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With the holidays coming on, I always hate the question, “So, what do you want for Christmas?” Partly because I always feel like I have enough stuff already, and that I don’t make enough use of what I’ve already got. But the question still gets pressured onto me, and I have to come up with something, otherwise I’ll end up with something truly worthless.

So as I surfed the thought finally came to me to try and utilize Amazon’s Web Services to help display a wish list that I build on Amazon’s site. It make the process a little more fun for me, and it makes it easier for family to know what kinds of gifts to get me. This capability to do this automagically has existed for a while, but I came across a 2 part article describing how to integrate the services utilizing PHP.

Using Amazon Web Services With PHP And SOAP (Part 1)
Using Amazon Web Services With PHP And SOAP (Part 2)

Very interesting.

Creating Shared Learning Spaces with Macromedia Contribute and Macromedia Flash Communicaton Server MX

Slashdot had a post around an informal cost analysis of K12 software that might be helpful in conducting discussions on benefits of OSS.

There was an interesting discussion on the costs of making an organizational transition to Linux. One of the posts referenced a variety of external sites/resources that seemd worthwhile. Here’s the post: Reducing the TCO of IT with Linux?

Every now and then … my patience completely evaporates. Lately I’m convinced technology does nothing more than to raise our collective blood pressures. Why you ask? It all comes down to one basic fact in my mind. People promising something will *work*. A few examples:

1. A vendor product we purchased to check out (i.e. evaluate) for the purpose of helping rapidly convert existing PowerPoint materials into the dynamic web-multimedia born format many of us love, Flash. The means by which this feat was accomplished was through the vendor taking a variety of *freely* available code from various sources, and adding their own to bring it all together to accomplish this single goal. It works great, maybe once or twice. Then I have to close PowerPoint, or logoff and restart in some cases, to get it to do it again because the variety of errors appear “at random” and the vendor doesn’t really have a solution for it at this point, pushing the reponsibility off onto one of the components they are dependent upon.
2. In effort to help me move my experience in Java along, I’m taking an introductory class. We’re currently playing around with a Java application that will send mail. The instructor tells us to be sure to use the mail server specified when we’re at school because it won’t work otherwise (I’m paraphrasing). However, after repeated tries of trying to figure out what the syntax error might be in my code to get my simple text message sent I give up and come home. Only to try it out at home (using the mail server of my ISP) and have it work the first try. Needless to say before I left the light started to dawn on the instructor that perhaps the mail server administrators have done a better job preventing mail relaying. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the class. But the instructor decided that he should conduct some more testing to set the class straight.
3. With interest rates so FREAKING LOW, my wife and I are trying to do a little refinancing and rearranging of debt. I thought I would make a large payment online toward an existing educational loan. An easy thing many of us have done before (making online payments). However at the critical moment of hitting *Submit*, my browser is suddenly unable to make the connection with the site. So now I have NO idea whether or not the $1k I tried to submit made it or not. And I dare not try again for fear of possibly killing our bank account with another large payment. So now I have to spend extra time trying to figure out if the payment I sent actually made it or not.

I’m whining, I realize this. But am I wrong for expecting that something will *work* when someone tells me it will? I’m probably just as guilty through some of the efforts I’ve undertaken. But still…..

Ahh….I feel better.

This sounds interesting, Macromedia is announcing a new product line called Macromedia Contribute. Ultimately it amounts to a content management system that aims to keep the *content* separated from the technical under belly. In other words, if a site that’s managed needs to be updated with a few minor edits, the person interested in making the change (who is more often than not, unfamiliar with web development) uses MM Contribute to make the changes for which they’re allowed to make according to the rules set up by a web developer. Web developers don’t get bothered by minor site edits and content developers are empowered to make the change themselves without having to go through the web developer.

Cool. Via Slashdot: 101 things you can do in Mozilla

The DSpace project evolved out of a joint relationship between HP and MIT Libraries focused on providing a system and architecture for the purpose of storing academic materials. They indicate that the metadata they’re using is Dublin Core, but that they’ll also develop alternate metadata schemas into the system as well. Of particular note, I found was a statement around metadata services in a report from the effort:

Over the next two years, we anticipate the introduction of
descriptive metadata services in the following three areas:

• Metadata consulting – includes needs assessment, survey and feasibility study of available metadata schemas, and recommendation
• Metadata research services – includes a variety of services such as metadata crosswalks, advice on appropriate taxonomies, consultation on tools for metadata creation, capture and management, authority control advisory service, and preservation metadata
• Metadata creation and support services – includes encoding and Dublin Core metadata entry and review of metadata submissions for data consistency

Jay Cross has a … slow … but … informative … presentation on the value within learning. In his presentation I was reminded of the following.

All the learning in the world is worthless if people don’t change their behavior.

So much of the time we loose focus of what the real end goal is relative to the activies we pursue.