ICT initiative of the Year in UK HE

Over in the UK, JISC has announced the shortlist for outstanding ICT initiative of the year (in HE). Some 'weel kent faces' (as we say in Scotland) are in the list and all are worth noting. The open source software Elgg raises its head since that's the basis for community@brighton (as I understand it) and the OU's OpenLearn initiative made it to the list also. Have a look at the listing here and place your bets as to the ultimate winner!.

Dictionary - paper or electronic?

Lexicographer, Erin McKean talks passionately about the nature of dictionaries and the ways in which print based formats are challenged in the new electronic age. Very entertaining presentation.

Miro - the best internet video and TV player?

My video player of choice, Miro, continues to bound ahead technologically speaking. Some recent upgrades have taken place as it heads to version 1.0. At the moment it is an excellent means of suscribing to channels from a wide variety of providers, including the growing number of HD (high definition) programmes out there.

Best of all, though, is that it is run by a non-profit organisation and is open source. Previously, this same group provided 'Broadcast Machine' an impressive tool for uploading, cataloguing and serving video content, but that is now being frozen with a decision to start building a replacement system from scratch that incorporates new technological advances and is more robust and resilient. Miro, itself, though is worth a try and it happily trundles away in the background scurrying around for updates on my favourite subscritions (mainly documentaries and news).

From palm pilot to neocortex

Jeff Hawkins the tech guru behind the Palm Pilot and its offspring spoke at one of the TED events a couple of years back and the recording has now been made available. He speaks about his other main passion, that of understanding aspects of how the brain works. Once again, an interesting presentation from this series that we thought you might be interested in.