For my final project in my Intro to IMD class I created a screencast tutorial for registering and posting on the forum. I’m thinking about creating others with more detail on particular functions. I didn’t want this screencast to stretch out too long as my earlier versions ended up being quite lengthy. Take a look at the video below and let me know what you think.

For a larger screen size click here:
http://www.utipu.com/app/invited/id/8099b76df3d4189aa92ba28a53cfb5a

There is currently a bill in Congress that aims to inject the interests of corporations in the process of federal funding for institutions of higher learning. H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, has a number of provisions (it has nearly 800 pages) but one in particular is very troubling. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has posted the details on their blog:

The bill also includes a section with a title that sounds as if it were dreamt up by an entertainment industry lobbyist: Campus-based Digital Theft Prevention. Specifically, the bill says:

Each eligible institution participating in any program under this title shall to the extent practicable—

[…]

(2) develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.

This is an attempt by corporations to solve their own perceived problems by meddling in the governmental funding of education. This is akin to McDonalds persuading Congress to force schools to serve Big Macs lest they lose federal funding. This is the epitome of the perversion of our educational system!

Please take a moment and read the original article on the EFF website. If you feel like I do you need to contact your state representatives and let them know that corporate interests have no place in the process of funding education. There’s a link on the EFF page to do it so no excuses, activism works apathy doesn’t.