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Not a Test

It's a new year, so it's time for a slight change of direction. You may have noticed your feed reader of choice just barfed up a few dozen posts from these here parts. I'm hoping that little bit of necessary unpleasantness will be one time only.

I've come to realize that my content-creating has become a lot more distributed, which means the long-form post format of this site has been seeing less and less love in recent years. Much has been written about Twitter killing the urge to write longer blog posts, and I won't dispute that as a cause. I liked Andy Budd's take on why his site has been suffering, I can relate to a lot of those reasons.

So for the past month I've been working on a way of piecing together content I produce on other sites and funnel relevant bits into a stream that I could present on this site.

You're now seeing the result. I'm merging my traditional posts with links from Delicious and Google Reader (which is what I was up to when I wrote about the latter's API), photos from Flickr, and Twitter posts (or tweets, if you prefer). The home page, archives, and primary Atom feed all work on this new system.

Totally nuts, right? The volume will be too high, and nobody wants to see every photo I upload or hear every inane thought I come up with while out for dinner. So that's why I'm exercising editorial control and only bringing over the bits and pieces I've hash- or machine-tagged.

Photos on Flickr, for example, can be tagged as either mezzoblue:post=description or mezzoblue:post=photo. Both tags will show the photos here, in slightly different configurations (see the bottom of the August 2008 archive for both).

On Twitter I'm using a hash tag (#mb) which shows up in the original, but I'm stripping from the on-site version. Google Reader pulls in shared items tagged with mezzoblue. And I'm just throwing in everything from Delicious for now, since I got into the habit of using it for the now-deprecated mezzoblue Dailies.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to write up the scripts I built to make this happen, or package it up into some kind of actual open source release. I think the latter way would be more interesting, but there's a lot of work that would have to happen to get to something even slightly worthy of putting out there for public consumption.

Now I do realize that not everyone will want this of course, so the way this site used to work isn't gone. You can follow the clutter free post-only feed, or browse just my original posts on the traditional archive pages. Both are accessible from the main archives page, and will continue to exist. It's just the defaults that have changed, but you can go ahead and ignore all the new stuff if you want.

Expect a few bugs as I stress-test my scripts live over the next few weeks, and let me know if you find anything horribly wrong.

Update: and first major bug has been found: the full Atom feeds weren't ready for prime time at all. For now I've backed out and made the default feed post-only again until I can figure out what's causing old items to duplicate. Sorry about the collateral damage to your feed reader.

Font Embedding Now

Currently one of the biggest stumbling blocks to embedded type on the web is of a legal nature rather than any genuine technological barrier. Most of the major browsers have now implemented the @font-face property, and between sIFR and Cufn there are also alternatives for providing non-standard typefaces to browsers that haven’t caught up yet.

So the technology that allows us to embed custom fonts is more or less here, but the licensing debate rages on. Richard Rutter and Simon Klein have written a great pair of posts summarizing the concerns some foundries have with embedding, while countless other opinions have come out in favour of both addressing and ignoring these concerns.

But this is really for the foundries and the browsers to figure out. What you or I think should happen probably isn’t going to change the outcome of the debate; only overall trends in the market have a hope of doing that. So it seems to me that if we want font embedding to take off sooner rather than later, a change in our own methods and expectations is in order. And maybe a little voting with our pocketbooks.

Designers — myself included — are hoping for a wide open playing field; that’s not going to happen yet. What we can have, however, is a larger field than the one we’ve been playing on. There are countless free fonts out there that have commercial-usage licenses which allow for embedding. Yeah, a lot of them (if not most) suck. But there are resources like FontSquirrel and the webfonts.info wiki that are collecting some of the better ones, and the list is only going to increase over time.

If I were to start using font embedding now by, say, designing sites that use only those fonts I know to allow embedding, it opens up my options and causes me to start seriously considering embedding as a legitimate tool in my toolbox. The available typefaces may be limiting, but they’re bound to be a step up from Georgia and Arial everywhere. If enough designers are doing the same, and font embedding becomes a fairly common practice on the web, the foundries may see that they’re effectively being ignored by this medium. Perhaps then we’ll start seeing some actual change.

I’m going to try it. Let’s see what happens.

(This article was set in Museo Sans, a typeface by Jos Buivenga using the Cufn library. There are clearly some problems with the latter, as noted in the comments below; I doubt I'll be setting full pages using Cufn, probably more like just headers. However, I decided to make an exception for this article for the sake of playing with it a bit.)

Switched

Ah, blogging: the new long-form Tweet. This morning I said:

retraining myself not to /> close img, input, and meta tags. It's an uphill battle.

Which received an instant string of responses asking, in a nutshell, “why?” So I clarified:

because I'm done with XHTML is why. Back to HTML 4.01 Strict for now, then HTML5 whenever that happens.

Which caused more replies and follow-up emails than I was really prepared for. People are still passionate about this stuff, which kind of surprised me.

So I'll take the luxury of a few more than 140 characters to expand my thoughts. Within the last few months — though I'd been intending to do so for much longer than that — I made the decision to switch all my client work starting point templates from XHTML over to HTML 4.01 and start delivering everything as plain old semantic HTML, minus the X.

The XHTML/HTML choice still seems to be a bit of a dilemma, with most having a fairly established opinion one way or the other. Some love XHTML for its strict syntax and easier learning curve, some despise it for being so misused by the average content producer.

I made the switch more because of overall trends. Six years ago, many of us thought XHTML would be the future of the web and we'd be living in an XML world by now. But in the intervening time it's become fairly apparent to myself and others that XHTML2 really isn't going anywhere, at least not in the realm that we care about. For me, a guy who builds web sites and applications for clients that have to work in today's browsers, XHTML2 is a non-issue. No browser support, no use to today's web authors. End of story.

And as a result, there seems to be a shifting of consensus from "XTHML is the future of the web" to "XHTML2 is pretty much never going to happen, looks like HTML5 is the pony to back now". For proof, just compare how fast the major browsers are implementing HTML5 features now to the significant steps they've made with XHTML2 over the past 5 years (hint: crickets are chirping).

Not to say that HTML5 doesn't have its own set of problems; I've been seeing a lot of the same blog posts you have regarding the difficulty of implementation today, and the working group issues plaguing its development. It's got a long ways to go. But if I were to make a bet on which of the two languages I'll be writing in ten or fifteen years, HTML5 seems like a safer bet.

So given that I've lost faith in XHTML, it doesn't make much sense to continue propagating it. I'm not ready to start working through the contortions needed to make my sites work with an HTML5 DOCTYPE yet, which leaves me with the most recent implemented version of the language. I may start writing HTML5-ready HTML 4.01 like Clear Left did for their UX London site, but until I get a better sense that HTML5 has arrived, 4.01 will do me just fine for the next four or five years.

Update: Jeff Allen points out in the comments that UX London does in fact use the HTML5 DOCTYPE. So, to clarify the above point: I may start writing pseudo-HTML5 markup using classes like Clear Left does, however I'm not quite ready to use the actual DOCTYPE as they did.

Keep in mind this is really just one opinion in the fray. I'm not necessarily right, I'm just offering my personal response to what I see as the trend.

Graceful Blame

Yes, it's bothersome when my work is ripped off. I spend a lot of time crafting custom code, designing what I think are great layouts, illustrating or writing copy. And then some random person out there on the internet grabs my work and claims it as their own.

If it hasn't yet, this will happen to you. Many times. My favourite advice ever on the subject came from Jeffrey Zeldman:

"Don't worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop."

But you'll probably still want to let the person know they're in the wrong. This is how I handle it.

First, I wait until I've cooled off some. Acting immediately is a bad idea, no matter how tempting.

Second, I send a non-accusatory email. Sometimes I'm polite, sometimes I'm terse, but I avoid appearing angry. I tell them I've noticed some similarities. I ask for an explanation. I sometimes provide reference screenshots or URLs of the original material.

There are two sides to every story, and they want a chance to tell theirs. It was probably an honest mistake. A shady contractor did it. An intern didn't know any better. They used my design or copy or code on a mockup that was never meant to see production.

I may not believe that. In most cases the story probably isn't true, but it doesn't matter. What does is their next action.

Nobody likes to be accused of doing something wrong, but I started the dialogue by giving them the benefit of doubt so we avoided that. Chances are they'll be willing to own up to their guilt, then take any action necessary to remedy the situation. In most cases, this is exactly how it happens.

And when it does play out like that, I thank them for handling it properly. It was a learning experience, and I'm willing to bet they won't be caught doing it again.

(Of course when it doesn't, then it may be time to call in the lawyers. Or internet mob justice squad. Linking, Twittering, serving notice, public shaming etc. should only be a last resort.)

Profile Madness

I thought I had Adobe's colour profiles all worked out. I really did.

I'm sure they're great for photographers and print designers and so on. The problem is, on the web, we deal with browsers and image formats that don't support colour profiles. With a few exceptions, we can't use them even if we want to. That means an embedded profile is usually worse than a nuisance, it's actively harmful: when saving out JPGs and GIFs the colour often shifts from what's intended to something very different.

The answer seems to lie in turning off colour management for the RGB space, which helps when creating brand new source files. But what happens when an existing file has an embedded colour profile? How do you get that to render accurately when saved out to a web-friendly file format?

A couple of years ago I wrote up my best guess. Converting from whichever profile the source file uses to a generic monitor profile would get you closer to an accurate result when saved out as a GIF. If I have source imagery in sRGB, a quick convert to the generic "Color LCD" profile takes care of things.

And that's probably as far as most people will ever need to worry about. It's good enough for most web work. But I just stumbled across a problem that, while an edge case, has turned me around completely. I used to think colour profiles were a solved problem. Now I have to wonder whether I can ever rely on them.

Over the weekend I released a new, free mini-set of icons. This is the first time I've produced a Chalkwork set on a new computer; since I started working on the set a few years ago I had done everything on an iMac that I no longer own.

