Time Off WeirdGuy Blog – Just One Week

By E. Brown

I’ll be taking a week off to focus on closing out a project (July 28-August 1). More to come from the lessons learned during this engagement. It’s a really cool online course with custom hooks into a client app. The back-end was designed as “plug and play” so content can quickly and easily be swapped out while still being applicable to the course testing and grading scenarios.

See you in a week.

iPhone Air Guitar

Great for parties and finding new ways to impress your geek friends.

clipped from dustbowl.wordpress.com So so fun… google shows you how….. code.google.com

Creative eLearning – Teacher Tube

TeacherTube, launched in March 2007, has the goal of creating an online community for sharing instructional videos. It is a site geared to provide just in time (JIT) professional development with the goal of teachers teaching teachers. It is also a site where teachers can post videos for students to view in order to learn key concepts or skills.

TeacherTube was the idea of Jason Smith, a 14-year veteran educator. Jason has been a teacher, coach, campus administrator, and district administrator in the public school system. Asking the question, “Why can’t teachers, students, and schools utilize the power of the web for learning?”, Jason decided to create a site and get started himself. His brother, Adam, used his technical skills to develop the site. Jason’s wife, Jodie, joined the team to populate the site with videos and help improve communication. She too has 14 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, campus technology integrator, and district curriculum coordinator.

Some of the video channels they offer cover topics such as:

• Elementary
• Middle School
• High School
• College & University
• Math
• Fine Arts
• Reading
• Writing and more…

Visit Teacher Tube today and continue your personal development.

Voyeuristic vs. Imaginistic

By E. Brown

I have an ongoing debate with my best friend. We tend to disagree about some television programs. She likes Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and Desperate Housewives, while I like shows such as LOST, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica.

I will make fun of the drama and dysfunction of the shows she watches and she will give me a hard time about the geeky sci-fi make-believe shows I watch. Granted, we watch some of each others shows, but the tell tale sign is that I can busy myself with others things while Brothers & Sisters is on (heck, I can skip it all together) and she can do likewise with my enjoyed programming.

Yet, it occurred to me the other day….

The Difference
The shows I like are make-believe and that is why they are compelling to me. I do not want to watch “real to life” drama because I get enough real world drama every day. Through the news I read, or watch, I understand there is a great amount of hurt, brokenness, and dysfunction within the world without having to watch it. This is voyeurism.

Does this mean I am trying to escape reality? No, there is no way to accomplish that outside of mind altering prescriptions. Call me optimistic, but I like shows were the characters are pitted against challenges that I can relate to, set in creative and imaginative “worlds” where they rise above the pains and sorrows they face. Better to stimulate imagination.

Loss Of Imagination
I have tried to instill in my children the joy of reading. Taking the descriptive language of the author and using their imaginations to create the characters and worlds within their minds-eye. We have been reading such classics as:

• Journey To The Center Of The Earth
• Around The World In 80 Days
• Moby Dick
• 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
  
• The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
• The Swiss Family Robinson
• The Silver Chair, and others.

Why is there a loss of wonder and imagination amongst many today? Could it be we are bombarded by the “real world” so much we lose the ability and turn to coping mechanisms because of stress?

Imagine
Imagination is defined as:

the action of forming new ideas and concepts or images; the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful.

Imagination reduces stress. It breeds innovation across vocational fields. It stimulates mental activity. Imagination is fun. It breaks new ground. It looks at issues and problems in a creative new way.

So, how about you? Are you voyeuristic or imaginistic? Let me know in the comments area below.

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How Being Quiet Pays Off In Business

By E. Brown

USA Today recently published an interview with controversial Q1 Group CEO, Vijay Eswaran, extolling the virtues of silence. Vijay spends an hour at the beginning of most every day in silent contemplation. He attributes this to being a big part of his successes. Vijay’s new book, In The Sphere of Silence, outlines a regimen of silence:

• Best time is early in the morning or when convenient. Consistency is the key.
• Maintain silence for one hour. If you’re distracted, start at the beginning.
• Evaluate yesterday. Note your progress and identify reasons for failures.
• Set goals for today, tomorrow, and next week.
• Plan long-term goals and prioritize. Do this daily.
• Review your notes from the previous day.
• Seek knowledge by reading non-fiction or listening to something educational for ten minutes, then make note of what you learned.
• Commune with the Lord for the last ten minutes – asking questions that need answers. Write it all down.

At first, the interviewer seemed to think Vijay’s exercise was “new-age goobledy-gook” and later in the article proposed the practice of silence as a recent “secret” discovery. The fact is for thousands of years, men and women have made a habit of spending time in quiet reflection gaining introspection and wisdom.

