Tech learning Blog

Yesterday I attended the New Media Seminar organised by the Civil Service College. I was there to speak, as a representative of my employer the NLB, to share learning points from NLB’s new media initiatives.

[Photo courtesy of @victortan]

(BTW you won’t see NLB listed, as we were left out of the programme list for some reason).

Link | Sharedcopy

Before I began my presentation, I said “If I exceed my 30mins, feel free to tell me to Shut Up And Sit Down”. I think only half the room got the joke. Ah well…

REACH_Singapore & TWITTER
I got to listen to the other speakers and presentation while I waited for my turn to speak.

During the presentation by REACH, on Why and How they use new media for e-engagement, I thought: What does Engagement mean? And how would REACH define it?

So I tweeted this to their twitter account:

“@REACH_Singapore – nice overview of ur new media efforts @ MICA new media seminar. Question: how do u define Engagement? Thks!“

They responded today. It was a lengthy response, as far as Tweets go. Four separate tweets (the URLs are listed here):

I was quite sure they’d respond to my tweet, for they’d responded to this earlier tweet from me some time ago. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply this time round.

Maybe I needed to be convinced that it wasn’t a fluke the first time, LOL.

My session TWEETS
Here are some of my tweets during the session (thanks to the free Wireless@SG). I’ve left out some of the tweet-responses and re-tweets by twitters who were following me (it was pretty cool to see that sort of “indirect active participation” by the non-participants!).

Oh, at that time I didn’t think I’d need a hash-tag but I now realise for easy of reference, I should use one next time:

• listening to REACH presentation. Why and how they use new media. I’ve a question: “what does Engagement mean?” [link]
• think aloud: if engagement means dialogue, REACH has done well. Wrt citizens’ views shaping govt policies, I think REACH has done that too. [link]
• think aloud: the challenge wrt “engagement” is about expectations. Esp. by person giving feedback. Receiving feedback is also an artform [link]
• listening to kew soon from MICA. he points out blogs appeared in 1999 and are still around 10 yrs later, and growing. [link]
• good presentation by MICA new media unit officer, on overview of FB. I feel MICA could do a public talk @ public libraries on FB! [link]
• MICA officer giving talk on “deconstructing wikipedia”. could mention RSS updates but good overview. Again, should do public talk! [link]
• Think aloud: govt agencies should keep track of wikipedia entry of public info. ensure public info is factual and consistent. [link]
• Learned something new. Starhub is on Twitter: @starhubcares [link]
• presenter says he didn’t need to be @ AWARE EGM to know what’s going on. He read Tweets. I’d caution info needs to be triangulated. [link]
• listening 2 talk on new media use @ 2008 US presidential elections. Think aloud: new media helps get word out but ur word gotta make sense [link]
• thinking aloud: to me, new media engagement by public service = 80% Listening +20% Responding. [link]
• think aloud: in a crisis, silence (from the authorities) is definitely not golden. New media will amplify trust or distrust. [link]
• mentioned in sichuan quake case study – http://www.512help.com (www.512help.com) [link]
• think aloud: in a crisis, empowerment of potential citizen reporters is better strategy than trying to manage noise & misinformation [link]
• contrast of PRC gov & Obama’s reaction to online criticisms. Former arrested ppl; latter countered w better information [link]
• @motorman says: a key diff for SYOG is the equal emphasis on sports and culture. Not merely win or lose but cultural diplomacy. I like that! [link]
• video @ http://whyohgee.sg has teen saying “the site is confusing… I like it” LOL [link]
• Julian aka @motorman mentions partnership with NLB ask! Service at http://whyohgee.sg site. [link]
• SYOG features educational vids like how doping tests are carried out. Wonder if it’s on youtube? [link]
• SYOG vid: “are you prepared for ur doping test?”; “yes. Urine”. LOL [link]
• Listening to NDP organisers on their thoughts on how to apply new media to NDP [link]
• NDP ex-co sees new media for content that can’t go on to MSM. E.g. What soldiers feel about National Day (no voice to be left out) [link]
• BG Tan asks if getting controversial blogger would legitimize him/ her. I feel reverse also true: Blogger will help legitimize NDP w reader! [link]
• this is new to me http://www.hpb.gov.sg/chipp [link]
• the earlier HPB site earned me dirty looks. The site loaded on my mobile. Started playing music. Ppl think my phone went off. Darn [link]
• HPB doesn’t stop at websites. They conduct surveys as well. They’d like their users “to be a source of their information” [link]
• weng keong says SPF approach to new media is “open and pragmatic”. Aware they have to mitigate risks of using new media [link]
• fact: 4 in 10 arrests are public-assisted. SPF sees new media as a natural extension of community partnership [link]
• SPF youtube channel partly a response to provide authenticated SPF videos [link]
• SPF provides a sms service for Deaf/ speech impaired persons to contact the police. Wow, I didn’t know that [link]
• SPF allows comments for their new media platforms. Says to not do so is to run counter to web 2.0 spirit [link]
• think aloud: SPF going into new media (w/o controversy) says a lot about the level of trust citizens have in SPF [link]
• SPF FB page has fans from outside SG. proves that internet is a global audience, not just local [link]
• best quote frm MICA new media seminar. SPF said “we experiment w NM in peace time so that we learn how to use it effectively in a crisis” [link]

