Online Graduation Ceremony?!?!!!

Ok - anybody that is as curious as I am as to what an online graduation ceremony looks like, I have some extra tickets ;) Email me at [removed since the ceremony is over] and I'll send you the URL and the super-secret password! The graduation ceremony is available any time from January 7th (starting at 7am MST) to February 5th. Rudy Giuliani is scheduled as the commencement speaker.

Alright already!

So, now even my wife is nagging me to blog something.... (If that is the height of the spousal nags, I must be doing ok...)

So, why has there been a three week lag between posts? Is my life that uninteresting? Has my life been that uneventful? Have I given up on thinking altogether? The answer most assuredly is no (except for a small yes on that last one).

Last week I completed my masters degree. Quite easily the greatest feat of my life as far as any determination and perseverance goes. I started in February and completed a total of 48 quarter hours - all the while holding down a full-time job (this teacher only got 2 weeks "off" over the summer -for the birth of my son, Alex), expanding my family (see the previous comment about Alex), and having a significant job change (from being a programming teacher and assistant tech to being the technology coordinator for the whole school). The transition to the new job was done in three weeks (while trying to hire a replacement for my previous position). And did I mention that the entire degree was online - including group projects? About all that could have added more stress is moving and/or getting married.

I am now done! And so the concept of writing - for a blog or otherwise - didn't seem exceedingly appealing. I am also trying to figure out graduation day - also an online event - and since I am a first generation Masters graduate, my families are talking about a graduation party.... (I will blog more on graduation as I figure things out.)

I will be filling my time for the next months getting to know the aforementioned son. And I will be team teaching a class this spring semester.

Computer mediated learning

In my masters classes right now, we are having huge discussions about how computer mediated learning is student centric. I have pointed out to many people in these discussions that "if a teacher tells a student to go to a particular web site, student obedience is called student initiated; however, if the same teacher tells the same student to open a book, student obedience is called teacher initiated." Why is that?

Anonymous confessions of a lunatic friend...

This is for a friend of mine: Sunday night my friend had a baby dedication for his 4-month old son. During the dedication, he read a letter of dedication that he and his wife (mostly his wife) wrote together. Now he is getting all sorts of compliments for the things he shared - his wife is getting nothing. Please pray for her that she would realize that the compliments are about the letter and not the horribly sappy way in which the letter was read.

XBox 360?

What happened to versions 2-359? I guess it's true what they say - technology moves pretty fast!

(Kudos to Red vs Blue)

Concerning croissants

Perhaps they are so flaky because they are French!

THAT'S my GIRL!

The other day we were in the car listening to CD of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. My two year old daughter actually complained, "Not Vivaldi, daddy! Beethoven!" :)

On tuning a piano...

"It's just like tuning a guitar with just a few more strings."

You're in America - speak American!

So, since you're on the Internet, are you planning to learn Chinese?

This post was prompted by a comment in the NSBA T+L2 final keynote address this morning by Guy Garcia, author of The New Mainstream : How the Multicultural Consumer Is Transforming American Business.

The value of email...

So, for today's NSBA T+L2 quote, we go once again to the keynote speaker, Tiffany Shlain, founder and chairperson of The Webby Awards and the on-air Internet expert for ABC's Good Morning America. Tiffany relayed a story of a conversation that she had with a friend:

"So, I told him that I love him... I decided to do it in an e-mail... I Cc'd his family... And I Bcc'd his ex-girlfriend..."

Did he just say what I think he said?!?!!

I am currently attending the National School Board Association's Technology, Learning and Leadership Conference here in Denver. (I know it sounds so exciting to EVERYBODY that reads my blog - whatever - but keep reading....)

Today's keynote speaker was Prof. Neil Gershenfeld from MIT and the director of The Center for Bits and Atoms. He talked today about his Fab Lab project (http://fab.cba.mit.edu/). His presentation contained a video that had a student (showing a bike he built in the Fab Lab) that actually said:

"I love this bike! So, I emailed it [the bike] to my sister - and now it's the bike that she rides too!"

Good game Connor!! :)

per RockyPreps.com

10/22/2005 2:00PM DOUGLAS COUNTY at ARAPAHOE Won 31-24

7-1? 6-2?

Yeah...

