Re: [DDN] Technology Blackout Day
Hi, So what technology will they do without? Computers? Cell Phones? Lights? Heat? Running water? Flush Toilets? Books (Printing Press is Technology)? I asked this question for two reasons. Most of you responded to the first reason, that of a society that does not know (for the most part) how deeply they depend on technology and how a lot of things that guide, control and govern their lives work. My favorite story along these lines was a true experience that I had with a man that believed micro-wave ovens cooked food using atomic energy, and that the food was therefore radio-active. (sigh) But the second reason I asked this question is because there are people right now in the former Soviet Union who do not have enough electricity to run their schools, and enough fuel to heat the schools. There are people in Africa that do not have running water or flush toilets. We talk about the Digital Divide on this list, but these people are still suffering the analog divide, and even the analog divide uses technology. It would be interesting to see Technology Backout Day embrace the true meaning of no technology, just to let people know what it really is like. Warmest regards, maddog -- Jon maddog Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
On Doorbells (WAS Re: [DDN] Technology Blackout Day- Technoliteracy)
Taran, Read your blog on doorbells and enjoyed it greatly. Thought I might just add my 2 cents. My family and I live in an apartment in NYC. We have a buzzer and intercom setup to the street, several stories below us. We'd love to have a TV cam in the lobby so we can see who rings our buzzer at 3 in the morning, but the building (it's a coop) doesn't think it's worth the money - so we stay with the mid-20th century buzzer and intercom system. And of course we never know who it is that rings our buzzer at 3 am. Completely serendipitously, we came up with a different solution in the hallway outside our door. We installed a bell by the door. Literally, we installed a faux-antique bell outside our door that is designed for people to ring when they want us to come to the door. We really like the way it looks, it's nice brass with some antique-y looking scrollwork and some kind of Latin inscription. We didn't expect people to use it, we just liked the way it looked. Because it's inside the building, the only people who ring it are our neighbors or delivery people who've already negotiated the buzzer system. We hung it on the wall, next to the door, about 4 and 1/2 feet off the floor. When someone rings it, the bell is about 18 inches from their head. The bell is nice, heavy brass, and when it rings, it's REALLY LOUD - especially to the person who rings it standing right there next to it. Looking though the peephole in our door we've actually seen people ring the bell and jump away from the wall, they scare themselves with the noise. Inside our house, the sound is quite pleasant. Usually, people only ring the bell once because it's so loud to them they can't imagine that we wouldn't be able to hear it. If we don't want to be bothered, they eventually go away. If we feel like company, they know we couldn't have missed that huge noise, so they wait just a moment longer than perhaps otherwise. Maybe you could connect your doorbell so that it buzzes right in front of the person who's pressing the button and scares the bejeezus out of them, while having a nice chime or musical selection play in your apt. Or knocking is really good. Sincerely, Jim Lerman Taran Rampersad wrote: levnew wrote: While I am in complete agreement with you, I did wonder if a conceptual parallel would be the advent of the automobile. We embraced it, didn't necessarily understand (or care) how it worked and now find outselves in the grip of a society dependent on foreign oil as a result. Do you think that the same educative principles would have applied here? Well, personally I believe that people still have problems with doorbells: http://www.knowprose.com/node/1306 In an odd sort of way, I'm forcing my visitors into a 'technology blackout'. They've been naughty, and I have revoked their license... :-) But you make some good points... and I have one question at the end of the quote below: If so, then comparatively speaking, would our society be far better off if we understood the inner workings of the internal combustion engine or it is enough to understand the fact that it burns gas and gives off pollutants as a result which will have a devastating effect on our world down the road...and what we as a society need to think in terms of doing about it? I guess where I am trying to go with this is this: while I thoroughly enjoy the history or how the computer evolved, the Internet developed and the world changed as a result and all the critical analyses thereof, it that necessary to make me a responsible user of computing resources? My time as a technology educator in the classroom is precious and minimal. Some days I feel that it is far better spent teaching them about responsible computing, ethics, dangers of chatting, the importance of information management and how acquiring technology literacy will be foundational to their future than about DARPA, the difference between analog and digital and the difference between a LAN and a WAN. It just seems to me we are still playing catch up and I think for now, it is a luxury we cannot afford. I wonder if we're spending too much time giving people answers to questions they don't have, instead of having them find the right questions to ask? ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] ALERT: another earthquake off Indonesia, possibly tsunami alert
This just appeared on CNN's homepage a few moments ago: Earthquake measuring 8.2 reported off Indonesian coast on same fault line as quake that caused Dec. 26 tsunami. Details soon. Please alert colleagues in coastal Southeast Asia and South Asia as soon as possible. -- --- Andy Carvin Program Director EDC Center for Media Community acarvin @ edc . org http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.tsunami-info.org Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com --- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] NEWS: tsunami update
