Last Post for 06

Have a very Merry Christmas
Yesterday we went to Viva's in Los Gatos. We had a very nice dinner.

Going offline
Today Fran is flying east and we are going off the grid. I will be off the Internet until the new year!

Two towers, morning light, SJSU

School is out for the year
This was a short day at SJSU. We worked half a day and now the campus is closed until January 2, 2007. This is also the day after the shortest day of the year. I brought a film camera to work and shot a short roll. The low angle of light and the crisp cold winter morning air made for dramatic light on these two west campus towers.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Christmas Message

Click Here to send a MoveOn Holiday Card via e-mail.

Viral Marketing: Ipod in the blender

Blending an iPod
Another "Will It Blend?" video by Blendtec. This time is this an amazing way to sell blenders, or what? Talk about viral marketing! This makes me care care about whether my next blender is by Blendtec. I am serious, here is a great report on the Blendtec case study.

Winter begins today

It is the first day of winter
The good news is from here on out the days get longer and Spring comes in mid-February.

BMW (South Africa), Defining innovation

What an amazing commercial. This is for all you ad majors out there.

InDesign Event in SF in January

Bay Area InDesign User Group:
I'd like to announce the next meeting of the Bay Area InDesign User Group for Thursday (YES, THURSDAY) January 11th, 2007 at 6:30pm, to be held at Adobe San Francisco. Here's a plan: Go to Macworld all day and then join us for fun and frivolity in the evening -- plus you'll learn something, too.

We will be having two special presenters this meeting: Sandee Cohen, InDesign guru; and Bob Connolly, Interactive PDF expert.

Follow-up to last session:
Interactive PDFs, What can really be done: Welcome Bob Connolly to show us what can really be done with Interactive PDFs. Last meeting I showed you the basics and Bob will demonstrate what an expert can do. Come and be wowed by his creative genius. You will be amazed at what bookmarks, hyperlinks, sounds, and movies in interactive PDFs can really do.

Sandee Cohen, Unleashed:
Join us for our annual Sandee show. Who knows what new tips and tricks are up her sleeve this time. Or what hilarity she will bring. Sandee is an extraordinary presenter, trainer, author and designer and she's done these things all over the world. Don't miss this IDUG session!

As always, the evening will conclude with the group's customary raffle of valuable software, books, and prizes.

Be sure to sign up so we have an accurate count for pizza and refreshments.

Date, time, and location
THURSDAY, January 11, 2007
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Adobe San Francisco
601 Townsend St, at 7th St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-832-2000

Adobe San Francisco's main entrance is on Townsend Street, Reception is on the first floor. Note that you will have to sign in at the front/reception desk. Directions are at http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/maps/sf_map.html.

Public Transit:
SF Muni bus #10 passes in front of the Adobe San Francisco office en route to the Caltrain depot, the Transbay terminal, and Market St. SF Muni bus #19 crosses Townsend at 8th St. traveling south, and at 7th St. traveling north to Market St. and BART. The Caltrain depot at 4th and Townsend is several long blocks from Adobe San Francisco. SF Muni bus routes 9, 12, 22, 27, 33, 47, and 53 also pass within walking distance. San Francisco Bay Area Transit Information has schedules and maps for San Francisco Muni, Caltrain, and other transit agencies.

Parking:
There should be plenty of on-street parking in the area unless there is a baseball game. I don’t know about any parking garages in the area. It's usually not too hard to find parking on Townsend after 4pm. It's best to park between 4th St. and the 6th St. underpass, on the building-side of Townsend. Someone told me they had heard there have been break-ins in cars parked on the Caltrain fence side of Townsend. After almost a year of meetings, I have never heard of any problems myself.

Agenda:
6:30 - Check in, pizza, and socializing
6:45 - Announcements
7:00 - Interactive PDF- What can really be done
7:45 - Sandee Cohen- Unleashed
8:45 - Rafflemania
9:00 - Meeting adjourned

BTW, don't forget there are other User Groups around, too:
The Acrobat User Group meets at Adobe San Francisco on the first Thursday of even numbered months (www.acrobatusers.com).