I caught you a delicious bass.

I am Eeyore!

Thanks to Melissa's post yesterday, and Sherrie's reply, I "got" to take another test. I turned out as an ISTJ (with the I and S being a slight designation). Anyway one of the explanation pages at the end of the test had the followinganalysis of famous ISTJs:

Famous ISTJs:

Thomas (Christ's disciple)

U.S. Presidents:
George Washington
Andrew Johnson
Benjamin Harrison
Herbert Hoover
George H. W. Bush

Paul Coverdale (U.S. Senator, R-GA)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (U.S. Olympic athlete)
Evander Holyfield, heavyweight boxing champion

Fictional ISTJs:
Joe Friday
Mr. Martin (hero of James Thurber's Sitting in the Catbird Seat)
Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh)
Fred Mertz (I Love Lucy)
Puddleglum, the marshwiggle (Chronicles of Narnia)
Cliff (Cheers)

Moving to functional technology...

There are benefits for not jumping at brand new technologies. Two and a half years ago, I bought a Tablet PC - they had just come out two months prior. The Toshiba model that I had, had a bad digitizer on it -which I got replaced twice. So, what's a digitizer? Let's just say that it was like having a MagnaDoodle with the eraser bar not pushed all the way to the edge. Well, two weeks ago, I got a new Tablet - an HP TC1100. It is 100% functional. Last week's paper for my master's class - I wrote by hand, just because I could. (I'm also handwriting this post - ICYC.) (Also a great graduation gift idea for those seniors out there...)

Now, today I went and bought a new SPOT watch. I've had one for about two years - again it was very new technology when I bought it the first time. The old one was an Abacus - and the battery was loose enough that it would disconnect if the watch was jostled, and so a couple of times a day it would lose its time. (A cool watch, but I couldn't trust it for the time.) It generally reset the time between 15 minutes and 3 hours after it reset - it's an "atomic" watch, so it sets itself. My new watch is a Suunto n3. It's already much better that the Abacus! (So, now you can IM my watch with MSN IM. My IM is set up with my school email address - available here. I'm smarter than to publish an email address directly on a blog.)

So, question: What should I do with the XBox360?

Since it won't be reported anywhere else...

(but that's what blogs are for)

5A Denver Regional Marching Band Competition was tonight at LPS stadium
(3 bands were to perform last night, but it got snowed out and postponed, so the rankings are subject to change)

10 - The P-school - 70.00 points
9 - Cherry Creek High School - 70.94 points
8 - Northglenn High School - 73.43 points
7 - Heritage High School - 73.47 points
6 - Lakewood High School - 74.95 points
5 - Fairview High School - 75.05 points
4 - Chatfield High School - 75.06 points
3 - Douglas County High School - 77.18 points
2 - Arapahoe High School - 80.92 points
1 - Pomona High School - 86.95 points

A few random comments:

In math, we call Pomona a statistical outlier - data that is generally ignored. Not saying that they didn't do great - they always do, but part of that is because the entire feeder area is marching band/drum corp focused. Even the elementary school band teacher marched corp in high school and college.

Although I am excited that DCHS got third and had a decent point spread over Chatfield (notice that the difference between DCHS and CHS is 2.12 and the spread of the next 5 places is less than that...)

But definite congratulations go to my alma mater: AHS (I was drum major in 89 - things have changed... a BIT....). AHS moved all the way up from 75.71 at state finals last year - It is very likely that they will receive most improved band after make-ups are done... Congrats to Dr. Cannava and the Arapahoe High School Band!

OK - That's odd...

So, I get two weeks of "fall break" in my master's schedule.... And so, now I have all this free time.... Break is almost over and what do I have to show for it? One blog entry and very sore thumbs from playing Lego Star Wars every night....

Perhaps on Sunday when my life gets busy again, I'll be able to find time to blog! Go figure!

Another good year....

Despair.com

Not so extreme...

I was sadly disappointed yesterday to find that one of my favorite "not so extreme" phrases is actually a real word. The word of the day for Sept. 21, 2005 at webster.com was "whelm". (As in, not overwhelmed - just whelmed...)

My other favorite "not so extreme" phrase: Most of a sudden.