Here's the latest info. More available at http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com and http://www.tsunami-info.org. Again, please warn Asian colleagues immediately. ac AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS ORIGIN TIME - 1610Z 28 MAR 2005 COORDINATES - 2.3 NORTH 97.1 EAST LOCATION- NORTHERN SUMATERA INDONESIA MAGNITUDE - 8.5 WARNING... THIS EARTHQUAKE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A WIDELY DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI IN THE OCEAN OR SEAS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE. AUTHORITIES IN THOSE REGIONS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POSSIBILITY AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. THIS ACTION SHOULD INCLUDE EVACUATION OF COASTS WITHIN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS OF THE EPICENTER AND CLOSE MONITORING TO DETERMINE THE NEED FOR EVACUATION FURTHER AWAY. http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/wmsg -- --- Andy Carvin Program Director EDC Center for Media Community acarvin @ edc . org http://www.digitaldivide.net http://www.tsunami-info.org Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com --- ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Last night's Boston DDN meetup
Dear Andy and DDN folks. Re face to face meetings and acoustics. It sounds like the first meeting off Boston DDN was a success. Congratulations. I wonder how the acoustics were. Background noise is a serious problem for me. Always has been. Sometimes in bars I wish everyone had a lapel mike and earphones. Face to face meetings are so much more informative, if you can hear each other. Otherwise, virtual meetings might be better. King Collins [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Simputer
Hi, A project that I have been tracking for over three years has finally made it to market in a big way. That is India's Simputer project (www.simputer.org) The Simputer is a design for a low-cost, PDA-like computer that could be shared among users. Why do I say PDA-like? While most PDAs can really be used by only one person, the Simputer has two USB ports as well as a smart card interface and a 4-pin serial interface. It can handle wireless USB attachments, and comes in both a lower-cost monochrome screen and a higher-cost color screen. It uses a low-power, but high speed StrongARM processor, and the operating system is Linux. You could also hook on lots of other peripherals to the USB ports (one is master/slave and one is master), such as disks and other networking devices. The system was designed for use not only by English speaking people, but people who write in Hindu or Kannada. It also has an application that allows you to capture handwriting, so you can just write in any language. For the illiterate, there is also a text-to-speech for Hindi and Kannada, to allow illiterate people to use the Simputer. Illiterate people are often not stupid, they just can not read. And for them to communicate back, the Simputer has a built-in microphone and speaker. Most interesting is that the Simputer was designed as a project by universities and people who wanted to do good things, so the hardware design is readily available, and the Linux OS is pure GPL, with no hidden stuff. Finally, the vision for this PDA-like device was that it would be shared among the people of a village or area, with each villager having their own flash memory data stick to hold their own data, and just borrowing the PDA when they needed to use it. You can see the finished product at: http://www.amidasimputer.com/ and it was announced only two days ago. The current costs (300 USD for the monochrome and 480 USD for the color version) is a bit expensive if you think of it as a PDA, but two items: o it is based on a manufacturing run of 50,000 units, and could come down considerably in higher volumes o this is not really a PDA, but a complete computer system, and its costs could be shared Take a look at it, and let me know what you think. I congratulate the team that designed, built, and brought this to market. maddog -- Jon maddog Hall Executive Director Linux International(R) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 80 Amherst St. Voice: +1.603.672.4557 Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A. WWW: http://www.li.org Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. (R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other countries. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] keeping DDN in the public eye
hi DDN community - i noticed that widely read macnn.com web site has a link today to the article i wrote last week on using skype as a community media production tool. http://macnn.com/ at the end of this article is a link to my DDN profile web. do you see the way this brings DDN into the public eye? there's some reporter out there who might have heard about DDN, but hasn't had time to take a closer look at the site. coming across a new link to the site might jog their memory or pique their interest. blog on, - phil -- Phil Shapiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.his.com/pshapiro/ (personal) http://teachme.blogspot.com (weblog) http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/pshapiro (technology access work) http://mytvstation.blogspot.com/ (video and rich media) There's just so much more creativity and genius out there than our media currently reflect. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
[DDN] Teaching Opportunities 05-06
Were Looking for a Few Great Teachers. Do You Know One? The North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, one of Americas most celebrated public schools, seeks to fill teaching vacancies for the 2005-2006 school year. Due to high demand, our school is expanding next year. North Stars first graduating class achieved 100% college enrollment in 2004. Average standardized test scores for North Star students place the school in the top rank of urban public schools statewide. Students are admitted to North Star by lottery and we have a waiting list of over 1400. Our school presently enrolls approximately 300 students in grades 5-12. Students and teachers at North Star work hard. The school year consists of 11 months and the school day is extended. Teachers work collaboratively and possess an exceptionally strong commitment to high-level achievement for all students. Do you know any outstanding teachers who might be interested in joining our faculty? If you do, please ask them to contact us. We seek great teachers in these areas for middle and/or high school Science Mathematics English History Spanish Special Education Inclusion Music/Arts/Drama School Nurse Dean of Students Speech Pathology (P/T) For additional information, visit the North Star website www.northstaracademy.org To apply for a teaching position, please send email only Send letter of application and resume as Word attachments. The subject bar of your email must be in this format: last name, first name teacher (i.e. King, Tasha teacher). For answers to questions, or to apply, contact: James Lerman, Recruiter [EMAIL PROTECTED] 973-642-0101 x 199 Please Note: We also seek teachers for our 2 sister charter schools in Brooklyn, NY: Excellence Charter School and Brooklyn Collegiate Charter School. The grade levels we want to fill are K-2 and Grade 5 (only). Please indicate school applied for. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