FINAL THOUGHTS
At the end of the one-day seminar, I felt upbeat about the Singapore Civil Service efforts to embrace new media.

In truth, I was skeptical about the seminar when I learned about it. I thought it would be yet another surface-level attempt at show-and-tell and nothing more.

But from the speeches by the Head Civil Service and the Permanent Secretary, and hearing first-hand the thinking behind the other agencies’ new media efforts, I walked away convinced that the Singapore Civil Service is serious about using New Media for e-engagement.

It’s not a “let’s join the bandwagon” mentality, for sure. It’s also not lip service either.

Lest the pessimists think this amounts to some nefarious attempt by the civil service to control new media space, I can only say that I didn’t sense that.

During the final panel session, there was a discussion about e-engagement policies. I won’t report what was said exactly (I’d like to approach this cautiously, heh).

But I’ll share my personal view wrt the civil service and e-engagement (see item 22, here): the civil service’s willingness to adapt, and harmoniously evolve, is a lot more optimistic that what might be generally perceived.

I’m convinced the Singapore Civil Service in general, is beginning to get New Media.

To quote one senior civil servant, “this (seminar) is not the end but the start of a conversation“.

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This song is a personal experience of Creative Commons fueling creativity.

A song I completed, with help from ccMixter and the generosity of the ccMixter community – “Ballad of Jane“:

This is Jane.

Who tells, to no one in particular, that the sky is blue. That she’s cold.

She has no one — but herself — to assure herself that she’s fine.

This is her story.

Ballad Of Jane (narva9 mix) by Ivan Chew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Singapore License. Based on a work at ccmixter.org. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://myrightbrain.wordpress.com.

Listen/ download at ccMixter | Odeo.com
[More details at MyRightBrain]

After I’d completed my instrumental track, I felt it lacked something. So I searched ccMixter for female vocals.

I was hopeful but also mentally prepared not to find anything. It’s easier to work the song around a set of vocal tracks, rather than the other way around (i.e. the vocal tracks may not match my instrumental track’s key and tempo).

I must have gone through all available vocal tracks when I found a fellow ccMixter track – narva9’s “I’m Fine”!

Her pell (i.e. what ccMixters often use as the short-form for acapella) had about 10 over remixes by then. I didn’t care. It was a jaw-dropping moment for me. To have found a pell — whose key and tempo and lyrics — so snugly fitted this idea I had in mind.

My loose idea was that Jane is telling the world her story. But I didn’t really know what was her story yet.

narva9’s lyrics completed my original idea.

ccMIXTER
I’ve mentioned ccMixter.org a few times. Some day soon, I’ll find time to blog about it in greater details.

The simple explanation is that ccMixter allows people to share/ upload their original musical samples and/ or works. Or to legally download and reuse (it’s not a must to upload your tracks). All works come under a Creative Commons license.

Personally, it’s the next best thing to discovering GarageBand (I’d like to use a non-music analogy but… ah well)

I get the feeling those who don’t create music don’t quite appreciate how amazing ccMixter is as a resource.

Or appreciate the fact that people now have the opportunity to find someone to collaborate (at least the song, if not the actual person) across geography and time.

I’m not exaggerating when I say “across time”. I’m a late-comer to using ccMixter. Most tracks I’ve used were shared by people one to two years ago.

People whom I’ve not met and probably will not. But I can communicate with them via email, if I choose to (which I’ve done so a few).

It’s likely that some people may hesitate to share their stuff on sites like ccMixter (though I think it’s more that relatively fewer create music as compared to people who take photos or videos).

I’d say that’s besides the point.

The best judge of that what share isn’t yourself. It’s other people.

One of Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science comes to mind.

