Ben Werdmuller

Author: Ben Werdmuller

  • Learning in hallways (with APIs)

    I can’t let Clay Shirky’s piece, Napster, Udacity and the Academy, go un-commented-on: Open systems are open. For people used to dealing with institutions that go out of their way to hide their flaws, this makes these systems look terrible at first. But anyone who has watched a piece of open source software improve, or […]

  • Why I wrote my own CMS so I could write a novel in a month

    Growing up, I always wanted to be a professional writer. It’s still something I aspire to, but I get just as many creative kicks out of building software – and the pleasure is even greater when, just occasionally, I get to combine the two. I’ve tried to participate in NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, […]

  • Imagine this: identity computing

    I originally wrote this over on Google+. I’m sat at my laptop, which has a monitor attached via a digital connection. On the other side of my desk is my phone, and a tablet. That’s the setup I actually have right now, as I’m writing this. But all these devices (monitor aside) are connected to […]

  • Access to free courses is a freedom of speech issue

    The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the State of Minnesota is requiring any degree-granting educational institution providing an online course to pay a registration fee: Tricia Grimes, a policy analyst for the state’s Office of Higher Education, said letters had been sent to all postsecondary institutions known to be offering courses in Minnesota. She […]