That's relevant because when I was originally struggling with this colour profile issue, my solution was to convert from sRGB to a profile called "Working RGB - iMac". I had embedded the results of that particular profile into an icon set with thousands of files, and going forward, I needed to continue using it to ensure any new sets would match my previous work. This is an icon family with a common palette; colour precision is pretty darn important.

I realized I needed to save out that profile somehow. There still doesn't seem to be a facility built in to save and load custom colour profiles as of CS4, but you are able to expose the numbers behind each profile by selecting it in the Convert To dialog, then immediately after selecting "Custom RGB". This pops up a new dialog with Gamma, colour temperature and so on. You can set these values manually using the same dialog, so I figured this was a roundabout way to save and load a profile.

Sometime last year I pulled out all these numbers and saved them on my hard drive as a text file that looks like so:

Name: Chalkwork IconsGamma: 1.80White Point: Custom          x        yWhite:  0.2819   0.2942Primaries: Custom         x        yRed:   0.6331   0.3404Green: 0.2855   0.5943Blue:  0.1273   0.0603

Armed with that file (which I don't understand in the slightest) and detailed instructions for myself about converting profiles and saving out the icons every time I produce an icon set, I figured I had my rear covered for the next time I wanted to do it. You can see where this is going: the profile above isn't even close on the new computer. I ended up spending an hour or so testing different profiles to find a new one that was closest to the original, and the one I had previously saved isn't it.

Below you'll see two icons saved to various profiles, the arrow is from an older set and the credit card is from the new set:

With the exception of the actual icon files on the far right, each is saved using my regular process: I took the raw, unprofiled pixels, converted to sRGB, then converted to the respective colour profile, then saved. (Though with the sRGB example I did convert back to a generic color LCD profile for the sake of rendering it accurately here.)

The differences seem a bit slight in some of them, so I've taken the blue outline colour and filled an entire block with it in this next image which more clearly shows the differences:

It took a lot of experimentation, but in the end it seems that Apple RGB is currently the closest match; even in the blue strips it's hard to see any difference, but there's a block above the word "Actual" which is slightly duller (#1C356C vs. #19366E) that shows the difference between the old icon save process and the new one. It's a slight difference, sure, but knowing that I can never match the older icon sets precisely is going to bug me.

So I'm really not sure what I've learned here. I think I fundamentally understand colour profiles at this point, but I don't seem to be able to duplicate past results using them. Is it a version difference between CS2 (what I used prior) and CS4 (what I'm using now)? Is it a hardware difference between two Macs? I thought the entire reason for profiles in the first place was to alleviate those issues. I need precision, but I don't seem to be able to achieve it.

My ideal of having a way of carrying a previous profile forward doesn't seem to exist, so I'm really not sure how to plan for future icon sets. My best guess is to hope that sRGB and Apple RGB stick around, and rely on them in the future; will my next Mac produce the same results that this one does? Who knows. I can't trust that what I just did this past weekend will work in the future. And that really bothers me.

Anyone from Adobe well-versed in colour profiles would be more than welcome to respond here.

Chalkwork Adoption Fund Drive

If we hang out in the same online joints, and I think that we do, you probably also caught word of Jonathan Snook's adoption headache last month, and the fundraising campaign he has been running to get some help.

I donated when he first put up the page, but noticed that things have tapered off a little since then. They're getting much closer to the adoption date and he's still only a third of the way to his original goal.

So I decided to help more:

For the next two weeks, every dollar that comes in from any Chalkwork icon purchase will go to the Snook Adoption Fund. I think what Jon and Michelle are doing is great, and I hope by deciding to donate the full amount to their fund you might consider helping us get the word out too, be it by blog, tweet, Facebook, or anything else. I've got banners on the explanation page, or you can just link there.

(And I was almost going to leave this post till tomorrow owing to the annual Internet Annoyance Day, but let's just agree to overlook the date, okay?)

Update: Jon's got the details, but the adoption has unfortunately been cancelled, so the fund drive is now over.

Authenticating the Google Reader API

Last week I finally got around to doing something I've long intended: I moved all my RSS feeds into Google Reader and finally said goodbye to Bloglines. More interesting things have been coming from Google's direction lately, and though there's a public beta of a new version of Bloglines it's been feeling stagnant. The final tipping points for me were the ASP errors the mobile version's byte-trimming service has been issuing up for the past few weeks. So I switched, and after a very brief learning curve, I'm glad I did.

Aside from a nice iPhone-optimized version, one of the new toys I picked up in the switch is an unofficial Google Reader API. It's been in an unofficial state for a whole three years now, with no sign of an actual release, so documentation is sparse at best. This wiki seems to be the definitive source, and for non-programmers like myself, it's mind-bendingly vague.

One of the speculative reasons for the lack of an official release is the authentication currently necessary to log in and start using the API, and that proved to be exactly what I've spent the past few days banging my head against. Unless my Google-fu has weakened, there doesn't appear to be much publicly-available code for using the API, and virtually nothing in PHP. So I figured I'd share what I came up with.

This is a script for logging in with your own account and pulling out your latest unread items in the form of an Atom feed. Drop the script on your server, change the login id and password, and it should work as intended. I haven't explored much yet, and probably will never do anything beyond read-only, so you're on your own past this point. But hopefully it'll save someone a few hours anyway.

// ----------------------------------------// Google Reader Authentication in PHP// a basic script to get you in the door of // Google's unofficial Reader API// by Dave Shea, mezzoblue.com// ----------------------------------------// cobbled together from notes on:// http://code.google.com/p/pyrfeed/wiki/GoogleReaderAPI// these are the urls we'll need to access various services$urlAuth = "https://www.google.com/accounts/ClientLogin";$urlAtom = "http://www.google.com/reader/atom";// our array of login data$login = array(  "service" => "reader",  "continue" => "http://www.google.com/",  // Google id-only of the account holder  // ie. for example@gmail.com, just use example  "Email" => "google-id",   // the account's password in plaintext  "Passwd" => "password",  // an identifying name for your script, can be anything  "source" => "my reader script",);// first step is to authenticae// let's build a POST request using the login data array$postRequest = "";foreach($login as $field => $value) {  $postRequest .= $field . "=" . $value . "&";}// start buffering what we get backob_start();$ch = curl_init($urlAuth);curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postRequest);curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, true);curl_exec ($ch);curl_close ($ch);// throw the buffer into a variable$loginResult = ob_get_contents(); ob_end_clean();// we just received three lines of ugliness to contend with.// each line is a huge string preceded with an ID// the IDs are: SID, LSID, and Auth; we only want SID// let's use some string parsing to weed it outif ($i = strstr($loginResult, "LSID")) {  $SID = substr($loginResult, 0,     (strlen($loginResult) - strlen($i)));  $SID = rtrim(substr($SID, 4, (strlen($SID) - 4)));}// so we've found the SID// now we can build the cookie that gets us in the door$cookie = "SID=" . $SID .   "; domain=.google.com; path=/; expires=1600000000";// this builds the action we'd like the API to perform// in this case, it's getting our list of unread items$action = $urlAtom .   "/user/-/state/com.google/reading-list";  // note that the hyphen above is a shortcut  // for "the currently logged-in user"// start buffering what we get backob_start(); $ch = curl_init();curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $action);curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPGET, true);curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIE, $cookie);curl_exec ($ch);curl_close ($ch);// throw the buffer into a variable$xml = ob_get_contents();ob_end_clean();// and finally, let's take a look.echo $xml;

Sprite Optimization

Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention, but over the past few years an interesting variation of CSS Sprites has been getting a lot of play on large web sites that serve millions of users.

I stumbled over one of these on Amazon and posted an image here last week, but the comments quickly pointed out that this was far from a unique case. Google, Yahoo, and Apple are also doing similar, and those are just the ones I've found so far. Yahoo even documents the practice on their Developer Network and the Flickr code blog.

The problem is making a site with multiple UI elements load quickly. There's a lot of overhead if your design requires dozens of UI images and icons and the like. File size isn't the only factor, each image is called with a separate HTTP request, and the more of those you have the longer your site takes to load. At Yahoo and Google traffic levels, it's vitally important to think about how many million users a day a site is losing to long load times.

The solution? Cram as many UI images as possible into a single image, then use selective CSS to clip and only show the relevant part of the image:

Yahoo Google MobileMe

Andy King has written up a great how-to guide on implementing sprites this way. He does warn that the method isn't without its issues — some devices (the iPhone being the most notable) apply the sprites in a memory-intensive way that slows the device to a crawl.

I also wonder about the pop-in effect; when your entire UI is in one or two larger images that take a second or so to load, the site will render without images for that brief time then pop in all the images at once. This reminds me a bit of the FOUC of old, but in a slightly less jarring way. Probably a necessary evil in this case.

But the question I've had on my mind is whether I should start doing this myself. Should all the sites I build use Sprites this way from now on?

I've started playing around with this all-in-one approach for UI images, and I'm finding it quick going and fairly simple to do. From Photoshop, I crop my source images and prepare to save, but rather than export to a JPG / GIF / PNG I'll instead take a flattened version of each image and place it in a new document that becomes the master, saving out the entire thing to an optimized image. (And if I go with PNG, it's worth also running a non-Adobe PNG compression tool against it, something like Pngcrush or PngThing.)

Planning for repeating images is a bit trickier, but I think the MobileMe example serves as a guide. Have one image per row, leave room between each, and have the repeating bits span the entire master image width rather than the smaller 1 pixel strip you might traditionally have saved out. The extra overhead will compress fairly well, and it seems fairly certain that the fewer HTTP requests will more than make up for it.

So, back to the question at hand, should I be building sites this way? I think the answer is: sort of, yes.

It does require more work. Applying the section of the master sprite image you want to show up takes time. And you really need to carefully plan out that master sprite image to ensure the wrong slice doesn't show through on text-resize or in unplanned text wrapping situations. I don't see every site benefitting enough to justify the time overhead.

Of course, the maintenance is also easier; need to change the colour of a UI element? Just edit the master and re-save one image. Done. Need to add more images? Make the master a little larger and drop 'em in. Done.

