I’ve just uploaded some pictures from the Anne of Green Gables at 100 symposium last week at the Congress in Vancouver organized by Irene Gammel and Ben Lefebvre.

Slashdot | Is Google Making Us Stupid?leads to the fuller article Nick Carr: Is Google making us stupid? | The Open Road - The Business and Politics of Open Source by Matt Asay - CNET News.com that talks about something not even available yet on the net, and they have to ask if google makes us stupid. Perhaps it does.

If Google is responsible for making us thing that data is information, information is knowledge and knowledge is wisdom… and wisdom is judicious action.

Google cannot make us stupid any more than a book can. Google does not find information for us if we don’t know what we’re looking for, any more than a library can. And the library has the added advantage of allowing us to surf the stacks, something google can’t do, yet. I wish it could. Does Wikipedia, the OED or Encyclopedia Britannica make us stupid? Does learning how to learn, vs memorizing facts, make us stupid? Hmmmm… perhaps it does, and I’m a total idiot. But then again, perhaps not.

Does the lazy culture of instant gratification make us stupid… well, probably. And this is because we take what is immediate and easy rather than struggle for more interesting and more difficult goals. But google doesn’t cause that… schools, media, industry all do that more. Google helps the lazy remain lazy perhaps, but I don’t see them adding to it.

I read books. I love books. I love pen and paper. I use it. And I love google… especially advanced functions. What do you do?

I saw Slashdot | Encyclopedia Britannica to Take User Contributions on Slashdot linking to PC Pro: News: Encyclopaedia Britannica dips toe in Wiki waters:

Britannica has long been a vocal critic of Wikipedia’s user-generated content, and has repeatedly attacked the accuracy of its articles. Unsurprisingly then, it is keen to stress that its new website will not be following the Wiki-model, describing it “as a collaborative process but not a democratic one.”

Indeed, under the new Britannica scheme those who wish to contribute will need to create a profile outlining their qualifications and expertise in the area they are commentating on. They will then be able to add comments to encyclopaedia entries, or write their own. This content will then be reviewed by the expert editors of the site, and if any of it is deemed worthy of inclusion, added to the main article with a credit.

This of course will crack most people up who have ever had to explain the relative value of wikipedia vs encyclopedias, and the whole notion of who is ‘qualified’ to have a voice in terms of the co-construction of new knowledge.

“Artificial food dyes, which are primarily derived from petroleum and coal tars, are a staple in breakfast cereals, snacks and soft drinks.”

people! why do we feed this to children? I wonder, since companies explicitly say they respond to consumer demand… yet people don’t demand. I don’t think people can say “I didn’t know”. They can say “I didn’t care enough to listen or be concerned” I guess.

Perhaps parents should panic more at the grocery store than they do online, and at least take similar precautions.

Food dye rebellion may color U.S. action — Health, Kraft Foods Inc., Oak Brook — chicagotribune.com

That’s what has been happening in the UK, as food industry giants such as Kraft Foods Inc. and Mars Inc. have reacted to increasing consumer worries over artificial colors, particularly after a British study bolstered the hyperactivity theory.

Late last year, Mars banished artificial colors from its well-known Starburst and Skittles candies sold in the UK. Northfield-based Kraft did the same in early 2007 with its British version of Lunchables.

“This is about listening to consumers,” said Kraft spokesman Michael Mitchell.

Thus far, U.S. consumers haven’t spoken up enough to cause big manufacturers to drop the dyes.

Kraft’s market research in the United Kingdom has shown a “much higher interest” in food dyes than in the United States. Here, consumers are more interested in calorie, fat and sodium content, he said. So in the U.S., Kraft, Mars and others use artificial dyes, which tend to be less expensive and look more vibrant than natural colorings.

Artificial food dyes, which are primarily derived from petroleum and coal tars, are a staple in breakfast cereals, snacks and soft drinks.

Slashdot | Ghostly Ring Found Circling Dead Star

“An international team of scientists has found a strange ring around a dead star by using images taken by NASA’s Spitzer space telescope. This star, called SGR 1900 14, belongs to a class of objects known as magnetars. According to NASA, a magnetar is ‘a highly magnetized neutron star and the remnant of a brilliant supernova explosion signaling the death throes of a massive star.’ So far, about a dozen magnetars have been found. An amazing thing about these stellar objects is their magnetic field. One of the researchers said that ‘magnetars possess magnetic fields a million billion times stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth.’

“Magnetars possess magnetic fields a million billion times stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth,” Figer says. The magnetic field of a magnetar is one petagauss (10 to the 15th or 1,000,000,000,000,000 gauss) while, in comparison, Earth’s magnetic field strength registers at 0.5 gauss, the Sun at one gauss and a sunspot at about 1,000 gauss. These extreme fields stretch the very fabric of matter, contorting atoms into thin cigar-shaped structures.

This is from Reuters…. Japan man discovers woman living in his closet

A Japanese man who was mystified when food kept disappearing from his kitchen, set up a hidden camera and found an unknown woman living secretly in his closet, Japanese media said Friday.

The 57-year-old unemployed man of Fukuoka in southern Japan called police Wednesday when the camera sent pictures to his mobile phone of an intruder in his home while he was out on Wednesday, the Asahi newspaper said on its Website.

Officers rushed to the house and found a 58-year-old unemployed woman hiding in an unused closet, where she had secreted a mattress and plastic drink bottles, the Asahi said. Police suspect she may have been there for several months, the paper said.

“I didn’t have anywhere to live,” the Nikkan Sports tabloid quoted the woman as telling police.

Local police confirmed that they had arrested a woman for trespassing, but would not comment further on the case.

I’ve just joined the Centre for Interdisciplinary Human Factors Research at Ryerson University. Thought I would share. I like the picture they chose of the options.

Ken ✭ 2 0 0 8 ✭ Canada Dance Festival

Saudi maid verdict ‘outrageous’:

Human Rights Watch has called on Saudi judges to overturn a decision to drop charges against a Saudi couple accused of severely abusing an Indonesian maid.
A judge in Riyadh awarded $670 damages to the maid, Nour Miyati, but dropped all charges against her employers.
The female employer, who admitted the abuse and was originally sentenced to 35 lashes, had her sentence overturned.
Human Rights Watch said the ruling on Monday was “outrageous”, and sent “a dangerous message” to Saudi employers.
Ms Miyati, 25, contracted gangrene after allegedly being tied up for a month and left without food in 2005. She had to have several fingers and toes amputated.

Anywhere, any time… if the state is not willing to be responsible, the international community must step in. Anyone wonder why I support world government?

St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class. All I can say is that I wish I ran the zoo! I’m offended, if the report has any basis in reality.