Doug's blog

Technology to help or replace primary researchers?

Wal-Mart are looking to take shopper observation to the next level. They intend to deploy infra-red based technology for tracking shoppers' progress through their stores. Previously this was the preserve of observers with clipboards as described in Paco Underhill's Why We Buy.

Intellectual property theft not confined to real world

The online game Second Life is breeding a virtual world of fashion design.

Grad students most likely to cheat are...

BOSTON (Reuters) - Graduate business students in the United States and Canada are more likely to cheat on their work than their counterparts in other academic fields, the author of a research paper said on Wednesday.

Should university classes be posted online as podcasts?

"I'm working at a major university in the US, and have been charged with posting pod-casts of class lectures on the internet. The problem is whether or not posting the videos would allow students to skip class and just download the lecture, instead. I guess the problem is trying to strike the right balance between allowing good students to take advantage of this resource, but discourage bad students from staying at home all the time and watching all the lectures right before the exam."

Classic computer security book now online

After several years of argument, Ross Anderson of Cambridge University has persuaded his publisher to let him put his book "Security Engineering" online for free download.

The publishers thought for years that it was too risky to let authors put books online but they are gradually learning that this isn't so. Putting a book online often increases its sales; more people read it and those who find it useful often go buy a copy.

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