I am posting two reports on the struggle of Iranian women and bloggers for their basic rights abused by the theocratic totalitarian dictatorial regime occupying Iran.
Also, I am highlighting the Freedom House’s journal on democracy and human rights in Iran, www.gozaar.org:
Freedom House launched ? Gozaar,? a new Persian/English online journal devoted to the discussion of democracy and human rights in Iran. ?Gozaar,? which means ?transition,? recognizes that free access to ideas and information is the cornerstone of freedom. In response to widespread censorship and the closure of all independent print newspapers in Iran, the journal seeks to help Iranian democrats fulfill the universal aspiration for freedom of expression by creating an inclusive and provocative space for the discussion of liberty. Each issue features interviews, essays, political cartoons, feature articles, satire, and reviews of art, film and literature. A central feature of ?Gozaar? is its bi-lingual discussion fora.
Following each article is a moderated space in which readers from around the world can contribute their ideas. To prevent government surveillance or blockage of the site, ?Gozaar? uses the most innovative Internet security technology to allow readers in Iran or elsewhere free, unfiltered access. Contributors to the webzine include feminist Kurdish rights activist Roya Tolouee and writer and free speech advocate Faraj Sarkouhi, as well as contributors writing under pseudonyms from inside the Islamic Republic. Readers can alsoaccess a Resources Page, which provides categorized links to organizations, bloggers, and resource tools concerning democracy and human rights.
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Iranian women struggle for equality
By Frances Harrison BBC News, Tehran 8 March 2007
In the days before International Women’s Day, 33 women were arrested in Tehran for peacefully protesting outside a court building. Thirty of them were subsequently released, but warned not to mark the day with protests.
Those detained include many of the big names of Iran’s women’s movement, who are calling for an end to discriminatory laws against women.
It is not hard to find women who have been caused great suffering by the law as it stands.
“This is my son just after he was born,” say Forugh, looking through old photo albums in the tiny apartment where she lives alone.
Ali Reza is now seven and Forugh has not been able to see him for many months. When she separated from her husband the judge gave him custody of their child.
“From the moment he came home my husband used to start shouting until he left again,” she remembers. “So many times it ended in a physical beating”.
She says Ali Reza would come to her defence: “‘Don’t do anything to my mum,’ he’d say. But he would beat the child and throw him aside”.
Painful separation
The judge said Forugh could see Ali Reza for up to 12 hours a week, but they had to meet in a police station. It frightened the child so much she gave up.
Now Forugh’s ex-husband does not let them meet and even prevents them talking on the phone.
Forugh is worried about the damage it has done to Ali Reza.
“One time he came to see me after some months and I asked him: ‘Do you feel bad that I separated from your father and you are far away from me?’ He said: ‘No. I could see how much daddy was bothering you’”.
Forugh breaks down in tears.
Her story illustrates how the laws in Iran are weighted against women: the father automatically gets custody of a boy over two years of age or a girl over seven.
Forugh lost her child and got no financial support from her ex husband.
Fighting for justice
There are those trying to change things.
Parisa is approaching total strangers on the street and talking to them about the legal status of women.
She is collecting signatures for a petition asking for the repeal of Islamic laws that discriminate against women.
The campaign has struck a chord with many Iranian women like Mahnoush who are fed up with being second class citizens.
Mahnoush has just signed the petition and explains why: “I am protesting that in any instance I am considered only half a man… maybe I am more effective than a man so why should my rights be half his”.
Her friend Shima has also signed because she says she has seen lots of women suffer, even her own mother when she divorced.
“The right to divorce is really ridiculous. I have seen women go and say their spouse is a drug addict and the judge says stay with him, at least he can support you. The judges do not consider the value and dignity of women. It’s disgusting.”
Surrounded by fear
Parisa is nervous being filmed collecting signatures.
She thinks plain clothes police are filming us from a parked car nearby even though she only arranged the meeting point at the last minute.
Some of her colleagues have been arrested while campaigning.
Parisa believes the authorities see them as a threat.
“Officials don’t want to listen to the women’s movement because they think it’s something that’s come from the west,” she explains.
She says the interesting thing is the rich, westernised women are less supportive of the campaign to change discriminatory laws than the poor and more conservative women.
Parisa thinks it is because less well off women cannot afford good lawyers when they run into trouble.
1,000,000 signatures
The one million signature campaign to change the law began with a peaceful protest last June in one of Iran’s biggest squares.
Women activists sat on the grass and sang feminist songs.
Within minutes the police beat them and started firing tear gas and mace spray.
More than 70 people were arrested. Among them 20-two-year old student Delaram Ali who is now on trial.
“I am charged with acting against national security, disturbing public order and doing propaganda against the system, and having connections to illegal opposition groups,” explains Delaram.
She says she spent three days in solitary confinement in Evin Jail after the police injured her hand in the protest last June.
Delaram is being defended by Iran’s best known woman lawyer, Shireen Ebadi who won the Nobel peace prize for her human rights work.
Mrs Ebadi says Iranian law allows peaceful protests, that it is the police not the demonstrators who should be prosecuted for their violent action.
“We filed a complaint against the police. Unfortunately although 10 months has passed no representative of the police has come to reply to the complaint in spite of being asked to attend many times,” she explains.
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Iranian bloggers on web restrictions
BBC News 17 January 2007
Iranian bloggers have reacted with anger and scorn to a new law requiring them to register their websites and blogsites with the authorities.
It is being seen as the latest attempt by the Iranian government to control the media.
A contributor to BBC Persian.com, Fariba Sahraie, asked six Iranian bloggers - inside and outside Iran - if they thought the law could be enforced and what effect it would have.
OMID MERMARIAN, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
Omid Mermarian was tortured in an Iranian jail before moving to the US
The bloggers who write about politics or culture from a critical standpoint are people who are already known to everybody, and they abide by the law.
There are others who are either unknown or who write under aliases, and there’s a third group who write from outside Iran.
This law only addresses the first group: the people whose names and addresses are known.
It is highly likely that if it is enforced, more and more bloggers will go underground.
This legislation would mean that every blogger who is an intellectual, a journalist, a social activist, or who writes under his own name would have to blog in line with government taste.
This would threaten the very existence of many social, political and cultural blogs. Even those that write about women.
Many influential weblogs are already being censored by the government.
This law would result in many websites and blogs being closed down. Or at the very least, they would become increasingly conservative.
ABOLHASSAN MOKHTABAD, TEHRAN
Abolhassan Mokhtabad blogs from Tehran
This law is about registering companies. But there is a difference between weblogs and companies.
The government should trust its citizens and tolerate them.
But concepts of trust and tolerance do not exist in the current government.
The drive to curb the media started with the newspapers. Now they are widening the scope to include the internet.
