GraBlog » WWW http://grabic.name just curious Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:20:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Cost of Education http://grabic.name/2009/10/07/cost-of-education/ http://grabic.name/2009/10/07/cost-of-education/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:01:58 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=511 An article at Mashable  “In the Future, the Cost of Education will be Zero” doesn’t bode well for institutes for higher education. Universities are a different matter, as higher education used to be free in Germany and still is in countries like Sweden – also top students in any country. In the long run, costs will naturally decrease, but I don’t see language teachers being replaced by videos anytime soon. Also, lower costs don’t mean the price will fall as well – especially in education, a high price tag signals quality. Many of the courses universities offer though could be replaced by open source and keep down overall costs – readings first and foremost. Also, education could be introduced to a broader spectrum of the population, but then again, a certain mindset is neccessary to watch an MIT Video lecture about Classic Mechanics instead of a mundane Big Brother episode at Youtube.

A commenter argues that “automatization can go only so far” – but logical essays i.e. can’t be evaluated by a machine. Nevertheless, PearsonVue is attempting exactly that with the new Pearson Test of English. If it’s technically feasible, I don’t see a problem evaluating other forms of academic production as well, verbal or written.

Still, I’ve had the opportunity to both experience face2face as well as online courses: The biggest advantage is direct intellectual exchange between students working on a case – not doable with today’s tools. Many textbooks are definitely going to be free in the future, it’s just a long way. Education is certainly going to get cheaper – but as long as teachers need to be paid and class rooms needed for social interaction, institutes for higher education are not going to be able to offer completely free courses.

]]> http://grabic.name/2009/10/07/cost-of-education/feed/ 0 Web: Real-time & Authority http://grabic.name/2009/10/06/web-real-time-authority/ http://grabic.name/2009/10/06/web-real-time-authority/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:43:50 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=528 Web: Real-time & Authority

(0)]]> http://grabic.name/2009/10/06/web-real-time-authority/feed/ 0 Connecting WP to Twitter to FB http://grabic.name/2009/10/01/connecting-wp-to-twitter-to-fb/ http://grabic.name/2009/10/01/connecting-wp-to-twitter-to-fb/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:14:12 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=516 http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-to-twitter/

(0)]]> http://grabic.name/2009/10/01/connecting-wp-to-twitter-to-fb/feed/ 0 Social Software @ Work http://grabic.name/2009/09/29/social-software-work/ http://grabic.name/2009/09/29/social-software-work/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:13:40 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=512 I’m at a great workshop today and yesterday, “Social Software @ Work” at HHU’s Schloss Mickeln in Duesseldorf. I didn’t have much opportunity to take part in such conferences – something that has to change! Dozens of like-minded people, from companies like BASF, Daimler and Siemens as well as Frauenhof researchers talking about web 2.0. Check out the speakers list and their publications.

]]> http://grabic.name/2009/09/29/social-software-work/feed/ 0 Make Money Around Free Content http://grabic.name/2009/09/08/make-money-around-free-content/ http://grabic.name/2009/09/08/make-money-around-free-content/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:20:03 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=402 Make Money Around Free Content in the Wired How-To Wiki – it partly touches my MBA thesis. How to develop and implement a business model, offering a high-quality service (not content) for free while being paid by a third party.

]]> http://grabic.name/2009/09/08/make-money-around-free-content/feed/ 1 New on the Inside, Same Old, Same Old on the Outside http://grabic.name/2009/09/06/new-on-the-inside-same-old-same-old-on-the-outside/ http://grabic.name/2009/09/06/new-on-the-inside-same-old-same-old-on-the-outside/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:16:01 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=497 My WordPress install was borked since version 2.x, I finally got around to revamp the backend, clear out 1001 folders and all that. Oh, and there are 30+ drafts in the pipeline – most of it probably out of date, but we’ll see.

]]> http://grabic.name/2009/09/06/new-on-the-inside-same-old-same-old-on-the-outside/feed/ 0 Rapleaf http://grabic.name/2008/10/02/rapleaf/ http://grabic.name/2008/10/02/rapleaf/#comments Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:48:52 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=430 The other day, I was looking for add-ons for Thunderbird and found an article about Rapleaf. In short, if you write me an email, the addon shows me which social networks you belong to. Comes in handy, but the database is not big enough.

]]> http://grabic.name/2008/10/02/rapleaf/feed/ 2 Google Chrome http://grabic.name/2008/09/07/google-chrome/ http://grabic.name/2008/09/07/google-chrome/#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:38:17 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/?p=405 Google Chrome arrived – the second browser war, if it hadn’t already started with the emergence and success of Firefox, has now officially begun. I think Google Chrome is rather a huge social experiment than a browser – what’s more important, your privacy or the (second) best browser?

Reading CNET’s 10 Things we’d like to see in Google Chrome, I already know what I’d like to see in it but won’t ever be part of the software… a decent Adblocker.

]]> http://grabic.name/2008/09/07/google-chrome/feed/ 0 Two Billionth http://grabic.name/2007/11/15/two-billionth/ http://grabic.name/2007/11/15/two-billionth/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:31:06 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/2007/11/15/two-billionth/ The two billionth photo at flickr has been uploaded on Sunday. Very impressive, since 500,000 was not that long ago – I’m curious what’s the first photo on flickr that hasn’t been deleted or is private?

]]> http://grabic.name/2007/11/15/two-billionth/feed/ 0 Microsoft Live Labs: Photosynth http://grabic.name/2007/08/29/microsoft-live-labs-photosynth/ http://grabic.name/2007/08/29/microsoft-live-labs-photosynth/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2007 20:56:15 +0000 Tomislav Grabic http://grabic.name/2007/08/29/microsoft-live-labs-photosynth/ To tell you the truth, I can’t remember when Microsoft came up with something that made me go WOW – check out Photosynth

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