The Photoshop User Group meets at Adobe San Jose on odd numbered months- contact Dan Clark for details (dan@weinberg-clark.com).

The San Francisco Digital Imaging Group meets the first Tuesday of odd numbered months in San Francisco (www.sfdig.org).

Photoshop CS3: Photoshop User Group Meeting in January

The next users group meeting will be on Tuesday, January 16. We will see a demo of the new Photoshop CS3. As you probably know, Adobe announced that a public beta of CS3 can now be downloaded. Find more details at this site.

We'll have pizza and drinks at 6:30, and the meeting will start at 7:00. The meeting will be in the Park Conference Room, so come to the lobby at Adobe Systems' East Tower, 321 Park Avenue, San Jose. To park underneath the Adobe building, use the Almaden Avenue entrance, under the East Tower. If the security guard at the parking entrance asks for an Adobe contact, use John Nack's name.

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you know who might be interested. If they would like to be on our email list, have them respond to: dan@weinberg-clark.com.

See you there,
Dan Clark & Tom Upton

P.S. Here's some other info we've been asked to pass along:

• Photoshop workshops, contact Donna Cushman at http://www.digitalstop.com
• Acrobat User Group, check out http://www.acrobatusers.com
• InDesign User Group, check out http://www.indesignusergroup.com
• Photography workshops for established and aspiring professional photographers June 17-22, 2007, at Mills College, Oakland, put on by the non-profit organization, Professional Photographers of the Greater Bay Area www.goldengateschool.org

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Man, it is cold outside!

It has been amazingly cold
My sons have been blogging about the cold in Washington and Alaska. I am right there with them! Each of the last three mornings I have had to scrape frost off my windshield. This morning on the way to work it was in the mid 30's. Man, it is cold! I have my thermals on.

Preparing to save lives

The most important training I hope I will never use
My colleague Colin and I have been going through CERT training every day this week.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

One of the greatest constants in the recent disasters this country has faced is that it can often be a long wait between the crisis and when help arrives. We saw it in Katrina and in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. This area has the potential for an earthquake over ten times that size. If we get hit with a 1906 level quake destruction will be massive. The emergency responders will be totally overwhelmed and the infrastructure loss will be incredible. We may be cut off for a very long time. Who, then will be the first responders? We will! Are you ready? That is the point of this training. There will be no time for learning when disaster strikes, and the experts say, it is a matter of when.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

End of 163, for now

The end of 163 as we know it
This was an experimental class that started the Fall semester with a blank slate. Formally titled as a class on streaming, we took the view that podcasting is the new streaming. For their mid-terms every student did a podcast, complete with its own RSS stream. We were given a blank slate and so we embraced new media and the class was billed as "New Media in Journalism." Technologies taught in the class included blogging, Second Life, podcasting and RSS. We used Skype as a teaching tool and in the process this class saved Skype at SJSU when the university proposed the ban of it. The Skype story went global. It was an example of amazing timing that this class was in the right place at the right time on that issue. The class not only learned about new media journalism, we became new media journalists.

Our class received national attention, thanks to the resulting media coverage of the Skype story, and there was no way this class was ever going to slip under the radar. Fantastic speakers came to our class, physically and virtually via Skype and Second Life. Despite having poor facilities and few resources the class exceeded all expectations of ours.

I think the class succeeded because we were not afraid to fail.  Dr. Dale E. Turner said, "Some of the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future." On the first day of class we announced we would make mistakes in this class, but we intended to learn from them. Making mistakes became part of the process.

Even though we were given this class with a blank slate, even though we were a prototype, all of a sudden we became high profile. Folks with preconceived agendas took notice. Partly because of this, only partly, next semester's class will be very different.

But, that would be true even without the new agendas. That is the nature of prototypes. The lessons we learned as teachers of 163 in the Fall of 2006 would demand it. For these students, and us teachers, we were the pioneers and because of it we all had a truly unique experience. What a thrill that has been!

