Stanford iTunes

Stanford iTunes is a huge deal! I don't think it's unfair to say that this may have the ability to change the demographic of the educational system in the US as we know it! The ability to download lectures would put higher education in the hands of the world's poor, and completely revolutionize the educational compensation structure. Imagine professors being able to monetize their lectures on a class by class basis, being able to lecture about subjects they are passionate about and finding their personal "microbrand" audience, and being able to find compensation commensurate with their audience appeal, regardless of what university they teach at!

One of the downsides would be a trend towards "popular" lecture topics and away from the "harder" material with little financial worth. But I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

It'll be interesting to see how this develops. I would love it if more universities did something similiar and if they started adding video as well.

Technorati Tags: stanford, itunes, education, apple

Soduku Night Fever!

What's up with everyone going crazy over sudoku lately? A few days ago I didn't even know how to work the puzzles and now they seem like they're everywhere! The Fortune magazine write-up on Bram Cohen (of Bittorrent fame) showed him solving the puzzles. And I just got back from the grocery store and there was an jumbo sudoku puzzle book at the register next to the tabloids!

I haven't had a chance to toy around with them yet, but they look pretty fun. This flickr sudoku game looks pretty tough too!

Flickr Sudoku found via [lifehacker]

Technorati Tags: sudoku, puzzles, bittorrent, bram+cohen, trends

Stop Kaz

This is the sort of thing ideally suited for the internet; Skeptico tells the story of "Dr. Kaz deMille", either a predatory fraudster or a mega-delusional headcase (maybe both). "Dr. Kaz" tells churches stories about her death and resurrection in the World Trade Center disaster, her meetings with God and Jesus, and their messages to her and the rest of the world. Oh yeah, and she also does faith-healing, and oh yeah, she charges about $20,000 per appearance, just like the good lord intended.

The Stop Kaz website has been started as a place to find verified factual information about Kaz and her claims. If you know anything about this woman, please contact the webmaster of the site to stop her from stealing more money from people under false pretenses. via [skeptico]

Technorati Tags: skeptic, stop+kaz, charlatan