Like King Solomon of old once said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Mobile Learning 2007 Podcasts Are Here

I have not heard these yet, but I am looking forward to it.

clipped from mlearning.edublogs.org If you’d like to hear the proceedings of the MLearn 2007 conference, you can now access all of the session recordings courtesy of the Talking VTE Podcast and Stephan Ridgway.� The photos don’t usually match up with the various sessions, but the content is all there and there’s plenty of gold in “them thar presentations.” :)

Miro Video Player Kicks The Competition in The Teeth

Miro (open and free video player) has been released and is bowling over the competition such as Quicktime, Joost, and Windows Media Player.

clipped from www.boingboing.net I am thrilled to announce that Miro, the open and free video player, has gone 1.0, and launched in a polished, slick package for Windows, Linux and MacOS. Miro (formerly Democracy Player) is the open and free alternative to Joost, Windows Media Player and iTunes for getting, watching and organizing your video. In place of DRM and proprietary formats, Miro uses the VLC video-engine to play practically every video format under the sun. It has over 2,700 channels of free content And it uses BitTorrent to download, which means that the creators you love won’t get clobbered by bandwidth bills when their videos get popular. Miro launches: Democracy Player evolves into a 1.0 product! (almost!) Miro kicks Joost Miro tees Miro needs your donations to build the future of Internet video Democracy Player final beta is out: next stop, Miro Player!

Remembering The Edmund Fitzgerald

On November 10, 1975, the tanker, Edmund Fitzgerald was plowing through Lake Superior, heading toward Detroit. A violent storm came sweeping in and caught the ship in it’s fury. The Edmund Fitzgerald broke in two and sank, taking her 29 crew members with her. At the time it was considered the worst maritime disaster in record.

Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The wreck was memorialized by Canadian singer/song writer, Gordon Lightfoot. In spite of the song having a few historical inaccuracies, the song remained one of his more popular. Funny…call me sentimental, but I still have the original 45rpm vinyl disc. I remember at the time, the lyrics and melody were slightly haunting. It seems the song has kept interest alive to this day.

Tragedy in any form is not to be taken lightly. Yet, we press on…remembering.

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10 Steps To Be A Better Listener

From: WikiHow – The How To Wiki

Listening is an essential part of communication. Listening is different from hearing. Being a good and patient listener helps you not only solve problems, but also helps you see the world through the eyes of others, thereby opening your understanding. As deceptively simple as listening to and acknowledging other people may seem, doing it well, particularly when disagreements arise, takes concentrated effort and lots of practice.

10 Steps To Better Listening

1) Put yourself in the other persons shoes

2) Remove distractions

3) Do not interrupt

read more…

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Conversations From The Corner Office

What a great resource! National Public Radio (NPR) has a wonderful little podcast called, Conversations from the Corner Office.

Here you can listen to interviews with notable business people and entrepreneurs such as:

- Bob Iger (Walt Disney Company)

- James Rogers (Duke Energy)

- Mary Sammons (Rite Aid)

- Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield (California Pizza Kitchen)

- Howard Schultz (Starbucks) and more

Hear from some of the leaders and trend setters around the U.S.

Have fun!

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Free iTunes Songs At Starbucks

Make your way to your local Starbucks and ask the barista for the free iTunes download of the day. Over the next 30 days, Starbucks is offering a free download from iTunes every day — while supplies last! Here’s a chance to pump some new and free songs into your music library.

This is only the start of the relationship between Apple and Starbucks as announced in the last keynote speech by Steve Jobs. This initiative is in celebration of the new iPod-Touch. Starbucks now has an iTunes Wi-Fi Store accessible from your iPod-Touch and iPhone.

Hurry, because this special ends November 7, 2007.

Have fun!

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iPhone: Apple Responds to Price-Cut Backlash

Steve Jobs open letter attempts to pacify angry buyers and early adopters:

“There is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane,” Jobs wrote.

“If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon.”

read more…

Related Links
- iPhone – You Get What You Pay For
- Your Virtual iPhone
- iPhone Needs a Software Update Soon
- Why You May Not Want An iPhone
- Apple iPhone: 25 Days and Counting
- Apple’s Waning “Wow!” Factor

Look Out iTunes – Amazon® Officially Announces DRM-free Music Store

Amazon announced this morning that it plans to launch a music store later this year that will sell unprotected MP3 files from thousands of record labels. The Amazon music store, which does not appear to have a name yet, will offer “millions” of songs from over 12,000 record labels.

