Screenshot: A Weblog

This weblog post has a really fun table contrasting current cyberattack techniques to those in classic cyberpunk stories, particularly Gibson's stories. [via Boing Boing] The comments are also worth reading - it's interesting to think about whether the difference indicate that we haven't come as far as Gibson predicted, or whether they reflect dated presumptions about how technology of the future would work on Gibson's part. The observations about the types of systems being attacked (focusing on the recent denial-of-service attack against Estonia) are particularly interesting, I think:

Cyberpunk stories: Cyber-attack targets were fancy-pants specialized computer installations accessible to few, such as military supercompters in Neuromancer’s backstory or the AI complex in its climax.

Real world: The cyber-attack target was the Estonian internet, which people used for everyday activities, from banking to email to looking at pictures of other people’s cats with funny captions.

Posted by Amanda at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You can buy these adorable Tetris Magnets, but they also look pretty trivial to make for yourself if you've even done plastic canvas work. I also think this Tie Top Tank looks incredibly cute and simple. I just need to finish off the one or two projects I already have underway before I can justify starting anything new.....

I'm also tempted to pull out one of the smaller patterns I've worked up on my own and submit it to the Knit Pattern of the Day or Crochet Pattern of the Day calendar. But it is interesting to note that they don't pay for the patterns. The primary incentive (besides a free calendar and being entered in a prize raffle) is that you can include a URL on your calendar page if your pattern is accepted. So, really, these calendars are advertisement vehicles - something I'd never really thought of when I've seen them in the stores.

Posted by Amanda at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you haven't already seen it, check out this video that counts down from 100 using clips from 100 different movies. [via Ghost in the Machine] There's not a lot to say except that it's very clever. I didn't think about it ahead of time, but as I was watching I was pleased that, where possible, famous scenes with numbers were used - of course 88 was the target speed of a time-traveling Delorean....

Posted by Amanda at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'd love to see additional details on how schools collected their data to conclude that giving students their own laptop does not improve learning. [via Arts & Letters Daily] There are many examples cited of the laptops being a distraction or being used for frivolous or illicit purposes. This isn't at all shocking, and if laptops were otherwise improving learning this could likely be addressed through technological and disciplinary means. I've talked to someone at a small school that gives every student a laptop, and there are routine checks into the content on the laptop (no games or IM clients allowed) and laptop privileges are revoked if unauthorized uses are observed or detected.

However, that takes a broad school commitment to supporting laptops, and resources. And it seems like just the issues of repair and maintenance are a problem in many places - why do all schools seem to forget that part of the computing equation? It also doesn't sound like equivalent resources have been invested in these schools in educating teachers on how to teach with technology. Just because you know how to use a computer doesn't mean that you know how to teach to a room full of high school students with computers. Good schools hire someone, or any entire group of someones, who specializes in helping instructors integrate technology into their educational goals and style. Just purchasing hardware and putting it in the hands of students is not enough to expect improved education.

The thing that immediately jumped to my mind was whether these failures had any implications for the One Laptop per Child project that is building $100 laptops to distribute to children in developing countries. Clearly, education on their use is key, and it is my impression that that is being included in the project - these laptops aren't just being sent in crates. But I also suspect that deploying these laptops in a setting where there is very little computing available will lead to a different attitude about the technology than in a setting where many of the children would have access to a computer (if only in a public lab or library) even if their personal laptop were taken away.

Posted by Amanda at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)