I just listened in on the first Educational Ning Cast set up by Steve Hargadon. The TalkShoe interface did not seem to be all that intuitive. ‘Clunky’ is a word that springs to mind. It was an interesting experiment.

Play

I enjoyed hearing the other voices from across the globe as well as reading the comments of the participants. I recorded the audio using WireTap. Click the icon above to listen.

Last night I rationalised a number of my passwords for various sites and tools that I use. As I did that I began listing all of the sites that I have registered with and the number exceeded 25. I have various mental tricks for remembering passwords but there are still some odd passwords that do not fit that scheme. How many usernames and passwords do you have to juggle? There are software tools that allow you to manage passwords but what if you are on the hop and you do not have access to the tools?

Is OpenID the solution? I have been keeping an eye on OpenID. What is OpenId? I quote from Wikipedia: ”OpenID is a decentralized single sign-on system. Using OpenID-enabled sites, web users do not need to remember traditional authentication tokens such as username and password. Instead, they only need to be previously registered on a website with an OpenID “identity provider” (IdP).” It seems like a good idea yet critics argue that the system may be vulnerable to phishing attacks not unlike those used by criminals to trick you into submitting your banking details.

A new web site, Spread OpenId has just launched which provides comparative reviews of OpenID providers and acts as a starting point for individuals curious about OpenID. The creators of OpenID, Carsten Potter and Thomas Huhn, have just posted their first welcoming post on their site. They have also set up a OpenID comparative page and a glossary page.

Australia never experienced anything at all remotely resembling the Cuban Missile Crisis or McCarthyism but we did have the Petrov Affair.

Back in April 1954 Australia had its very own Cold War drama when Vladimir Petrov defected while employed as a third secretary at the Soviet Embassy in Canberra, Australia’s capital city.

The episode became known as the Petrov Affair and it dominated the Australian political landscape and newspaper headlines. Australians were caught up in “stories of espionage and political conspiracy”.

As the Old Parliament House web site states, “The defection of the Petrovs came to be regarded by Western intelligence services as one of the most important of the Cold War era and it had a profound and lasting impact on the Australian political landscape, with the Labor Party Split a direct consequence of the events of 1954-1955.”

The Old Parliament House (now known as the Museum of Australian Democracy) has an exhibit commemorating the event and in support they have created a web site rich with resources suitable for students of Cold War history near and far. There is also a web quest that students can explore. The resources are particularly useful for students of Australian history at Stage 5 of their schooling in NSW. There is a wealth of documents, photographs, media files and links to investigate. There is also a Wikipedia article regarding the event.

Axiotron has released its ModBook tablet. They are a beautifully designed and sturdily constructed device with an Apple MacBook at its heart. I would love to get my hands on one of these devices.

Back In Singapore at the CED, NTU I had used an Acer Tablet PC and it was quite a handy little device. The word recognition software was quite useful when taking notes. I wonder if Apple plans to release some sort of pen based device further down the track?

A couple of days ago Paul Hamilton published a post concerning WebNode. I bookmarked the site and this morning I toyed around with some of its feature set. This tool is impressive and I will definitely share this site with the students when school goes back in a month.

WebNode allows you to build a web site. Not just any web site but a full featured web site plug and play construction, impressive widget embeds, RSS feeds, elegant templates, multiple file upload. You can even point your own domain name to the site. It is sensational. Signing up is straightforward.

This morning I have simply created the initial template page and I have not made any changes other than deleting my email address from the contact module. I prefer to have my email address as an image so as to deter spambots.

If you look closely at the toolbars available in edit mode you will see that there is a rich set of options for you to explore.

You can drag and drop text elements, image elements, forums, polls, lists, articles and a diverse range of widgets. The screen captures below will give you a guide to some of the widgets that you can embed.

This is truly a tool worth your exploring. I have really just scratched the surface. I wonder what will happen to the client based software tools such as Dreamweaver now that tools such as these are beginning to become mainstream?

The WebNode home page states there is no catch and I checked out their Media, About and the Terms and Conditions pages. There was one condition that I do consider a “catch” per se. Under the heading “Intellectual Property” they state:

“You acknowledge that by posting materials on the webnode site You grant to Us and Our licensors and assigns an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty free, worldwide licence to use the materials both within the webnode site and in any other manner. The licence extends to copying, distributing, broadcasting, and otherwise transmitting, and adapting and editing the materials.”

This will be a source of concern for some. I do wonder about allowing WebNode and their licensors to use your material as they wish. This is a good tool and has great potential. What are your thoughts?