Reminiscing Star Wars

So, it's late... or maybe it's a few weeks early :) Anyway, I spent some time today thinking about my favorite comment made by an Episode III viewer and the lamest comment made by an Episode III viewer. I will not use their real names as I want to save both of them some dignity.... (If their names hit the comments there's nothing I can do about that... *wink* )

Favorite:

This person knew that I was a Star Wars fan and had just seen Episode III (and had never seen any of the others). Suddenly very excited about the movies, he asked me which he should see next. Should he start with I and II or go for IV, V, and VI. Although I like I and II more than anybody else I know, I, of course, had to say IV. Of course he asked what the title of it was (which of course insued a philosophical debate within myself). But then he also wanted to know what the names of the other five were. I told him the names in episode order. When I got to Episode VI, he exclaimed:

RETURN OF THE JEDI?!?!!! They come back how COOL is that! I thought they were gone for sure!


Lamest:

This person seemed to be very intersted in seeing Episode III as he was the organizer of the gathering (which happened to be the 4th time that I saw it). He is also a BIG movie fan, so he's obviously able to suspend reality for a while - I mean he liked The Matrix. Anyway - I digress, we're all coming out of the theater talking about what we liked about the movie.... And he can't say anything positive.... I gave up arguing with him when he said:

What was up with the twins? Wasn't it just a little too "convenient" that they had two kids?

Where can you possibly go with that statement? "Have you seen Star Wars?" "You realize that these are 'prequels' right?" "OH MY! THAT MEANS THAT VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER!!!!"

If I Care...

For those few people that remember "Real People" on NBC in the early 80s, here's one for the books - an actual sign with dead letters - not a doctored photo. Good ol' PacifiCare (aka IfICare...) This ranks 2nd on my list. My favorite blank-out sign was in the mid-90s, when Discovery Zone became the Overy Zone. Spelled wrong, but still pretty funny. Too bad they went out of business shortly after that point. Coincidence?

Colorado Quarters

Finalists (yeah - it'll be a broken link in about a year - sorry...)

I realize that this post is about 4 months late, but I didn't have a blog in May and I hadn't seen the Colorado quarters myself until this morning. This is why I think that Governor Bill Owens made the right selection:

• 1. Only about 10% of our state population has even been to Mesa Verde
• 2. We don't want everybody to associate Colorado and Columbine on our state quarter. I know it's a beautiful flower, but you and I both know that why it was placed on the quarter was political. It's like New York using the World Trade Center - it's a nice tribute, but it's not what you want people to think of when they look at the quarter. (The 'C' from the Colorado flag might have helped this one too.)
• 3. "Pikes Peak or Bust" is a special rodeo/festival in Colorado Springs. To the rest of the state and nation, the phrase reminds us of the cover to the "Oregon Trail" games - yes, Oregon.
• 4. (This is the one he chose.)
• 5. The skier was a nice touch, but even fewer people than have been to Mesa Verde know about the 10th Mountain Division.

So, although Longs Peak is a little random, (I do like the Evans touch from the "Centennial State" quarter), it was the best option. It's not like it says "Visit Estes Park" on it, which is the impression I get from most of the other quarters. #2 would have been really good too, but with some minor changes, which isn't what Owens was wanting...

Thoughts on speed limits...

I am curious as to why driving south is so much more unsafe than driving north. For the section of I25 between exit 191 and Lincoln Ave. northbound has a speed limit of 75 and southbound has a speed limit of 55. The next three miles are 65 north and 55 south. Are the afraid that since "south" is "down" on the map, that gravity might cause people to accelerate and they might fly off when they hit the equator? Is there more wildlife on the west side of the highway? Are people leaving Denver generally worse drivers than those leaving Castle Rock? I wrote to C-DOT about this issue once several months ago and they never posted a new speed limit sign, nor did they reply to my email, so I must believe that "south" is inherently more dangerous...

The section of I25 from Orchard to exit 191 is a joke with speeds anyway. The flow of traffic is 75 for this whole stretch. And so with the new impeding traffic law, it is now actually impossible to drive legally on this stretch (a cop's dream!) - 75 is breaking one law (the more obvious, posted law) - 55 is breaking another law (and risking life and limb). So, if we can get everybody to drive 120 on that stretch, it's "legal" because it is the "flow of traffic"?

