A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

There was a certain comfort as a consumer of media in the old days. Lest I simply sound like every other aging boomer, let me explain in more detail. Because of the frightening lack of media options, one could be relatively certain others knew what you watched or listened to. We had common exposure to many cultural references. I'm not so sure that knowing how Gilligan prevented the stranded folks from escaping the island was crucial. At least there was commonality in that banality.

Now of course, media outlets and options continue to explode. I have very little hope that your world will mash up with mine. It's highly likely that today we will not have listened to, watched, or read any media in common. Other than this blog, in fact, I must assume that you probably did not.

I guess having choice is good. News, music, and information itself is becoming ever so more personalized. I do feel that the enormous variety may lead to cultural loneliness, a term I thought I had invented. Of course googling it turns up countless references of a different sort. My definition means to be alone within one's own culture because of the deluge of unshared media. You may not want to listen yourself, but I do have a need to include something which I listened to when driving home from work earlier. It's not an extraordinary episode but I want others to be able to experience some of the ideas which affected me today. I regularly listen to Buzz Out Loud from the folks at CNET. I first listened because of the subject matter but continue due to the personalities involved.

Buzz Out Loud 708: Meat Parade

Labels: Creative Zen, podcasts, technology

Back in the 1990's I knew it would happen. I forecast that when everybody and their grandmother had email, people would still seldom write. Email is easy, basically free, and nearly instantaneous yet people, at least the ones I know, are not wired for creating consistent messages regardless of form.



On a related note, I was pleased to receive some tourist information in the post today. I had asked for some information on Palm Springs, California as we're planning to spend a few days there next month during a road trip to the American Southwest. The Bureau of Tourism was happy to oblige. The whole concept of traditional, old mail through the post office is really quite amazing. Imagine, if I affix a token proof of payment on an envelope, a cooperative agreement between governments guarantees to physically deliver the item to nearly any physical location on the earth. What a spectacular service!

Labels: Desert Southwest, technology, travel planning

For the majority of human existence, music was an oral tradition of individuals and tribes. Musical notation in a historical perspective may have started more than 4000 years ago with a cuneiform script in the lands of what is currently Iraq. Still, modern notation is most closely associated with European classical music. So, in the scheme of things, even being able to keep a written record of reproducible music is but the blink of an eye in human history.

Let's jump to the relative recentness of the last 150 years. We have invented ways to capture actual sounds and reproduce them at will. I'm barely a baby-boomer but have personally played LP's, 8-track tapes, cassettes, and now digital files. I know fortunes have been created and lost because of changes in these technologies. Access to it has dramatically allowed the accumulation of fortunes and vast power. The roads to artistic achievement have witnessed various twists and turns as the music industry has undergone continual growth and change.

BitComet is running as I type this. I have to admit it is just too damned easy to share little computer files containing songs. It is easier than going to the library to rip a copy from a CD. It is simpler than signing into an online music store. It is certainly less of a hassle than actually getting to a music store in the mall. We simply will no longer stick to outdated modes for music distribution, nor should we.

The thorny issue involves how to remunerate those who put all the effort into making those tracks. I haven't a clue as to how it should work. Perhaps those who create music will have to earn money by putting on live performances and simply giving away the little digital files. In a way, those gatherings will be a little closer to what music has been for the majority of its existence. For the majority of human existence, music was an oral tradition of individuals and tribes.

Labels: futurecast, music, technology

Today, I had my COMM 0004 students work on a new task.

I have scheduled our entire four-hour class in our department's special computer lab on Thursdays. The flat-screen monitors fold out of the way and the students are able to work in groups during the majority of the afternoon. We work on the computers for the last hour or so.



Many of their special online assignments found on our course homepage can be completed from home. So, I decided to have the students make voice recordings. They hand them in, so to speak, by copying to an Institute share-in network drive. The first assignment was simply to speak for 90 seconds. They were to describe a particular holiday in their culture. Then, they were to share the special ways they celebrate it. I have copied the files to a different share-out drive, so they may listen to each other's recordings.

I have been teaching the same level for many years at BCIT. However, I amaze even myself by how different the class is each time. I vary the materials but even if I didn't, each group of students has a unique character. I am enjoying the present one a lot.

Labels: BCIT, computer lab, students, technology

I'm beginning to understand. It wasn't until I got an mp3 player that I discovered podcasting and how it shifts the whole paradigm of radio. Summarily, a few days ago, I downloaded free TVersity software and I'm beginning to understand the future of television and video.



TVersity allows media to be streamed to my Sony PlayStation 3 via the home network. I first thought it'd be useful as I could listen to any of 8000+ music files through my home theatre system. I'd need not load them via my computer anymore. Of course, also being able to read thousands of personal photo archives off my external drive and display them on the larger, living room Toshiba screen promised to be fun too.

I had never seriously considered video podcasting as promising technology. After all, I'd not want to watch the tiny screen of a portable device, I thought. Now, I realize how useful Internet delivery of broadcasting may eventually become. With a Canadian Internet provider, it's not possible to watch U.S. television over IP. The networks block access. I'm especially disappointed in not being able to participate in www.hulu.com. However, the Internet is going to be a major means of delivery sooner than some might believe. A dozen years ago it was best practice not to create a web page that had over 50K of photos and text. Then, when radio first started arriving by IP, I wondered if we'd ever have sufficient bandwidth for such an extravagance.