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, jmc163, education, web2.0, web 2.0

Academic Technology Christmas Party

Nobody photocopied their butt at this party
Nobody danced on the tables, or under the tables. For an office Christmas party it was a pretty tame event (at least compared to the parties we had at the newspaper I worked for in the 70's.) In fact, after this party was done, we all went back to work (there was no alcohol.) Still, the food was great, it was very well organized and I think everybody had a good time. Thank you to the folks who organized this.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Advice: Keep on blogging!

Great advice from Professor Lilly Buchwitz
I am a flash in the pan, a part timer teaching a night class. Professor Lilly Buchwitz is the real deal, a tenure track new professor who has the potential to really make a difference. This semester all the students in her Media and Society class (MCOM 72) did blogs. This her advice to them. I am really happy we have her teaching in JMC.

Family moment: My youngest son

Soon Kenneth will be 20
In just under a month youngest son Kenneth will be 20. He is a good son and a good friend. We get together at least once a week and do things like watch recorded episodes of Jericho, go to meetups or go run model trains. He also comes to some of our events at SJSU. We often go to lunch together and just hang out and talk.

Get trained, save a life

SJSU CERT Training
Should disaster strike we university employees may be the only thing standing between life and death for university students and/or our fellow workers. Are you ready? Next week the university is offering Campus Emergency Response Team Training. It is free! Now that you know about it, how can you not go? What if someday your decision to not go to this training causes another person to be hurt or worse?

New Adobe Software Coming

Adobe to release an beta of the new version of Creative Suite
The new version, Creative Suite 3 (CS3) will be Intel/Mac native and will replace Go-Live with Dreamweaver. Final release version of CS3 expected to ship this Spring.

Fun with trains

I relax by playing with trains
One of my hobbies is playing with little trains. Both youngest son Kenneth and I are members of the California Central Model Railroad Club, located in the old Agnews Train Depot in San Jose.

It is dead day!

Camera Phone Post: A gray dead day at SJSU
It is dead day, that quiet day between the end of regular classes and the start of finals. On top of that, there is a storm coming in and the wind is blowing. The rain is coming soon. The wind is bringing down the leaves and the grounds workers are trying to keep ahead of them.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Negotiation saves some newspaper jobs

Mercury News agreement saves some jobs
Hard bargaining session with union reduces newspaper job losses from 69 to 27.5. As a former union leader I can only imagine how painful this must have been for the negotiators.

The San Jose Mercury News has reached a tentative agreement with the San Jose Newspaper Guild for a two-year contract that significantly reduces the number of layoffs the newspaper was planning.

Save GA!

Save Google Answers Video
I just saw this wonderfully inventive video on YouTube about the effort to save Google Answers. Okay, what is Google Answers? According to Wikipedia this morning:

Google Answers was an Internet search and research service offered for a fee by Google, "answer brokering". It was launched by Google in April 2002, and went out of Beta in May 2003. In late November 2006, Google reported that it planned to permanently shut down the service. As of November 30, 2006, new questions may no longer be asked, but existing questions may continue to be answered until December 30, 2006.

Worth a look at the video. It is a great example of effective multimedia for the web, like your final project for JMC163. Here is a link to the Save Google Answers Blog. If you have a cause you would like to promote (or something you would like to save) this is a great approach!

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, New Media, Web 2.0

Pondering the revolution

About The Student Manifesto
There is a revolution going on. It is a quiet revolution. It is the kind of quiet revolution in politics that SJSU J&MC alum Joe Trippi spoke about in the world of politics in his watershed book The Revolution Will Not be Televised. But, it is not a revolution that is limited to politics. It is also a business revolution, like that talked about in business books like The Cluetrain Manifesto and SJSU J&MC alum Robert Scoble's book (co-written with Shel Israel) Naked Conversations. It also a societal revolution and it is reflected in how social groups are interacting as reflected in Howard Rheingold's book Smart Mobs. It is a global revolution, as reflected in Thomas L. Friedman's very long book, The World Is Flat. It is a media revolution as reflected in Dan Gillmor's prescient book, We The Media. On top of these and many, many, many other books, articles, blog posts, interviews, conferences, podcasts and other communications about Web 2.0, the changing nature of society and about that big huge still being defined thing we lump together in a big sticky blob we are calling "new media" add Andrew Venegas's Student Manifesto.

