Pat has a rant department and maybe I need to start one of my own. Since I’m actually looking forward to Bloggercon (and I haven’t read too many others who will admit to it) I like to check back now and then to the site to see what’s going on. Today I noticed that a teaser had been added at the top of the right column asking if Web logs will change the face of politics and, basically, life as we know it. But at the end, almost as an afterthought, it says:

Educators are using blogs to help students express themselves and learn from each other.

Hmmm…is that what we’re doing? Sounds so, I dunno, vapid, doesn’t it? (I kinda picture this as a line from a “Betty Boop Talks Web Logs” documentary.) Sure feels like there’s more depth to all of this from where I sit at least. But, hey, ok…I understand…space constraints. It’s just a teaser. I can live with it…

But then I check out Lance Knobel, the person who’s leading the Education portion of the conference. Now I’m sure Mr. Knobel is an intelligent, interesting person. But can anyone tell me what’s missing from this bio I found on him? Anyone? Anyone at all???

LANCE KNOBEL is Independent Writer and Strategist; Former Advisor, Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, London He was formerly head of the programme of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos and Editor-in-Chief of World Link.

Now I don’t know who’s on the rest of the panel. But puhleeeze let there be a few people who have actually implemented Web logs into their teaching. I mean really, if what I get is a group of non-educators theorizing about what it might be like to use Web logs in an educational setting, there better be a refund in order.

I know there is still a lot of time left, but when it’s September and I wake up and the Cubs are in first place, it’s good reason to digress from the standard topics and pay homage. I posted this picture earlier this summer but then lost it when my server crashed and I suffered through almost a month without this Web log space. But that, of course, is nothing compared to the suffering that’s been occuring on the North side for…how many years now?

I could tell you stories about 1969, about sending in contest entries to the Sun-Times in August picking the exact date and time the Cubs would clinch the pennant, only to watch them sink into the abyss in September. Ironically, I was going through some old stuff this weekend and pulled out an old “Cub Power” t-shirt from a moldy old box. Fittingly, it looked like it had been designed by someone on a bad acid trip, all sorts of psychadelic colors and designs. I washed it up and threw it on Tucker, and incredibly, it fit perfectly. Hmmmm…

Stuff like that always makes Cubs fans hope. There are never enough omens that this could be the year. I know many games are left to be played, but hey, it’s September. The Cubs are in first. At least there’s something right with the world…
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Pat and Charlie Lowe went back and forth a bit about Manila as a Content (or Class) Management System and I just want to throw these two or three cents in to the mix:

1. I think Pat is right when he cites tech support as a barrier to open source adoption at this point. I’m fortunate enough to have a very smart and talented group to help me through my Manila implementation, but I’m sure my experience is rare in other schools.

2. Right now, there are no hosting alternatives for open source CMS, at least as far as I can tell in my limited knowledge. As Pat and others have been saying since the beginning, none of this will take hold without that. Manila has eBN and Weblogger and there are some others. And there’s some talk that TypePad will be free to schools.

3. Finally, I’m looking forward to the time when I can really start to use Manila’s CMS potential. I don’t think I’ve totally wrapped my brain around that whole concept yet, which is why I’m going to make every effort to get out to SF and take advantage of Erin and Bryan’s day long Manila/Frontier workshop.

I understand Charlie’s concerns that one CMS gets adopted by edubloggers and then that company takes the program in another direction. But I think we’re too early in the game to fear that right now. I’m certainly not adverse to looking at Drupal or other open source CMS, but right now, and I think this is true for most schools, lack of support and time make it almost impossible.