I find it a little ironic that I'm enamoured by high definition content via satellite or Blu-ray but that I'm still so willing to watch grainy video on the 42" LCD. This playing around seems so refreshingly pioneering though. Yesterday, being able to watch live television from Sri Lanka was magic, although the teledrama was little better than a slide show of blurry images on the big screen.

I had been very skeptical of those who dismiss the importance of new high-definition discs. These people have written that Blue-ray's lifetime will be limited as the last physical medium. Their proclamation about the immediate future being in downloads seemed so pie-in-the-sky. Haven't those pundits witnessed how much time it takes just to download a movie trailer? I do admit I felt more than a little thrilled when throwing video around the network though. Demand will guarantee broad enough broadband. I'm a reluctant convert.

Labels: Internet, podcasts, PS3, technology, television

THE FUTURE: 1950 STYLE
Eventually, automated homes such as those described by Ray Bradbury will exist. As of today, I am one step closer to the part where the house plays music. Let's forget about the exact scenario of the short story from The Martian Chronicles as I'd rather leave the fear of nuclear devastation for another blog entry. Also it's important to note that he wrote this short story fifty-eight years ago. Smart houses are assuredly taking longer to come to fruition than my childish notions would've predicted.

SERVING MEDIA
I'm thinking about There Will Come Soft Rains, as I have thousands of .mp3 and .wma files on an external hard drive near my computer. I use it for the collection and backing up important info. from my main drive. As discovered on Saturday the new Playstation 3 will play these networked songs through the built-in media server in Microsoft's MediaPlayer 11. My PS3 lacks a direct DTS output for stereo files, unlike my computer's sound card. However, there's something quite simple and satisfying about making a selection on the large TV screen. It just feels right to pick music with the same remote I use when watching a DVD.

GETTING IT TOGETHER
Many people already have some sort of home network today. Most are wireless and used just to get the Internet on a notebook computer without a plug. This could be a wonderful basis for a smart house. The problem is that most of our consumer electronics products do not get along. Most of the devices are not designed for interoperability. In order to make any of them work together one must work too damned hard.

TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME
I envision a day when, as one walks into the house, all gadgets will ask permission to connect to the home's network. For example, I should be able to listen to a podcast on a visitor's iPod. If the system were clever enough, a graphic representing the temporary device would automatically appear on a screen showing the current technology environment. As well as the calling-card information previously entered by the visitor, the system would recognize the unprotected media on the device. I'd simply be able to direct the system to play the podcast.

FIGHTING IN A FUTURE
This is a little more complex than Ray Bradbury's circuits and tapes in the walls. However, I can easily think of a good topic for a new, short story. Let's assume that all the system devices on our imaginary network have a priority on the system. What if various devices started fighting for supremacy in the heirarchy? Every iPod Nano lusts for power, you know. Somehow, that'd make for an interesting read.

Labels: computers, futurecast, Mediaplayer, podcasts, PS3, sci-fi, technology

Cool .. another toy. Being that a "Leap Day" only occurs every four years I thought I'd make it special. My new Sony Playstation 3 is downloading a movie trailer through the same Internet connection as I'm using here.

Being in the over 40 camp, I'm the demographic with enough cash to actually afford one of Sony's little, overpriced boxes. It certainly wouldn't have made sense for me to get one had it not contained a Blu-ray drive. Sorry Microsoft, I used to be a fanboy but times change.

I snapped up one of the few remaining old 80 GB bundles with game, MotorStorm. I can't imagine myself ever getting interested in First Person Shooters. Some of the adventure titles might be okay.

I had to put the slick, stylish box through some paces by seeing if it could play my monster collection of old +R and +RW DVD discs. It seems to handle even the old copies. Still, I'm contemplating walking down to a video store just to rent something on Blu-ray for a test run. In fact, I'll end now .. and do just that.

Labels: movies, PS3, technology

I grew up in a working-class home but we had all we needed and much more. It was back in the days when one income was enough and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. Wasn't the term, housewife? It's a little sad that's a choice no longer possible for most families today.

The inspiration for today's entry occurred when we were flying back from California earlier in the month. The Alaska Air plane was packed with every seat occupied. Jay and I sat across the isle as the two seats closer to the 737's windows were filled to each side of us. A mom and dad sat next to Jay. I sat near the kids who obviously wanted to sit near the windows (and away from their folks). There was a boy who I'd estimate being about 13 and his sister was younger by a year or two. The family was obviously returning from a trip that included Disneyland as they were wearing the clothes and carrying the swag.

I also saw Mickey, the rather scary walk-around one, on the screens of both their digital cameras. These youngsters were gadgeted up with devices galore. As well as the means to take photos, they also each had iPods. The boy was playing with a PSP and the girl some other sort of specific electronic game. I'm sure all these toys plug into their own computers at home. There's certainly a whole lot more than simply buying clothes and paying the dental bills for these parents.

I have been following Sony Playstation 3 news on the Internet. I'm trying to figure out when the time is right to buy into the product lineup. Apparently, there is no new, upgraded version due out in the next few months. It was announced today that the 80 GB model bundle will seemingly be replaced with a different game and replacement controllers but the price will remain at $499. I've seen that the average prices for new games for the device are in the neighbourhood of $50 to $60. It seems like providing what's necessary for children in this day and age must break the bank.

It must cost a lot to raise kids. When I was small in the 60's, there were far fewer products to own. No wonder why moms have to work nowadays!