So what is this revolution?
Is it about J&MC, or SJSU, or CSU, or USA? I do not see blood on the streets, what kind of revolution is this? It is a revolution about conversation. It is about the power of ordinary citizens as well as new media journalists to be able to go to their virtual windows to the world and (using their blogs, podcasts, video blogs and other forms of new media) to be able to shout out, "I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!" In the fictional 1976 movie Network, Howard Beale from his TV pulpit was able to inspire folks to go to their windows and yell that out. Each individual's voice carried maybe a few houses. It was only Beale's voice that was able to reach across the nation, only Beale had the network. Now we all have a network, it is called the Internet. That is the revolution.

Ordinary folks can have their say and can change things
If the message is compelling enough to resonate, it can spread virally across the Internet and can make the leap from new media to traditional media. The message/story can echo throughout the globe and the course of even the biggest aircraft carriers can be altered. That is what folks in JMC163 saw happen with the Skype story. Folks in that class were not given the power to participate, they were not given the secret software, they already had that, we all do, it is free on the Internet. That is the revolution. Students, taxpayers, customers, employees, citizens all have a say, all have a network, all have global reach. Nobody controls the message.  In my opinion that is the revolution, indeed!

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, Cluetrain, Scoble, Joe Trippi, Skype, Web 2.0

Skype story in Chronicle of Higher Education

If Steven G. Sloan is at work, odds are that he will be on Skype. As an information-technology consultant at San Jose State University, Mr. Sloan uses the free Internet telephone service to make long-distance telephone calls and send instant messages to colleagues around the world. In his other job as a lecturer in the journalism school, he uses the service to bring guest speakers from remote locations into the classroom and to record podcasts for the class Web site.

I am in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education
This is way cool and the first time I have ever been in a publication like this. There just a few things I wish had been done a bit different.

Here is a brief list:

• The formal form of my first name is Stephen Sloan, not Steven.
• Professor Cynthia McCune is not mentioned at all and she should be. We collaborated very closely on this class and she co-taught it.
• It quotes me as saying, ""Skype is the de facto standard," says Mr. Sloan, of San Jose State, noting that Skype has integrated Internet phone calls, video chats, file transfers, and instant messaging into its service. Because the service is so popular, Mr. Sloan says, asking users to switch to another client would be like "routing around a nuclear blast."
  What I think I said was something like, it is the nature of the Internet to route around obstructions. The Internet was designed to route around nuclear blasts. Were we to ban Skype at SJSU the faculty and staff at our university could be routed around and miss out on the collaboration and pedagogical opportunities Skype offers. If this were to happen we would be at a competitive disadvantage compared to other schools.

All in all I am quite pleased the story ran. I really hope it encourages educators to use Skype in their classes. It has really helped us this semester and I am thrilled to have been able to work with it.

Update!
The reason there is not a link to the story is because it is in a walled garden. The Chronicle only allows subscribers access to their in-print content online. I will have copies of the story available in the Tuesday class.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, Skype, Web 2.0

WMD hitting traditional media?

Weapon of math destruction hitting traditional media?
We are seeing business models being disrupted in traditional media at an ever increasing pace. Why is this happening? David P. Reed may give us a clue in this post. Oh yes, and higher education as it now exists as a business model is not immune either.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, Web 2.0

Skype in the classroom

More on Skype in the classroom
Today we continued the Skype conversation from last Thursday on the Language Lab Unleashed with another session hoted by Barbara Sawhill that included return visits from Joe Dale, Phil Wolff and myself plus Deborah Cordier from the University of South Florida; Chris Fuller, an MFL teacher in Devon, England; Paul Harrington, an ICT coordinator at Cefn Forest Primary School in Caerphilly, South Wales; and Alex Savage, an ICT teacher at Notre Dame High School in Norwich, England. As stated on their post, "This was an ecclectic and international group!" This is available as a podcast. This is really great stuff and well worth checking out.

The Thursday November 30 session podcast is here.

Podcast From Sunday, December 3
Update: Mon Dec 4 10:26:53 PST 2006
The Sunday December 3 session podcast is here!