The Iranian government should remember what is happening in China. Nearly 30 thousand people are currently employed to control Chinese weblogs.
Beijing is spending a lot of money in controlling the flow of information.
This is impractical and impossible to do in Iran. It will also provoke even sharper criticism of the Iranian government.
NAZLY KAMVARI, CANADA
Well, I have been trying to call the Iranian embassy in Ottowa to ask how I can register my weblog.
There was no answer and I got worried, because I really don’t want to do anything illegal.
Seriously, there is no legal or practical foundation for this law. Even in north America there is still no law governing the internet.
Ensuring free dialogue can take place is one of the first conditions of restoring democracy. This law is diametrically opposed to that, even if it is being presented in an innocent way.
And anyway, what is the budget for this and how many people will be checking the websites every day?
Enforcing this law will officially put Iran on the list of the countries which are enemies of the internet.
Pro-democracy groups will find more reasons to criticise the Iranian government.
PARISTOO DOCOUHAKY, TEHRAN
It strikes me that getting rid of all sorts of private media is one of the objectives of this government.
Look at the newspapers. Every day you see fewer and fewer exclusive news stories.
Do you know why? It’s because government officials don’t welcome reporters.
At the moment, websites are the only outlet for those who care about freedom of information and for those who work in news.
Ministers want to limit and control websites, because they want to get rid of the media.
They have not given the issue any real thought, because destroying the media is tantamount to destroying the government.
Is this practical? It would be too optimistic to say it’s not possible to restrict websites.
Just look at China. There, no stone is left unturned in the quest for media control.
SHAYAN MASHATIAN, TORONTO
Is the government - as the institution in charge of our society - entitled to impose such control over websites?
We all know that the drive to control the media began with radio [in the 1930s, the Iranian government said people had to get a permit before they could own a radio set] and has continued as far as satellite TV. The internet is the next step.
When the services on mobile phones become more popular, the same approach will be taken towards things like SMS texts.
This law can only be enforced on bloggers who have their own domain name.
If it’s followed through, it will be yet another impractical and unenforceable law to add to those we already have.
And all this is irrespective of whether we actually agree with the law.
HASSAN ZAREZADEH ARDESHIR, CANADA
The plan is fundamentally flawed and is drawn up by people who know nothing about telecommunications.
Any attempt to limit the internet will backfire.
When video machines were banned in Iran, everyone tried to get one to use at home.
The restriction of information is taking place in our country, even though it hasn’t worked in the past.
Do you remember when Mr Gharazi was the Minister for telecommunications? [In the late 1980s and early 1990s] He called on everyone with a fax machine register it at the post office. That didn’t work either.
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This is a non stop content packed show from one end to the other. I talk about my upgrade scare tonight and a absolute pile of other stuff next show live from San Diego!
Cis’ blog roundup - Friday Spokane Spokesman-Review - the weekend. The big guy will be back on Tuesday. Here’s the afternoon wild card Over the course of 2 1/2-plus years of running this blog, I should get some credit Oh, the stories she can tell about good customers and a growing number of bad Source: www.spokesmanreview.com
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This is the main screen of Pocket Islam software. You can this free software here.
This is the setup menu, and all the parameters for Raub, my home town. You can get all those longitude and latitude from GPS or from the atlas or search the internet.
This is the prayer time menu. You have to fine tune and adjust the setting according to your town prayer time. I get my prayer time daily my email: jkmmufti@tm.net.my
There is the example; Assalamualaikum xxxxx@XXXXX.com
Waktu Solat bagi kawasan Raub pada 16-11-2006
Tarikh : 16-Nov-2006 Hari : Khamis Kawasan : Raub Subuh : 5:39 Syuruk : 6:59 Zohor : 12:59 Asar : 16:21 Maghrib : 18:56 Isyak : 20:09
Waktu Solat ini disahkan tepat oleh Persatuan Falak Syarie Negeri Melaka.
Terima Kasih.
Laman Web Falak Melaka:
This the azan and reminder menu. You can adjust how long the time for Pocket Islam to remind you. I set mine to remind me 15 minutes before prayer time. The reminder is any tone or wav file that you like. The Al-Quraan recited before azan can also be adjust. Like my example above, 5 minutes Quran recited before azan.
The setting for azan. You have 5 different azans for all those prayer. Pocket Islam supply you with 2 azan sample, the subuh/ fajr and the other prayers azan. You can download the azan collection from SmartNet Wireless site above.
Acknowledge Thank you to SmartNet Wireless people who develop this excellent software. JazakaAllah Khairan. This is an excellent program I hope Allah reward you for every ?word we listen to from the Quran and each time the prayer reminder remind us. Words ?are not enough to thank you.
The difference in price between various companies can be significant. What one company may consider a high risk factor another company may not view as so important. Insurance companies arrive at a price for your Car Insurance
by adding or discounting money after each answer you give to the questions they ask you. Each company has its own rules as to what they consider should increase or decrease your premium. By shopping around you get a better list of prices to compare.
2.Buy a lower group car
One of the important factors that insurance companies take into account is of course your vehicle. There are thousands of different cars on the road so companies divide them up into groups. Most companies will adopt the ABI (Association of British Insurers) group rating. This splits up vehicles into 20 different groups. Generally speaking the higher the group rating for your vehicle, the higher your premium will be. Some companies may also combine your driving experience with the vehicle group to get a better idea of how high the risk is. This is one of the reasons why young drivers should consider buying a lower group car if they want to lower their insurance cost.
3.Consider Third Party Only cover
A Third Party Only insurance policy is the minimum amount of cover legally required - it is also the cheapest. Generally speaking you should consider opting for this type of policy if your vehicle is of low value. In the unfortunate event of having an accident, any damage to a third party vehicle will be covered but any damage to your vehicle is not. However, if your vehicle is of little value then you may not be too concerned. It may not be worth paying extra for a Fully Comprehensive policy in these circumstances.
4.Maintain a good credit rating
More and more insurance companies are adopting credit scoring techniques as part of the overall calculation of your car insurance premium. By keeping a good credit history you may avoid any additional premium that companies add to your price for having a bad credit score.
5.Buy on the web
Many insurance providers now offer some good discounts for buying the policy over the internet. The theory is that by purchasing your insurance over the web, you are saving the company money by not requiring telesales agent time and incurring free-phone costs. This saving is passed on to you in the form of a discount for buying online. If you have got prices by telephone then check your quote again on their website, you may be surprised at how much cheaper it is.
6.Have a higher voluntary excess
During the quotation process you will be asked how much voluntary excess you want to have. Insurance companies will generally include a compulsory excess amount on the policy but give you the opportunity to increase this if you wish. The more the voluntary excess the lower your premium should be. However, in the event of a claim, you will have to pay a higher amount yourself, up to the total amount of excess on your policy.
