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We've just made Elgg 0.7 Release Candidate 1 available to download from the usual place. We've actually been having a hard time trying to remember all the changes that have made it into this release. There are a lot! So rather than a full summary,
Marc Canter complains that People Aggregator was left out of a post on white label social networks. Complain he might, but here's a couple of reasons why Elgg is better than any of the systems mentioned in the post, as well as People Aggregator: Elgg is free. Free
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I don't count myself among the edtech blogging scene, which is just as well, because my pedagogical insight is next to nil. I'm a technologist, not an e-learning technologist: I can talk about the social implications of the read/write web until the cows come home,
{{video:http://www.youtube.com/v/6gmP4nk0EOE}} This is really good. Worth a watch if you've got some time to spare.
From Blackboard's new patent FAQ: Blackboard recognizes that Open Source Software may at times incorporate certain proprietary elements to enhance functionality within the software. Therefore, in addition to the pledge above, Blackboard hereby irrevocably agrees not to assert the listed U.S. patents, as well as all counterparts
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{{file:15010}} Meeting with some very important people, and using Four Communications' super-fast wireless hotspot. Brr, it's a little bit chilly though ...
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Blackboard's patent is being reconsidered. The prior art built up following the original lawsuit and presumably cited in this request is not inconsiderable, so this is good news for Moodle and the like. I'd be very surprised if the patent wasn't withdrawn. Of course,
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http://theinternetispeople.com/2007/01/29/hillary-clinton-asks-yahoo-wealthy-middle-class-americans-reply/ As reported over at Bokardo, a couple of days ago Hillary Clinton posted the following question to Yahoo Answers: At the time of writing there are over 37,000 replies to this - something I find both troubling and gratifying. (Search Engine Journal
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We made a decision today to scrap the email groupware software we'd been using - SproutIt Mailroom - and move over to something hosted on our own servers. We'd struggled with some of their features in the past, but the straw that broke the camel'
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After an easy upgrade process, Elgg.net is back online. We've recoded the way the front page works on the backend - which won't make much difference to you, but makes maintaining the site much easier for us. So what can you expect from this upgrade?
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Paul Allison has uploaded a couple of really fascinating videos of K-12 students using the Elgg site on Youthvoices.net over at Youtube. Here's the latest. Students are creating podcasts, embedding videos, writing blog posts and more. {{video:http://www.youtube.com/v/VdyM3oke2tE}} Exciting stuff!
Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU (PDF link) is worth a read, particularly for page 216: It is obviously likely to have a strong impact on the future usage of FLOSS products and the