Labels: flying, opinions, PS3, technology

I was chatting with a colleague in the PELD (Professional English Language Development) office before class this afternoon. I was excitedly showing how I've begun copying audio files to the BCIT share-out drive. Each course at the Institute is provided with general storage. It is easily available from any computer on campus by locating the J: drive. Additionally, students can access the data on the Internet via a web browser and their student ID / password. This got me thinking how much more accessible language study materials are now because of Internet access.

Once upon a time, when I began teaching, students just had access to the materials that were handed out by the instructor. Especially when overseas, additional information had to be purchased in the market. Now, getting examples of a new, target language are as close as a search engine. (I've decided to try to eliminate the habit of using Google as a verb.)

Today, I was tossing around mp3 files rather than text. Podcasts have made excellent audio available in a manageable, on-demand format. There really isn't any corollary in analog form. I remember using cassettes but the audio was held captive inside a plastic case. All students needed to listen at the same time and in the same location. Even if I knew a specific radio program would be of interest to my students, most weren't taped simply because it was too much of a hassle.

Labels: BCIT, podcasts, technology

Why do I listen to US National Public Radio nowadays? It could well be my age but I don't think that's the reason. I believe it has more to do with the organization's quick adoption of new technology.

The people at NPR have rapidly made use of podcasting as a way of sharing their extensive resources. The shear number of programs is quite overwhelming.

This sort of reverses the trends of the last 60 years. In North America, radio became quite isolated and independent as early radio networks morphed into being television broadcasters. Commercial radio moved to music formats with primarily local news and information.

Now, with the rising popularity of podcasts, public radio broadcasters have the unique advantage of making use of their relatively large collection of resources. Here, I'm also thinking of organizations like BBC and CBC. All of these offer an amazing amount of podcast material.

Take a look at the npr.org site. In fact, I challenge you to look through NPR's listing by clicking on the image of screen capture. If you cannot find something that interests you, leave me a comment. Actually, if you do find something that interests you, then leave me a comment too! (In order to do this, simply click the word 'comments' as found in the 'posted by' row below.)

Contrast this enormous collection of iPod and mp3-player material to most commercial, terrestrial radio stations where you'll probably not find a single podcast.

Labels: opinions, podcasts, technology

I had all my final exam papers corrected by one o'clock in the afternoon. Nowadays, I always use BCIT's online grade-book during the term. In that way, students can check marks online as the course progresses. I stopped keeping track on Excel spreadsheets a few terms back. That's how I kept track right from my first class at Burnaby in 1997.

This means that I've been signing teaching contracts with the British Columbia Institute of Technology for ten years! I've never worked anyplace for such a long time. It sounds a little scary. People work only four or four and a half decades at best but I've just finished one.



Back to what I was starting to say, an advantage of the online grade book shines when it comes to completing final marks. I simply click on a few links and all the data is automatically calculated and transferred. I am only required to enter attendance data and a special form if there were any failed students. Then viola, the job's done. It is sent off to be approved by a supervisor and then electronically proceeds to the registrar.

I like technology a lot, but then I've always chosen only what I feel makes my life easier. For example, I manage to completely avoid voice mail at work. My message redirects callers to my cell. If I am busy, I simply don't answer. People who do not have clear boundaries may end up stressed out by the additional demands placed on them by technology. I'd rather think I use it only to lessen my responsibilities or, at least, become a little more efficient.

Labels: BCIT, opinions, software, technology

During the evening classes, my students are often involved in group study. As we meet in a very up-to-date computer lab, they also have many projects where they have to work with CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) software. Pronunciation Power is a useful program that really can provide results. Another program, Focus on Grammar is a great deal more interesting than it sounds because it has all the skill areas included in a simple interface. I like to use commercial programs for teaching but they often are not necessary in order to make use of the equipment.

I frequently use the Internet to have my students do more normal things but add an educational goal. For example right now, they have scoured the Internet for a picture they'd like to describe. Next, they are going to open Creative's WaveStudio and describe the photo for ninety seconds. Lastly, they'll save the photo and the audio file in a special class folder so others can listen and view the results.

All the while, I can comfortably sit at the instructor's computer in front of the room. This is rare as I'm usually all over a classroom when teaching. Presently, from the front desk, I can call up what is happening on every screen in the room. The program is called NetSupport School and I've found that spying is rather fun!

Labels: BCIT, computer lab, software, technology

I checked out the DVD of Minority Report (2002) from the library today when I was returning some travel guides. I like how future technology is presented in the film in a way that doesn't jump and shout about its very presence.

Today was just another day, but some aspects of it wouldn't have been common or even possible when I was in college. For example, I started the day after an old-fashioned coffee by answering an email message from the YMCA in Munich, Germany. It'd been typed in Europe a few hours before while I was asleep. They confirmed reservations for a stay with them during a planned autumn trip. Before eating lunch, I entered some students marks online from home. Later, during my afternoon class, half of my students had oral presentations. Some talked about their researched topic while showing PowerPoint slides on an enormous screen in the front of the room. The images and text danced around the screen in a colourful yet effective manner. After getting home, I threw the previously-mentioned DVD into my computer's disc drive and copied the movie onto a round, duel-layer DVD disk. I found it difficult to think that I had finished college by a few years before the use of consumer video tape became widespread. Oh, and my day's not quite yet over.

