NorthStarNerd.Org

Google 2.0 - Collective Intelligence a la Wiki

Recently Google released a new search feature which is available to any user who has a Google account, Google Search Wiki. In short, this service allows the user to promote or demote sites, or add comments about any web site. Your results customized your future search results, and your input anonymously becomes part of the collective Google Search Wiki. Thus, as the user community rates sites (with or without comments), any user can pull up search results which now give results based upon user feedback. I am calling this Google 2.0, or the Collective Intelligence of Search.

If you're intrigued with the concept, you may wish to watch a short tutorial which I've created. This Northstar Nerd screencast reviews the basic features when using Google Search Wiki:

• Google 2.0 - Collective Intelligence a la Wiki (tutorial / screencast)

It's Hacks to You!

MIT World has reworked their service, and all the video is now converted to Flash. Yea! This means all their videos run smoother, quicker and don't required one to use Real Video. In addition, MIT has brought online a new user interface that makes it easier to explore content and learn new ideas. However, as today is Thanksgiving in America, I will review some lighter fare from MIT:

• Where the Sun Shines, There They Hack
  

Take a few minutes and learn how MIT took over the Rose Bowl scoreboard to announce they were beating CalTech (neither school even has a football team!). As shown below, one may now embedd code for a video. You will find more viewing options via the link given above. MIT World is indexed (search) and listed on the seminars section of the Engineering Learning Wiki.

Yippee ... our new building lot in Duluth, Minnesota

Yippee!!!!

Our offer was accepted for a building lot in Duluth, Minnesota (my wife's and my home town). How do you define sweet?

• 25 yards from a foot bridge over a waterfall and swimming hole
• 25 yards from miles of hiking trails
• 50 yards from from 30k of cross-country ski trails
• 500 yards from Lake Superior (bicycle up the shore)
• On the edge of Duluth city limits and a HUGE park
• High speed internet at edge of lot

It doesn't get much better than this! Our plan is to build a Scandinavian modern home in the woods. There is a small rise ... thus walk out on two levels. We will have lots of wood ... huge windows and flood lights to reflect off the snow as it falls in the Winter. I also intend to have a big bird feeder back in the trees which I can watch from the warmth of my new home!  Happy Thanksgiving.

Expand the image to view full sized.

Internet Law 2.0

In my previous post I discussed open source software licensing including a link to O'Reilly's manual on the same subject. In an interesting twist of how the web is intertwined, a lawyer from Nixon Peabody visited my Engineering Learning Wiki. My web stats revealed that this person visited eleven pages on my wiki. As this number of pages represents a fair amount of research, I was curious ...

Thus, I visited the Nixon Peabody web site. My own research discovered two interesting facts. After first learning that this law firm was rated one of the top 100 places to work by Fortune Magazine, I noticed a link on their web site for Internet Law: NP 2.0. My research of this link revealed a fairly active blog and wiki with reviews of actual internet law court cases. While we may wish that all web content would be available via Creative Commons open licensing, that is not the real world.  Thus, I invite you to explore the world of internet corporate law according to Nixon Peabody:

• Internet Law: NP 2.0
• Internet Law: NP 2.0 Blog
• Internet Law: NP 2.0 Wiki

Some closing notes ...

You'll find reviewed on their wiki ... and you may comment upon:

• Federal Rule of Evidence 502
• Privacy and Cyber Security
• Tiffany v. eBay

Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing

Just a few years ago, using open source software was a major "no no" at most major corporations, including my own. However, the software world has changed so dramatically that open source software is now part of almost any corporate environment. Thus, please link over to the O'Reilly web site and read up on the subject. They have an eBook, which you may download w/o charge titled: "Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing". You will be glad you took the time.

While I knew of this book, and other texts that O'Reilly makes available without charge, Jane's eLearning Pick of the Day was a good reminder for me. You will already find this book and other texts in my Engineering Learning Wiki's Manuals Section.