Web applications where a quick-loading and responsive UI are essential seem like the perfect fit. Sites with a common set of design elements that are used globally across the site might also benefit.

But I doubt most sites will require you to go as far as the every-image-in-one like the MobileMe example; a lighter approach of, say, combining all the icons into one image file like Yahoo is likely good enough most of the time. And simple wins like taking a box with rounded corners which traditionally would have been three separate images (one for the top, repeating middle, and bottom) and combining those three into one is fairly trivial to pull off.

The main change I expect is that I'll likely look for ways of reducing the overall number of images I save out for each site in the future. If I can see a quick way of combining a half dozen into one, I'll do it. If I can't, oh well. If I end up with 12 images instead of 20, that's probably optimized enough for the majority of sites I'll build.

Now Boarding

Before committing this past Friday evening to a flight down the west coast, I spent a bit of time preparing to try out something that I'd been curious about for a while. Could I get through US immigration and airport security both without a paper boarding pass?

Of course these days it's becoming more common to check in for a flight from a browser window and print out your own boarding pass before leaving for the airport, but I've been wondering why the printing part is necessary. I've heard reports of varying success from others who have attempted going purely electronically, so I made sure to have a paper backup in my bag for this one. Just in case.

At Home

There's an iPhone application called AirSharing that acts as a basic file server as well as a document viewer for a lot of common file formats, all on your phone. I managed to grab a free copy during a promo months back and though I hadn't yet put it to use, this seemed like the best way to get a nicely-formatted boarding pass onto my phone's large screen.

At the end of the web check-in you're asked to print your boarding pass, which I did, but I also "printed" a second time to PDF. For those not familiar, OS X has a built-in PDF generator that acts as a virtual printer; anything that you can print to a piece paper, you can also save to an identically-formatted PDF straight from the operating system's standard print dialogue.

Connecting to my phone was a simple matter of hitting a button in AirSharing to find out my phone's IP address, opening it as a server from my Mac (Cmd + K in the Finder), and there is no step three. Once I had my phone's shared folders showing up in Finder just like any other computer on the network, I dragged my boarding pass PDF into one of them and verified it would render properly on the phone's screen. The text and scanner codes were legible, if a little small, but it otherwise looked exactly like my print-out.

Update: why didn't I just mail the PDF to myself and open it in Mail? That question was posed in the comments, and the answer is because I just didn't think of it, not being a regular Mail user myself. So that's another way of having a local copy of the PDF on your iPhone.

Giving myself an extra hour just in case, off to the airport I went.

At the Airport

Upon reaching the web check-in counter I presented my ID and flashed my screen-based pass at the gate agent, asking whether this was going to work or not. She didn't have a clue, no one had tried it before (that she knew of). Since I'd already checked in online it didn't need to be verified at this stage, but she helpfully offered to try running the scanner over the bar code and see if it registered. It didn't. I suspect it wasn't the screen that was the problem here, it was the software. I couldn't zoom the code up to full life size, so the resolution was definitely less than optimal. Possible feature request for the next version of AirSharing: a higher zoom level.

Anyway, one checkpoint down, a bunch to go. Most major Canadian airports — Vancouver included — have on-site US immigration and customs booths you're required to clear since many flights between the two countries are treated as domestic flights on the US side. So this means more places I need to show my boarding pass.

Before customs a fairly redundant document parser stopped us all to check documentation, just to make sure we've got everything we need to make it through the next few steps. I showed my phone, and hit my first speed bump. A confused stare and a moment's hesitant pause, and I was asked if I had a paper pass? This is the paper pass, I countered with. Exactly the same as what would have printed out, just on a screen. Well, he wasn't at all sure about that, and as soon as I helpfully mentioned I had my paper pass in my bag if it was absolutely necessary, he decided it was, indeed, absolutely necessary. After fishing out my printed pass, I showed him paper and screen side by side to prove the point, and continued on.

The next step was US immigration control. I presented my passport and customs form, and was asked to produce my boarding pass. Handing over the phone, the only comment I got was "boy, I'm getting old" as he squinted to make out the tiny font. A bit of banter about the difference between Canadian and US thanksgiving later, and I'm on to customs, which is a freebie for the purposes of this experiment since they only needed my customs form.

Security was up next. The first checkpoint happens as I enter the line, where a women with a highlighter walks through the line to verify everyone standing there actually has a flight to catch. When she got to me I once again handed over the phone. A bit of a pause, an exclamation of interested surprise that this was possible, and a bit of confusion over the next step ("You may not want to circle this one with your marker" I jokingly cautioned), and she let me through.

As I reached the front of the security line and started the disembarking process of my personal effects for screening, the guy on the other side of the conveyor belt started asking for my boarding pass, halted, and grabbed a folded up piece of paper I had set down. That was the paper backup I had pulled out earlier, so I started to explain that I had... oh forget it, I thought, this one was a miss. But then he noticed that it hadn't been circled back in line, so I pulled out my phone and continued the explanation. He seemed to get it, but thought maybe it was more common on the domestic side since he hadn't seen anyone do this on his watch. Either way, I was let through, and that got me to the gate.

A few hours of delays and inedible airport food later, and it was finally time to board. I decided to be at the front of the line, in the "may need extra time boarding" group since I was worried that the too-small-to-scan barcode would end up holding up the line. Instead, as I handed over my phone to the ticketing agent, I got an amused "this is so cool!", a verification of my seat number, and a wave on through.

So I made my flight, and finished this post in a Starbucks in LA.

Conclusions

Out of the six checkpoints I encountered on my way through the airport, the only one who forced me to fish out my paper pass was a relatively inessential precursory check. And now that I have some actual experience to back me up, I expect that's one I can talk my way through by showing a bit of confidence in my electronic pass next time.

Still, though I have no doubt we'll all regularly use electronic passes in the fairly near future, this feels like the early days. I decided to play my experiment as a light-hearted attempt at something new, rather than insisting this was a legitimate method. If it doesn't work, no big deal, I have paper in my bag I can also show. This attitude likely helped, and will help in the future until this is more common and those working the various checkpoints have encountered screen-based passes a few times, checked with their supervisor, and made sure they're not doing something wrong by letting the holders through.

Before each checkpoint I made sure I had AirSharing loaded and the pass up on screen and shown in the right orientation (landscape worked better than portrait since the type was larger). Wasting time by messing around with a screen after being asked to produce documentation feels like a great way to stack the odds against acceptance of the electronic pass, so I jumped out of line a few times to ensure it was ready to go.

Though I didn't really think of it at the time, it may be that I dove into the deep end by testing this on an international flight. Domestic flights have fewer checkpoints, and presumably there's a little more leniency for new methods of ID and boarding. At the very least you're only dealing with a single country's regulations. I probably would have tried domestically a few times before attempting an international flight, were I in the habit of regularly flying within my own country. Which I'm sadly not.

I also think a more capable zoom function in AirSharing (or some other PDF viewer) would make things a bit easier. Not being able to read what's on screen likely doesn't help sell the electronic boarding pass. I flew Alaska, whose web-printed passes have tiny type to begin with.

Will I attempt it again? Sure, but I'll keep covering my bases for now by having a paper boarding pass on hand and only trying this in airports where I speak the predominant language.

New in Chalkwork

The pixel factory sitting on my desktop has been busy this fall. I have not one but three new Chalkwork sets to announce today (discounting the weekend heads-up on Twitter, of course).

Chalkwork Flags

First up, a set that was quietly launched back in September but not really announced at the time, Chalkwork Flags. Just prior to this summer's Olympics I was working on a project that required a small set of flag icons, so I spent the rest of the games cranking out my own set of every sovereign nation on the planet.

I'll admit, these flag icons were the most fun I've had creating icons so far. Having existing source material with many common elements and a pre-defined style and palette made the design decision-making a lot easier, so they came together awfully quickly, which was a nice change of pace.

Chalkwork Editing Controls

Next, just finished last week is Chalkwork Editing Controls, a set of WYSIWYG-like icons for text and graphical editing. I trolled the toolbars of popular design and word processing software to put together a list of the most commonly-used controls.

The first pass seemed awfully grey; a lot of the icons didn't have an inherent colour, so I stuck with a common palette to make sure they'd sit well next to each other within a toolbar. But the result ended up a little too monochromatic for my liking so I went insane and produced 11 different colour variations for most of them, making this the largest set I've produced by a long shot. I don't recommend doing this.

(A special thanks to Anton, Juliette, John and Sam for responding to my Twitter request for a bit of critiquing, your input definitely made for a better set.)

Chalkwork HTML

And finally, to show my appreciation for your putting up with this purely commercial post, I have an entirely free set that you can download right now. Chalkwork HTML might even be useful, too. It contains 31 icons that cover common markup elements and actions. Plug 'em into your wireframes, use them on your web sites, or anything else you can think of. They're yours for the taking, and available in all sizes and file formats that the rest of the Chalkwork family comes in.

There are colour variations of this one too, but you only get those if you buy Editing Controls or the Collection. Freemium, baby.

Chalkwork Collection

As always, you can get every single Chalkwork icon I've produced thus far (almost 1,800 in total at 3 different sizes) in the Collection, which at a revised price of $249 is still a lot cheaper than buying them individually.

N97 Review Day 2 - Photos photos photos

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 01:28:23 -0500

More stream of consciousness this time focused on photos (after taking about 50 from a bicycle today):

Sure would be nice to be able to turn off the touch UI. Many times I accidentally touched the screen and switched to the secondary camera, accidentally engaged the digital zoom or changed some camera setting that I didn't want to change.
Would be nice to have the 'touch the screen' focus that the iPhone 3GS has. Unbelievable that Nokia didn't come up with this first!
The new camera chip and software is fast! The new 1/1000 shutter speed means it's very difficult to take blurry photos in sunlight which for me is a drag (but admitedly my obsession with taking blurry photos of passing trains, cars and buses is not normal :-) !) I want my blurry photos back, anybody know how to do this? I tried night mode and setting the ISO to the lowest setting to no avail.
ShoZu crashed but this is not a surprise since I am using the 5800 version i.e. an unofficially unsupported version.
Would be nice to have a mechanical latch to prevent the keyboard from sliding out while taking pictures during my bicycle ride!
All in all I like the camera for taking stills (video is next thing to try) but I think that if you are focused on photos then a more traditional form factor phone without touch like the N86 8MP would be the way to go.