How the things we take for granted have changed. Yet we've adopted so well, the world surely doesn't seem very Jetson-like.

Labels: futurecast, technology

In 1979, I was a sophomore in college. Although only a few hundred miles from Manhattan, little Keene New Hampshire was a world or two away. I didn't see the movie then but The Warriors is now a guilty pleasure.

The film has such a ... well ... indie feel. It also is so analog. I'm coining that term here to mean, 'non-networked'. I mean there were no cell phones for God's sake. If you introduce Verison thirty years hence, the whole premise of the movie falls apart. It really was a simpler time. And the NY subway was rough, scary, and had graffiti. It kinda makes one nostalgic for the good old days!

Labels: analog, movies, New Hampshire, technology

We're supposed to remember the beauty of the free enterprise system is that consumers vote with their cash. Over the long haul, companies that make the better products and adapt well to changing customers' needs should not only survive but thrive.

Sometimes, I wonder how this theory relates to customer loyalty. For example, when it comes to photographic equipment, I've become loyal to Olympus. The only reason, I suppose, is it was the brand of my first digital camera. I was very happy with my experience with my D40 so when I wanted to go to a higher-resolution, I chose an SP-350. At that time, a year and a half ago, I was most interested in staying with a compact choice. I haven't outgrown the 8 megapixels but I do think I will soon be ready to move to something with interchangeable lenses.

That's why it is so opportune that Olympus has just come out with two new models. It takes a few months for discounts to take effect, unfortunately. How can I not be excited about this product though?

Labels: camera, review, technology

I've always felt that happiness must reside internally. It doesn't quite seem right to me that external circumstances should affect one's emotional state. Of course, that is a blatant oversimplification for our interaction with the world is how we experience it.

External forces affect our habits. For example, the weather is great today just as it was yesterday. I was extremely happy to not have to go into work. I walked uptown soaking up the extra sunshine along we way. Being out with no obligations seemed joyful. I will always have a hard time understanding people who get bored when they've time off from their jobs. Life without a schedule is the way it was intended to be, I believe.

Furthermore, many people have trouble being in the moment nowadays. Technology has made it easy to exist in a constant somewhere else. Take all the people immersed in some other reality as they go about life. If I were to pull out the iPods' earbuds and switch off the cell phones, two thirds of the people on public transit would immediately go into a panic. Rather than attempting to be in some other zone, maybe it would be healthier just to look around and experience the here there.

Labels: feelings, relaxing, SkyTrain, technology

Today, I completed teaching my COMM 0004 class at 5:00. I am now on the other side of the campus in my office. In a few minutes, I will walk into NE1 for an evening COMM 0030/31 class. It takes place in a computer lab as we are able to use the equipment for listening and recording speech. There are several software programs specifically designed for pronunciation practice. In addition, we also save and store audio clips about the topics we are reviewing. There's net storage for every class at the Institute. It can be accessed with student ID and password directly from any computer lab or via a browser gateway from any Internet computer.

Labels: BCIT, computer lab, technology

There are two ways to be rich. One is to make more ... while the other to want less. I recently saw this on a poster, in Los Angeles, CA no less.


I feel as though I've always been cautious with cash. The only time in my life I ever borrowed money was to go to college and, fortunately, student loans have very reasonable interest rates. Of course, working abroad when right out of college did not force me to live a normal lifestyle. I mean I paid off those college loans quickly with cash from my work in Saudi Arabia. In addition, my current, eleven year old, pickup truck, although purchased new, was paid for with traveller's cheques. Even the apartment from which I'm typing this blog was 'cash on the barrel head'. I just shake my head in amazement at just how much most people have paid for the privilege of borrowing money! I don't need to make much considering how much I've saved.

Even with the small things, I tend to scrimp. This whole new global warming paranoia has at least shined a spotlight on society's excessive consumption. Let's face it most people buy way too much crap. It's nice that my choices can now be discussed as being green ones.

Today, though I went to buy new batteries for our cordless house phone. The price ranged from $16 to $21 for those wrapped, three-battery packs. Then I saw that the entire new Sanyo cordless telephone was just $19. So, of course, I'm throwing away the old but perfectly usable one. I remember doing the exact same thing about three years ago. Sometimes, it just ain't easy being green. Wait, didn't Kermit, the frog, already say that?

Labels: money, opinions, Saudi Arabia, technology, telephone

I'm officially on one of those glorious weeks between teaching the intensive PELD (Professional English Language Development) courses at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

The theory might be a bit more appealing than the facts though. For one, I'm without a contract this week; consequently, I will get no paycheck for it. Moreover, I have spent the better part of the day, so far, doing the final grades for the class that just finished. So, I really have more in the order of four days to do as I please. Wait! I don't want this to sound like complaining. I'm actually very satisfied with the scenario.

I have found recent changes have also altered the end-of-term activities in a positive way. This is the first time in my ten years at BCIT where I haven't kept an Excel spreadsheet of grades. Not only is the grade-book automated so that students can gain access to their scores during the term, but the final grade admission is now totally web-based too. No longer do I have to run to the office to turn in marks to my Admin. Assistant in duplicate.



All final marks were calculated and carried over from the online grades component. I simply entered all additional data on the forms from home. All attendance data, and special reports were included via secure connection to the institute's site. After it all met my approval, I just clicked a button to send it for verification and acceptance.

Life gets better and better! I have achieved the same sense of freedom that used to come after handing over the photocopied set by hand. But this time, I didn't need to take the time to schlep to the Burnaby campus.

