Can anyone tell the oil companies that they are killing this country? Yes, I know they have a justification for how their huge profit is in no way related to the quickly rising fuel prices… but I just don’t buy it. Somewhere, someone is jacking up the prices at our expense. But that’s not what I was going to post.
What I did want to post was a good way to give your employees an instant raise. Well, that is if you have employees. I was noticing that I spend $40-50 a week driving in to work - and that is with me working from 9 to 6 to miss the rush hour (on purpose - gotta do what I can to save money). At least haf of those days I sit at a computer and don’t have any meetings. I could look at saving almost half of what I spend on driving if I just worked from home for 2 days a week.
Please realize that I hate working from home. Its just boring to me. But gas prices are getting killer. So, if I was allowed to work from home on a regular basis, I could see about - what - an extra $100 or so freed up? Well, that would probably go straight in to rising food costs. But at least it would be something.
Just an idea….
Dilbert gives a good example of why I hate standardized tests: humanity is too diverse to be standardized.
The scary thing is, I have taken personality indexes that are worse than that one…
I just found out that I am being blackmailed into doing another blog. TxDLA (Texas Distance Learning Association) usually has a blog that goes along with their yearly conference. I’ve been asked the past couple of years to help out, but have managed to avoid even having to answer. Of course, when your manager is the one doing the asking, you can’t just forget to respond to the email. Or, in our case, the Google Talk IM. Yes - I am a whole 15 feet away from my manager and we still communicate by IM. All I have to say is, don’t ever say “no” to Harriet. See gives new meaning to the term “one tough Grandma.”
Okay, it as more like she said “Matt can you help” and I was like “sure, whatever.” Blackmail just makes for a more interesting blog post.
So, anyway - if you are planning to be at TxDLA 2008 (or just happen to be free the week after Spring Break), feel free to drop by my session. I’ll be doing a hands-on session about “Effective instructional design techniques in Moodle and Second Life.” Sounds fairly… ambitious… huh? It should be fun.
Even more ambitious than that is my presentation in June in Utah: “The Future of the Internet - Web 3.0 and 3-D Web.” That is at a smaller conference for a specific set of people, but I am also working on getting my ideas in this area published in a compilation. We’ll see how that goes.
Published at February 6, 2008
in politics.
Or I guess I should say, “the circus is on the TV screens.” I hate election years. Just because it exposes the worst in human behavior. People can’t seem to disagree respectfully anymore. Nope - they have to resort to using emotionally manipulative words in a vain attempt to guilt other people into feeling bad for thinking differently than they do. Which, of course, never works - people just get offended and get into a war of insults. Lovely.
Both Republican and Democrats have serious problems with their party lines. Mainly because they sometimes take up positions just because it is the opposite of what the other one has. And then some third party or independent party will come along and take up a stand opposite of the two major parties just to be different.
Here is what I say: I think we should just give each party one term in office and then switch to the other party. One term for Republicans, and then one term for Democrats. Of course, four years is not enough time to get any good done, but eight years is enough times for the stupidity that hides in the shadow of either party to start ruining our country, so maybe we should expand that one term to maybe five or six years. Whoever can win their party’s nomination for the election year that their party is in power gets the presidency for the next term. Of course, we would have to let everyone vote in the primaries that year. But I just say we give both sides a shot every other term and be done with all of the stupid mud slinging.
Oh… wait… Obama and Clinton proved that even intra-party mudslinging can get ugly. Drat - shoots down that theory….
I read a story today about a man in Poland that was not happy with the mail service there. It took him three weeks to get a priority mail letter that was sent to him. So, he did the calculations and found out that a snail really could have beat his letter. It literally could have traveled the distance quicker than three weeks. sad but true.
It’s the coldest day of the year, so I knew what to expect coming in to work today: the window washers for the seven story building nest to where I work would be out cleaning the windows today. It never fails that they are always up there on the most frozen day of the year. Now, they either have the cruelest boss in the world, or the world’s most unlucky schedule maker. Either way, I look at them and think back to the worst jobs I have ever had, and think “at least I was never sitting on a plank of wood 5 stories up working with water on a near freezing temperature day.”
Of course, I am now sitting in my office with the A/C blowing on my, a huge sweater and my coat on to stay warm. But I get to sit here and do blogs like this. So, I’ll put up with the temperature.
Especially since I get to work on some fun things. I am finishing up a rough draft on a chapter in a Web2.0 in Education book. My chapter looks at Web3.0 and the future of online education. It’s really fun, and I hope it passes the next round of approvals. If not, I am presenting on this same subject at a conference in June, so I can at least use this content there. I also need to get to work on an article about choosing between a blog or a discussion board in online classes. Should be fun to write, also.
I swipe my card at work, and the card reader says “access denied.” Is this their way of telling me that I am fired? After 3 swipes, no access. Someone did let me in, and my office is still here. Chaney said something about server problems. I hope that isn’t the new way that kids these days are saying you’ve been canned. Guess I am being paranoid. But why is Harriet keep telling me she has dibs on my computer speakers?
NASA announced that they have finally launched their new website design. The emphasis of this re-design is to reach more 18 to 25 year olds. They’ve added blogs, widgets, and a whole host of interesting features. I’m 34 and I like the new site. If the government can do stuff like this, then certainly those of us in education can also.
Of course, this is great news to me, because it combines two things I love - Web2.0 and NASA. I used to spend hours drawing and re-drawing the Saturn 5 rockets as a kid. I even had a model. I also had a really cool fully metal Space Shuttle toy that I don’t remember what happened to. Need to find that.
This past week I was even at the Johnson Space Center. My wife was at a conference in Galveston, so I killed the whole day by myself at NASA. That’s how much I love NASA stuff. I just hope they don’t have an age checker to keep old dudes like me out of this site….
Published at November 16, 2007
in music.
Just to show you how far technology is going. I read a while back that blogging from the top of Mt. Everest was getting to be cliché because so many people can do that now. Now, apparently, there was even a concert up there. Mike Peters of The Alarm, Glen Tilbrook of Squeeze, Slim Jim Phantom of The Stray Cats and others who have survived cancer ascended Mt. Everest and gave a concert for the Love Hope Foundation. The travel diary, along with a video and images, can be seen here:
http://lovehopestrength.com/everest/day-sixteen/
People spend way too much time complaining about the weather. Especially in Texas - where there is no such thing as “normal” weather. This warm weather is great - but some people are even complaining about that! Of course, one of those people is a Russian friend of mine, so I can understand why he doesn’t like the warm weather. Still has Siberia in his blood, I guess. But no vodka - he doesn’t like Vodka.
There’s an old saying here in Texas: “if you don’t like the weather - just wait a few days. It will change.”
I hate the cold, anyway - so I am hoping it won’t change. Doubt I will get my wish. Besides - it is really hard to get in the holiday mood while walking around in shorts.
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