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, Skype, Web 2.0

Ergonomics and safety event

Ergonomics and Workplace Safety Seminar
This one hour course on on Tuesday morning for employees includes an overview of preventative ergonomics and safety measures for employees who work in an office setting, and an introduction to the universities injury reporting and workers' compensation program. More info here.

Apple Event Thursday

Apple Technology Showcase
There is an Apple event at SJSU on Thursday.

Sato proposes SJSU online community

Building an online community at SJSU
SJSU journalism student Daniel Sato has what I think is a great idea, he is talking about building an on-line community at SJSU where students, and I SJSU assume faculty and staff, could vote on blog stories that are of interest to them and possibly the campus community. This would provide an attention stream that could be a great tool for our campus community.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, jmc163, education, web2.0, web 2.0

Skype Podcast

Podcast: Skype Teaching Tool or Network Nemesis?
In this Skype conversation, hosted by Language Lab Unleashed, a group of educators from across the nation (myself included) and a university network administrator, joined Phil Wolff from Skype Journal in a discussion about the use of Skype in the classroom. Much of the discussion was about the now changed plan to discontinue using Skype at SJSU. This conversation occurred after I got of work yesterday. (So, I am not speaking on the university's dime.) Note the quality of the audio. This group conversation occurred using a free software program, Skype, and was recorded on a low end Macintosh computer and low cost audio capture software.

53.3 MB MP3 Audio File Here

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, Skype, Web 2.0

December 14 Podcast Meetup

The Silicon Valley Podcasting Meetup Group has an event in two weeks!
What: The Silicon Valley Podcasting December Meetup

When: Thursday, December 14 at 7:00PM

Where: Yahoo! @ Mission College
2821 Mission College Blvd
Santa Clara CA 95054

Event Description:
Come on out to talk audio and video podcasting at the Silicon Valley Podcasting Meetup Group!

We'll use the time to get to know each other, talk about being Podcasters, and discuss what we want out of our Meetups... valley style! Wanna do a demo or speak? Let us now. It's mixer- style and low key.

Roger: A film by Journalism 163 students

A film by JMC 163 Students
This funny and clever film was done by students in Journalism 163, the class that Cynthia McCune and I teach. The students are: Ron Campos, Jaydee deJesus, Jessica Drnek and Andrew Venegas. I think they did a fantastic job and am very proud of the work they and their fellow JMC163 students have done this semester.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, jmc163, education, web2.0, web 2.0

Editorial: The evil of opacity

What we would like to do, may not be what we can do (and maybe that is okay)
That is just a fact of life. We learn as kids, "if wishes were horses then beggars would ride." Sometimes it is easy to just keep our wants and needs to ourselves. But, when it comes to what we want and need as a university, I think openness is better than being closed. I think we need to be more open about what we need, we should put it out there, rather than use the lack of resources as an excuse.

There is also the matter of allocation of the resources we do have. If folks are engaged in the thought process I think they are more likely to help us. I think we need to openly talk about where we see our school going and our vision of the future. I think we need to be free to do this as individuals as well as an institution. I think we need to have open conversations in a way that engages our colleagues, our partners and also our customers, the students. I believe our customers deserve more respect. I think our other customers, the public, deserves to engaged, after all, they pay our salaries. They are taxed to pay our salaries.

SJSU is a public state funded university. I see it as being paradoxical that we public servants are performing our public services spending the taxpayers hard earned money and yet we see it as the right thing to do to be opaque. New media is all about transparency and conversation. But, from what I see, that seems counter to a university culture of closed doors, politics, secrecy and overall opacity.

To me that opacity is not right, it is evil, and maybe that is why I seem to be so good at getting in trouble when I state my opinion. I may be wrong often and readily admit when I am wrong. There are worse things than being wrong. I think if you are open about your intentions and you are wrong and someone points that out you have an opportunity to change for the better. But, I think if you exist in a world of shadows and you are wrong that is worse; because then your mistakes remain hidden they never have an opportunity to be amended. I would rather risk being openly wrong than have to be secretly right knowing my ideas will never see the light of the day.