Apple is in hot pursuit of renegotiating contracts to offer the same. This isn’t necessarily breaking news to anybody, but the Associated Press confirms in its recent report that CEO Steve Jobs has been “layin’ it on thick” as the music studios’ contracts with iTunes have expired and the companies have entered renegotiations.

read more | digg story

Brad Delp 1951-2007

One of the major influences in 1970′s-80′s rock is dead at the age of 55 years. Brad Delp, former lead singer for the rock group Boston, was found dead in his New Hampshire home on March 9. While news of Iraq, the political race, and the surprise theatrical hit 300 ran through the papers and tabloids, the death of this man was most deeply felt by the people who were touched by his music. At the time the cause of death was not known. Now, Delp is reported as having committed suicide by charcoal-burning or carbon monoxide poisoning. It was said that Brad wrestled with depression for some time and left a suicide note. (If you know or suspect someone as being suicidal use the tips at the end of this article.)

Delp auditioned for and was immediately signed on as the lead vocalist for Boston in the mid-1970′s. The debut self titled album came out in 1976 and was an instant success. The first three songs, More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, and Long Time highlighted Delp’s vocal stylings and incredible range. It was no wonder that fans couldn’t wait for the next album, Don’t Look Back that rolled out amid controversy in 1978.

I remember the first time I heard both these albums. The fine editing and mixing of Tom Scholz combined with the energy and flair of Brad Delp’s vocals left me with goose bumps. I had never heard anything that so captivated the rock and roll sound of that era than the melodic rifts of Boston.

Boston had planned a reunion tour this year but, with Brad’s death the tour has been canceled. Our prayers are with his children, family, and friends.

Depression and Warning Signs of Suicide

• Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness
• Extreme withdrawal from friends, family, and usual activities
• Talking about suicide or “ending it all”
• Self-destructive or risk-taking behavior
• Giving away favorite possessions
• Sudden changes in mood or behavior
• Increased use of alcohol or drugs
• Identification with someone who has committed suicide
• Preoccupation with thoughts of death
• Previous suicide attempt(s)

Know the warning signs!

Most suicidal people give clues about their feelings. Don’t be afraid to ask someone you are worried about if he or she is thinking of taking his or her own life. You cannot make someone suicidal by asking a direct, caring question about the warning signs of suicide you may have identified. Tell your loved one that you are worried and give specific reasons why. Stress that he or she is very important to you and to other people. Encourage that person to get help through a psychiatrist, social worker, clergy member, or other mental health professionals.

How to Deal with Signs of Suicide

• Stay Calm. Don’t overreact.
• Express Concern. Take your friend or family member seriously. Explain why you are worried. Be specific.
• Listen Attentively. Maintain eye contact.
• Ask Direct Questions. It is important to find out if your friend has a specific plan for suicide.
• Acknowledge Feelings. Do not be judgmental. Don’t take it personally if you can’t help your friend “cheer up”.
• Reassure. Stress that suicide is a permanent solution to temporary problems. Remind your friend that there is always hope, and things can and will get better.
• Don’t Promise Confidentiality. You may need to consult others, or talk to your friend’s doctor about the signs of suicide you have identified.
• Take Action, Involve Others. Don’t attempt to handle this alone. Consult others who are trained to help and deal with warning signs of suicide.

Show Don’t Tell

In light of the discussion on the significance of applying what we learn and are inspired by (see article Informing, Inspiring, and Applying), I am reminded of the song, Show Don’t Tell by the Canadian power trio, Rush. The lyricist is in essence saying the same thing, “Don’t just talk about what you know [information], but show me [inspiration and application].” That is exactly what I would encourage you to do — take what you learn and apply it. Don’t just talk to your boss, your peers, your employees, your students, your friends, or your family about what you know — show them. Enjoy the lyrics below.

How many times do you hear it?
It goes on all day long
Everyone knows everything
And no one’s ever wrong
Until later…

Who can you believe?
It’s hard to play it safe
But apart from a few good friends
We don’t take anything on faith
Until later…

Show…don’t tell…

(Show me, don’t tell me)
You’ve figured out the score
(Show me, don’t tell me)
I’ve heard it all before
(Show me, don’t tell me)
I don’t care what you say
(Show me, don’t tell me)

You can twist perceptions
Reality won’t budge
You can raise objections
I will be the judge
And the jury

I’ll give it due reflection
Watching from the fence
Give the jury direction
Based on the evidence
I, the jury

(Show me, don’t tell me)
Hey, order in the court
(Show me, don’t tell me)
Let’s try to keep it short
(Show me, don’t tell me)
Enough of your demands
(Show me, don’t tell me)
Witness take the stand
(Show me, don’t tell me)

(Show me, don’t tell me)
Hey, order in the court
(Show me, don’t tell me)
Let’s try to keep it short
(Show me, don’t tell me)
I don’t care what you say
(Show me, don’t tell me)
Let’s see exhibit A

Lyrics by Neil Peart. All lyrics © Copyright 1989 Core Music Publishing.