Labels: BCIT, technology

Hooray for Tuesday! The week has gotten off to a fine start. My new students are receptive and eager to study. I'd say this is generally the case. As these courses only last for five weeks, the positive momentum hardly has time to fade.

I decided to carry my notebook around with me at BCIT. Finally, wireless access has been improved over on this side of campus on Royal Oak. I put my computer on the front desk along with the piles of papers near my briefcase. It is handy. I carried the notebook down to the teachers' room and started this entry during break.

When coming back upstairs, I saw others running around with their computers. Several of my students even use them to take notes during class. I suddenly had the notion that my long-held dreams were coming true. Technology has come a long way but, honestly, educational adaptation takes too long. We can log on to a common course page wirelessly from any desk at BCIT. If we were to require notebook ownership, then I'd be able to put up most teaching materials in e-form rather than photocopying stacks of handouts. Except in COMM classes, I doubt there's a place where so many people write text with pencils or pens.

Well, in a way, this happens. We meet in NE1 Room 201 on Thursdays. It's the swanky new computer lab with flat-screen monitors that fold to provide group and individual workspace. Students log on at 1:00 and off at 5:00 although we also have regular instruction and testing. So, there's a little more 't' in my BCIT courses than there used to be.

Labels: BCIT, computer lab, technology

If you've ever looked at blog entries here, you know that I'm not a complainer. A continuous rant that disguises itself as a blog is the ultimate in a waste of time. Blogs that gripe are actually worse than meeting people who are complainers as there's no means of changing the blogged subject.

All that being said, sometimes I wonder if some engineers actually ever use the products that they help design. My cheap, little Audiovox cell phone actually feels quite good. The shape, although the same as offered by most other manufacturers, is almost sexy to hold. As well, most of the menus are fairly easy to discern and navigate.

Recently though, I've sent far more text messages than usual. My father's stroke was a month ago, so my sister and I have been texting a lot. We're in different time zones and a quick text message will generally suffice. Today's comment involves the placement of the symbols.



Questions are fairly common when text messaging. So, why does it take five moves to get to over the question mark on this screen?

Labels: complaints, technology

When a new course starts up, the writings in my eJournal and images tend to be a little more abbreviated. When I have lots of extra paperwork to do, I have a bit less time to devote to this blog. I also might be a little more myopic than usual but this, of course, is open for discussion.



At the start of every term, I again find new appreciation in how the web has made class organization and administration easier. I'm sure if you search, over the past few years I've mentioned myBCIT here a number of times.

I truly appreciate my colleagues, yet I cannot understand why none make use of this wonderful resource. It makes things easier! I can pester students with facts, documents, and assignments at any time of the day or night. Over the years, I have come to realize I really am a very special breed. Generally social people keep away from technology like the plague and nerdy folks play only with machines. I'm a rare combination as ...

I have extraordinary talent with both!

Labels: blogging, feelings, myBCIT, software, technology

Yesterday, the microwave oven bit the dust. When pressing start, there was a weird buzzing sound that lasted for only a second and then the panel went dark. That microwave was one of the first purchases we made in Canada. I think the oven was being used before the shipment of junk arrived from Dubai. So, I wasn't upset because it had lasted over a decade.

Luckily, it died when we were getting ready for lunch. That made picking up a replacement easy in the afternoon. When walking into the Queensborough Wal-mart, I mistook the place for a cattle auction. Rather, I learned it's always a zoo on Sundays. It was shocking nevertheless as I was reminded how the uptown Zeller's used to always be completely devoid of shoppers. Well, let's acknowledge they are no longer is business.

Speaking of such things, the replacement Hamilton Beach microwave was only $54. That is Canadian $54.00 and the numbers could be reversed for a quote in US dollars. Okay, I know that it was assembled by workers in China living on subsistence wages. Still, if one ran into a Radio Shack, he'd find that a power cord alone would cost a quarter of that.

I suppose I shouldn't be upset by an object that costs less than I think it's worth. In many much-poorer economies though, these devices are priced much higher. I do feel a bit of discomfort in the strange pricing patterns of a global economy.

Labels: errands, technology, Walmart

As well as making use of tabbed browsing by loading my frequently visited websites in a group, I also use MS Explorer's Links bar for those sites I use a lot but needn't keep constantly open.

It seems as if I can sometimes go for days without getting out much. I mean venturing into the world on the world wide web. This is the computing equivalent of getting into a rut. We take it all for granted now, but access to most all information at any hour is really very liberating.

On Oasis HD, I recorded an hour-long program about Yellowstone National Park. Just a few minutes ago, I found myself exploring the area on my monitor. I don't think my local library is open today, and I wouldn't have had the fortitude to remember my interest and actually find information in book form. Do you remember when tourist information offices or travel boards were a major source of trip planning information?

Do you think we're any smarter than before the Internet?

Labels: HDTV, technology, television

The digital devices around the house now show December. On them the change was very uneventful. A silent change of a few digits on an LCD display can easily slip by unnoticed. Manually flipping a real piece of paper on a wall calendar is immensely more satisfying. It makes the passing of time seem somehow more real.

Part of the fun of a paper calendar may be moving to a new picture. In the bathroom there's now, not surprisingly, a covered bridge. The kitchen wall now sports a new photo of an Italian Christmas Beef Ragout. For another thirty days I get a chance to become accustomed to these. It will then be time to chuck them and hang something completely new on those walls.

