On this episode of Spark: Accelerated Innovation, Education, and Employment. Click below to listen to the whole show, or download the MP3 (runs 54:00).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:40 — 50.2MB)
You can also listen to individual stories below.
The Literary History of Word Processing
The switch from writing on typewriters to using word processors made editing more efficient. But how did the technology change the creative process? Nora speaks to Matthew Kirschenbaum about his upcoming book Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing. We also hear from author Susan Swan, about her own experience of moving from the typewriter to the word processor. But we start with early word processing memories of the broader Spark community. (Runs 14:26)
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Digital Trap Streets
Can’t find that street that shows up on your car’s GPS? It could be an honest mistake, or it could be the digital equivalent of an old cartography trick – intentional fake streets, towns, and parks that mapmakers intentionally put in to protect their work. Called ‘trap streets’ or ‘copyright easter eggs’ the practice has taken a whole new direction in the digital age, with some strange possible outcomes and Spark contributor Edward Birnbaum tells us all about it. (Runs 5:37)
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Interactivity In The Lecture Hall
Is it time to give the traditional university or college lecture a radical reboot? Nora speaks with Gerry McCartney about Purdue University’s Hotseat technology that lets students ask questions and make comments online in the middle of lectures. Welcome interactivity or unwelcome distraction? (Runs 5:43)
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Mobile Tech in the Classroom
Many schools are experimenting with new digital tools in the classroom, from cellphones, to apps, to tablets. Rhonda McEwen, a University of Toronto academic who researches the impact of new media, has been researching the benefits of using iPads with non-verbal, autistic students. (Runs 8:53)
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- Rhonda McEwen
- The My Voice app Rhonda talked about
- Full uncut version of interview with Rhonda McEwen
Race Against The Machine
Throughout history, technological change has caused job loss, but there have always been new jobs that have opened up. In his new book Race Against The Machine, MIT researcher Andrew McAfee argues that digital technology is advancing so quickly, it’s outstripping our ability to adapt economically. (Runs 10:40)
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Nora
I was driving home from a hike on this beautiful winter day when I hear some responses to your request for old word processing stories. I thought I would tell you about my first brush with WP.
I was a physicist/engineer who bought a PDP11 computer ($30,000 in 1972) for some work in processing marine geophysical data. I had been programing for 6 years by then. In about 1973 or 1974, I was asked to submit an abstract for a paper on my work with very short notice. I had no time for the normal longhand version sent to a typist and an extra iteration to fix errors. I realised that the very editor I was using to write assembler code on my PDP11 could also be used to write my abstract. So I quickly typed the abstract and saved it to a file (maybe even on punched paper tape) , edited it, and printed it on my Teletype. Of course, it was not very friendly, no word wrap, no lower case, no spell check… but it only took me a few minutes.
I was then and am still amazed how long it took computer people to realized that these computers that were so good with numbers could not also handle words.
Dave Heffler
Speaking of "Trap Streets", have you heard of fake traffic conditions being reported on radio station traffic reports, including by CBC Toronto radiio. Your item about fake map locations reminded me that ( I believe it was told by Jim Curran) a number of years ago we were told that as he has his own unique sources of information, some other stations without the same resources were listening to CBC and then repeating the report as their own. This could be proven by reporting fictitous items, which other stations unknowingly would repeat. I believe CBC had taken action against a perpatrator, which is why CBC listeners were told about it.
I have forgotten the title, off the top of my head. But you mentioned a book on Spark # 169, and you said you were having a draw for this book. Please enter my name in the draw!
That "free" app – My Voice is priced at $189.99 in the iStore. Since it would appear to be one of the most expensive apps it is surely a long way from being free!
The segment about trap streets reminded me about the story from last year where Google accused Bing of copying search results; Google had used kind of "trap searches" in order to test their theory. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/02/bing-copie…