Under The Heat by The 77’s

As I have mentioned, I like thoughtful lyrics and good progressive musical orchestration. I got turned onto a band called the 77’s back in the mid-to-late 1980’s. The band has undergone several iterations over the years but Mike Roe has been the backbone from the very beginning. Personally, I like all the albums that Aaron Smith played drums and percussion on – that guy rocks.

I was recently reminded of one of their songs. It was poignant then and I find it to be just as poignant today. Although the song spawned out of the October 24, 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, I believe you’ll see several other levels that the song works on as well – most notably:
- Where we stand today in regards to Foreign policy
- 9/11 and current terrorist activities
- How we respond under pressure
- Who we truly are revealed to be when opposition hits our lives

Under The Heat (From All Fall Down)

Like a snap of the fingers
It was just that quick
The building had fallen
And shattered and
Melted under the heat

We found a buddy
Who was covered in blood
He kept trying to get up
And look
Lay down, lay down, lay
Down Marine
Under the heat

All our lives changing
Under the heat

“Take your cameras and
Get out of here”
“Forget it” said the C.O.
“You’re out of line,
You’re angry, I’m angry,
They’re angry,
Just do the job”
Under the heat

We stopped to listen for
Voices
And then we’d dig
With whatever we had
Listen and dig, listen
And dig, listen and dig
Under the heat

All our lives changing
Under the heat

Reaching through this
Curtain of fear
My arms are stretched
Beyond the limit
I take the heat from
Streaming tears
To bear the cold and
Walk out in it
Walk out in it

My plans for the future
Are a frozen picture
That has fallen and
Shattered and melted
Under the heat

All our lives changing
Under the heat

From the San Francisco Chronicle – Monday October 24, 1983
Papers fluttered in the gentle October breeze and a page from a pocket-sized Bible lay on the ground. It was opened to the book of Psalms. The passage said, “For they do not talk of peace, but against the quiet ones of the land they plot treacheries…”.

Who do you find yourself to be when “under the heat?”

Lyrics by Mark Tootle. All lyrics copyright © Fools of the World, Ltd.

Living or Just Existing?

I like thoughtful music. Music where the lyrics ask questions that make me think. Lyrics where the writer wrestles with the realities of life. I also like good music. I mean good in the sense that composition and melody are progressive and original. I have a wide variety of musical tastes and there is not much that I will not listen to–at least once.

One such musical group I have enjoyed over the years is the Canadian “power trio”, Rush. This is a band that has progressed through the decades and have maintained a high level of musical integrity. I was listening to their Grace Under Pressure album (can you say album nowadays?) and the particular song, The Enemy Within. The lyrics are introspective and worth sharing.

Things crawl in the darkness
That imagination spins
Needles at your nerve ends
Crawl like spiders on your skin

Pounding in your temples
And a surge of adrenaline
Every muscle tense–
To fence
The enemy within…

I’m not giving in
To security under pressure
I’m not missing out
On the promise of adventure
I’m not giving up
On impossible dreams–
Experience to extremes–
Experience to extremes–

Suspicious-looking stranger
Flashes you a dangerous grin
Shadows across your window–
Was it only trees in the wind?

Every breath a static charge–
A tongue that tastes like tin
Steely-eyed outside–
To hide
The enemy within…

To you is it movement or is it action?
Is it contact or just reaction?
And you–revolution or just resistance?
Is it living, or just existence?
Yeah, you–it takes a little more persistence
To get up and go the distance…

I’m not giving in
I’m not missing out
I’m not giving up
On impossible dreams–
Experience to extremes–
Experience to extremes–

With all the myriad of issues that we as human-beings wrestle with on a daily basis, have we made a conscious effort to live or are we allowing ourselves to be buffeted by internal and external forces? I like the last portion of the song specifically because it makes me ask this very question.

To you is it movement or is it action?
Is it contact or just reaction?
And you–revolution or just resistance?
Is it living, or just existence?

Stop existing and start living!

Lyrics by Neil Peart. All lyrics © 1984 Core Music Publishing