Not quite related, I want to share a link to one of my photos. When photos are allowed to run around cyberspace, there's no telling where they may end up. And no, I'm not talking about Britney's latest. I scanned some pictures from my Kuwait days. They have been well-received there. The following page prompted some folks to visit this blog: www.hilaliya.com. Reading the text made me feel old and wise.

Labels: feelings, technology

I could be Martin Scorsese. Okay, well maybe not.

When I was a kid I used to shoot 3-minute rolls of Super8 film. My family often spent weekends camping at Waterville Valley in the NH White Mountains. Although it was about 70 miles we'd stay at a campground in the National Forest. In the autumn of 1973, at the age of 14, I spliced together a whole summer's worth of movies onto a bigger reel. I added commentary and music on a cassette tape. I'd synch 'em up and put on a show. In that decade, I never could've imagined the day we'd have digital tape.

Now it is frightfully easy to capture adventures. I only need to plug the Firewire cable into my old Sony HC-40. Instantly, I'm given the option to copy to the drive from inside Ulead's Movie Factory 5. I've tried others, but paid for Movie Factory because it's designed to go through the process the same way I think. It takes a while to get the data on the drive. Then, I simply cut out parts I don't want, select a menu and write to DVD. The results are easy to access once on disc and inherently copyable in that form. This discs are full of colour and sound in a way which still-photography can't match.

This afternoon, I mailed a copy of our vacation in Sri Lanka to Jay's brother. He's working out of the country. It's been a long time since he's seen his wife, daughters, and the construction on a new home. He will love watching the DVD, I'm sure.

I don't know why I'm not creative more often. Doing a project today is a hell of a lot simpler than playing with Super8 film and a cassette!

Labels: sharing, software, technology

I just looked at the clock and discovered that I'd spent a few hours in Wikipedia. It really is the place to go to look up ... well, nearly anything. I had started out by typing in "1080p". That's because I am deeply into the research required in getting HDTV.

As I spent a dozen years overseas, I knew a little about multisystem televisions and the difference between PAL and NTSC standards. I may have even known that European PAL is broadcast at 25 frames per second. There were all sorts of things I didn't know, however. For example, standard North American theatre films are shot at 24 frames per second. Therefore after conversion, films run a full 4.2% shorter when converted for a PAL broadcast. There is even a noticeable difference in pitch.

Conversion to NTSC's 29.97 frame rate requires even more elaborate changes. First, the film is slowed down by 0.1%. Then, four frames need to be stretched onto five. Yet, because of NTSC's interlacing, four frames actually have to fit across ten. So the first film frame is saved on two NTSC frames, and the second is saved on three, and the third saved on 2, and the last saved on three. This continues. The process works but it introduces something called Telecine judder which is why movement on home TV equipment was never as smooth as in the theatre.

These examples stem from historical factors. Some go back all the way to the choice of using 50Hz phase electrical current in Europe and 60Hz in North America. It is amazing how we are often impacted by previous decisions. We seldom start from scratch although that would probably be far more efficient. If we didn't have to contend with legacy technology, we could create much better and more universal modern systems, from a computer OS to a television's technical standards.

Labels: technology, television

Yesterday, I downloaded the release candidate of Windows Vista. Why not? This is the fun part of computer ownership as far as I'm concerned. If I didn't like the thrill of taking things apart and tweaking them, I'd probably run the Mac OS. This action has caused me to consider how computer software is changing.



Once upon a time, a web browser was just for displaying static information and images. As proof of new directions, just a few days ago Flickr mashed up with Yahoo maps. How fun to drop my personal photos onto a world map! Although a small but exciting improvement, it really highlights the significant changes taking place. One of the versions of the upcoming Windows Vista boasts an improved way of organizing digital images. I'm sorry, but with the likes of Flickr that is already an outdated paradyme. Those functions are arriving at my operating system too late.

Why would I want to organize on my own machine, when I can upload and organize my collection on the Internet? The hot, live implementation means I can access my images wherever I roam. The idea is nice to be able to locate a specific photo from a group of thousands. That is something that an operating system could do. Yet, that is something that Flickr is already doing better for I can link the data to a web page or through email. The PC hasn't been a lone device for many years now.

This is the frightening thing for Microsoft and other traditional software producers. In the future, I will assuredly be buying fewer boxes of shrink-wrapped software to operate on my own CPU. Rather, I will find myself storing and manipulating my data within Web 2.0 applications. This gigantic shift in focus means that Windows Vista may well be the last important operating system upgrade from Redmond. And there's one thing you must know in order to fully appreciate the depth of my viewpoint: I've always loved Microsoft!

Labels: Internet, opinions, software, technology, Windows

The world was analog when I was a baby. Probably the largest change that has occurred in the last four and a half decades is the development of digital.

Here, I'm not thinking only in terms of photography for that's a shift in paradigm that's obvious but didn't begin in earnest until after the new millennium. I am talking about a whole mind-set. The plots of some movies from the eighties and before would fall apart in a remake. Imagine not being able to get in contact with someone! Now, we'd have explain how the cell phone batteries were dead. In another example, the phrase, a mixed tape, sounds like an anachronism.

What made me think of this topic was I am readying this week's final exam. It was easy to find the exam copies I've used back through the late 90's. They are all in C:>My Documents\MS Word\BCIT\COMM Exams\. I remember how in 1985 the English Department at the Taif Ordinance Corps Center and School didn't have a PC. We used typewriters and that's the epitome of analog.