Iran: A Nation of Bloggers

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 19:10:58 -0500

Earlier today, I sent a tweet describing the contrast between teachers I have worked with who are afraid to use social media for fear of “Internet Predators” vs. many Iranian citizens who use social media with the realization that they may face direct punishment, imprisonment, or death sentence. Now, I just noticed a video from Rocketboom that supports this important idea and describes some of the perils faced by those that blog for freedom, social justice, and for an end to oppression.

Please help your students and colleagues understand how privileged they are to be able to express their thoughts and ideas, through social media or otherwise, freely and without fear of penalty.

Are institutions really problematic?

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:34:15 -0500

My answer is "yes", but of course there's more depth to my response than that. Much of the harm that comes from institutions, in my view, comes from the way they are structured and governed. But the answer isn't simply to launch oneself at institutions, hoping to (say) "fix them from within," or whatever. Tom Haskins says, "We also keep institutions the same by the ways we perceive, describe, evaluate and think about changing institutions. We inadvertently play into the perpetuation of 'problematic institutions' by the ways we value, favor, contribute, care, get fascinated, and show concern." There's a subtle point here, though. The more we try to fix institutions, the more we reinforce their value, and the more this entrenches their current modus operandi. (This last isn't what he is saying, but it's what follows from what he is saying). Tom Haskins, growing changing learning creating, July 3, 2009 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

Formally Learning Informally

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:23:29 -0500

This year's EduBloggerCom at NECC was a bit smaller than previous years, as evidenced by the team photograph. But do check out their blogs (links are provided in the article). Darren Draper, Drape's Takes, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Blogger, Google, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teachers

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:20:15 -0500

I'm not sure I completely endorse this list (I would word some of the items very differently) but it's a fun read. Milton Ramirez, education & tech, July 3, 2009 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

Learning Leaders Fieldbook

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:18:35 -0500

I have had the same problem as George Siemens. "After the presentation, a VP (in charge of training and development) approached me and stated that simple messages are preferable. I assumed this to mean that I had delivered a presentation that was too complex." And I ask with him, "when did leading thinkers in corporate learning conclude that their audience can not handle complex subjects?" or, with even more concern: how is it that our institutions promote people who cannot understand complex concepts to positions of leadership? Isn't that tantamount to mismanagement? George Siemens, elearnspace, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Connectivism, Online Learning, Leadership] [Link] [Comment]

Those Jerks At the Vegan Restaurant Wouldn't Serve Me a Simple Egg Cream!

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:02:26 -0500

Nice analogy from Tom Hoffman. "The GPL is a radical political statement, and as radical political statements go, a damned successful one. If you didn't figure that out immediately, you need to work on your reading comprehension. If you want to eat eggs, go eat eggs, griping at the hippies shouldn't impress anyone." Tom Hoffman, Tuttle SVC, July 3, 2009 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

21st century science, geography

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:54:55 -0500

Joanne Jacobs - who writes the most consistently negative (and partisan) blog in the edublogosphere - identifies some science and geography road maps showing how to integrate new skills into old subjects, and then spends her post looking at Common Core blog complaints about the chart. The refrain of oft-stated by the Common Core crowd: "Common Core also wonders how students can learn from the suggested activities if they haven't acquired any information." Leaving aside the question of whether learning is about "acquiring information" (it's not) at all, one could ask, why isn't the activity an appropriate means of acquiring information? What is it about 'content' that requires some sort of rote memorization before you can start doing anything with it? The Common Core crowd reminds me of the type of person who insists that you must read the instructions and memorize them before you can even think of trying to assemble a bicycle or play a video game. But, of course, the opposite is not only true, it's more fun and more productive. Joanne Jacobs, Weblog, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Video, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Open Library Aims to Create a Web Page About Every Book Ever Published

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:41:26 -0500

One would hope that this is a necessary first step to a library with a web page containing every book ever published. Related: Daniel Livingstone on the future of the textbook. Richard Nantel, Workplace Learning Today, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Books] [Link] [Comment]

PDF's of my Textbook and my Manifesto!

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:37:46 -0500

Marc Canter figures out a way to make his Digital City and How to Build the Open Mesh manuscripts available in full as PDF downloads. Recommended reads. Marc Canter, Marc's Voice, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Books] [Link] [Comment]

BNN Trying To Silence The Canadian Copyright Debate?

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:31:30 -0500

A good example of exactly why proposed copyright laws must be carefully considered as a Canadian television network issues selective takedown notices, focusing only on sites on one side of the contentious political issue. Unattributed, Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Networks, Video, Canada, Copyrights, Patents] [Link] [Comment]

More thinking about blogs rather than Blackboard

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:28:50 -0500

Not surprisingly, the idea of using blogs instead of Blackboard is gaining traction. "Of course," responds Nancy McKeand, "people like the ease of use with Blackboard, the relatively easy learning curve. Some reported that there isn't time to set up a blog for a course." Meanwhile, Jim Groom responds to issues David Wiley is having setting up a directory structure for open courses in WordPress. Nancy McKeand, Random Thoughts, July 3, 2009 [Tags: Open Content, Blackboard Inc., Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Sour Hibi no neiro

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:35:04 -0500

You do not have to understand Japanese to appreciate this video by Sour.

This music video was shot for Sour’s ‘Hibi no Neiro’ (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album ‘Water Flavor EP’. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.

Repeat with me: “Each technology creates a new environment. The old environment becomes content for the new environment. The effects of media come from their form not their content.” (Everyman’s Mcluhan)

N97 Review Day 1 Stream of Consciousness

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 02:45:44 -0500

The N97 touch UI is a wart on top of an S60 wart. The S60 touch UI works only if you are an S60 geek like me or sloanb. For the mass market aka "humans" as Marc Canter calls normal people :-), S60 and the S60 touch UI are unusable. Please Nokia (speaking as a friend who wants Nokia to thrive instead of merely surviving the iPhone juggernaut):
1. fix the S60 UI as per Rui's suggestions
2. start a separate stealth division or company to re-do the UI (as I previously advocated after Nokia Open Lab 2008 and as Alec Saunders advocated today or just buy Palm :-) (yes I know buying Palm is unrealistic, but in the long run it's just as valid as Maemo (which I like but is just for geeks at this point) or even worse trying to revamp S60 to make it usable)
Having said that, I am strangely enjoying using the N97 (the Touch makes perfect sense if you have been living and breathing S60 since 2004 like I have!). I love the beautiful big screen (the N82 screen seems tiny and dark by comparison) and the camera seems faster shot to shot and the pictures are not bad in regular light (e.g. this photo of Dane from the N97 looks better than this photo of Dane with the N82 (need to view both at original size) wouldn't you agree?).
Nokia not having full Mac support for the N97 at launch time in 2009 is inexcusable. The days of the Microsoft hegemony are over. Get over it Nokia, the 1990s are over :-) !
Even if Ovi Maps supported the Mac, I doubt I'd like it. I bet I'd feel the same way as Stefan i.e. I'd still use Google Maps instead of Ovi.
Over the update of my trial N97 (which is European) firmware worked flawlessly. Unfortunately as per Ms Jen, the same can't be said of the N97 NAM, again inexcusable for a flagship device.
Still not a fan of widgets:
1. Rather have the weather widget use the official and best Canadian forecast which is Environment Canada's
2. The facebook app doesn't show enough info and doesn't show Notes
Surprisingly email works better than expected with my gmail account. Major bug is that tags don't show up as IMAP folders which they do in a proper email client like Thunderbird.
Qik, ShoZu and Nokia Sports Tracker (Sports Tracker still has a bad website and inexplicably doesn't upload all the photos you have taken during a ride but that's not an N97 exclusive bug) all work just as well as they do on the N82 and E71 even though none of them except Qik support the N97 officially yet.
Gravity rocks! it's one of the best mobile twitter clients on any platform! Beautiful and fun with the kinetic touch scrolling.
The Web Browser still feels pokey and outmoded compared to the iPhone web browser. Please fix!
As many others have pointed out, the keyboard is fine except that "long" key presses should result in numbers or the other symbols instead of auto-repeating the key.This works fine in the E71! Please fix in a future firmware update.

EduBacon

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:16:57 -0500

EduBacon is a (relatively) new blog by Steve Egan. Love the slogan: "Before, education was bland. Now it's got extra flavor, salt, fat and cholesterol." And "Large Helpings, Hearty Food, Extra Flavor". The most recent post is on open engagement.
Steve EWgan, Weblog, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Video Call (two strikes already) for Amazing Stories

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:33:58 -0500

You can help Alan Levine prepare for his talk for an upcoming Open Education conference by sending him examples of good things that have happened to you as a result of sharing your work openly. Also, it's worth reading about his issues with YouTube (interestingly, most of my videos are stored elsewhere, as I have never had success with YouTube. Alan Levine, Cogdogblog, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Video, YouTube] [Link] [Comment]

Second Life, Education and Openspace

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 13:14:28 -0500

There's trouble in the virtual world. Andy Pulman links to: Andy Powell Loses Faith in Second Life, Fuzzy Buzz on why Linden Lab needs to read Snow Crash again and Zonja Capalini on Openspace. Related, especially to the last item: OpenSim. Andy Pulman, Andy Pulman Edublog, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Second Life] [Link] [Comment]

Using audio and video in Firefox

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:44:08 -0500

For my first use of the video tag, a test pattern (if you are using Firefox 3.5 you should see it).

Your browser does not support the video element.