7.Reduce your annual mileage
How many miles you do a year is a common question that can affect your car insurance premium. The more miles you do the more your premium is likely to be. Quotation systems and telephone agents will often suggest an amount of miles for you. Try and work out how many miles you will genuinely do. It may be less than the amount suggested. Of course, you should always give an honest answer to this and other questions.
8.Keep a clean driving record
This may be easier said than done. However, by having few or preferably no driving convictions, you can avoid being penalised by increases in your car insurance premium. Getting caught with a speeding fine is often not the only financial penalty you incur. Insurance companies take very seriously all driving convictions and it is usually an important part of their rating process. You can expect an increase in the cost of your insurance if you do get caught with a driving conviction, so it pays to be a safe driver.
9.Keep claim free
This ties in neatly with number 8 above. The biggest factor affecting the cost of your car insurance premium is how many No Claims Bonus Years you have. Full No Claims Bonus is generally considered by most companies to be five years or more, this can give you huge discounts, in some cases up to 75%. By being a safe driver and avoiding potential road accident claims, you can continually benefit by building up your number of claim free years. Every additional No Claims Bonus year you get, the lower your car insurance cost should be. Some companies give you the option of paying a bit more on your premium to protect your No Claims Bonus.
10.Be realistic about the value of your car
Most of us have an inflated view as to what our car is worth. When asked the value of your vehicle during the insurance quotation process, people will often state an amount that is unrealistic and above the real value of the car. People do this as they believe that this is what they will get back from the insurance company in the event of a claim. The reality is that the company will only pay out what the car is worth at the time of the claim and not what you stated for the quote. In fact, by giving a high and unrealistic value, you can increase your car insurance premium as this is often a factor affecting your final price.
11.Remove unnecessary named drivers
Additional drivers on your policy usually mean a higher premium. A lot of people add a number of extra drivers on the policy just in case that person needs to drive the car. However, having all these drivers will push up the cost. By only naming drivers on the policy that will definitely driver the car, you can lower the final cost. If you find that an unnamed driver needs to drive the vehicle then most companies will allow you to temporarily add a new named driver for a small cost.
12.Improve your car security
Theft of and from your vehicle are important considerations when insurance companies calculate your price. Most companies will give you a discount for having better security of your vehicle. An alarm and immobiliser will usually attract a small discount whilst having a tracker device installed may give you a larger reduction. Some companies may insist on having such devices installed on more expensive and desirable cars before they even consider offering you a price.
13.Take an advanced driving test
Although not compulsory, taking an advanced driving test can not only improve your driving skills but also help to lower your car insurance premium. Some companies look favourably on people who have taken the advanced test as it shows commitment to safe driving thus lowering the chance of having a motoring accident.
14.Pay your premium in one go
By paying for your car insurance all in one go, you can avoid paying additional interest charges that would be added on if you opted to pay by instalments. The interest charges can be quite significant, so if your finances allow, you can save a good amount of money by paying for the whole lot up front. In some cases, companies may even give you a small discount for doing this.
15.Get married
Okay so this may seem like a dramatic final way to lower your premium. However, a number of insurance companies offer lower premiums when your named drivers are insured and spouse as opposed to two unmarried drivers. Some companies believe that this shows an element of stability which is a hallmark of safer drivers and give you a discount on this basis.
In my earlier review of the N70 I said: "Until a practical wi-fi SIP dual-mode phone comes along, the N70 will continue to serve my needs."On paper, one would have thought the N80i (or N80 Interner Edition) was the answer. Unfortunately, after the using the N80i for some time now, I have to say that...more
Jobs: Friday 20 April 2007
Technical Project/Engineering Manager, anywhere in US, SitePen, Inc. senior web app dev / team leader, Bristol, Clifton Village, UK, Bluewire Technologies Ltd Web-based Applications Developer, Edinburgh, UK, Escrivo Events Co-Ordinator, Bath, UK, Carson Systems Designer, Bath, UK, Carson Systems...more
ACTIVITY 4/19/2007
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Up To Something
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Who Is Sick? user-generated epidemiology map
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AP reported that "pretty" Edwards patronized spa "that caters mostly to women"
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IAC Announces Online Initiative for the Black Community
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Blogger's Choice Award Nominations Now Open
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OK, what’s the deal with Domains?
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The Only Laptop in the Room (and a Worthwhile Keynote Paper)
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VH1.com : Shows : Web Junk 20 - Watch Video Clips And Outtakes
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Web Junk 20
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Web 2.0 is old hat, Web 4.0 is coming :) Some say Web 2.0 is really just a transitional phase, and what we are really waiting for is Web 3.0. I say that's old hat too - Web 4.0 will...” continue
So here is the plan. It is the final day of the long weekend and GD just wants to get todays show recorded, get it online, then sit back and take a break. Well that was the plan. A PC freeze up and digging around the Temp folders causes panic in the trouser for GD. Of course you will listen and everything will sound fine, just spare a thought for the extra grey hairs to appear on his chin bringing you this delightful mix of music.
Vote for your favourite track(s) from todays show to be included in next Sundays Pick'n'Mix. Simply go to GDPodCast.com and leave the song title/artists name as a comment under todays playlist.
SAVE MONEY at GoDaddy.com with Bite Size Bonus use to following discount codes: bonus1 - and save an extra 10% off your order bonus2 - and save 20% on any order over £25 bonus3 - and get a .COM domain name for only $6.95 per year Some restrictions may apply see web site for details
A evolução da internet é inevitável e não muda apenas o comportamento do consumidor, mas também exige que os fornecedores de TI capitalizem essa nova tendência e associem seus produtos aos atributos da nova versão da rede. A web 2.0, ainda é um desafio para muitas empresas, que precisam adequar seus modelos de negócios, pois essa visão, em muito pouco tempo, será incorporada ao conceito de internet e vai deixar de ser apenas uma categoria separada. O negócio é oferecer serviços ao usuário final, tornar o seu site de um simples portal corporativo, para uma interface de usuário, atraente e funcional.
A atuação dos principais fornecedores de TI ainda está um pouco indefinida, mas já existem no Brasil usuários corporativos de aplicativos web 2.0 e empresas que usam interatividade e colaboração dos serviços via internet como a base para seus modelos de negócios. Um exemplo bem interessante é o da loja virtual Camiseteria.com, cujas peças são criadas exclusivamente pelos usuários e clientes, além de poderem manter um blog dentro do site. Existem concursos de estampas, onde o designer mais votado leva um prêmio em dinheiro.Um negócio totalmente focado na web 2.0, que oferece ao usuário o poder de criar. Uma visível mudança de paradigma.