If “every book has its reader“, then “every music-sample has its listener or user”.

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

A friend pointed me to this insightful speech by Minister George Yeo. His commentary and views of what the current global financial/ economic crisis mean for governments, economies, politics, China, and culture.

He spoke at the University of Cambridge (27 Mar 09), as part of the university’s 800th anniversary.

From the last para:

Human civilisations learn from one another more than they realise, more than we realise. In a collection of essays published by Needham on the historic dialogue of East and West in 1969, he chose for his title Within the Four Seas. That title was from the Analects of Confucius, who said, “Within the Four Seas, all men are brothers”. In the heyday of Third World solidarity in the 50’s, the Indians had a saying ─ “Hindi-Chini, bhai bhai” ─ Indians and Chinese are brothers. In these confused times, we need to learn from one another on the basis of a deep respect for each other as human beings.

LINK.

Oh, his posts like this says politicians like George Yeo gets new media!

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

Watching this segment of Britain’s Got Talent made me realise how we’ve been raised to unconsciously accept that beauty is a requisite for talent.

Regrettably I’m no exception, as I realised after watching this.

This Herald’s article sums it up:

The answer is that only the pretty are expected to achieve. Not only do you have to be physically appealing to deserve fame; it seems you now have to be good-looking to merit everyday common respect. If, like Susan (and like millions more), you are plump, middle-aged and too poor or too unworldly to follow fashion or have a good hairdresser, you are a non-person.

Thank you, Susan Boyle.

For making me realise my hypocrisy.

(Hat-tip to Lingfeng for pointing me to the video and article).

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

From Channelnewsasia (18 Apr 09):

SINGAPORE: The Internet has made possible the rapid spread of fear in a crisis, said Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng.

But he said bloggers and website moderators can help ease public concerns should a terrorist attack occur…

Since October 2007, 75 of them have visited the Home Team Academy and the Civil Defence Academy to get an understanding of emergency preparedness and counter-terrorism activities.

Read the full article, here.

Very interesting.

If not for the CNA report, I’d never have guessed the Ministry of Home Affairs (who has oversight on the Home Team Academy and Civil Defence Academy) has engaged 75 bloggers and website moderators since late 2007.

I wonder who are those 75 people were (and did they blog about it?)

Home Team agencies exploring New Media
I know Home Team agencies like the Singapore Civil Defence Force has a blog:

And the Singapore Police Force now has a Facebook Page:

(Btw I think their FB page is pretty engaging as it is, with people posting comments and questions. So I don’t think they need a blog anymore, heh. However, they do need to provide regular responses to the questions posted at the FB page! Some are very legitimate questions whose answers I’d find useful also.)

Anyway, the CNA report says to me the Ministry of Home Affairs is pretty progressive in terms of “new media engagement”. They’re not just publishing stuff but setting up platforms and face-to-face engagement opportunities.

Those MHA agencies obviously recognise the value of blogs and bloggers in legitimate information dissemination.

Thinking aloud: How to engage for the purpose of crisis communications
If I were in MHA and had to organise such blogger networking sessions, I’d only invite bloggers who are willing to identify themselves. It’s OK not to reveal their real names on their blogs but at least they should identify themselves to MHA (if the choose to take up the invitation).

But at some level, they cannot choose to remain anonymous.

In crisis communications, credibility is crucial.

If verification of identities is needed for particular situations, I think it’s fair for MHA to list the blogs they may deem as trusted on the MHA website. A disclaimer can be stated to say that MHA has no control over what is posted, but these bloggers have been briefed at some point.

Going back to the CNA article, the minister was quoted as saying, “On the ground… …grassroots networks are also important.“

I agree.

And if we use the civic grassroots analogy, it’s about cultivating relationships.

No agency can simply tell bloggers what to publish. Doesn’t work that way.

At least, agencies can let partners have the information. Then it’s largely trusting they will pass on the message without distortion (there are ways to ensure information integrity, like providing an official page with the source information).

What I think it means is that ultimately, mutual trust and respect will be key in a crisis. That trust and respect can only be cultivated during times of non-crisis.

Does this means the Home Team now have regular “Engage the bloggers” networking sessions?

Would be good if they do.

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

Arrgh. I’m sorry I didn’t post this earlier.

A few months ago, my librarian colleague, Mr. Dennis Kweh, hatched the idea of raising funds for the Spastic Children’s Association (Singapore).

By traveling 200km in a power wheelchair, within Singapore over three days.

He approached START Centre, who agreed to be the event organiser.

