Ok so I’ve been working on this edublogosphere.com idea. A nice friendly chat room where folks can drop in when they feel like it, chatcast away and have lots of space in which to do it, and from a variety of platforms, etc.

I’m looking at IRC, since it’s such a darned established network already, and has years of goodness behind it. I’ve got one heck of a sexy web-based IRC client that I’ve been working through, and the developer (who lives in Kyev, Ukraine!!) has been great to talk with.

I don’t have the skillz to be a channel op, so I’m looking for a channel to use. Do any of you know of a channel that wouldn’t mind this type of traffic but at the same time would protect our sensibilities? I’d need one that’s safe for work, and so forth.

The cool thing is you’ll be able to interact from a traditional IRC client (colloquy, mIRC, etc) or through the web. It looks promising, open, and happy.

Now I just need a channel, any help there?

- Chris

If you’re not following Jose and Omar’s trip throughout Egypt, you should be. The incomparable Silvia Tolisano ( of langwitches fame) and Mrs. Menger are traveling through Egypt and are blogging their journey. Jose is a bear and Omar is a camel, and they are the best of friends.

But we need their help!

My students found this note under our classroom door today and we don’t know what it means. Please, Jose and Omar, find someone in Egypt to tell us what it means!

(click for larger size)

We’re anxiously waiting and keeping track of you! Thanks for the great blogging and pictures, and say hello to Mrs. Tolisano and Mrs. Menger!

This actually sounds like quite an interesting development. Starting November 12, you’ll be able to buy an OLPC laptop which includes one donated to someone else. The price is $399 and they start selling next month.

Cybernet News is reporting the specs are as follows…

• 433MHz Processor
• 256MB RAM
• 1GB Flash storage (serves as your hard drive)
• 7.5” display (1200 x 900 resolution)
• Dual touchpad supports written-input mode
• Integrated 802.11b/g (2.4GHz) interface; 802.11s (Mesh) networking supported
• Integrated color vision camera (640×480 resolution at 30FPS)
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• About 3.5lbs

For more see the Cybernet article, the original source of Engadget, or the OLPC homepage.

Perhaps I should not have used the word “centralized”. My goal is to offer a space for folks to use as a backchannel that has lots of functionality.

What I’d like to do is create a web-based IRC spot, whereas folks can drop by and chat all they like and not have to register for anything. No registration, no password, no privacy concerns, just chat. Just backchannel.

I am thinking IRC because it is an already-established network and I would merely provide a gateway. This way we can prevent all the trouble of IRC clients and frustration. Imagine if at the blogger’s cafe folks could just hit up edublogosphere.com and start chatting.

I like it because there’s no need to be someone’s contact, no need to download Skype, no need to hook up to twitter. It’s just easy, accessible, and requires no effort.

It doesn’t even require a download. Now, for those who want, they could use an IRC client just as easily, and perhaps more easily. See, flexibility.

So that’s my thinking thus far, now comes the implementation. I found ONE that I like, that’s clean enough for my taste. We’ll see if I can manage to get it installed. This is where I am stretching my knowledge, so I’ll have to learn this one on the way through it.

I’ll keep you posted!

I got this idea from some tweets last night, specifically from watching budtheteacher backchannel a workshop. It got interesting, especially when D’Arcy Norman backed away due to the high volume of tweets.

What if we had a space to always use as a central back channel? What would this space look like?

What if we collectively create it on a space at www.edublogosphere.com?

I would say it needs a…

1. Chat room that archives chats and makes them searchable

2. Twitter feed so that folks can announce that they’re planning a backchannel.

That’s all I’ve got. Does this seem worthwhile? What else should be added?

I was searching FlickrCC for pictures of overloaded folks. I’m working on a presentation about cognitive overload and how to prevent it when giving a presentation. Imagine my surprise when I saw a familiar face on the first page!

Back to your regularly scheduled twitting…

Saw this pop-under ad today while working on some stuff here on the happy Mac.

So am I in danger? Heh. Silly popunders, you only work for the Windows crowd!