The NOSE

Make It a Masterpiece

One of my heroes is Don Wright, a local Minnesota runner who introduced me to the St. Croix Valley Runners. Chad Austin of Running Minnesota has a great interview with Don.

With my first half marathon at Grandma's coming up on June 16th, it was great fun running with Don in the lead pack. We did the 5 mile circuit in Stillwater at an 8 minute pace with the final mile in 7 minutes. Don just completed the Avenue of the Giants marathon, is about to run Grandma's, and then he is on to Chicago. Amazing guy!

Linux Kernel Violates 42 Microsoft Patents

And that's not all. According to Microsoft's Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith, Linux infringes on at least 234 Microsoft patents ("Microsoft takes on the Free World").

"He says that the Linux kernel - the deepest layer of the free operating system, which interacts most directly with the computer hardware - violates 42 Microsoft patents. The Linux graphical user interfaces - essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up - run afoul of another 65, he claims. The Open Office suite of programs, which is analogous to Microsoft Office, infringes 45 more. E-mail programs infringe 15, while other assorted FOSS programs allegedly transgress 68."

As predicted the software patents issue will get uglier.

Vermont, The First E-State ... "Yeah..but is it affordable?

Tom Evslin in Fractals of Change reports that Vermont is well on its way to being the country's first "E-State". 

A vision of Governor Jim Douglas , Vermont aspires to ubiquitous broadband and wireless connectivity.

“I propose that by 2010, Vermont be the nation’s first true ‘e-state’ – the first state to provide universal cellular and broadband coverage everywhere and anywhere within its borders. When you turn on your laptop, you’re connected. When you hit the send button on your cell phone, the call goes through. There would be no more endless downloads, no more hopeless hellos, and no more ‘can you hear me now.’”

Fine and dandy. I would like to hear more from Tom on how Vermont intends to ensure that connectivity is also affordable. I know that in the state of Minnesota network accessibility and affordability are both problems. Anecdotally, the trend line nationwide seems to be the increasing unaffordability of connectivity. I wish had more data on this.

Metaverses and Gaming in Higher Education

I have started a new blog "Metaverses and Gaming in Higher Education." Not that I have time for another blog, but I am optimistic that these new technologies are likely to transform learning and research in the next few years and, therefore, deserves its own coverage.

My own institution (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) now has an island in Second Life and I will be describing our experiments in this new space.