His “Adventure 200″ starts today (ends on 23 Apr 09). I’ll post more pictures and videos soon.

This is Dennis’ open letter.

I am Dennis Kweh and I am a librarian.

I suffered from a rare genetic disorder Morquio Brailsford Disease, Spinal Sclerosis and blinded on one eye due to Glaucoma. I count myself among the fortunate few who lived a respectful and meaningful life. Now at 47 years old, I hope to return to the society by reaching out to help fellow disabled in this Adventure200 challenge in April 2009.

I plan to travel 200km over 3 days (21-23 Apr09) within Singapore on a battery powered wheelchair, covering places like East Coast Park, MacRitchie Nature Reserves, Orchard, Shenton Way, HortParks, South Bouna Vista Rd etc.

I will be on the road continuously for at least 10 hours a day to achieve this aim of covering 200km. To make this quest even more meaningful, I hope to be able to raise S$1 for every meter I travelled.

If I am successful in this quest, I will be able to raise S$200,000 for the Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore (SCAS) to help people with cerebral palsy under their care.

SCAS was chosen as the beneficiary due to its specialized intervention and rehabilitative programs for cerebral palsy in Singapore. Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious diseases that cause physical disability in human development. While cerebral palsy is a physically crippling disease, it is not a humanly crippling disease. The human spirit will not be discouraged.

With assistive technology gadgets, they empower the person with greater confidence, enhance independence and improve abilities. Take the good example of Stephen Hawkings, who is not hampered by his disability to be one of the finest scientists in this century.

On a personal level, I cannot just keep still and go about my daily life when I have seen what cerebral palsy patients went through during one of my visits to SCAS. Thus, I have made a personal challenge to do something for them and improve their lives through my wheelchair marathon.

The fundraising of this project will be managed by the START Centre Pte Ltd who has graciously come forward to join me in this worthy cause by offering their services free of charge. Your donations will go directly to the Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore

I believe being disabled is no barrier to help other people with disabilities. I hope to be able to do my part, and despite the current belt tightening economic situation, I hope you will join me in this good cause and give generously or within your means.

Your donation will mean a lot for them as well as for me.

More at the event website – www.a200.sg (4 Mar Press Release).

See also the earlier coverage from The Straits Times, TODAYonline, more press coverage.

OK, right after I hit the SEND button, I’ve got to rush to meet a colleague who’s driving a few of us to interview Dennis at his first night stop.

More updates to follow.

[Next: Part 2]

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

[From Part 1]

A quote by Dennis Kweh, librarian:

I plan to travel 200km over 3 days (21-23 Apr09) within Singapore on a battery powered wheelchair, covering places like East Coast Park, MacRitchie Nature Reserves, Orchard, Shenton Way, HortParks, South Bouna Vista Rd etc.

I will be on the road continuously for at least 10 hours a day to achieve this aim of covering 200km.

To make this quest even more meaningful, I hope to be able to raise S$1 for every meter I travelled ~ Dennis Kweh

Link

The following footage was from today yesterday, the first day of three.

Adventure 200 (21 to 23 Apr 2009) by Ivan Chew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Singapore License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://RamblingLibrarian.blogspot.com.

Dennis is a fellow librarian and my direct colleague at the NLB. He’s doing this initiative in his personal capacity (though our employer has generously encouraged staff to support his efforts where we can).

On Day 1, Dennis drove his electric wheelchair in at around 10.30pm, at the sponsored chalet where he’ll rest for the night.

After the volunteer doctor checked his BP and gave him the thumbs-up, my three other NLB colleagues (Wai Ling, Eleaner, Li Sa) and myself interviewed Dennis briefly.

Dennis said he didn’t expect himself to last that long (for Day-1).

He had been in his power wheelchair for 10 hours straight (if you’ve taken a flight that long, you’ll know that isn’t easy).

His power wheelchair is essentially an electric-powered motor vehicle. It required his full attention to give it the right controls, stay in the correct direction. And also moderate his speed to allow the accompanying joggers and cyclists to keep up.

Dennis will continue his journey, to raise $200,000, today and the next.

Good luck, Dennis!

Details on how you can contribute, here.

[Next: Part 3]

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

An NUS student, Jackson Tan (referred to me by Giorgos), is collecting information about Creative Commons (CC) adoption in Singapore. Specifically, he’s writing an article on the different factors affecting Creative Commons adoption in Singapore.

Jackson is interested in how cultural differences between Singapore and other jurisdictions affect adoption rates, and the types of licenses that are preferred.

