Independent bookstores will soon be able to sell over a million electronic books (e-books). I have over 350 books on Amazon (and over 100 on Audible) and am definitely ready to make the move. NYTimes.
Category: Technology
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Good news for readers
Some books I gave away last year -
Gulf of Google
Google will change the names of Gulf of Mexico and Denali to fall in line behind Trump, reports CNBC. Tim Snyder, author of On Tyranny posts that most progress made by autocrats and wannabe dictators is through accession previous to any pressure. Lesson #1 (of 20): Do Not Obey in Advance.
Time for me to move away from Google, increase my gulf. What happened to “Don’t do Evil”?
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Good Question
How can we harness AI for learning without it being a crutch, when kicked out, doesn’t leave us flat on the ground? I kept thinking about Khanmigo and how it never just gives the answer and makes the students go through the steps. Can we do that with language learning? The Unresolved Tension Between AI and Learning.
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New TTS Tool. Open Source
This TTS (Text to Speech) tool from Kokoro (early development) is an early look at what I will probably use to create short listening passages from content my students create, or that I create. It works really fast (60x live speed, this clip took less than 5 seconds).
Here is the Text:
It was late autumn in Cedarville, the kind of day where the air smelled like wood smoke and the leaves were all shades of orange and gold. I had just run into Nakayama at the old diner by the train tracks—the one we used to hang out at after football games in high school. Nakayama was still the same as ever, wearing that beat-up denim jacket and grinning like life was one big inside joke.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” I said, sliding into the booth across from him. He had a cup of coffee in front of him and one of those little plates with a half-eaten slice of pie.
“Yeah, well, life’s funny like that,” Nakayama said. “I was just passing through, thought I’d stop in for old times’ sake. You still living here?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Figured someone should stick around and keep an eye on the place. How about you? Still playing music?”
Nakayama shrugged, looking out the window at the empty street. “Not really. You know how it goes. Things don’t always pan out the way you think.”
And here is the Speech:
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Dron on AI for Learning
This interview of Jon Dron on using AI for education is not typical. His stance is clear. It makes sense. It doesn’t go overboard. He admits when he is not sure of something.
He is against LMSs, even though he developed some big ones for the Canadian educational system.
(Via Stephen Downes, of course)