É inegável que muitas companhias já adotaram comunicadores instantâneos, serviços de webmail, redes sociais, blogs e podcasts no dia-a-dia. Esses são os primeiros sinais da revolução social que a web 2.0 traz para a vida dos usuários. Para as empresas de TI de grande porte, esse novo conceito não é uma surpresa. A Microsoft já se prepara há algum tempo para atender a todas as alterações que a web 2.0 traz para o mercado. A mudança não será repentina, já vêm acontecendo desde 2005 com a chegada da linha Live, formada por um conjunto de software e serviços pela internet, onde o foco é o usuário final de tecnologia.
Podemos destacar algumas outras gigantes que já vêm se preparando para a nova tendência, dentre elas, a Oracle, Intel e Adobe. Para todas a web 2.0 tem sido um grande impulsionador de crescimento nos negócios na internet. A concorrência nesse mercado é extremamente agressiva, a evolução da tecnologia é muito rápida e exige que as empresas descubram no desenvolvimento de aplicativos, novas receitas.
Aguardamos para ver qual o rumo que o mercado corporativo de TI vai tomar. Os usuários já têm papel fundamental nesse cenário, onde eles é que decidem o que querem. Empresas devem rever suas estratégias e processos , os tornando mais descentralizados, além de interagir mais com seus parceiros, empregados e clientes.
This week, David and Terry talk about working with other types of agencies as part of a program. They also welcome an audio contribution from Collin Douma. Finally, Terry does his segment of Inside PRoper English.
Prepare yourself for the cerebral seduction that is todays Bite Size Bonus. GD is totally on form as he brings you some of the best independent music from around the world including a 25 minute mix that will have you questioning your sanity. News abounds, so listen up.
Get yourself over to BiteSizeBonus.com and get ready for the Xtra Portion and your chance to win a 80Gb iPod
Vote for your favourite track(s) from todays show to be included in next Sundays Pick'n'Mix. Simply go to GDPodCast.com and leave the song title/artists name as a comment under todays playlist.
SAVE MONEY at GoDaddy.com with Bite Size Bonus use to following discount codes: bonus1 - and save an extra 10% off your order bonus2 - and save 20% on any order over £25 bonus3 - and get a .COM domain name for only $6.95 per year Some restrictions may apply see web site for details
For some time I’ve wanted to provide some sort of real-world ranking system so that those of you who want to know who the “big fish” are can find them, and so those of you who have successfully worked your blog into the stratosphere would get a little praise for your effort.
After thinking about it and hacking around with some online tools, I finally have an easy way for me to quickly determine the Technorati Ranking of every blogger on my PneumaBlogs list. (The Technorati ranking is determined by the number of links to a site by other bloggers within the last few months. So it’s sort of like a “vote” by other bloggers.) Upon seeing the results I was surprised at some of the lesser-known bloggers making it to the toop of the heap.
Congratlations!
I hereby present you with the top 20 bloggers as ranked by Technorati. These rankings are current as of today (Monday, April 10), and will change over time. I’ll add the rankings to my PneumaBlogs list and update them maybe once a month or so. We’ll see. Meanwhile, those of you who are “unranked”, you might consider getting yourself added into Technorati and claiming your blog. It’s up to you, though. It doesn’t make you a better blogger whether you’re ranked or not. It’s just one way of organizing the list.
Anyhow, check these bloggers out. Bookmark ‘em, Danno, and add them to your feed reader. And be sure to stop by their blog and leave a comment on your favorite post entry. These men and women have worked hard, crafting excellent thought-pieces and digging up really cool resources for you to enjoy. They deserve your praise!
Rich
#1) Barbara Sanders
Tidbits and TreasuresCOGblogger, grandmother to five, holding forth with gusto. Barbara’s range is quite surprising, she covers everything from other bloggers, books, politics, faith, and more, with a few fun posts thrown in for good measure, like her Friday Thirteen entries. A surprising and pleasant entry at the top of the heap![Technorati Rank: 1,821]
#2) Rose-Marie Slosek
The Pen of the WayfarerRelatively new blogger out of New England with poetry and photography interspersed with viral posts. From the site: ‘Ponderings on the matchless journey of following Christ.’ What’s stunning here is that in August of 2006, Rose-Marie contacted me shortly after she began blogging, seeking advice on how to draw attention to her blog. Less than a year later, she has the number-two slot on my list! Some day we’ll have to get Rose-Marie to explain how she rose so quickly in Technorati. Amazing.[Technorati Rank: 2,482]
#3) Adrian Warnock
Adrian’s BlogHome of the Evangelical Aggregator. From his site: ‘British Christian Blogger, Psychiatrist, Preacher, Husband and Dad.’ Adrian has one of the most highly visited and widely quoted blogs on the Web. He’s well worth checking out, especially if you’re curious about what a Reformed blogger looks like![Technorati Rank: 5,989]
#4) Shawn Anthony
Lo-Fi TribeBrethren in Christ blogger: ‘a sort of virtual notebook, in which I scribble random and pithy thoughts regarding Jesus the Christ, Christianity and culture’[Technorati Rank: 8,223]
#5) Brad Hightower
21st Century ReformationCharismatic reformed blogger: ‘Dedicated to the task of making disciples and building a morally beautiful community.’ Brad’s a very thoughtful poster with a slew of great bloggers in his linklist.[Technorati Rank: 12,314]
#6) Dan Edelen
Cerulean SanctumPentecostal freelance writer. From his site: ‘Looking for the 1st century Church in 21st century America.’ Dan’s another excellent blogger with not nearly enough traffic or attention going his way. Not only that, he’s a great all-round guy, even though he does live out in the sticks. If you’ve never heard of a Pentecostal fiction-writing farmer, you should check him out![Technorati Rank: 12,854]
#7) Bruce Harpel
sprucegoosePhilosopher, builder, and now theologian, blogging ‘prophetic musings about life and current events from the Univ. of Minnesota.’ Bruce is a reformed charismatic blogger with far too many degrees.[Technorati Rank: 21,693]
#8) Peter Smythe
The Real FaithLawyer and Pentecostal blogger heading into ministry, educated at Rhema Bible School, ORU, and Texas Tech School of Law. Peter is not the kind of guy you want to be at the pointy-end of an argument with, he’s way too smart. And how does he find the time to write so much?[Technorati Rank: 24,912]