The article that he’ll be writing is part of CC-Monitor, a project to document the differences in CC adoption in different jurisdictions around the world. The CC-Monitor site is still under development. It aims to provide key statistics on CC adoption and will study the cultural factors that affect CC’s adoption.

I checked with Jackson if I could blog my responses. He said OK, so here it is:

[DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are my own; they do not necessarily represent the views of the CC-SG team]

—- START —-
What is your role in/ involvement with Creative Commons
I’ve been appointed as Community Manager for Creative Commons SG (background of how this came about, here; listed here). By “community manager”, it’s really about supporting the efforts for promoting CC, helping to manage the discussion list, acting as an additional contact point for anyone interested in CC and/ or CC-SG.

Who are the prominent team members of Creative Commons team in Singapore? If they hold specific roles in the team please specify.
I take “prominent” to mean those whom I can readily identify. Info can be found at:
http://creativecommonssingapore.wordpress.com/about/
http://creativecommons.org/international/sg/

These people in this photo could also be counted as team members, I suppose.

What were the team’s primary motivations and goals for adoption and promotion of creative commons in Singapore?
I can’t answer for the team, as I wasn’t involved at the start and I’m new to the team. My sense is that the CC SG team wants to promote a culture of sharing and ultimately help the creative movement in Singapore.

What are the key initiatives the team has taken so far (e.g., events organized) to promote the awareness and adoption of the creative commons licenses in your country?
I’d consider these as key initiatives (so far):

• Launch/ announcement of the ported CC SG licenses
• The creation of the CC-SG blog

There’s on-going promotion and advocacy of CC at other events, like
the following:

• Panel discussion, ISEA2008
• Talk at a Creative Crew SG meeting
• Presentation at HIP Parent Seminar

Please provide a list of advocates, institutions and firms who are the most prominent adopters or evangelists of CC licenses in your country so far.
The only government agency that’s (somewhat) adopted CC is the National Heritage Board,
via it’s Yesterday.sg website (see this post). I don’t know any other institutions (govt or private) that have adopted CC.

There are more individuals who’ve adopted CC, and we’ve compiled a list, here.

I can count Giorgos as a prominent evangelist, since he gives public talks and is probably the only regular person doing it.

Are you aware of any local report or study on the use of CC licenses in your country?
No, although I think Giorgos‘ research area is on the CC movement in general.

Are you aware of information on pattern and volume of adoption of CC licenses across types of media in your country (text, photo, video, sound etc)?
Not in any accurate sense, no.

Do you have information on where the majority of CC licenses/ users in your country reside (where possible name specific digital archives, online communities, individual blogs, print/offline media)?
No. Apart from serendipitously discovering such adopters, I don’t know
of any way to say, Google for CC-SG adopters.

What are the key factors driving the adoption of CC licenses in Singapore?
Adoption of CC in Singapore is relatively low. Awareness of CC isn’t very high either. From the few CC Adopters whom I know in person, I’d say they do it because they personally believe that there’s more to benefit by sharing it under CC than any potential losses or infringement of their copyright. So it’s more of an intrinsic motivation.

What are the key challenges faced by local team in promoting awareness and adoption of CC licenses?
Again, I can’t speak for the team. But personally, I feel the main challenge is that people are entrenched in the typical copyright model (i.e. seek permission first). Or they presume they understand copyright and that there is only one way to license content.

Second challenge is that even if they are made aware of CC, and even if they see relevance for what they do, they may hesitate because they don’t see CC as “the law”, unlike how they view Copyright. In a way, Copyright is perceived to be more legitimate because there are government sites like IPOS.gov.sg. You can find the Copyright Act in the Govt Statutes online. CC, on the other hand, isn’t associated with “government” so I think that gives people the perception CC has a legitimate status.

A third challenge is that CC makes it easy for potential users to understand the terms of use but it may not be that clear-cut for adopters. There are aspects to CC that non-IP lawyers may find it hard to take a definitive position.

E.g. I know of a IT-professional who’s knowledgeable in the general CC movement. He’s also into photography but he has been cautious in adopting CC for the photos he shares online. He explained to me that his understanding is that once a particular CC license is adopted, there is no turning back. If he adopts a BY-NC license and then decide to go back to “All Rights Reserved”, he feels that isn’t logical. So he’d rather not adopt a CC for the time being unless he is absolutely sure that he does not ever intend to go back to a stricter license.

Fourth,it’s hard to convince people how the benefits of sharing under CC exceeds the risk (of being exploited). People tend to understand risks better than they understand potential benefits.