We may as well just be honest and take down all of our highway speed limits signs and post "reasonable and prudent" like they do in Montana. If nobody's going to follow them and nobody's going to enforce them, why waste the raw materials on signage?

Our kids?

So do you think this is what our kids will look like?

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” - Bill Gates?

This quote exists on the internet and people like to point out how little foresight Mr. Gates had in that situation. However, according to everything2.org/?node_id=91182, Bill refuted this quote in a January, 19, 1996 article in the New York Times saying “I've said some stupid things and some wrong things, but not that.” The article on the everything2.org website ends by quoting Mr. Gates “Meanwhile, I keep bumping into that silly quotation attributed to me that says 640K of memory is enough. There's never a citation; the quotation just floats like a rumor, repeated again and again." It is a great article about the importance of citing sources and providing proof for your statements. The ironic part is that searching nytimes.com for any of these quotes comes up void. That’s right, it’s entirely possible that Bill Gates never said that he never said that quote about 640K.

Who cries...

A sad commentary about the slaughtering of these innocents. When will it end?

Video

So, tell me again....

What is the selling point of Malt-o-Meal cereals? It comes in a bag so they don't have to pay for marketing.... Um, hate to say this, but Kroger brand comes in a box so the pantry is still organized AND it is cheaper.... Hmm....

I never understood...

There are some Bible verses that I don't think I fully understood until I had kids.

Psalm 73:21-23
Psalm 131:2
Isaiah 64:6
John 3:3-4
Deuteronomy 10:16
Genesis 7:9-10

Should I pursue programming as a career?

I received an email from a former student with a question in it pertaining to pursuing programming as a career. Basically: with all of the layoffs in the industry, is a computer science career even worth pursuing? Here is how I replied: [I made some blanket statements that don't carry in all cases. Not everybody that has been laid off has been an idiot - some were shrapnel that got caught in the cross-fire. And some idiots kept their jobs. Some good friends have been laid off, I'm explaining the reasons that the layoff happened, I'm not agreeing with the decision.]
--------------------------------

Computers don't seem to be going away. (Fads generally only last for 20-25 years. I know it sounds funny, but 10 years ago, there was a lot of conversations about computers being on the way out - especially with the layoff issues that you mentioned. Anyway, what is going on is that the market was over-saturated. There were a lot of "idiots with computers" that thought that they knew how to program and so they all started getting jobs at companies writing programs. Companies started to realize that there were third-party programs that were better than what their "local guy" was coming up with - this was especially true with web pages. There were some guys that had figured out HTML that had no artistic skills that started throwing together flat web pages - and the company saw that they could hire somebody to create a web site that had some quality and so they laid off the guy that wasn't necessary.

All this to say - Here's what I see in the market. Companies are not interested in hobbyist programmers anymore. They want people with skills. What skills? Web programming, xml, .net. (From talking to friends in the industry, Java is on a down-swing right now. Traditionally Sun, Microsoft, and Borland have taken turns at the top at about a 5 year cycle. Now that the chief exec of Borland moved to Microsoft, I think it will be Sun and Microsoft for a while. Microsoft is currently on the up (more on this in a bit).) The other thing that will make you employable is a degree in programming. It does a lot more than "just figuring it out on your own" or high school classes. The final piece that will make you employable is to stay on the cutting edge as much as possible. Learn about Windows Vista (new name for Longhorn) and stay current with web programming trends. In 5 years, learn whatever else is very new. Stay on the front so that your information never gets a chance to go stale. (But keep your programming in the current. Just because tomorrow's computer will run your software doesn't mean that people will buy it.)

A final thought on Windows Vista. Windows Vista is going to break a LOT of programs. Windows Vista will not run programs that currently run on the Windows SDK. Windows Vista will require programs to be written in .net. VERY few people know .net right now. And lots of companies want their programs to work in Windows Vista. (Do you see the connection?) So, in the next 5 years especially people will be hiring .net programmers like they are going out of style. But watch out because in 5-10 years there will be layoffs as everybody gets up to speed. That's why you can't sit on .net. You need to be able to adjust for the next big thing so that you don't join the layoff group. It's a betting man's game, but from watching the game for 15 years, I've learned some things.