#9) Dave Bish
The Blue Fish ProjectAnglican Charismatic blogger from the UK thinking out loud with his blog (articles, and poetry)[Technorati Rank: 27,640]
#10) Diane Roberts
Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry MeetBlogging from a Pentecostal point of view with a touch of the Reformation, Diane says her blog’s central purpose ‘is to examine and discuss current trends in the evangelical church and especially the Charismatic/Pentecostal wing.’[Technorati Rank: 29,220]
#11) Alexander M. Jordan
Jordan’s ViewApplying gospel truth to all of life (cultural commentary by an evangelical, charismatic, thinking christian). Jordan also tries to ‘give back’ by collecting and providing great links to Christian resources.[Technorati Rank: 32,330]
#12) Mark Lauterbach
GospelDrivenLifeMark describes himself as a reformed continuationist and is a pastor in the Sovereign Grace Ministries movement: Making the most of the cross and empty tomb.[Technorati Rank: 34,231]
#13) Paul Schafer
Reforming my Mind MP3sFrom the blog: ‘Pursuing both the Reformed and Charismatic Traditions of Christianity.’ But that won’t tell you much because, really, Paul is a sermon hound. If you’re ever at a loss for what to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon, stop by here and find a few MP3 files to download. You won’t be disappointed.[Technorati Rank: 39,501]
#14) Mark Byron
PseudonymousPersonal weblog of a self-described Bapticostal: ‘Commentary on politics, economics, theology, sports and anything else that pulls my chatty-ring.’[Technorati Rank: 39,939]
#15) Carl Thomas
Revival BlogCarl’s gone through a couple evolutions as a blogger. But lately, he’s fine-tuned his focus to revival. Wherever God’s at, that’s where Carl wants to be. Barring that, he blogs on it![Technorati Rank: 43,265]
#16) Phil Steiger
Every Thought CaptivePersonal pastoral blog: ‘A set of reflections on the contemporary church, culture, Christian philosophy and doctrine.’[Technorati Rank: 44,844]
#17) Wayne Newcomb
Equippers NetworkWith a varied resume as a former pastor, Bible college prof and dean, and suicide prevention center director, Wayne wants to help you fulfill your call.[Technorati Rank: 54,654]
#18) Rob Wilkerson
Miscellanies on the GospelFrom the site: ‘Galley-rower for Jesus Christ. Husband of almost 12 years. Father to four children (three boys and a girl). Telecommunications salesman. Reformed, charismatic, and evangelical.’ Rob’s on top of whatever’s going on in the Pentecostal/charismatic web. Watch his site for excellent summaries of disparate arguments.[Technorati Rank: 56,274]
#19) Julie R. Neidlinger
Lone Prairie BlogPersonal weblog of an artist, painter, and writer - once listed in the top 400 of blogs in the N.Z. Laid Bear ecosystem. Julie’s a great blogger and a great writer. If her art is as interesting as her writing, I’m sure she’d be worth hiring the next time you need a brochure redesigned or just want something to hang on the church foyer wall. Meanwhile, stop by her blog and enjoy her funny, sometimes edgy, and always interesting point of view.[Technorati Rank: 57,090]
#20) Peggie Bohanon
Peg’s Place: Fun and Faith for Your Soul!Maybe not ‘viral,’ but somehow contagious: ‘a lite version of the popular Peggie’s Place on the Web.’ Peg’s an old friend of mine from back in the day (when I was at Springfield, MO) and I’m continually amazed at how this gentle lady went from being totally intimidated by the Web, to eventually rising to become the editor of one of the largest Christian newsletters around (Internet for Christians). Peg’s no longer editing IFC, but she’s still blogging, and still putzing around with her website. For a good chuckle or two, stop by and say Hi! Tell her I sent you. She’ll get a kick out of that. No, really. She will.[Technorati Rank: 59,819]
Los van nieuwssites lijken lijstjes, beschrijvende overzichten, analyses, opinies en steeds vaker ook demonstratievideo’s populaire bestemmingen op het web. Met de laatste categorie, video’s, probeer ik de laatste tijd wat te experimenteren. Meer in het bijzonder met zogeheten screencasts.
Screencasts zijn video-opnames van verrichtingen op je desktop of in een of meerdere programmavensters. Een van de vroege, intensieve makers daarvan is Jon Udell [zijn uitleg], een techneut die sinds eind vorig jaar bij Microsoft in dienst is als ‘opvolger’ van Robert Scoble. Zie hier een overzicht van zijn beeldschermdemo’s.
Mijn conclusie na 3 weken van losse experimentjes: het valt niet mee om met beeld en geluid op puntige wijze een boodschap over te brengen. Het vergt veel stoeien met software, bewerking, vormen en formaten, maar is leuk om te doen. Screencasts dwingen de maker ervan vooraf goed na te denken over de boodschap. Wat laat je wel en niet zien in welke volgorde.
De (OSX-)software die ik gebruik:
iShowU (20 dollar) opnemen van actie op beeldscherm
MousePose (nog niet gekocht, in de aanslag), nadruk leggen op schermonderdelen
Mouse Locator (nog niet gekocht, in de aanslag), toont muispositie en muiskliks
Het maken van de opnames zelf is bijzonder eenvoudig. Bij de lancering toont iShowU een venster waarin je kunt aangeven:
Hoe groot het op te nemen scherm moet zijn, volledig scherm of een deel daarvan
Of de camera de vaste beelduitsnede filmt of de muis moet volgen
Of het microfoongeluid wel/niet opgenomen moet worden
Welke codec je wilt gebruiken om de opname te encoderen
Vervolgens klik je ‘Start opname’ en je bent een Spielberg in wording. Klaar met opnemen of wil je pauzeren? Druk ‘Stop’ of ‘Pauze’. Moeilijker is het niet. Als je ‘Stop’ klikt, schrijft het programma automatische een .mov-bestand weg naar het Bureaublad. Voila.
Met de videocodecs, noch met nabewerking in iMovie heb ik me bezig gehouden.
Voor persoonlijk gebruik zette ik full screen opnames op een eigen server en stuurde een downloadlink naar de beoogde ontvanger. Voor algemene publicatie en embedding op bijvoorbeeld een weblog gebruikte ik YouTube. Uploaden naar YouTube kan lang, lang, lang duren als je een bestand hebt van tientallen megabytes. Door server side encodering gaat er ook de beeldkwaliteit nog wat achteruit.
YouTube vind ik geen platform om gedetailleerde full screen screencasts op te hosten. De details gaan verloren. Zeker als je, in mijn geval, geen ondersteunende audio, gebruikt waarbij de kijker als het ware een gesproken walkthrough krijgt.
Onderstaand mijn eerste twee producties die het daglicht kunnen verdragen.
De eerste is een opname van 1:06 minuten. Onderwerp: ‘Hoe abonneer ik me op een podcast via iTunes?‘.
De tweede (7:58 minuten) heeft als titel ‘Demo: Hoe personaliseer ik een Google Map?‘.
Slecht beeld he? Er is ook een high res-versie van de tweede demo. Nog even volhouden dus.