Which license types do the majority of license adopters across the country so far seem to prefer?
My sense is that it’s BY-NC (i.e. the “non-commercial” option). Very few adopt the BY only. In fact, I only know of only one example — me! (ok, with my band mate, that makes two).

In your view, what are the key factors influencing license preferences among users in Singapore? (e.g.open source background/ public discourse on copyright/ pro-piracy background/ historical and cultural factors / politico- economic factors, etc).
I think it’s “fear of being exploited” or “fear of losing the opportunity to make money”. i.e. they might want to share, but prefer a “NC” license so that their work isn’t used by a commercial company without paying them as creators.

In your view, to what extent and in what ways does the local CC team influence the license preferences of users?
Little to no influence at present.

In your view, what are the key challenges in promoting more liberal licensing (convincing users to share more openly) in the country?
Similar to what I answered in “What are the key challenges faced by local team in promoting awareness and adoption of CC licenses?”

How would you predict the future of CC license adoption in your country and its significance for the region?
I’m an optimist.

I predict that CC will have a place in Singapore. Adoption will be slow, but it will take form and shape steadily. It’s relevance will only increase.

There are 3 main reasons for why I say this:

I feel the foundation for CC is an understanding of copyright and Intellectual Property. That seems to exist in Singapore.

The general awareness of the “Don’ts” of copyright is there, thanks to awareness talks by the efforts of IPOS, BSA, teachers in schools. I qualify that the level of understanding may not necessarily be correct ones (e.g. you have people saying “my idea is copyrighted”, which is false as you cannot copyright an idea until you express it in tangible form). However, the general awareness is a foundation to understanding and contrasting CC.

Second, IT and internet is very much part of the Singapore lifestyle, i.e. work, school, leisure. There can only be an increase in those who are seeking usable content online. And also among those who wish to share their content online. Both trends for can only grow. CC will be highly relevant and useful to both groups.

Third, I think “creative output” will grow. There’s government-initiated efforts to promote the Creative Industries. And there’s also recognition of the value in being creative, e.g. schools and parents recognising the need to let the child be creative, and growing acceptance of creative and non-mainstream careers.

So when creative outputs increase (e.g. amateur art, photography, music) it’s natural that much of the output will be shared online. If they see the relevance of CC, then adoption will increase as well.

How would you predict the future trend in pattern of license mix in your country?
I can’t make any meaningful predictions other than saying Copyright definitely has it’s place. As for Cc, there are those who will realise the relevance of adopting CC. There will be those who don’t, or won’t.

—- END —-

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[Reposted from sgLEAD]

From Wired, 20 Apr 09 (the article explains why Twitter works better than trying to get patients to email):

Early on the afternoon of April 1, Adam Wilson posted a message to Twitter. But instead of using his hands to type, the University of Wisconsin biomedical engineer used his brain. “USING EEG TO SEND TWEET,” he thought.

… The researchers built upon the BCI2000, a software tool pioneered by Williams and Wadsworth Center neural injury specialist Gerwin Schalk. The software translates thought-induced changes in a scalp’s electrical fields to control an on-screen cursor.

Williams described e-mail as a a relatively difficult and inefficient task for someone on a brain-computer interface.

“It’s difficult enough to be able to spell words, much less find an address book and select names. The overhead involved in these applications is just too much,” he said. “Twitter is very serendipitous. It handles all the things that we’ve been struggling to make easy for a patient to do. It puts messages where people can find them. Let the world know how you’re doing, what you’re thinking, and they’ll find you. And that’s perfect for these patients and their families.”

LINK

YouTube video of the software in action, here:

Something that Singapore polytechnics or universities might want to try prototyping?

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com

Here’s the lastest QQ*librarian story from her real-life front-desk experience:

She claimed she has tried Google, Wikipedia and everything (yes, Google and Wikipedia is equivalent to everything to this young reader) but to no avail.

Topic X appeared to me to be a possible entry that can be found in encyclopedias. So I directed her to the encyclopedia section, and told her to try the Encyclopedia Britannica, Americana and World Book.

She looked at me like I just spoke to her in French. Then she asked me “What Britannica?”

So it has come to this. The word “Encyclopedia Britannica” has become a technical jargon that the young generation no longer understands.

I brought her to the shelf and pointed to the encyclopedias. She stared at the shelf blankly for a minute, then turned and asked me, “how to use encyclopedia?”

LINK

If you enjoyed this one, you might want to check out the rest of her Librarian Tales.

	Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com