Here is some more information on the video and audio tags. Here is a link to DailyMotion, which is promoting the use of open video. Various Authors, Mozilla, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Audio, Video] [Link] [Comment]

Building the user-centered web

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:00:29 -0500

"I believe strongly," writes Ben Werdmuller, "that a decentralized, user-centered model for the web is the best way to advance it as an application platform." I agree. And many of the initiatives he cites are at least part of the solution: "The Diso Project is turning the WordPress open source blogging tool into a decentralized digital identity through an array of open standards, and the project's Chris Messina has a lot of wise things to say about its development; Laconi.ca is a decentralized microblogging platform, whose Open Microblogging standard may be adaptable into a more widely-scoped technology; The Open Stack is a set of developing technologies that address some of the issues; Marc Canter's Open Mesh treatise goes into detail on many of the issues." Ben Werdmuller, Weblog, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Open Standards, Open Source, Project Based Learning, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Woodlawn Elementary thinks outside the book to pull D to a B

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 09:38:03 -0500

As usual, I caution against the 'gee-whiz' news story. That said, I'm sure people will want to quote this item. "Woodlawn Elementary's math teachers locked up their textbooks in a music room closet.... The school went from a D to a B this year... Instead of textbooks, teachers used games, group assignments and other materials. They also focused on showing students different ways to solve the same problem." Via ASCD. Sylvia Lim, St. Petersburg Times, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Schools, Online Learning, Books, Push versus Pull] [Link] [Comment]

Socialbrite

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:37:16 -0500

JD Lasica - with whom I collaborated (along with Marc Canter) on OurMedia - has launched Socialbrite. "Socialbrite is a learning hub and sharing community that brings together top experts in social media, social causes and online philanthropy." The list of experts on the site will include names familiar to many readers. JD Lasica, Website, July 2, 2009 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

The #interestingOPMLexperiment

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:06:47 -0500

Tony Hirst suggested that we try something like this experient for the fall edition of the Connectivism course. There is definitely some merit to the suggestion, and especially in the idea of comparing OPML lists before and after the course, to observe progress, and also to look at other networks, such as Twitter or Facebook connections. Of course, we may need to draft someone like Tony to implement this. Heh. Mat Morrison has offered to share the (Perl) code he used to produce diagrams like this one of congress twitterers and of other Twitter social network analysis. Mat Morrison, mediaczar, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses, Twitter, Connectivism, Books, Networks, OPML] [Link] [Comment]

Recommendations on MrTweet

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:01:34 -0500

Thanks to Orla Hegarty for the recommendation - and for thereby pointing me to this service, which is an interesting attempt to explicitly leverage recommendation as a service. The risk of such a system being gamed are there - but if the reputation of the recommender is taken into account, this risk can be minimized. The system (currently) needs overt recommendations - where it would take off, I think, would be if it could capture recommendations through linking or other practises. Various Authors, Website, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Linking and Deep Linking] [Link] [Comment]

Open Education Resource Foundation

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 07:48:50 -0500

WikiEducator is announcing the launch of a new Open Educational Resources Foundation (OERF). In a nutshell, they write, they want to institutionalize OERs, atgtain financial sustainability for the movement, increase fcollaboration among OER providers, and support greater reuse of OERs. "The major value proposition," they write, "lies in opportunities for education institutions to improve efficiencies through OER resource creation and distribution -- most notably reduction in cost and improvements in quality." I think that the value proposition for OERs lies in their potential for use by individuals, not institutions, and that this is where efforts need to be focused.
Wayne Mackintosh, WikiEducator, July 2, 2009 [Tags: Open Educational Resources] [Link] [Comment]

The N97 ain't my N999 concept but it's closer

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 01:15:55 -0500

On the night before I receive my N97 from Nokia WOM World for a brief trial, just for fun I looked back at my N999 concept/vision from December 1, 2008. And what the heck here's the N999 concept updated for July 2009 (notable updates are in bold):

screen with as many pixels as the 5800 Tube or iPhone (sorry but QVGA doesn't cut it in 2009!)
S60 simplified and fixed as Rui describes
5 megapixel camera with cover and Xenon flash with 3x optical zoom and 640x480 30fps video (basically re-use the awesome N82 camera hardware and software and combine with the N93 optical zoom)
Quad band GSM and 3G (i.e. works on Rogers and AT&T in North America AND European 3G out of the box just like the N85, no funky North American model)
Built in ShoZu (with 10MB limit removed for 3G and WiFi, make the limit 50-200MB for 3G and WiFi) - killer app for photographers and videobloggers - Qik is built into the N97 why not ShoZu? (I can't stand Share Online's limit of 6 photos at a time since I take over 50 a day; hope it's removed on the N97)
Bult-in Qik (killer app for videobloggers!) - Qik is built into the N97 can't wait to try it!
Awesome web browser (Nokia's Web Kit browser was great in 2006, it is now far behind Apple's)
Lots of available RAM (as much as the N95 8GB please!), 8GB storage on built-in card - Reviews are mixed on the N97, sounds like it has a lot of RAM (more than the N95 8GB) but with widgets it takes up a lot more. - I doubt I will use widgets!
Built in Nokia viNes to take advantage of Nokia's great GPS hardware (killer GPS app!) - viNes apears to be dead. Nokia Sports Tracker appears to be alive, soI'd rather have that built-in
Built in Twitter App i.e. built in Gravity

Now I know the above list is not possible given today's processors and batteries but in that case I can live without optical zoom! Everything else is doable as far as I can tell.

I still don't need:

QWERTY keyboard - I'd rather have an awesome camera and flash than a touch or QWERTY keyboard. And for me touch keyboards are just as good as QWERTY.
Email (Email is dead to me (ok email isn't dead but my resolution is to take any email thread that I need to keep that has more than 2 replies to a wiki or blog); I continue to use it for work and to communicate with "normal" folks!) - If the browser is as good as the iPhone's, then webmail clients work just fine.
Touch (would be nice, but not convinced Nokia has the software chops for this; I am not interested in S60 transmogrified with touch, I would prefer touch to be part of a totally revamped user interface that's NOT S60.) - Unfortunately it appears that Nokia's current touch interface s*cks. I hope I am proven wrong by my N97 trial.
Micro SD card slot
Calendar (would be nice but that's what my laptop is for :-) !) - Again with a good enough browser a web client would be good enough)
IM (Twitter is IM enough for me and I am fine with using it in the browser)
VOIP is dead to me except for Skype
MMS - I am not convinced I need it, I can always use ShoZu email photos :-) but I was wrong about SMS (so maybe I am wrong about MMS) - I am pretty sure I am wrong about MMS and I am pretty sure (unfortunately) I will be MMSing my relatives with pictures since they all finally seem to have MMS plans and devices and none of my luddite :-) relatives still use flickr or any of the other public or private photosharing sites!

Call for Papers: Technology & Social Media in education

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:37:22 -0500

I will be the guest editor of an upcoming issue of in education journal. Please consider submitting an article or feel free to pass on this call to others.
—
Editorial Call for issue 15/2 of in education (formerly know as Policy and Practice in Education)

In late 2007 the editorial board of Policy & Practice in Education made the decision to move the journal into a digital format. The rationale being,

in publishing research the intent is to reach as wide an audience as possible, publication costs have become insupportable, and competition is growing. We considered using the management and distribution services of a commercial publishing house, however the notion of making knowledge more easily and broadly accessible suggested we look at open access publishing (Lewis & McNinch, 2007, p. 5)

To that end, from our current pdf print-based format, we are continuing to evolve the journal and with this forthcoming issue we will move more broadly into and across the digital landscape. However, that does not mean we will disregard the previous work of the journal from the past 15 years, but rather build upon and transcend those discussions, ideas and iterations. As we stated in our initial move to the digital format, the journal will continue to address issues, research and practice in the education of teachers, however we intend to augment the latitude and significance of the notion of education. As a result, we are inviting articles and reviews of works that not only explore ideas in teacher education, but also a broader and more inclusive discussion in education. We envision a discussion that also utilizes the ubiquitous growth of the digital arts and sciences in the everyday practice of living and how that (in)forms both formal and informal education.

With this forthcoming issue we are fortunate to have Dr. Alec Couros as guest editor and background coordinator. Dr. Couros will be launching this latest iteration of the journal as we continue and grow the conversation in education. Watch for the journals digital space to be launched in November of 2009.

Special Issue: Technology & Social Media – in education
To mark this important transition of the journal, a special issue will focus on technology & social media in education. Submitted articles should focus upon current theories, practice, or emerging trends and understandings within the context of teaching & learning, learning environments, or informal learning.

Some suggested topics are listed below:

- Social and participatory media (e.g., blogs, wikis, microblogging, video sharing) in teaching & learning.

- Mobile technologies, txting, or microblogging in learning, or implications for social justice & politics.

- Practical or philosophical discussions on open content or open educational resources.

- Implications & trends regarding open publishing & academia.

- Online communities as formal and/or informal learning environments.

- Openness and/or networks in teaching & learning.

- Case studies of successful technology integration into learning environments.

- Discussions of distance, online, distributed, or flexible learning models in practice.

- Changing views & frameworks of knowledge and implications for education.

- Social networks, participatory media, and the implications for information & media literacy.

- Personal learning networks (PLNs), personal learning environments (PLEs) or related frameworks.

- Other topics related to social media, technology, and education.

Length: Manuscripts, including references, tables, charts, & media, should range between 10-20 pages (2500-5000 words). As the journal will be primarily web-based, we encourage articles that leverage digital forms of expression and dissemination.

Style: For writing and editorial style, follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001, 5th ed.). References should also follow APA style.

Review Process: Authors are informed when manuscripts are received. Each manuscript is previewed prior to distribution to appropriate reviewers. Manuscripts are anonymously reviewed. Once all reviews are returned, a decision is made and the author is notified. Manuscripts should consist of original material, and not currently under consideration by other journals.

Copyright: Accepted material will be distributed under an appropriate Creative Commons license (non-commercial, attribution)

Cover Page (for review purposes): Include title of manuscript, date of submission, authors name, title, mailing address, business and home phone number, and email address. Please provide a brief biographical sketch and acknowledge if the article was presented as a paper or if it reports a funded research project.

Abstract: Please include a 50-100 word abstract that describes the essence of your manuscript.