Labels: analog, Saudi Arabia, technology

The fireplace is switched on. I'm thankful for the ease of using natural gas but who'd have thought it'd be necessary in June? Those April showers were supposed to be bringing flowers this month. Actually in Raincouver, the November-December-January-February-March-and-April showers should've subsided, I'd have thought.

Global warming is supposed to cause great variations in weather. Thanks for turning scientist, Al Gore. I'm fairly technical and consider myself scientific in nature too but I have a hard time believing in all the hype about how we're screwing up the planet. The trendy scientists cite facts; however, I feel we're a bit short on observational data. The last few hundred years are a drop in proverbial bucket on a global timescale.

My skepticism is reinforced when I recall my years as an undergraduate student in the late 70's. The predictions at the time were that there'd be absolutely no petroleum left on the planet by this decade. We were all absolutely sure there'd not be a drop left. Guess what, there still appears to be as much as we can guzzle as long as we're willing to pay dearly for it ...

Labels: opinions, technology

I never know from day to day what will become part of this blog. I think, in a way, not knowing is good. It allows me to think of each entry as an opportunity. For example, I could write poetry tomorrow. I could share newly-found wisdom with the world. It'd be possible to use the space to explain a photograph. Or I suppose I could just complain about something or someone.

Today, I've chosen to do none of the above. I will include a response I got to yesterday's entry. Thank you for writing, Mr. Dusan. How humbled I feel to have a regular reader in Slovakia! Getting a personal note from a place to which I've never been demonstrates the power of this medium. This message will prove to be great encouragement on those days when I need a little coaxing to get something online.

Dear Dennis,

I've learnt English for many years (with some longer pauses about 25 years). But I'm not very gifted to learn languages. I've learnt something and after some time I've forgotten it! But now I have strong motivation. I have to learn English in my job. I have 5 strong and busy classmates and an agreeable teacher.

I agree with you! - idea to keep things moving. The best lesson for me is that one if I don't watch the time. And grammar exercise can be very boring topic...

I like to listening podcasts. My favourite one is www.eslpod.com. I've never been to any English speaking country yet and so I am not very experienced listener. It is very good idea to speak slowly! But I'm trying to pick up Voice of America's MP3 files or NASA podcast too.

My learning is time-consuming (reading, listening, preparing for classes). Thanks to Internet is my learning nearly connected to real life and therefore it is more enjoyable.

So, have a nice day
Dusan.

Labels: blogging, sharing, technology

I'm proud of my classroom management. I feel as though I can organize a class well. I mix activies in a way that keeps things moving. My thrill of teaching comes from classroom interaction rather than a love of the materials. I seldom find time to sit though. There's nothing less interesting than a teacher who just hands out grammar worksheets!

In ESL when we refer to authentic materials, we're talking about using real documents such as articles from newspapers. Although less controlled than textbooks, the motivation is increased by using things from real life.

I called BCIT's Audio/Video Department and arranged for a TV and DVD for each of my classes this term. Yesterday, I brought in my first homemade DVD containing stories from the Canada's Daily Planet which is broadcast on the Discovery Channel. They have kindly made this program copyright free for use in schools.




There are some excellent 5 to 6 minutes segments. In fact, over the past week, I've been recording the program on my satellite hard-disk recorder. Next, I've selected and copied off interesting stories to my computer's hard drive though a video capture card. This means they've ended up as mpeg files. I selected about a dozen of these last night, created a menu, and burned a DVD. Now I will be able to bring a bit of the real world into my classroom. Finally, I will be able to duplicate these for other teachers and perhaps provide copies that my students can borrow and take home.

Labels: BCIT, technology

I've recently given up wearing a wristwatch. That's really quite a change in behaviour. I've been wearing watches since I first learned how to tell time and was given my first Timex. That was forty years ago.

Back in that era, there were no digital timepieces, so one had to be able to differentiate between the big hand and the little hand. I don't believe the advent of digital clocks has improved people's punctuality, but they have made telling time a bit more clinical. Stating that it's 12:13 may be clear and accurate; but it lacks the traditional warmth of saying, "It's almost quarter past twelve."

I can choose either method even though I no longer wear a watch at all. Because I always carry my cell phone, I figured that I could drop the one I used to have on my wrist. Maybe the hair will grow back there and it'll get a suntan this summer.

Labels: technology, telephone

Earlier this week, I was saying here how we've been in Canada approaching a decade. As I've got this growing online reservoir of recollections, people searching for data often stop by to ask questions. After a few more years of story-telling, I'll be nearer a complete autobiography; it just won't be in sequential order. Here's an email note I received out of the blue from a stranger this week:

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Dennis,

I see you taught at TINS in Saudi Arabia too. I was there 12 years ago. Meanwhile I've been in Germany and am now back in Dhahran in KSA. I left the medical school at Arabian Gulf University on Bahrain after just 4 months. Terrible place. The worst ELT department I've ever encountered. That is apart from the students. They're mainly Saudi girls. Some the most gifted students I ever taught.

Anyway, over there I was living down the road from the BDF base near Riffa and heard that they run English courses. I'd be really grateful if you could let me know who I could contact there. I'd love to get back to Bahrain some time. I'm eagerly waiting for my exit/re-entry visa so I can go over for the weekend.

