22/2009


    Wall Street Journal: How the E-Book Will Change the Way We Read and Write

    Steven Johnson explores the pros and cons of the changing world of books, wrought primarily by two big successes: the Amazon Kindle and Google Book Search. Johnson's conclusion? "2009 may well prove to be the most significant year in the evolution of the book since Gutenberg hammered out his original Bible."
    —Posted by quinn on 4/22/2009


    U.S. Soldiers' New Weapon: an iPod

    The US military has been looking for a device that is both versatile and easy to use to help its soldiers make sense of information they receive from satellites, drones, and ground sensors while in the field. The iPod Touch has become that new device. It's cheaper than the current devices distributed to soldiers and Apple has already done all of the necessary research and manufacturing for the devices. As the iPod Touch gains more functionality, it is hoped that soldiers will gradually be able to shed soem of their other devices and just carry the iPod.
    —Posted by yaddof on 4/22/2009


    Steve Brill's Plan to Save American Journalism

    Steven Brill, the mastermind behind CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine, announced earlier this week that he and his partners have started a new website, Journalism Online LCC, that could save the future of the journalism industry. The site will help publishers settle licensing fees with search engines using their content and charge readers who are interested in browsing through their articles. Single articles, day passes, or an all-you-can-read per month pass will be available for users to purchase.
    —Posted by yaddof on 4/22/2009


    Now You Can Change What Google Says About You

    Remember that embarrassing moment where we all Googled ourselves? Apparently, there's a Robert Anhalt DEA agent involved in a drug bust. Yay. No longer should we feel embarrassed, because Google is creating profiles to help identify you in searches. Creepy? Well, it may help for John Smith the cop and John Smith the hot cop. Of course, the only way for Google to know if a search is about you or someone else, you will need to give Google more information about you. Privacy vs security issues again, but we must learn to embrace the Goog.
    —Posted by ranhalt on 4/21/2009


    U.S. Now Has Almost As Many Paid Bloggers As Lawyers

    My dream come true. Blogging is acknowledged as a profession. Almost half a million Americans use blogging as their primary source of income. Now, many are skeptical about this number, but when print media is being abandoned in favor of online, it's not out of the question that online journals will pay writers salaries instead of per-post wages. Vote for me, America's Next Top Blogger.
    —Posted by ranhalt on 4/21/2009


    ListenToYouTube.com: Youtube to MP3, get mp3 from youtube video, flv to mp3, extract audio from youtube, youtube mp3

    While I was working on a project for another class I found this site called Listen to Youtube. I dont know if anyone else has ever heard of this site before, but basically what it is is a site that allows people to extract the MP3 files from videos on youtube and allows you to put them into your iTunes library. The best part? Its free. Now we have just spent a lot of time talking about legality, so is this site legal? Technically its intent is legal, but this service is not to be used to download audio that is copyrighted. Yeah, cause that never happens.
    —Posted by alyrutt on 4/21/2009


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