Software Format: Submit in Word (.doc), Rich Text (.rtf), or Open Document Format (.odf). Other media welcome through prior consultation

Deadlines: Abstracts should be submitted by July 31, 2009. Once reviewed, if your abstract is approved, you will be asked to submit a completed manuscript by October 1, 2009.

For all inquiries or submission information, please contact Dr. Alec Couros via email couros@gmail.com or by phone at (306) 585-4739.

Update: For those submitting abstract proposals, please use this form.

video from the 2009 Alberta Ride to Conquer Cancer

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:57:29 -0500

I lugged my camera and Flip on the Ride to Conquer Cancer, to document some of the ride. It was a pretty epic bike ride – the hardest thing I’ve ever done – but was well worth it.Thank you to everyone that supported me in any way – it definitely made the pain of the [...]

BuddyPress and MultiDB

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:56:49 -0500

I’ve been trying to get BuddyPress working on my WPMU installation that uses MultiDB for database partitioning. It’s been cranky, but I just realized I’m a complete idiot because I was overlooking the obvious (and drop dead simple) fix.BuddyPress was acting up because it was creating tables in each blog’s database tableset. But MultiDB makes [...]

find D?Arcy Norman?s iPod

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:08:02 -0500

One of the interesting new things in iPod/iPhone OS 3.0 is the new “find my iPod” feature. It’s probably most useful for an iPhone, which could be easily left on a bus or something, and has an always-on 3G connection, but it works just fine for iPods over WIFI as well.It’s close – I’m just [...]

on providing Creative Commons attribution

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:30:06 -0500

One of the things I do when working with students and faculty, is to show them how to find great free resources shared online via the Creative Commons license, and to provide proper attribution. It’s really easy. It can be as simple as “Photograph by [flickr username]“, and maybe a link to the photo page.The [...]

RimuHosting.com is my new post-Bryght Host

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:23:46 -0500

Back in action with RimuHosting as recommended by Boris using Debian Lenny instead of CentOS 5.2 ! Now to figure out the Drupal WYSIWYG API module and to get thismobilerocks.com and other sites moved over.

Edtech Posse Podcast 5.6 With Howard Rheingold

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:56:41 -0500

Dean, Rob, Rick, and I had the privilege of speaking with Howard Rheingold for our latest podcast. In this podcast we discussed “twitter, community, and the challenges of creating inquiry-based learning”. It was a great conversation where I think we all learned and reflected quite a bit, and I hope you enjoy.

Twitter Search in Plain English

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:42:34 -0500

Twitter search and tagging is becoming increasingly relevant, especially in light of recent events in Iran. This timely video from Common Craft explains the basics of Twitter search, tagging, and trends. This may help people who are not currently on Twitter to understand it’s usefulness and relevance for capturing public thoughtstreams.

on trusting wikipedia

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 15:45:48 -0500

Brian Lamb raves about the awesome Murder, Madness, Mayhem project that was run by Jon Beasley Murray – where students in his course worked to create and edit pages in Wikipedia to bring them up to “Featured Article” status. Brian talks about how wikis are powerful examples of collaborative editing, and that although the students’ [...]

Keynote: Harnessing the Power of Social Networks

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 11:31:29 -0500

I gave a keynote presentation yesterday titled “Harnessing the Power of Social Networks in Teaching and Learning” at the University of Delaware. Below, you can find the archived video and my slide deck.

Harnessing the Power of Social Networks in Teaching & Learning

View more Microsoft Word documents from Alec Couros.

I want to thank all of the good people at the University of Delaware who invited me, greeted me with wonderful hospitality, and let me be part of their excellent summer faculty institute. It was a terrific experience!

Five Recommended Readings?

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 15:01:47 -0500

One of the Associate Deans at my workplace has asked me to recommend five readings (e.g., books, articles, blogpost, etc.) that would help inform his understanding of current changes regarding social networks, knowledge, and technology in education. Rather than develop the list alone, I thought it appropriate to (at least attempt to) crowdsource responses from individuals in my network.

So, what readings would you recommend to an educational leader responsible for faculty development in a teacher education program? Any responses are greatly appreciated.

Yet Another Bike Commute Video

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:24:42 -0500

I’ve been farting around with a Manfrotto Super Clamp to attach a camera to my bike to experiment with techniques to document the Ride to Conquer Cancer. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to try, but I’m getting closer to something that I’m happy with.Here’s the first half of my ride home from UCalgary campus [...]

Why Publish Student Work to the Web?

Mon, 25 May 2009 11:15:47 -0500

Here is yet another compelling reason why we should encourage posting student work to the Web. Enjoy this beautiful cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide from elementary students of the PS22 Chorus in New York City.

From the comments, “What does Stevie think of this?” (~~although I can’t confirm validity~~ – confirmed here).

Just got word from Stevie Nicks tour manager that she was completely blown away by the PS22 Chorus rendition of her song “Landslide!” He said she asked him to replay 2 times afterwards, crying each time she watched! Talk about humbling!! And the kicker?? She invited the PS22 Chorus to sing the song at Madison Square Garden for the upcoming June 11th Fleetwood Mac show!! Holy cow!!!

It will be interesting to see if the RIAA feels the same way.

If you want to know more about this group and their story, I’d recommend reading “Glee Club” from The Brooklyn Rail. From that story …

Its unusual, but it works. In a school where more than three quarters of the students are eligible for free lunch, the lyrics of the song have resonance, and the performance is haunting, emotive, and delivered with far more soul than one might expect from a bunch of fifth-graders.

Catch this while it is real. Don’t wait for the movie.

CrowdTrust - My New Job

Mon, 25 May 2009 01:06:16 -0500

My new job is at a Vancouver-based startup, CrowdTrust, a company that is aiming to get people to "network what you know" something that I have informally called "more than twitter and delicious, easier than blogging and public and private and everything in-between".

My job title is "Chief Products Officer" which is a grandiose title for person in charge of all things product related (except of course the developers).

CrowdTrust is a Ruby on Rails based web application with a Firefox only toolbar and there is a "pre-Roland" public PROTOTYPE that you can check out.

It doesn't show you the true power and promise of what CrowdTrust can do so I won't be pushing the prototype hard, but it's a fine starting point.

I am (obviously) responsible for all product releases going forward and therefore would love your feedback, ideas, and constructive criticism to make the future releases of CrowdTrust the best they can be. In the words of Dave Winer, "Let's have fun!".

Oh and one more thing :-) ! We are hiring Rails developers (email careers@crowdtrust.com if interested)!

80+ Videos for Tech. & Media Literacy

Thu, 21 May 2009 17:02:24 -0500

Over the past few years, I have been collecting interesting Internet videos that would be appropriate for lessons and presentations, or personal research, related to technological and media literacy. Here are 70+ videos organized into various sub-categories. These videos are of varying quality, cross several genres, and are of varied suitability for classroom use.

Conversation Starters:

1. Everything is Amazing, Nobody is Happy – Comedian Louis CK’s appearance on Conan O’Brian was brilliant, humorous and really sets the stage for discussing societal changes due to the progress of technology.

2. Trendspotting: Social Networking – Comedian Dimitri Martin will make you laugh as he discusses social networking. This video is useful in deconstructing concepts of friendship and interaction in the age of social networks.

3. Did You Know 3.0 – Widely viewed video by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod that gives light to the changes imminent in our emerging knowledge-based society. This is an excellent video for framing and introducing the the new reality to students, teachers, faculty, and administrators.

4. Introducing the Book – This comedic portrayal of a medieval helpdesk relays the point that each new technology will bring with it challenges of user adoption and a steep learning curve.

5. Mr. Winkle Wakes – A great video by Matthew Needleman retelling a classic story about the resistance of schools to change.

6. The Human Network – This advertisement from Cisco projects a connected world that is likely only several years away. What seemed like fiction a few years ago, is a new digital reality.

7. The Essay – A 10 year girl recites an essay about the future while her parents are deeply concerned about her sanity. This Telenor commercial helps us to understand how far technology has come.

8. Web Crash 2007 – This is an excellent, very funny video from The Onion that describes the horrible Internet crash of 2007.

9. Five Minute University – This is a classic clip from Father Guido Sarducci from Saturday Night Live fame. The video gives humorous critique to learning in higher education. (Suggested by ZaidLearn).

21st Century Learning:

10. An Anthropological Introduction to Youtube – Professor Michael Wesch’s presentation to the Library of Congress, June 23rd, 2008. The video is over 55 minutes long but is informative and engaging throughout.

11. The Machine is Us/ing Us – “Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes”, explained by the Digital Ethnography Project at Kansas State University (Wesch). The video helps to illustrate important changes brought by Web 2.0 (read/write web, social web) as content and form became separated.

12. A Vision of Students Today – Another excellent video by Michael Wesch and his group that summarizes some of the most important characteristics of students today.

13. The Networked Student – This video by Wendy Drexler describes an emerging learning environment for the connected student. It depicts an actual project completed by her high school students and provides a tangible example of a well-connected learner.

14. We Think – This is an interesting and novel animation that stresses and acknowledges the importance of social networks in developing shared knowledge.

15. A Vision of K12 Students Today – Inspired by Wesch’s A Vision of Students Today, this project approaches the subject of 21st Century Learning from a K12 approach. (Suggested by Cindy Seibel)

16. 21st Century Schools – This is a video prepared by the Department of Children, Schools and Families in the United Kingdom. It gives a vision for the 21st Century School and features Stephen Heppell.

17. Brave New World-Wide Web – An excellent video by David Truss highlighting his journey to become a connected teacher.

18. A Portal To Media Literacy – This is an excellent presentation by Michael Wesch held at the University of Manitoba. “During his presentation, the Kansas State University professor breaks down his attempts to integrate Facebook, Netvibes, Diigo, Google Apps, Jott, Twitter, and other emerging technologies to create an education portal of the future.”

