Lecture Hall Back-Channeling

Lecture Hall Back-Channeling

Posted by michael on Thursday July 24, @11:07AM
from the passing-notes dept.
emmastory writes "The New York Times is running a story on the phenomenon of lecture hall back-channeling - now that many conferences and universities have wireless access, some people discuss lectures via instant message or weblog as they happen. Although the article quotes an instructor at NYU, I haven't seen much of this in lectures I've attended there. I would guess it varies from department to department, but laptops aren't yet as common in classes as one might think. Either way, some people consider the practice rude, others consider it progress, and good arguments can be made on either side."

 [Slashdot]

Worth a read.  Many good comments about is really going on in the lecture hall, with or without laptops or net access.

12:14:46 PM    comment []  

People want antispam registry, senator says. Sen. Charles Schumer said survey results he released today show that nearly 74% of U.S. Internet users support a national do-not-spam list. [Computerworld News]

Of course people would support an anti-spam list, but it won't work.  Here's why: Alot of spam comes from outside the US, even if it is being used by US marketers, so there is a jusrisdictional problem; How would you enforce this?  Federal spam cops?  I'm gonna fork over my email address and let the feds screen my email for spam violations? Sure. There is no way to effectively stop spam and federalizing against it ain't gonna help. 
What we need are seperate channels and better controls.  Businesses should use secure IM, extranets, and white lists to control communication.  Private individuals should pressure ISPs for some of the same features.  Legislating agaist spam will not help.
BTW, no-call lists, designed to stop unsolicited telemarketers, don't work very well either.  I'm on GA's no-call list, but still get calls 2 or 3 times a week.  The onus of reporting violations falls on me, but just try getting the info needed to report an offender from some phone-drone.   

10:24:04 AM    comment []