De tweede demo omvat een videodemonstratie van het maken van datalagen op Google Maps, een nieuwde functie (’Mijn Kaarten’). Met deze functie kun je zelf gekleurde vakken en lijnen op een landkaart plotten en die vervolgens voor persoonlijk of publiek gebruik opslaan. De zelfgemaakte metadata worden opgeslagen in een zogeheten .KML-bestand [?]. De wat actievere gebruiker van Google Earth (de digitale globe) kent deze term al. .KML-bestanden zijn statische datalagen die je zelf kunt maken en als het ware over Google Earth heen kan leggen.
De YouTube-demonstratie van ‘Mijn Kaarten’ is - afgemeten aan de beeldkwaliteit, een wereld van verschil met het oorspronkelijke bestand.
Het enige positieve aan deze ::kuch:: YouTube-ervaring is de proef met Audioswap. Zoals de naam al doet vermoeden, kun je daarmee geluid onder de video vervangen met voorgeselecteerde audio, muziek uit verscheidene genres.
Vermoedelijk biedt YouTube deze functie om filmers de keuze te geven om rechtenvrij geluidsmateriaal te gebruiken. En voor geluidloze screencasters als ondergetekende is het een manier om de kijker niet kwijt te raken na 5 stille secondes Maar YouTube, als u meeleest, op mijn wensenlijstje prijkt nog: ik wil muziek niet enkel op genre kunnen kiezen, maar ook op tijdsuur van het muziekfragment.
Goed, terugkerend naar het begin. Deze sceencastproeven laten nog wat vragen open waar ik de komende tijd een antwoord op hoop te vinden. Wellicht is er iemand die al meer ervaring met deze materie heeft, dus ik hoor graag commentaar en goede/slechte ervaringen van anderen.
Vragen:
Hoe storend is zo’n bewegend scherm voor de kijker?
Is gesproken begeleiding bij een screencast absoluut onmisbaar?
Hoeveel pixels groot maak je je opnamescherm als je níet het volledige scherm hoeft te filmen?
Wat is de beste videocodec? (gebruikte zelf H.264)
Is nabewerking in iMovie een vereiste?
Hoe publiceer je op YouTube video’s die kwalitatief wél goed overkomen?
Afsluitend geen screencast, maar wel een prachtige Nederlandse implementatie van Sketchup (’3D-programmeertaal’ op Google Earth).
Remco Kouwenhoven van Nederkaart.nl wees pas geleden op een Earth-special rondom de marathon van Rotterdam, komend weekeinde. Deze 3D-creatie omvat nagenoeg alle functies van Earth-pimper Sketchup: 3D-gebouwen met/zonder detaillering, routespecifieke informatiepunten, OV-reistips en een paar animaties van verscheidene geaffilieerde loopjes. Enkel het element ‘Tijd’ ontbreekt er nog aan. Kies hier voor de 3MB-download.
We dont know if its the sun that is effecting GD but even though todays music is the usual great mix of quality tunes his performance is more like that of Roma at the hands (or is that feet) of Manchester United. Still, its all about the music.
Get yourself over to BiteSizeBonus.com and get ready for the Xtra Portion and your chance to win a 80Gb iPod
Vote for your favourite track(s) from todays show to be included in next Sundays Pick'n'Mix. Simply go to GDPodCast.com and leave the song title/artists name as a comment under todays playlist.
SAVE MONEY at GoDaddy.com with Bite Size Bonus use to following discount codes: bonus1 - and save an extra 10% off your order bonus2 - and save 20% on any order over £25 bonus3 - and get a .COM domain name for only $6.95 per year Some restrictions may apply see web site for details
What began as an early start to the day for GD ended up as a late one. Trouble extracting himself from his pit means todays show was recorded late but that does not distract from the fact that the music once again is top notch and GD even throws in another mix. All this in one 60 minute show.
Get yourself over to BiteSizeBonus.com and get ready for the Xtra Portion and your chance to win a 80Gb iPod
Vote for your favourite track(s) from todays show to be included in next Sundays Pick'n'Mix. Simply go to GDPodCast.com and leave the song title/artists name as a comment under todays playlist.
SAVE MONEY at GoDaddy.com with Bite Size Bonus use to following discount codes: bonus1 - and save an extra 10% off your order bonus2 - and save 20% on any order over £25 bonus3 - and get a .COM domain name for only $6.95 per year Some restrictions may apply see web site for details
Might as well post them...
I've been working on some big things lately which is the reason for making most of my model photography posts friends-only. As things progress I think I'm going to post more publicly because as I've said before the value in art is letting people see it. So this post is public.
I was exchanging e-mails with a girl I shot (and posted many) photos of in March. She was pointing out some of the photos she liked, but in a few of them her panties had migrated towards the middle of her crotch which detracted from the quality of the image. I went back and performed a digital pantie unbunching procedure with Photoshop's clone stamp to cover up the skin that we didn't want showing in the image, then the healing brush to give it an even texture with the rest of her panties.
I didn't particularly like these two photos, in large part due to the flat expression on her face in them, but she did and that's what really counts.
While I normally only like posting photos that I think are pretty good, every now and then I think I'll go ahead and post ones that I think are more so-so just for the heck of it. Please don't judge my overall capability on these though ... unless you think these are good like she does :-)
Some of the photos from this shoot are some of my favorites I've taken to date. I hope to do some on Friday to rival some from this set.
Sorry for the long post but I want to give you all of the details about this project and give you a special invitation to join us. I've tried to contact as many as I can but I haven't gotten to my whole list! Please e-mail me or leave a comment here!
My Heart is on the Horizon
My heart is on the horizon squinting into the sun wondering where we're going and just what we've just begun!
My heart is on the horizon as we forge ahead like a herd of turtles. A better day lies ahead if we'll work to jump the hurdles.
The hurdles loom in our minds and in the hearts of men. Link arms with giants and put your heart on the horizon again. Vicki A. Davis
We are analyzing the trends that will significantly impact college education (and our society) in the next 1-5 years. We are looking at them now, predicting the future, and making proposals about what the students think that needs to happen.
Like the flat classroom project, we are researching the trends AND experiencing the trends in this form of wiki-centric, web 2 enabled scholarship.
So, why are we doing this? What are our goals and who is involved? We've created a very complete About Us page naming the people who thus far have agreed or volunteered to help and explaining the "why's" as best we can. But our focus is the students!
Amazingly twenty six of you have agreed to help in several areas. We appreciate it, but know that if you are interested in such a project for your school we have room for more.
Here is my introductory message (we all post podcasts or avatar-enabled video to start).
We appreciate our original flat classroom judges coming back to advise us. They've been spending a lot of time via e-mail or IM giving us feedback as we literally gutted the two old rubrics to come up with ONE rubric for all five classrooms that follows current educational theory and effective practice. (We were very concerned with the flaws in the old one that many were copying the old rubric! We felt it was too cumbersome and didn't focus enough on the thinking skills we are trying to teach.)