19. Joe’s Non Netbook – This video comes from Chris Lehmann from Science Leadership Academy in Philadephia. In the video, one of the students contemplates the affordances inherent in digital media vs. traditional media. (Suggested by Scott Floyd)

20. Learning to Change, Changing to Learn (Kid’s Tech) – A video featuring students talking about their passionate for technology, and their use of media, technology, and social networks. See other videos from this group at High Tech High. (Thanks Heidi)

Copyright, Copyleft & Remix/Mashup Culture:

21. RiP: A Remix Manifesto – This is an inspiring, open source documentary that explores copyright and remix culture. Individuals are able to contribute to the film, or just enjoy the information and stories it has to offer. This is an important film for those wishing to understand the battleground of intellectual property as it relates to our emerging generation.

22. Laws That Choke Creativity – Larry Lessig’s must-see TED Talk verifies the dire need for thoughtful copyright reform. Lessig is a talented presenter, and there is much to learn here about engaging audiences beyond the information within.

23. The Most Important 6-Sec Drum Loop – This fascinating 20 minute video explains “the history of the ‘Amen Break,’ a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969.” The story of this drum loop informs our emerging notions of the nature creativity and the ownership of culture.

24. The Wilhelm Scream – This is short compilation of the Wilhelm Scream in popular movies. Once you identify it, you will notice it everywhere.

25. Wanna Work Together? – This promotional video for the Creative Commons does well to explain copyright, copyleft, and details reasons why one would choose a Creative Commons license.

Influence of Media on Society:

26. Killing Us Softly 3 – Jean Kilbourne’s popular presentation on women in advertising.

27. Dove Evolution – This is a popular advertisement from Dove’s ‘Campaign For Real Beauty’. While the video is well done, there has since been some criticism of Dove’s ownership of Axe with it’s very contradictory style of advertising.

28. Dove Onslaught – Also from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, this video illustrates the incredible impact of advertising on adolescent girls.

29. Birth Control: Current – Comedian Sarah Haskins has developed an excellent series of videos that take a humorous look at ads targeting women. For a complete list of Haskins’ videos, view this previous post on the subject.

30. Video Games & Sex – This is an excellent presentation by Daniel Floyd regarding the place of sex and sexuality in video games as a media genre. The video covers a brief history of sex in gaming which has been primarily exploitative and superficial. Floyd then argues, if video games are to be seen as an emerging artistic medium, the treatment of sex in video games needs to be more sophisticated and mature. (Note: this video may not be suitable for minors.)

31. Boys Beware – This was an anti-homosexual propaganda film from the 1950’s. In light of recent anti-gay marriage ads, it (unfortunately) appears similar propaganda continues to be broadcast.

32. How Cellphones, Twitter, Facebook Can Make History – This is an excellent TED Talk by Clay Shirky that demonstrates how emerging social tools “help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors.”

History of Technology & Media:

33. The Growing Phenomenon of Internet – This is a 1993 CBC report on the emergence of the Internet. It is interesting to watch this early media account of the Internet and to think about how much has changed in only 16 years. Additionally, the techno-utopianism of this report is striking.

34. A Communications Primer – The ephemeral piece is an instructional film created in 1953 for IBM by Ray & Charles Eames with music by Elmer Bernstein. The video presents communications theory that is remarkably accurate, even before the age of the Internet.

35. Internet Power – This is a 1995 educational video about the entertainment value of the Internet. While parts of the video demonstrate the great technological gains we have made, other parts make me question the gains regarding the mindset of the majority of Internet users.

36. How the News Works – This is a short, anti-corporate explanation of how the mainstream media functions.

37. The Internet in 1969 – This is a late 1960’s video describing futuristic technologies that resemble today’s Internet affordances.

38. Television Delivers People – This video is purported as “a seminal work in the now well-established critique of popular media as an instrument of social control that asserts itself subtly on the populace through ‘entertainments’, for the benefit of those in power-the corporations that maintain and profit from the status quo.” The style of this video is just ripe to be emulated.

Social Networks & Identity:

39. Digital Dossier – Individuals must become more aware of the digital footprints they leave behind. This fictional story of Andy demonstrates the importance of understanding one’s digital identity.

40. Identity 2.0 – Dick Hardt’s excellent Keynote at OSCON 2005 is a brilliant introduction to the concept of digital identity, and what this may mean in the future.

41. Social Networks in Plain English – This is one of many excellent Common Craft ‘explanation’ videos. It does a great job of explaining digital social networks to those unfamiliar.

42. Tweenbots – What would happen if you release a human dependent robot into a New York park with the single goal of getting to the other side of the park? Would the human network get the robot to its destination? The video is interesting because in some ways it challenges the techno-determinist mindset that society has had for at least a century, and reflects an emerging emphasis; the power of humans in human networks.

43. Ze Frank: The Show – Comedia Ze Frank’s “The Show” was a year long experiment in vodcasting, full of creativity, humor, and insight. This particular episode (12-14-06) was interesting as he discusses the effects of environment (open, closed, rules) on interactions of participants and perceived security/safety.

44. Rocketboom: The Twitter Global Mind – Rocketboom is an ongoing, daily vlog that has been online since 2004. This newer episode discusses Twitter and the produced thoughtstream of its users, and how this phenomenon will effect the development and understanding of search.

45. Behind Every Tweet – This was a video teaser developed for my K12 Online Conference presentation in 2008. It helps to describe how Twitter can be used by educators for solving problems or asking questions. The entire presentation can be viewed here.

Mashups, Stop Motion, Animations & Short Films

46. Mother of All Funk Chords – This amazing mashup by Ophir Kutiel (known as Kutiman) is part of the thru-you project. The mashup consists of dozens of youtube clips aligned together to create original music.

47. Shining: Recut – What if The Shining were set as a romantic comedy? This was one of the first movie trailer remixes I had ever seen, and now there have been many excellent productions in the style. It also inspired the trailer for my Grad course.

48. Forest Gump, 1 Minute, 1 Take – There would be a lot of skill that goes into taking a movie, condensing it into one minute, one take. I think this video, and others like it, would be a great inspiration for similar student project. See also Sweded films on Youtube.

49. Tony vs. Paul – I fell in love with stop motion film the first time I view the classic Mclaren film Neighbours as a child. Tony vs. Paul was almost certainly inspired by Mclaren’s work more than 50 years previous, and is very well done.

50. We Didn’t Start the Viral – How many viral videos can you identify in this short video (in the tune of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire)? Now, how many can your students (or children) identify? Understanding media means being able to recognize and identify much of what are youth are consuming and producing.

51. Amateur – Lasse Gjertsen became Internet famous after he masterfully edited this brilliant piece. He claims he cannot play drums or piano, but through careful digital editing, he is able to create an innovative composition. After watching this piece, I realized that new digital literacies occur where new skills allow one to compensate for the lack of the old.

52. Big Mac Rap – You’d think that a couple of kids going through a drive-in would be uneventful. Yet, this video has been seen millions of times and has spawned the drive-through song genre. Creativity is everywhere, even at your local fast-food restaurant.

53. Firekites – What strikes me about this chalkboard, stop-motion animation is that certain elements of old forms can not easily be replicated through new media. The smudgy shadows of the chalkboard add a beautiful dimension to this piece.

54. The Story of a Sign – This is a beautiful, award-winning short film. Other than being an excellent piece for studying film grammar, it also portrays a wonderful message about the importance of carefully framing and designing one’s message.

55. Free Hugs – This video and Juan Mann spawned the Free Hugs Movement. It is wonderfully produced and provides a wonderful, loving message for humanity.

56. Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out – This video portrays a bride on her wedding day so upset with her hair that she cuts much of it off in front of her bridesmaids. The video was viewed millions of times, but it was later revealed that it was a hoax set up by a group of actors. The event creates an important point regarding deception possibilities within democratic media. See also LonelyGirl15.

57. Sorry I’m Late – This is a wonderful stop-motion piece that includes several videos and commentary regarding the ‘making-of’ the video. This would be excellent for students who want to understand some of the complexities involved in doing stop-motion.

58. Bathtub IV – This is a wonderful music video featuring tilt/shift photography. In other words, these are real scenes videoed in a way that make them look as if the objects are fake miniatures. (Suggested by Dani Watkins)

59. Last Day Dream – This is a powerful short video that flashes a person’s entire life in 42 seconds. This would be a terrific video for a discussion of its style/grammar, or for a discussion topic related to those things most important in our lives. (Language/content warning)

60. Little Bribes – This video for a Death Cab for Cutie song is exceptional in that it uses many excellent stop-motion, time-lapse, and other videography techniques to create a beautiful, coherent piece. This would an excellent video for studying video technique and grammar.

61. Her Morning Elegance – This is a brilliant stop motion video. It is soft, smooth, and romantic, and accompanies the soundtrack beautifully.

Public Service Announcements and Political Messages

62. Top Chef – Ontario’s Workplace Safety Insurance Board released a number of gruesome safety ads that really pushed the boundaries of the PSA. This ad was one of the more popular (and gruesome) of the series.

63. U.N. Landmine Commercial – This startling commercial brings home the reality of landmines. It calls out for action from those with privilege with the message “If there were landmines here, would you stand for them anywhere?”

64. Belt Up In the Back – A surprising and horrendous seat belt safety commercial from the UK.

65. Doubt – This eerie video was produced by the Israeli AIDS Task Force.

66. Children See, Children Do – This is an effective Australian PSA regarding the imitation of behaviors by children of their parents.

67. Clean House: Meth – This is an interesting (and strangely catchy) meth prevention PSA, typical of those provided by A Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

68. Beware the Fridge – This British PSA from the 1970’s attempts to make parents aware of the danger of old refrigerators.

69. VD Is For Everybody – This is a very cheery venereal disease PSA from 1969.

70. Child-Swinging – This is one of the strangest anti-alcohol PSAs I have ever seen. I am not quite sure why the incessant child-swinging was tolerated even sober.

Cyberbullying and Internet Safety

71. Star Wars Kid – The Star Wars kid is likely the best known cyberbullying event ever documented. This original leaked video spawned dozens of users on the web to create parodies, seen by millions, which ultimately resulted in the boy featured in the videos to quit school and enter a psychiatric ward.

