Numbers follow a surprising law of digits, and scientists can’t explain why

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Benford’s law shows that, in a very diverse range of data sets, the first digit of numbers is 1 about a third of the time, and the next numbers follow a consistent pattern of distribution. This is both interesting and odd but, for me, it is much more interesting how the law was discovered, independently, by two reserachers:
“Both Benford and Newcomb stumbled upon the law in the same way: while flipping through pages of a book of logarithmic tables, they noticed that the pages in the beginning of the book were dirtier than the pages at the end.”
A wonderful example of the collective in action, without the aid of any computers!
Created:Sat, 12 May 2007 08:04:22 GMT

Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5325&resid=1274
Posted: May 12, 2007, 2:04 am

Fidg’t: Your Social Networking Address Book

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Very interesting social networking application that visualises networks, interests and so on. Seems very stigmergic. The site says:
“The Fidg’t Visualizer allows you to play around with your network. You interface with the Visualizer through Flickr and LastFM tags, using any tag to create a Magnet. Once a Tag Magnet is created, members of the network will gravitate towards it if they have photos or music with that same Tag.

This simple mechanic lets you visualize your Network in a unique way, demonstrating its Predisposition towards certain things. What is more popular amongst people in your Network – rock or electronic music? Are photos of buildings more popular than photos of sunsets? Based on how your network reacts to those Tags, you might get an answer. The Visualizer also shows how your Network compares to a random sampling of the networks of other Fidg’t users, letting you see how your network stacks up to others”
Created:Sat, 12 May 2007 07:54:28 GMT

Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5325&resid=1273
Posted: May 12, 2007, 1:54 am

Control and Constraint in E-Learning:Choosing When to CHoose

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The publisher’s site for the book. Read it! Buy it! Tell your friends! Tell strangers in the street!
It’s about lots of things, especially why social software is a better idea than traditional forms, at least partly because it lets learners choose the level of control that is good for them.
Created:Wed, 02 May 2007 15:37:02 GMT

Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5325&resid=1268
Posted: May 2, 2007, 9:37 am

The social technography of Web 2.0

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Fascinating article giving a breakdown of the different ways people use Web 2.0 technologies. It seems a much higher percentage than previously thought are actually contributing something.
Mac users are *far* more likely to contribute something than Dell users, but this is not very surprising given the relative percentages of people who get the machines for personal use as opposed to business use.On the other hand, the fact that these technologies have not penetrated most businesses to such a great extent seems a big loss to those businesses.
Created:Wed, 02 May 2007 15:30:13 GMT

Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5325&resid=1267
Posted: May 2, 2007, 9:30 am

Australian Flexible Learning Framework – Research and Policy Advice

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A rather superficial report that skims the area of social software for e-learning, identifying the stuff that appears in more popular blogs but not really telling us much more than a couple of hours’ surfing could provide. Having said that, it does summarise those two hours quite well.
Created:Wed, 02 May 2007 06:32:45 GMT

Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5325&resid=1265
Posted: May 2, 2007, 12:32 am

Next generation environments will provide \’rich opportunities for learning\’ : JISC

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Amazing that Blackboard somehow managed to find their way into a Web 2.0 conference, apparently defending Web 1.0 and their shoddy and archaic approach to learner-centricity (by which they mean what most of us would recognise as teacher-centricity).
Created:Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:37:24 GMT

Original: http://jondron.net/cofind/frshowresource.php?tid=5325&resid=1263
Posted: April 30, 2007, 7:37 am