Cs presentation on blogging

Before you start, let me refer you to Steven Krause's 4Cs presentation on Blogs and the Writerly Life. If you weren't at the workshop, Steven hits the highlights of why you might (or might not) want to consider blogging. If you were at the workshop, Steven's case for blogging is probably more concise and eloquent than any particular one I gave.

Here is the PowerPoint slide presentation of "Blogs as a Faculty Development Tool: Modding Your Way to a Better Career."

Examples of Websites I refer to in the presentation:

Johndan Johnson-Eilola's "Datacloud."
Clay Spinuzzi's "Eyes of Texas Are Upon You"
Dr. B's Blog
Michael B�rub�'s Blog

Odds and ends:
Drupal
MovableType
WordPress
LiveJournal
"Blogger

Drop me an email if you have questions, or want more information. Thanks to all of you who showed up on a sunny Saturday in San Francisco.

Blogging From the San Fran Apple Store

Standing in the mothership (San Fran Apple Store) on a dual G5 with the 30 inch Cinema Display. Pure....bliss...kill...me...now...

Conference Threads

Outfit #1: Jeans and Lobos T-shirt for morning and breakfast. My New Mexico Lobos had a horrible first half against Villanova and almost charged back. Gotta give them props for their 9 wins in a row prior to the collapse. Only got a 12 seed at that. Just wish they hadn't gotten Nova.

Outfit #2. Pinstripe pants, blue shirt with cufflinks and overpriced blue tie. Bought this outfit as an emergency MLA interview outfit. It has been my good luck charm ever since.

Blogging the blogs at the Cs

Well, I suppose I could add to the detail about the 4Cs to anyone who is out there pinging the blogosphere.

1. I'm presenting on the use of blogs in faculty development (I know, get in line).
2. I slightly disagree with Dr. B's comment about San Francisco and homelessness. I don't link seeing homelessness. I don't like homelessness period, but I HATE homelessness that is pushed out of sight even more.
3. The departmental parties here are much better than MLAs, in my opinion. Folks go from one party to another, and there doesn't seem to be the same sorts of heirarchy issues I get at MLA parties.
4. Flying into San Francisco is one of my favorite experiences. Seeing the plant-y topography, crazy modifications and architecture from a bird's eye while slowing down from 500 to 155 mph is sublime.
5. Haven't had a chance to meet bloggerman Steven Krause. One day left.
6. If you've been following on the h-rhetor listserv on blogging and the impossibility of finding a particular blog--welcome.

Off to the Cs

For those of you who have been tuning in only to find about a week's gap in my blogging:

Sorry.

I've been pretty busy trying to get my graduate classes on track for the end of the semester (all aboard!). I just got one grad student "defended up," and am prepping two more for the "big day." I've also been prepping for my "Blogs as Remediated Faculty Development" workshop. Unfortunately, I won't be spending much time in Fran Sansisco (and it is a GREAT place to visit).

For those of you who want a foretaste of what I am going to present, let me direct you to Steve Krause's very thoughtful entry of blogging and the writerly life.

Let's get started on "Modding" your professional life.

Emily "USB" Dickinson

At the San Francisco Game Developers Conference, computer programmers took on the challenge to make a game out of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Pretty interesting results. Almost makes up for the "Sims 2 University" programmers making an English degree the preparation for the "criminal" Sim...almost.

The Politics of User Documentation

CNN/Money has a brief blurb about IKEA only depicting men or androgynous cartoons assembling their furniture.

Lord help them if they start using Spongebob...

Read about it here.

Banality of Error

Data Aggregation company Choicepoint has been under the microscope and the public is not liking what it is seeing. (and can you blame them, really, when these "reports" have false data, like the "fact" that you died 20 years ago, and that everyone should be investigated in Texas?). People aggregate data on us all the time and even "sell" it to others (for money, in the case of law enforcement and private investigation, in social capital in most cases). The problem seems to emerge when you hook it up to a state apparatus, complete with guns and jails.

Shades of Brazil, anyone?

Material vs. Symbolic

Johndan at Datacloud ponders possible interpretations about the contrails of what are likely National Guard Pilot formations. He makes a few funny remarks about pilot protests and "intimidating terrorists who have never seen synchronized Olympic swimming events."

I'm amused a bit, but am further intrigued by his rare contact with what used to be a daily occurance for me. When I worked at Sandia Labs, my building was about 1/4 mile away from the end of a runway that was used by the International Airport, and Kirtland Air Force Base (which was where I worked, technically). Every evening I would see UPS, Southwest Airlines, etc. commecial jets coming in for landings (they were really quite beautiful to see, as they would have to take very wide arcs in order to prepare for the approach, which was over the portico-like divot in the small Sandia mountain range that was directly east of Albuquerque and the base).

More jarring were the daily takeoffs and landings of the National Guard pilots flying these things:


Screaming planes going from 0 to Mach 1 in like a minute. Sort of like Top Gun minus Kenny Loggins, slow motion, and the cool camera angles.

Which sort of takes me to my reaction to Johndan's post. The affective landscape I grew through to get to this point gives me a pretty conflicted perspective on the phenomenon of being close to these things. I grew up as the son of a disabled veteran; my brother-in-law is a career Marine, and many of the people in my "group" went to the Air Force academy. Heck, for a while, I was headed for the Air Force academy. I LOVED planes and flying (fueled, in no small part, by my father letting me memorize his spotter guides). Every free moment I would draw planes, make models, or read about planes. I had a sort of supernatural trust in these machines (sort of like the protagonist in Speilberg's "Empire of the Sun"). Somehow, though, by the time I made it to Sandia Labs, the screaming takeoffs and sharp G-force-inducing tight formation turns that used to thrill me at Thunderbirds and Blue Angels plane shows no longer registered much. Maybe it was the experience of going through terrifying turbulance through Santa Ana winds; maybe my politics have changed from mecha/techno/military naivete to a more humane range of concern. Whatever the reason, these planes look much different to me now.

Clinton a "Servant-Leader." (And Bush is generous to point it out.)

From CNN:

Bush, 80, said Clinton offered ahead of time to give the older former president the bedroom so he could lie flat and avoid paining his body. Clinton, 58, decided to play cards in the other room that night.

The next morning, Bush said he peeked in and saw Clinton sound asleep on the plane's floor.

"We could have switched places, each getting half a night on the bed, but he deferred to me. That was a very courteous thing, very thoughtful, and that meant a great deal to me," Bush said.

Interesting Take on the Gannon flap

A lot of mileage in "Gannongate." Stephen Ducat has an interesting take on the subject.