72. ABC on Bullying – This ABC news report looks at the occurrences of bullying that led to the suicide of a young boy.

73. Let’s Fight It Together – This is a well produced video by digizen.org detailing student bullying and possible outcomes.

74. Talent Show – This is one of several, similar anti-bullying messages from the Ad Council.

75. Think Before You Post – This is an Internet safety PSA from Ad Council, one that I have always thought to be a bit overboard/creepy. See also “Everyone Knows Your Name“.

76. Virtual Global Task Force – This is a promotional video for the Virtual Global Task Force, made up of police forces and agencies around the world working to prevent child abuse.

77. Duck & Cover – To think that a generation of children (and adults) were taught that the ‘duck and cover’ would really protect them from a nuclear blast still blows my mind. This is from the makers of “Our Cities Must Fight“, another famous propaganda film from the era.

78. Terrible Truth, Addicted, Pit of Despair – This is a clip compiling three early PSAs regarding drug and alcohol addiction.

Documentaries

79. Century of the Self – This acclaimed documentary tracks the work of Freud throughout the 20th century as it changed the perception of the human mind, spawned applications of public relations, and formed the roots of consumerism. This is an excellent backgrounder for teachers of media.

80. The World According to Monsanto – This is an excellent documentary that looks at the control and domination of agriculture by the Monsanto corporation. The video deals closely with the control and shaping of information, messages, and media, and would fit into many areas of a school curriculum.

81. Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey – This is an excellent documentary on the history and progression of heavy metal music. It is narrated and produced by Canadian, Sam Dunn, who has been a metal fan since the age of 12. It is an excellent piece on the influence of metal (and music) on kids and in greater society. Language warning – and the video would have to be viewed in 10 chunks, all available on Youtube.

82. The World According to Sesame Street – From Independent Lens (PBS), this documentary serves to answer the question, “with todays global landscape dominated by such pressing issues as poverty, human rights, AIDS and ethnic genocide, how can the worlds most-watched childrens television show bridge cultures while remaining socially relevant?” The video can be viewed in 9 parts on Youtube.

83. Manufacturing Consent – This Canadian documentary, based on the Chomsky/Herman book by the same name, explores the propaganda model of media.

84. Steal This Film – Steal this film is a series of short videos documenting the movement against intellectual property. “Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow called it ‘an amazing, funny, enraging and inspiring documentary series.’” See also Part II and the Pirate Bay Trial Edition.

85. Sex: The Revolution – This is a VH1, 4 part documentary that chronicles the rise of American interest in sexuality from the 1950’s to the turn of the millennium. This video is available on the VH1, but only to those in the US. However, there are ways around this limitation.

86. Orwell Rolls In His Grave – This documentary explores the relationship between corporations, government, and the media. The film posits that “media no longer report news, but only manage it, deciding what makes the headlines and what is conveniently ignored.”

87. Good Copy, Bad Copy – This is a documentary that describes the current state of copyright, piracy, and free culture.

88. Outfoxed – This Robert Greenwald documentary criticizes Fox News Channel and its owner Rupert Murdoch, “claiming that the channel is used to promote and advocate right-wing views.” The documentary argues that through contradicting their own mantra of being “Fair and Balanced”, Fox is engaging in “consumer fraud”.

89. Us Now (10 Translations) – “Us Now tells the stories of online networks that are challenging the existing notion of hierarchy. For the first time, it brings together the fore-most thinkers in the field of participative governance to describe the future of government.” See the official Us Now site for more details.

If there are videos or categories that you would like added here, please let me know. I will work to move this list over to a wiki so that if people are interested, additions and edits can be easily made. Also, I wrote this post in a hurry, so I apologize in advance for any errors re: spelling, grammar, or hyperlinks. Please report any problems that you run into.

I hope these are useful!

Presentation ? Identity in the Open Classroom

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:05:46 -0500

I was asked to give a presentation for the From Courses to Dis/Course online conference last week, and chose the topic of identity as it relates to openness. My session, Identity in the Open Classroom, was a fun (for me, anyway) exploration of the issues, and I think served the purpose of framing discussion.Here’s the [...]

End of my Bryght Era

Wed, 20 May 2009 22:59:10 -0500

May 15, 2009 was my last day of work for Raincity Studios and with it of course my involvement with Bryght ended as well. It's been a great ride! Thanks to all the Bryght Gals, Guys, customers, investors, friends and of course the folks at Raincity Studios. I am certain that the "Bryght Children" will in their own way (in a small "Fairchild children" way, haha!) continue to make their mark (e.g. Rilli, Bootup Labs, and I predict many many more). My next post will be about my new job but for now a few random thoughts and reflections (apologies to the great people I have omitted!):

I'll never forget moving day into the first Bryght offices at 525 Seymour with the folks at EQO (also gone).
Bryght Light developed by Adrian and the rest of the Bryght team was and is a Drupal milestone. I can't to see what the fine folks at Lullabot and Acquia and WorkHabit and the other fine folks doing Drupal hosting come up with. Not to mention what happens with Development Seed, Adrian and the other folks developing Aegir. Aegir definitely ups the proverbial Drupal hosting 'ante'.
Speaking of WorkHabit, I will always be impressed by their VPS hosting partnership with Bryght. As far as I know Bryght VPS was the only Drupal-centric VPS hosting from a Canadian company, one of the few in the world and probably the first. Nobody did it better. Thanks to Richard, Gary of WorkHabit, incredible system engineers and sysadmins: Narayan Newton and Ben Holt. Learned some great lessons:i.e. always iterate, automate and listen to the market!

Herewith some random Bryght photos to end it off in a visual style! Ciao Tschüß!

Stopping Spamblog Registration in WordPress MultiUser

Wed, 20 May 2009 13:57:57 -0500

I’ve been running a copy of WordPress MultiUser for over a year now. Comment spam hasn’t been much of a problem, thanks to Akismet, but if I leave site registration open (so students and faculty can create new accounts and blogs), the evil spammers find it and start sending their bots en masse.I tried a [...]

Ride to Conquer Cancer route

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:28:07 -0500

I guessed at the starting point before, and was wrong. Looks like the Alberta ride starts at the Deerfoot Casino, then must head down Deerfoot to 22X then west to 22 before shooting south.Here’s the route, complete with the elevation profile:Elevation Gain: 1555 metersElevation Loss: 1392 meters

200 Years That Change the World (Hans Rosling)

Sun, 3 May 2009 21:28:45 -0500

In this video, Hans Rosling demonstrates GapMinder, a tool for “unveiling the beauty of statistics”. The content for the brief video is the change in the life expectancy & income throughout the world in the last two centuries. Gapminder looks like a really neat tool, and the trends described through the tool are interesting.

If you would like to play with the simulation used in this video, go to http://www.gapminder.org/world. If you want to see more of Hans Rosling, check out his TED Talk.

my commute home

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:56:01 -0500

Inspired by this commute video I saw this morning, I was curious what it would look like if I recorded my full commute. I’ve tried it before with a helmet cam, but hadn’t tried it with a fixed quasi-steady camera.I took my cheap little Flip Ultra video camera, stuck it on the rear rack of [...]

Gravity S60 Twitter client is the exception that proves the rule

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 04:57:20 -0500

Gravity, the fantastic S60 Twitter client proves that German S60 developers continue to rule the moribund S60 apps ecosystem (unfortunately the S60 app industry is a cottage industry compared to the iPhone app industry). First, profimail ruled the world (back in 2004 when I bought my first S60 phone and thought the mobile email was relevant, just say no to mobile email, just say yes to short form customized mobile two way communication like Twitter) and now gravity rules. And if you don't believe me that the iPhone app industry is clearly dominant over the S60 app industry than that's your prerogative and I'd have to wish you the best of luck making money with your S60 apps!

Behold the awesomeness of Gravity in my Gravity Screenshot set on flickr!

DRAFT Nokia Sports Tracker Tutorial in pictures

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 04:44:24 -0500

Here's my very rough draft Nokia Sports Tracker Tutorial for the recently released version 2.06. It still is too complicated and harder to use than Nokia viNe but appears to be regularly updated unlike viNe. And it still doesn't remember my Live Sharing Pref which I think is a bug and is annoying because I want my maps to be always shared ]!

Nokia viNe tutorial in pictures

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 04:35:36 -0500

Here's my Nokia viNe Tutorial in pictures. Has Nokia viNe been discontinued? Seems to be quiet. Meanwhile Nokia Sports Tracker just had a new release and while more complicated seems to be better.

BUG Adventures - GPS still not getting a fix, need another antenna perhaps or is GPSConfig not working?

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 03:58:39 -0500

Well it's been 2 weeks and I've been too busy to do much with my BUG Labs BUG but here's the current state of affairs:

fixed my compiler in Eclipse to be R1.4 compliant by setting Preferences->Compiler->Compiler compliance level to 1.4
Started my Bug and the following log is displayed in /var/log/concierge:
1. [Sun Apr 05 21:32:13 GMT 2009] [INFO] GPSModlet defaulting to passive (external) antenna
2. [Sun Apr 05 21:32:13 GMT 2009] [INFO] Started modlet from factory com.buglabs.bug.module.gps...
I take it this means that the antenna is set to use the external antenna
Wait 7 minutes and I still see the BUG with no fix
Then I download the GPSConfig app as recommended by the BUG Labs folks and I see:
1. GPSConfigServiceTracker: start
2. status=3939
3. [Sun Apr 05 21:40:31 GMT 2009] [INFO] AppManager started /usr/share/java/apps/GPSConfig.jar
Then I tried using the joystick controller and the select button to configure the GPSConfig app to use the external antenna (and see this log:
1. status=4003
2. Switching to external (passive) antenna
3. ret=0
But the GPS Module display on the 2 line LCS still shows Passive which means it's NOT using the external antenna
Help!
1. Do I have a defective antenna?
2. Am I doing something wrong with the GPSConfig app?
3. Or is the GPS Module incorrect when it states that the antenna is Active i.e. internal antenna instead of Passive i.e. external antenna?