A major weakness of the flat classroom project according to our advisory panel (and the students) was the lack of peer review and feedback during the project (which consisted of only the teacher's feedback.) The students felt like that the judge feedback was so good that they should have had it sooner.
So, we've added two new components:
Peer Review: The Sounding Board Concept Sharon Peters, who has collaborated on no less than six international collaborative projects (and provided peer feedback on many more) has agreed to be our "Head Coach" for the Sounding Board process. She will share her lesson plan (one class period) and assessment strategies for teaching your classroom effective peer review strategies. If you join in, you as the teacher will be added to the wiki, and our private ning discussion area for educators only (not students) so that you can work with Sharon to give your feedback and refine the process of peer review.
Then, on either April 23 or April 30, you will take a list of our wiki projects and divide them between your student with each student have 1 or at most 2 wiki groups. Using effective peer feedback strategies, they will read the student wikis, evaluate them, and post their feedback on the discussion area of the wiki for the page(s) that they have been assigned. (They do not need to join the space to do this.)
Note: Peer review has to move down to the high school level. With the student networking tools at our fingertips we need to get past the "Cool post" or "You go girl" kind of comments into meaningful, motivational, effective peer feedback that sets the stage for entrance into an Internet-centric workforce or academic institution. It is a skill to be taught and an increasingly important one (as the Horizon report bears out.)
The involvement of experts The students and judges hungered for feedback earlier in the process.
a) We've created a tagging standard and are going to be coaching them about how to use delicious to share resources. YOU CAN TAG TOO and send them feedback on the trends analyzed in this project. It will feed to their wiki via RSS.
b) We have a group of "experts" that will give feedback to the teams via the discussion tab on the wiki only on April 23rd. They will read over the wiki and point out research and things the students need to be looking at. (This is in addition to feedback from the teachers that is provided on a weekly basis as well.) If you are interested, please get in touch with me at coolcatteacher at gmail.com!
We kept the judging process but have renamed it Expert Review Panel. They will use the judging rubric to evaluate 4-5 wiki pages each and provide feedback after the project is over and awards modeled after the last project. This is who is on board thus far.
Some members of the advisory panel will also serve as judges as time permits. (Terry Freedman, Jeff Utecht, Darren Kuropatwa, and Jo McLeay.)
Researchers We are also working to include several researchers and have forms to allow researchers to observe that we are going to ask the classrooms to sign. Most if not all will be over skype and no student will be interviewed without a teacher present. All contact will be made through the teacher and through observations on the wiki.
Dr. Mary Friend Shepherd, a friend of mine and lead teacher at Walden University has already signed on to observe and she and I are meeting next week to discuss some others who are interested. We hope to have larger scale research in the fall so that the results can be observed to determine if this is something all schools should do. (We think it is!)
Journalists We wanted to make sure that we did a better job this time of capturing the process. When people wait and observe the final product, for the most part, they look so good that it is intimidating. The messy, tough, challenging process was never observed and far too many teachers say: "I can't do it." It is such an all consuming process that we too forget the nuances. We are using a tagging standard to feed the panel of journalists our posts (we are still setting up the feeds via the wiki) and are going to give them access to the teachers and classrooms. The current journalists involved:
Suzie Boss - Executive Editor, The Learning Innovation and Technology Consortium - www.learninginnovation.org Co-author of New Landscapes for Learning: A Field Guide for 21st-Century Teachers, to be published later this year by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
Anita McAnear, Acquisitions Editor, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
We would love some from other countries! Youth Summit Our plan is to conclude with a youth summit and right now we are seeking a platform such as elluminate or WebX that could allow the students to log in at various times and present their video and share what they learned. We would like to allow you and students access to the presentations and literally have educators around the world talking about the future and led by the future.
This is still in the planning stages and our goal is to have it around May 14-16. We hope that we can find a platform that is stable and a company that believes in the cause of global collaborative project that would like to have many educators around the world use their services. (We have no budget but big dreams for this project and the world.!)
Project managers Each team has a student project manager. These are, for the most part, students who mastered flat classroom I. They will be coordinating their teams and facilitating collaboration and intra-wiki linking between all projects to promote group synergies.
This was another suggestion of our flat classroom judges and is why we are seeking to involve as many advisors as we can. For it is often in the one kernel of an idea that amazing things sprout for all of us! Our advisors on this:
Steve Dembo - Discovery Educators Network, Teach42
The Hard Work The hard work, like last time, is before the project started. Julie and I have been working for over a month as have the advisers and the teachers who are coming on board. This takes a lot of work. The great thing is that we are working to leave "tracks" that others can follow.
If the rubric works, guess what, you don't have to spend 20 hours on it like we did -- you can use that one.
If the templates work, and you do a project, after we revise the templates, you can copy and paste it and don't have to spend the 10-15 hours we've spent working on them and developing them. But we need good feedback, many educators are cutting and pasting these rubrics and templates so they need to be right!
Clearing the field I guess it is like when my dad used to clear a field when I was a child. It could take a month to cut down the trees and pull up stumps and rocks, but after that, all he had to do was till the land under. It became easier.
Now three amazing new teachers are coming into the project and it makes Julie and I make sure that we document things.
Why? As I said, I am a farm girl. And when I grew up I remember going down to the gas station and listening to a lot of the farmers sit around and talk about when they were going to plant and what they were going to plant and how their harvest was going to be better. Dad didn't hang around there... he was out planting!
Well, we can talk about School 2.0 and Web 2.0, and global collaboration, and all of the principles in the Horizon Report all day long but there are some people (not just us) who are out there planting!
We've got to do our part to plant so that we will begin to move students not only towards information literacy but digital literacy and collaborative literacy as well as effective techno-personal skills.
We're not the only ones but we are part of the process of change and we welcome all others who want to join in! We are trying to be inclusive connectors! Here's your invitation! We can't e-mail everyone!
The Chasm between Business and Education A widening chasm is occurring between what businesses need and demand and what educational institutions are producing today.
Educational institutions value paper.. Businesses are cutting it out.
Educational institutions value face to face interaction. Businesses are promoting virtual interactions.
Educational institutions value peer review journals many of which take 2 years to publish. Businesses value peer reviewed blogs and wikis to promote rapid information exchange.
Educational institutions look down on many internet sources...things take time. Businesses want information at the end of their fingertips... time is money.
Educational institutions want to take away gadgets and keep students from using them. Businesses want to give their employees more gadgets and expect them to figure it out.
Educational institutions often want students to learn before they create. Businesses want students to learn as they create!
There are many educational activists out there who want to see all of us, ourselves included, produce better, more competent, stronger students. We want to see all students succeed and to help students understand that morality doesn't stop at the computer screen.