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Labels: blogging, Saudi Arabia, sharing, technology

My phone was pretty old and bulky. In fact, if you try an image search on Google for old cell phone you'll come up with a picture of my Nokia (and a company site which copied the photo without permission).

Back when I got it, Fido was a cool phone company. All these years later, Virgin Mobile is the cool phone company.

Cell phones surely have become sexier. My new number should be in the sidebar to the right.

Labels: technology, telephone

During the past several days, I've been trying to keep up with developments dealing with the Asian earthquake and tsunami. I've spent more time than I care to admit pressing reload in the browser window.

I wonder when the term foreign correspondent was coined. I've been unsuccessful in a search but I suspect it occurred at a time when actual missives were sent back to the head office of the newspaper. Technology and the Internet have surely changed the meaning of this term!

Labels: Internet, technology

Every time Jay had tried, attempted telephone calls were met with messages about circuits being busy. We weren't too worried as the immediate family lives on the west coast, near Colombo, and a number of kilometers away from the sea.

Just minutes ago, he placed a call that went through though. All the relatives are safe. They told many interesting stories of how people are coping.

Labels: technology

I have been playing with a/v equipment since my Super-8 film camera in 7th grade.

No, I take that back; my parents provided me with a reel-to-real tape recorder when I was much younger. I loved running around recording people and sounds. I sat by the television during the landing on the moon in 1969 with it.

In seventh grade however, I spliced together a number of three-minute film reels and then recorded a cassette audio track with voice and music. It was the whole summer of various times we went camping in the NH White Mountains. About 22 years after making Waterville Valley 72, I tried to run it in front of an old camcorder and made an unbelievably blurry copy which may still be around here somewhere on a VHS tape. Later in the late 80's, I put camcorder video together with radio. That was when Joel Thomas first bought a camcorder. I even used a Sony tape editing machine when I worked at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai.

It doesn't matter. Technology has finally caught up and surpassed me. In fact, I'm in the dust and it's all because of computers. The combination of a digital camcorder and Pinnacle Studio 9 is a dream. I've only scratched the surface but just burned an eight-minute DVD. Last night, we got a few clips of fireworks over the Fraser from the balcony. And today, I just walked down Columbia Street and to the New Westminster Quay. It was sunny and is Fraser Festival weekend so lots of people were out.



Today's DVD work has titles, and synthetic-muzak tracks were a breeze to drop in. The video is automatically cut into segments when being captured. I just needed to drop the chosen ones on a storyboard. It's simplicity is deceiving as I can imagine spending hours 'tweaking' a scene that nobody, except me, would notice!

I'm both amazed and amazing!

Labels: camera, Quay, software, technology

Can you send text messages internationally on your mobile phone, and if you can, are they cheap or expensive?

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My cell is not a full featured service. I have a 'pay as you go' and only use it for emergency (to have in truck in winter) and for student contact. I don't really know.

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No matter.

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Many of my students have photo phones that play mp3 files and can practically mow the lawn. It all seems silly to me.

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Yeh, my students and friends have mobiles that do everything except make toast. I'd like to have a photo phone and one so that I could text message.

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Too cumbersome for me.

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I used to ba able to text message from my computer and it was free but now they charge. I would pay but it's only available to ------- Mobile Plus service and most of my friends don't have Mobile Plus.

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You need something like a Blackberry.

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I've heard about the Blackberry, but too expensive and technology more than I need or could handle. Text messaging is possible from even the cheapest phones.

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Okay, but keying in is way too slow.

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The Philipinos here are real adept at it. Most of the world except North America do lots of it. In Thailand even, everybody is always text messaging.

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Why not just talk?

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The Philipinos I used to work with text messaged all the time to the Philipines, back and forth all day long. Each texted message only costs 50 fils - 12 cents from here. My friend is in Dubai. If I call his mobile, it is a long distance call for him to receive it.

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Still seems like a stop gap measure, til we use messenger on wireless net devices.

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Or if some one is away from the mobile or can't answer it, instead of just seeing a number of someone who called they can read a message when they get a chance. It's actually real handy.

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Yeah, all right. I will take your word for it.

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i thnk U wll B 2 bsy 2 gt bck 2 me so i snd u a txt mssg. This is the way my students are starting to write.

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I think how most people use cell phones is also stupid and they are always chatting and never saying anything. Too bad more people don't know where the off switch is.

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But like when I'm at work or out in the cinema, somebody can send me a txt mssg and I can read it in the cinema without the phone ringing or when I get back to my office. It would be great if they put answering machines in mobiles, but it seems txt mssging has precluded that.

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Voice messaging is available on my cell. If I switch it .. it informs me .. but I turn that off too. If I can't answer then, I don't want to have to 'catch up' later.

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I agree. Most mobile calls are useless, but then on the other hand, i was a the gym yesrterday and then went to the car wash and supernarket. By the time I got home and checked my message machine, it was too late to go to the cinemas with my friend Richard. If I had had a mobile with me, I would have not gone to the car wash and supermarket and met him at the cinema.

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Very few businesses require such immediate, in-one's-face connections ... almost no ordinary people should.

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Most don't but the example I just gave was one of those times when a mobile would have been handy.

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No wonder half the world is on medication. People complain about stress .. then think of all sorts of ways to invite it into their lives! Good conversation ... dinner is ready now though.

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Bye.

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Labels: Don, technology, telephone