Category: @work

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Why Podcast?

To ‘cast or not to ‘cast. It seems to be a much hotter topic than it deserves to be these days. Here’s how it boils down. Are you producing media for the web: Yes/No. If you check the Yes box, why not create an RSS feed for it? If you check the No box, why aren’t you?

Peterson’s – a Nelnet Company–Syndication for Higher Ed » Podcasts Passe – Or were they ever “In”?

As usual, Dan asks a good question.  I left him this comment:

One year ago we launched a simple service for law school faculty to create podcasts of lectures and course summaries at www.classcaster.org. Now we have over 60 active bloggers and podcasters, more than 2500 hours of audio material, a lot of satisfied students. I think you need to look past the hype about podcasting and ask a basic question: is there value for the student in having this supplemental material? If the answer is yes, you can create an effective infrastructure for recording classes and summaries with less than $100 digital recorders and open source software. All the information on how we built Classcaster, including the software we used, is at http://www.classcaster.net/.

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I’m Thinking Flash Desktop

YourMinis is a Flash-based customizable homepage product that will compete for users with a number of similar products that use Ajax – Netvibes, Pageflakes, Google, Live.com and more. This was launched by a startup called Goowy, which created a flash-based productivity suite (email, calendar, IM, etc.) last year – see here for our Goowy coverage.

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » The YourMinis Do-It-All Flash Homepage

I would really like to a CALI centric sort of thing designed like this.  A portal that brings students to their courses, lessons, library, etc.  Would be cool.

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Zend, Microsoft in PHP Deal

Microsoft Corp. and Zend Technologies Inc. today announced a technical collaboration to enhance the experience of running the PHP scripting language on Windows Server® 2003. The parties expect to extend the collaboration to the next version of Windows Server, code-named “Longhorn.” The resulting technology enhancements and ongoing interaction with the PHP community is expected to enable customers to take advantage of the Windows Server platform. The cooperative effort seeks to provide customers with richer functionality and better integration, resulting in improved performance and increased reliability.

Microsoft and Zend Technologies Announce Technical Collaboration to Improve Interoperability of PHP on the Windows Server Platform: Companies seek to improve performance, reliability and stability of PHP on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server “Longhorn.”

So it looks like .NET ain’t all there is on Win2k3 after all.  This is great news for folks like me who develop a lot of stuff in PHP but are interacting with an increasingly MSFT-oriented development community.  Knowing that PHP will run reliable on Windows Server platforms means I can drive CALI member webmasters to using the PHP tools I’m developing.

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Google Custom Search Engines

Google just launched a customized search service called Google Co-op (screen shots below). Co-op allows a user to create and launch a search engine with just a few specific websites included. Searches will return results from only that website.

Techcrunch » Blog Archive » Google Co-op Launches

I’m all over this:)  I added a CSE for law schools at Learnthelaw.  I’m sure it will be quite useful for all of those interested in attending law school.  I’ll add one at CALI too just as soon as I figure out where it should live.

The great thing about this Google offering is that it really works.  Unlike other custom engines, there is no apparent limit to the number of sites you can add to your CSE.

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Announcing Classcaster.net: BYO Classcaster System

After fiddling with Classcaster for a year and a half, I’ve finally gotten around to launching Classcaster.net as a site for Classcaster developers and those interested in building their own Classcaster system. The site includes detailed instructions for putting Classcaster together, links to info about Classcaster and a forum to discuss the deployment and use of Classcaster.

Please note that this is not intended to be an end user support site, but rather a site for those interested in deploying their own Classcaster system or learning more about how Classcaster works.

So, if your interested in running your own blogging, podcasting empire, this is a good place to start.

Classcaster is a course blogging system that provides faculty, librarians, and staff with a new way to interact with students and communities. A Classcaster blog provides authors with tools for posting not only traditional blog articles but also tools for podcasting and sharing any documents and/or files with students and communities.

CALI‘s implementation of Classcaster is here. It is a thriving blogging and podcasting network and community with over 50 active bloggers and almost 2000 hours of podcasts that cover a wide range of subjects taught in law schools across the country.

John Mayer and I will be giving a presentation on Classcaster at Educause on 10/11/06, so if you’re in Dallas, do drop by.

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Self Help LEgal Movement Gets a Blog

SHLEP’s goal is to bring the benefits of a daily weblog to the Self-Help Law movement. Developments and news about self-help will be presented (often thanks to the efforts of the good folk at SelHelpSupport.org). In addition to creating or organizing background materials for those who want to find self-help resources, your editor will attempt to keep readers informed of self-help resources available to the public and to professional providers of those services, of studies and reports on self-help law and related issues, of relevant symposia and meetings, and of the people and groups aiding (or obstructing) the movement.

shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress » About shlep

Found via BoleyBlogs! SHLEP will blog the coming legal literacy revolution.

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HyperScope Arrives, Serves Up OPML

The HyperScope is a high-performance thought processor that enables you to navigate, view, and link to documents in sophisticated ways. It’s the brainchild of Doug Engelbart, the inventor of hypertext and the mouse, and is the first step towards his larger vision for an Open Hyperdocument System.

HyperScope

This is great stuff.  Basically it extends OPML in a number of useful ways and provides a mechanism for viewing OPML files in a browser.  This will be useful as I work on eLangdell.

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