Our heart is on the horizon.
If your heart is on the horizon... will you join us?
Thank you Julie for your hard work and dedication! Thank you Barbara and John and Ed for believing that such projects can be done! tag:hz07, teacher, reflections
I think I'll have changes to this tomorrow, I am so tired. But here it is for you!
Friday the 13th!! Unlucky for some but not for you people, no you are the lucky one to get 60 minutes of great music delivered to you by GD. He is not in the least bit superstitious, he always walks under black cat and only yesterday he broke a ladder. That said, it's Friday the 13th and anything that could go wrong with todays show does -- coincidence?
Get yourself over to BiteSizeBonus.com and get ready for the Xtra Portion and your chance to win a 80Gb iPod
Vote for your favourite track(s) from todays show to be included in next Sundays Pick'n'Mix. Simply go to GDPodCast.com and leave the song title/artists name as a comment under todays playlist.
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Creacamp, pour les créatrices DIY d'ici!!
SVP passez le mot sur vos blogues, et rendez-vous sur le site pour vous inscrire. L'événement est là pour vous, gratuit et ouvert à tous et à toutes!!
Ce qu'est creacamp : Avec pour thème principal la créativité au féminin, Creacamp est une rencontre regroupant les créatrices DIY d’ici pour que ces dernières présentent et échangent sur les projets dont elles sont à la tête.
Elles confectionnenent des vêtements à partir de matériaux recyclés, documentent sur le web le grouillement de leur communauté, créent leurs propres magazines, receuils de poésie, bijoux. Elles utilisent le web pour partager et étendre leur créativité, documenter leur processus.
L’événement se déroule avec de courtes présentations de 20 minutes qui ont pour but de faire valoir les talents, idées, et expériences de chacunes, et de promouvoir la création de liens entre les créatives d’ici.
Les présentations sont données par des femmes, mais tous sont invités à faire partie de l’audience.
Normalmente, antes de un Dorkbot suelo publicar un e-mail similar a éste para que los despistados estén sobre aviso. Ayer la convocatoria llegó a la 1 de la tarde (más o menos) y no hubo tiempo de anunciarlo aquí, así que sirva esto simplemente para recordar que el Dorkbot Madrid se celebra invariablemente cada segundo sábado de mes. Es decir, si no falla nada el próximo será el 12 de Mayo.
Dicho lo cual, aquí va un pequeño resumen de las dos presentaciones que hubo ayer. En principio eran tres, pero por problemas técnicos no se pudo presentar el trabajo de Julio Medina Nuevos periféricos para viejos Spectrum por problemas técnicos, así que simplemente dejo a continuación una fotografía de un Spectrum 128k ampliado a un 1 GB modificado para leer datos de una tarjeta flash de 1 GB. Cosas de la ciencia.
La primera presentación de la noche corrió a cargo de France Cadet y consistió en sus trabajos con mascotas mecánicas: Dog[LAB]01, Dog[LAB]02 y Do electric cats dream of electric fish?, entre otros, consistentes en reprogramar estos perros mecánicos para que exhiban se comporten como un gato, como una vaca bajo el efecto de la encefalopatía espongiforme o como una medusa. Hay un vídeo explicativo en la web de France, del que se proyectó un fragmento.
La segunda (y última) presentación corrió a cargo de Zachary Lieberman, que introdujo OpenFrameworks, unas librerías en C++ que permiten trabajar de forma fácil con audio y vídeo. De la lista de proyectos que se han realizado utilizando estas librerías, me quedo con LASER tag, un sistema para graffitear una fachada entera de un edificio con un puntero láser. Existe un puñado de fotografías en Flickr además del vídeo explicativo de la web que he enlazado antes, que recomiendo encarecidamente no perderse.
Tras repasar algunos proyectos de este estilo, Zach se puso manos a la obra e hizo una demostración en directo de Drawn! Magical Ink Live. Una cámara enfocada a un papel en blanco captura los dibujos que realiza el operador y le permite interactuar con ellos de forma manual. Mejor verlo: 1, 2. Lástima que su ordenador decidiese morir a la mitad del segundo acto, porque aquello era impresionante.
Si a alguien le ha gustado todo lo que ha visto aquí, que sepa que en directo es mucho mejor. Aprovecho para recordar que existe una lista de correo de avisos, con un tráfico muy bajo (1 mensaje al mes, si acaso).
Was actually on Bryan Eisenberg's Webmasterradio.fm show, I think it's Blog Buzz, on Thursday, April 12th, but I can't seem to find the episode on Webmasterradio.fm even though others including Sebastian at WebAnalyticsBook.com have heard it.
Anyway, as a result of a conversation with Bryan Eisenberg about attending EMetrics Summit - which is up in the air right now (I described the situation as it stands to today on www.Artnewyorkcity.com and how I feel about it), here's a Web Analytics Still Life that I painted yesterday. I have thought about it for a while - how do you paint a "pageview", "visit", "unique visitor" or "return visitor" and NOT have it be an illustration.
I was processing what went on this week (and I actually hoped to go back and paint some more on something else later today - but I don't know if I'll make it over to the studio, after all - it's a dark and rainy day here and I'm feeling sluggish).
In my ArtNewYorkCity post I did not really focus that much on the Pepsi/Coke bottle; to me that's the most personal part of this painting, except I should have taken the cap off the bottle and let the soda ooze out - that would have made the painting more interesting (ok, maybe I'll do that next time if I need to!) and represented my actual feelings even more. The Manet painting called The Dead Toreador is the inspiration for my coke/Pepsi bottle.
My work derives from my knowledge of Art History and my paintings, I strive to go past illustration and make color, form, composition merge whereas an illustration would not really do that.
But I'd like to end this post with saying that as mixed up as things get (refer to the Web Analytics Still Life Artnewyorkcity.com post) they can always be made right and turned around.
Recently, I talked about The Peach Direct Problem and the Symbiotic relationship with GE Money Bank and over the last 10 days Peach Direct made it right. Peach Direct paid back GE Money Bank and gave me a nice gift to make up for the pain they put me though, but I haven't yet posted about it. But it doesnt automatically mean I'll go and order anything from them online anytime soon - but at least, when they finally figured out they made a mistake - they corrected it promptly. Let's hope this situation I'm talking about also, which my painting is partially about, resolves just like that.
And the Emetrics Summit thing is not really a finished story yet - I don't know if I'm actually elected to the WAA Board yet or not; maybe on Monday or Tuesday, I'll know, one way or the other.
Maar YouTube, als u meeleest, op mijn wensenlijstje prijkt nog: ik wil muziek niet enkel op genre kunnen kiezen, maar ook op tijdsuur van het muziekfragment..jpg)
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My heart is on the horizon
