In case you’re wondering what’s going on with this blog, I’m currently taking 2 courses for my Master of Educational Technology program at the University of British Columbia.
Plus doing some home reno, plus I have 3 kids, plus my wife seems to feel that somehow I ought to spend some time with her (odd, that), […]

Well, I just made my first iPhone call.
That’s no biggie to hundreds of thousands of people in the US, of course, but the iPhone has not yet been released in Canada.
Mike Skovgaard, a buddy at work, has been buying them in the US and taking them up to Canada to unlock them to work with […]

These are the options if you want an Education Week subscription:

As you’ll quickly see, you actually pay more to get the online version than the print+online versions. Probably has a lot to do with advertising revenue and subscription counts.
Major rip-off … and it isn’t doing trees any favors either.
Tags: education week, price, […]

I’m on vacation for two weeks, so posting has and will continue to be light.
Last week the whole extended family was in Osooyoos, BC, for some lake and sun and family time. This week I’m working around the house on a major landscaping project with Allan blocks, and next weekend we have something special planned […]

Verisign is driving me nuts emailing me and phoning me. Just to make it perfectly clear:

I don’t want your PDF white papers on internet security.
I don’t want your SSL certificates.
I don’t want your emails.
I especially don’t want your phone calls from “sales executives.”

Hrm … now that’s off my chest I feel marginally better. Until the […]

Just got this email letting me know this photo of mine with a CC license is being used in a map/guide to Vancouver. Cool!

Hi John,
I am delighted to let you know that one of your photos with
a Creative Commons license has been selected for inclusion
in the newly released third edition of our Schmap Vancouver
Guide:
Science World
If […]

I guess the title says it all … Akismet, which is a comment spam identification and deletion tool, is under the active menu, Manage, not under Comments.
Odd.
On a related note, I’m getting something like 5000 comment spam attempts a week, of which about 1 makes it through onto the site.
Two things that implies:

Akismet is stunningly […]

Sometimes I can’t believe the lengths people will go to in order to save money. Michael Shannon has about 2500 words and perhaps 25 illustrations on 5 pages teaching you how to create your own Moleskine-like notebook.
I think I can do it simpler and cheaper.
Here’s his steps:

Page 1.

Materials Needed
Tools Needed
Step 1. Cut paper
Step 2. Fold […]

Getting 6 people together at the same time on the same date at the same place (even if it’s virtual) is like herding cats.
So when a meeting fits in this nicely, it’s like the parting of the Red Sea … especially when our corporate meeting software shows busy times in red:

Tags: work stuff, […]

I just had a thought:
When your mouth opens, your mind closes.
It’s a bit of a self-reminder to shut up occasionally and just listen. Like all pompous impressive-sounding aphorisms, it’s not 100% true … but it just may have a kernel of authenticity.
The interesting corollary that suggested itself to me is:
When your mind opens, your mouth […]