P2P investigations are possibly frame-ups?

Are P2P investigations, such as YouTube or BitTorrent illegal downloading, completely on the up-and-up?  According to Paitek, Kohno and Krishnamurthy at Washington: http://dmca.cs.washington.edu/

“Overview

As people increasingly rely on the Internet to deliver downloadable music, movies, and television, content producers are faced with the problem of increasing Internet piracy. To protect their content, copyright holders police the Internet, searching for unauthorized distribution of their work on websites like YouTube or peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent. When infringement is (allegedly) discovered, formal complaints are issued to network operators that may result in websites being taken down or home Internet connections being disabled.
Although the implications of being accused of copyright infringement are significant, very little is known about the methods used by enforcement agencies to detect it, particularly in P2P networks. We have conducted the first scientific, experimental study of monitoring and copyright enforcement on P2P networks and have made several discoveries which we find surprising….” 

Teaching Ireland

I’ve just returned from the “field experience” with EF Tours of The Emerald Isle.  This trip through Ireland and Northern Ireland was the end to the Honors class I taught this Spring entitled “Hon 391: Places You Should Go: Ireland.”  I very much enjoyed the trip, but am completely exhausted and know I will need to take a few days to get my jet-lagged motherly bum back into normalcy…

my question for this blog, is “what’s next?”  Another destination class?  Or a repeat of this amazing experience, with 20 “new-to-the-class” students?  Was my inexperience with the topic something that helped foster learning?  Or is my new-found quasi-experience going to enhance the class for future participants?  How to improve this?  Change is inevitable, even as I sit back and absorb the sights and sounds of Ireland….

Teaching Web 2.0

In case you hadn’t heard, this past semester, I had the priviledge of “teaching” an Honors seminar entitled “Web Revolutions.”  We covered blogs, wikis, collaboration, on-line communications and culture, as well as business approaches to Web 2.0.  It was an interesting experience, and you can read the class blog at:
www.undhon392.wordpress.com

As I wrap up from it, I’m wondering what to take away from this experience?  The class had mixed reactions on our informal evaluation day–their official evaluations of the class I won’t see for weeks.  Too much time on this–not enough time on that.  Use books; don’t use books.  Hated I Tunes U Podcasts; loved them.  Teach us the code; no, make this class accessible to non-computer inclined students.  As I’m reflecting on this, this article gets published:   http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/05/09/blogs

And I’m wondering what other faculty teach this class (what department do they come from?), and the best way to teach critical thinking in the age of Wikipedia and YouTube.  Any relevant suggestions or comments, including links to syllbi, would be most appreciated.

AmeriCoprs Vista Accepting Applications Until May 9th, 2008

Subject: Accepting Applications through May 9, 2008 
Cultural Diversity Resources is now accepting applications for an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer position:  Community Coordinator,  through May 9, 2008 with interviews being scheduled the week of May 12th. 
This opportunity is perfect for recent college graduates interested in diversity or global studies.

vista2008flyer
FMI: Donna Wood, Office Manager, Cultural Diversity Resources
303 Roberts St N., Fargo, ND 58102

Wikis for Scholars

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/28/wiki

April 28

Making Wikis Work for Scholars

“Even if they won’t admit it, students are using Wikipedia to kick off their research and fill the gaps in their class notes … right now. It might not show up in the bibliography, but the free, open source online resource has long since become the starting point for settling factual disputes, brainstorming paper ideas and even offering suggestions for further reading….If that’s an open secret, then so is this: For all the hand-wringing over whether Wikipedia is a legitimate source for completing college assignments, some professors are quietly incorporating it into their classrooms and even their research. Others, noting features of the Web site that contribute to inaccuracies and shortchange the value of expertise, are building variations on the model that are more amenable to academics and to peer review…”

Your challenge: Get a CLUE!

posted here for the HON 392 Web Revolutions class:  Today is “Show and Tell” Day, but it’s my turn again…Today is the “Day of Silence” for support for the GLBTQ community and allies.
With that in mind, and to allow for full participation of all our class members, we are going to try an experiment.  MY SHOW N TELL IS THIS EXPERIMENT.  From this moment on, there will be silence in the room  (*with the exception of any guests, and of course, you don’t have to ask to go to the bathroom; you’re grown-ups now!)
We are testing an experiment: can this group, an established working group, one with previous relationships between its members, collaborate completely on-line (or virtually) to come up with the “answer” to a given problem? There is ONE BEST answer to this project, unlike the “real world” in business, in journalism, or even in medicine or aviation.  I do not have a prediction or hypothesis either way, if the class will achieve its goal.  But it will be interesting to observe the process, and I will be walking around the building to see your progress.  Here are the rules:
1.  No face-to-face communication of any kind-talking, passing paper notes, sign language, charades, wipe board, etc.
2.  There is one best solution; your goal as a team is to find that solution.
3.  Each person is to participate fully, and each person will be given critical information that must be shared to find/derive the best answer.  You cannot show anyone the contents of your envelope, although you are free to communicate what the contents are.
4.  The game is based on a version of the (once) popular Board Game clue (the original).  The group must determine who committed the crime, with what weapon, and where.  Also one of your classmates is the victim: who was murdered?  Hint if s/he is dead, s/he won’t be able to communicate.
5.  You are allowed to leave the room at any point, but there can never be more than four people in any room in this building (or any other) at any time between the start of the game and the end time…
6.  THE END TIME.  We meet back in this classroom (4B) at exactly 11:35am to debrief and process how the team worked.
7.  If you have questions at any point before 11:35am, you may text me at 701-739-XXXX and I will answer text messages only (again, with the exception of the guests-and don’t get them to ask on your behalf).  If you do not wish to speak in class after 11:35am, you may text me a message that I can read to the group on your behalf.
Let the game begin!  No cheating. 

AIM Acronym Website

http://www.aim.com/acronyms.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001024

BTW, IMHO my new favorite is BTDTGTTSAWIO (Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and wore it out) but BYKT.

Roger Ebert: back to publishing

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/870571,ebert040108.article#

One of my heroes, and an active University of Illinois alumni, is returning to film criticism.  If you don’t know me well, you don’t know the affection I have for this man and his work.  I’m glad to hear he’s recovering from surgery, although his voice isn’t restored enough to return to television:

Roger Ebert: Let’s go to the movies

LETTER FROM ROGER | Today is Roger Ebert’s 41st anniversary as the film critic at the Sun-Times. As he recovers from his latest surgery, he’s looking forward to his film fest and will soon return to writing reviews

Holy Buckets! I want this camera

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/04/03/technology/personaltech/20080403_POGUE_SLIDESHOW_index.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Article on Professor’s Reaction on In-Class Texting

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/04/02/texting

If You Text in Class, This Prof Will Leave

The Article starts: “Some professors threaten to confiscate students’ cell phones if they go off during class. Laurence Thomas has his own approach to classroom distractions. If the philosopher at Syracuse University catches a student sending text messages or reading a newspaper in class, he’ll end the class on the spot and walk out. It doesn’t matter if there is but one texter in a large lecture of hundreds of students. If you text, he will leave.

Last week, when a student in a large lecture — in the front row no less — sent a text message, Thomas followed through on his threat (as he had done just a few days earlier). And he then sent the university’s chancellor, his dean, and all of the students an e-mail message explaining his actions and his frustration at the “brazen” disrespect he had received in class. In the e-mail, he noted that the student who sent the text message is Cuban, and that last year, two Latino students had started to play tic-tac-toe during his class.”

Not sure how to react to this one.  Fortunately I haven’t seen much of this (meaning my students aren’t doing it, or they’re very sneaky).  Is that a fair response