In December 1994 I gave a talk at Internet World in Washington, D.C. about how I saw the future of the Internet. The next day I got an email from a professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh saying he was in violent agreement. Dr. Ron LaPorte insisted that I come to Pittsburgh and speak to his students and discuss how the Internet might change the world. We have been friends and collaborators ever since. Ron not only believed in the Internet and has a great Net Attitude, he put his ideas into action by creating the Supercourse. His concept was to collect lectures from professors and lecturers from around the world and put them in one place on the Internet. In the mid 1990’s that was a very controversial idea. With persistent promotion and communication on Ron’s part, the Supercourse has attracted huge numbers of contributors and users.
Last week Ron and his band of collaborators created a Just in TIme lecture about the disaster in Japan that provides an easy-to-follow overview of the disaster plus related lectures about tsunamis, earthquakes, and nuclear power. The lectures were developed by some of the major scientists in the world with the objective of attacking the epidemiology of fear.
The lectures can be found here. Just click the Start button. I found the opening lecture about the disaster to be an eye opener.