Brij Singh's Random Musings

Ivory tower approval for blogging

Blogologists on how blogging is changing politics, journalism, and academia -

I think, more broadly, Weblogs disrupt existing hierarchies that break down communication among scholars. I don't care, when I read a blog, if the blogger is at a "Research I" school, or if they are on a faculty at all, for that matter. The focus is very much on the ideas. In some ways this feeds into the ideal of a life of the mind and is a pleasant escape from the often constricting actuality of a professor's professional life. It remains to be seen if blogging will be integrated into university institutions, or if they will remain a "third place" for scholars. In some ways, I suspect that the latter is both more likely and more influential

Different kind of war!

It's the first war of this century but it has all the elements of a Hollywood script. Though historians will have tough time finding the right category for this real-life tragi-comic political adventure gone nuts.

his son had gone to Iraq partly out of a sense of adventure, partly for the opportunity for work, and partly because he was a "staunch supporter of the government position in Iraq and he wanted to go over there and help.

Is there any way out of this grandiose experiment which is costing human lives and human sanity everyday ?

While supplies last

Software as a short-shelf life perishable commodity -

So what's next ? moving all software stock listings from Nasdaq to CBOT !

Knowledge web

[Via John Battelle's newsletter] W. Daniel Hillis's Aristotle project -

Aristotle would begin by asking you how much time you're willing to devote to this project and the level of detail you want. Then Aristotle would show you a map of what you need to learn. The tutor program does this by comparing what you know to what needs to be known to design fault-tolerant modules. It knows what needs to be known because this is a common problem faced by many engineers, and knowledgeable teachers have identified the key concepts many times. Aristotle knows what you know because it has worked with you for a long time. There may be some things you're familiar with that Aristotle doesn't know you know, but you can point these things out to Aristotle when it shows you the learning plan. Aristotle might take your word for what you know, but it is more likely to quiz you about some of the key concepts, just to make sure.

I added a new category in the archive list - Leapfrog. Thinking is that tools and techniques for knowledge acquisition are evolving rapidly, to such an extent that one can plot a leapfrogging strategy and structure their knowledge acquisition. It would be fun to capture all advances happening under search, semantic web, social interaction and innovation and eventually funnel all that in forming a parallel schooling system for kids. I haven't given up on my dream of ideal schooling system.

It has always been about context

Phil Wainewright on the crucial pieces of Internet computing -

much of the data will be floating about for free, and the really important question is not going to be the data itself but how you view it. In short: Who will own the context? Jon is right to end up by highlighting vantage points, because owning data won't get you very far unless you can put it in a context that adds value. Doing exactly that of course is what has already made Google so much money

In my previous post I echoed Tim O'Reilly's point about the importance of data in future computing platforms. Data provides critical stickiness to the context, Traditionally users had access to context in one form or the other - either in a closed computing platforms (enterprise architectures) or publicly accessible computing architectures such as Yahoo and Google. What is dramatically changing this context is the data and analysis of that data (read semantic) provided by the network-centric computing platform. This emphasis on data and context managed around data will make next generation application architecture very compelling.

School chain project

Two IIM-A students planning school chain project to bring innovative concepts early on in the education process.
This one will be interesting to watch.

Rethink open source

Reading Tim's presentation on changing landscape of open source.

We need to reinvent open source in the age of the Internet

We are sort of on the same path in Apptility project, combining open source with web services. Data is absolutely key to any sustaining revenue-generating strategy . Rethink open source now, think data source !

Code is free, logic will be free with webservices, it's the data which will eventually rule and command premium. Challenge for open source based businesses is to generate strategies which promotes user participation and provides value-enhancing platform for them to share their data.

Libraries as a workplace for freeagents

What about libraries? New library in Santa Clara has a free wi-fi access (kids are playing online games using their iBook !) and cafe is about to start. They already provide copier service and printer is easy to add. Check other services -

Reference Services
Children & Teens
Public Internet Access
Programs & Classes
Genealogy
Reading Program
Senior Services
Outreach for the Homebound
Volunteer Opportunities

I see no reason why community libraries cannot be a place for freeagents to work and study. Afterall its your tax money. They also have conference room if you want to give presentation to your client !

Kindler and gentler world for entrepreneurs

I am a news-junkie and naturally subscribe to many newsletters, one of that comes from Wharton management school. I can't stop myself from laughing after reading these two articles one after the other.

BBC letting users download TV content to PDAs

[Via Gizmodo] Call it Tivo-to-go or Make-your-personal-TV, but this is pretty disruptive.

The revolutionary plan has been drawn up by Ashley Highfield, the BBC's director of new media and technology. He revealed details of the project to The Independent last week. He said: "If we don't enter this market, then exactly what happened to the music industry could happen to us, where we ignore it, keep our heads in the sand and everybody starts posting the content up there and ripping us off.

By launching iMP, the BBC hopes to avoid being left at the mercy of a software giant such as Microsoft, which could try to control the gateway to online television