Communities Visualizations

Nice visualization of collaborations and communities done at the MIT Sociable Media Group.

MOSIL Mini Camp in Lille

My notepad notes during the MObile Support for Integrated Learning (MOSIL) mini camp in Lille, France. Official outputs are available on the MOSIL BSCW repository.
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With the anti-terrorist plan "Vigipirate"

With the anti-terrorist plan “Vigipirate” still applied, trash cans in subway of Lille have been transformed into cartons.

Lille Mosil Mini Camp Preperation

A few notes written prior to the Lille mini camp on action/role taxonomies and workflow for modelling scripts for collaborative learning. A workshop part of the MObile Support for Integrated Learning (MOSIL) project.

Collaborative educational learning scripting for mobile technologies:
- We are looking for an asbtract description of CSCL scripts, especially those exploiting mobile technologies
- Increase effectiveness of collaborative learning by augmenting the frequency of types of interactions that produce knowledge
- Collaboration -> (conflic resolution, argumentation, negociation, mutual regulation, explantion) -> Learning
- A script defines a distributed cognitive system. Learning results from compensating the drawbacks of task distribution
- Script authomatically interpreted by the computer and generate a environment to carry out the activity with the computer

Dimensions of a script:
- Design Rationale (conflict, abstraction, complementarity)
- Degree of coercion (prompter, trained, instructed, induced)
- Degree of appropriation (internalisation, adoption)
- Degree of generalisability

To describe scripts we need:
- a reprensation of a sequence of activites and interactions, with a time structure
eg: [Phase_1 = Task Group Mode Timing]; [Task = input activity output]
- a representation of the social structure (individual, group, social). Social Planes = individual, group, class, community, world
- a represenation of dataflow

A phase is:
- taks the student has to perform
- composition of the group
- the way that the task is distributed within the group
- the mode of interaction (state or sequence diagram)
- the timing of the phase

And the the modelling (based on Patrick’s work) I presented as introduction:
- Phase diagram [page 1]
- Arguegraph modelling [page 1] [page 2]
- Maze modelling [page 1] [page 2]

Google Number Reached Critical Mass

My Google number reached the critical mass of 1000. According to the official ranking (What’s Your Google Number), it means “you are getting some real attention”.

Desktop Life Hack II

Still part of life hack, tips and habits that help us to work more efficiently

At home my screens are normally filled as follow (from left to right)
- Instant messaging: with the moo, and msn constantly opened and icq, and yahoo! as background tasks
- Browser: firefox and occasionally IE
- Mailer: The Bat!
- Music player: winamp
- Current task: developing with eclipse (with cygwin), if not then browsing or writing (mail, blog post, notes, …)
- Media player: MS media player for the sometime needed HS background sound and movement
- Skype: peer-to-peer voice over IP software in background task

IM Quotes

This end of the week instant messaging quotes taken from my geeky discussions:

- EJB?? you do EJBs? I thought only monks in remote monastaries where doing EJBs…
- the only justification for EJB is distributed transactions (and i dont even know what that is …)
- dont mke me eat the elephant again.
- we should think about the canvas bots !
- Do you have to deal with ayatollahs?
- Software engineering is not a monolitic religion
- Haas makes football accessible
- no. it’s apple-expensive
- doesn’t bluetooth give cancer?
- too smart programming is dangerous you know
- Btw. I am working on win98 since the scanners only work with 98
- im not sure if rotten balls are my understanding of a win-situation

New Generation of Software Engineers

Previous generation of programmers and software engineers dreamt to become game developers, next generaton wants to become artists.

Mercer Cost-of-Living 2004

Mercer Cost-of-Living 2004 survey is out. Zürich and Geneva getting more expensive but with a steady ranking in the top 10.

Transactive Memory

Transactive Memory is a theory proposed by Daniel Wegner at the Univ. of Virginia. Simply put, transactive knowledge means knowledge that is somehow available or possible because of transactions that take place between people. Transactive Memory theory examines the process by which individuals determine who knows what and who knows who knows what.

More on Transactive Memory via Manoj Sati.