Hyperlinkminded.

Okay, this is really fucking cool. It’s what the Internet is all about. Nice work Facebook and Bing.

That is pretty awesome.

When Wikipedia Takes a Stance

Canadian poet and novelist John Degen, on Wikipedia’s stance on SOPA:

Tomorrow, when Wikipedia turns the lights back on, and folks look up SOPA and PIPA to find out what happened, does anyone believe there will be a balanced, unbiased Wikipedia entry on the subject? How unbelievably sad.

I had failed, through all the blackout buzz today, to even consider the implications of Wikipedia publicly taking a stance on a newsworthy and important event. It’s already caused one Wikipedian to resign.

(Source: smarterbits)

Steve Jobs: What’s Wrong With Education Cannot Be Fixed With Technology

Interesting piece by Wired magazine. Jim Dalrymple calls out a quote from Steve Jobs about education:

I used to think that technology could help education. I’ve probably spearheaded giving away more computer equipment to schools than anybody else on the planet. But I’ve had to come to the inevitable conclusion that the problem is not one that technology can hope to solve. What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology. No amount of technology will make a dent.

It’s a political problem. The problems are sociopolitical. The problems are unions. You plot the growth of the NEA [National Education Association] and the dropping of SAT scores, and they’re inversely proportional. The problems are unions in the schools. The problem is bureaucracy.

With all the talk about Apple’s ‘education’ announcement tomorrow - it’ll be curious to see if that quote from 1996 holds true.

Rumors out there suggest that Apple will unveil a revolutionary set of publishing tools for digital books; some people are saying a Garageband-like product, but for iBooks.

Regardless, I’m excited.

via The Loop

Andrew Sullivan: How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics

Andrew Sullivan on Obama’s promises:

Politifact recently noted that of 508 specific promises, a third had been fulfilled and only two have not had some action taken on them. To have done all this while simultaneously battling an economic hurricane makes Obama about as honest a follow-through artist as anyone can expect from a politician.

And:

What liberals have never understood about Obama is that he practices a show-don’t-tell, long-game form of domestic politics. What matters to him is what he can get done, not what he can immediately take credit for.

Great piece.

Cruise Ship Runs Aground in Italy

Survivors from a luxury cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over, leaving at least three dead and 69 people still unaccounted for, described Saturday a chaotic evacuation.