I love my school and I think we should express our ideas and opinions, consider those of others and speak out about our feelings and embrace the collective intelligence of all those great folks who care about us enough to engage in a conversation constructively. That is why I love blogging and all the other forms of new media. It is based on the Internet and the two basic concepts of the Internet: the Internet routes around obstacles and enables communication to all nodes from all nodes. How does the Internet do this? It does that because on the Internet all nodes are equal. On the Internet all nodes are free to communicate.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Just a crisp morning at SJSU

Cold crisp morning at SJSU
Mornings like this have their own special magic. The air is so clear and so fresh and yes, so cold. The last of the passing season's leaves hang on in their futile effort to resist the coming winter. There is a metaphor in that, I guess. But, this minute, I prefer not to think about that. I just want to enjoy the lovely morning.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

The end of 163 as we know it?

Big changes for the Spring term of 163
There is a plan to turn 163 partly into a software teaching class and teach InDesign, Photoshop, other applications and maybe half a semester's worth of "new media." This will be a real change in what has become known as, "the podcasting class."

I have nothing against the Adobe Creative Suite applications, I use them and have taught them. But, I do not see this as being consistent with what we are doing in this class. This semester 163 has concentrated on the Internet and emerging forms of journalism. Maybe I am wrong.

We have a meetup on Thursday November 30 at 7pm in downtown San Jose at Tony Soprano's Pizzeria. You are invited to come or comment. I would love to get input from folks on this subject. I know our accreditation limits the amount of units we can do new stuff with. But, I see this class as being critical.

What do you think is more important? Should we focus on enhancing the teaching of traditional media or explore and expand our reach of new media? As a person who teaches this stuff I want to hear what you think. This semester we really covered Web 2.0. Should we cut out about half the class to teach computer applications? Your opinion matters, to me. You are invited:

When: Thursday, November 30 at 7:00PM
Where: Tony Soprano's Pizzeria
87 E. San Fernando Street Near SJSU Downtown
San Jose CA 95113
408-271-9707

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, jmc163, education, web2.0, web 2.0

Ben Willmore Seminar on Photoshop

Photoshop CS2 for Photographers
Today I took a day of vacation and paid my own way to attend the best day of Photoshop training I have ever had. I thought I was good at Photoshop, but what Ben taught me has changed forever how I will use this tool. Ben Willmore is great. This workshop was superb. I highly recommend it to anybody who is serious about Photoshop CS2. Oh yes, Ben has a great sense of humor too.

Help Desk Holiday 2006

Help Desk Staff Celebrates Holidays
In a tradition that started last year, we had a Thanksgiving Eve Holiday celebration. I made turkey for dinner and all the other staff also brought dishes, drinks and eating utensils. It was too much fun. After the meal we watched a movie in the Clark Hall conference room. These are great young people, all from south asia, and it is a pleasure knowing them. It is like one large family here.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, sjsuhelpdesk, SJSU Help Desk, ssloansjca

Clark Hall: Signs of Improvement

Everybody wins when safety is improved
This is truly a win-win situation. After both the faculty and the staff unions joined the safety grievance at Clark Hall things started to improve. New signs are going up and obstructions are being removed. All parties are now working together to improve the exit routes from this building. Hopefully, we will never have to make an emergency evacuation of this building. But, if we do, we will now be better prepared and lives may be spared. That is a win for everybody!

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, fire hazard, firehazard, ssloansjca

JMC 163: The world listened

Looking back on 163
We have had a great time teaching 163. We took to heart what the department chairman said to me when he recruited me, that we had a "blank slate." We have accomplished a lot. Every student in the class has created a podcast for their midterms. For their final projects, most students have completed, or are doing, video multimedia projects.

Through their blogs the class took the Skype story, went global with it and changed the course of the university. When the publisher of Skype Journal learned about our coverage of the Skype story he picked it up and ended up coming to our class and speaking with us.

He wasn't the only one who came. We have brought in speakers who are recognized around the world in new media and are excited to see it is being taught. The students got to meet some folks who are changing the world through new media and got to see some technologies that are just now on the horizon. The students learned not only how these communications technologies are growing in leaps and bounds while the old traditional media is fading; the students learned why. This "why" is so much more important. The "how" may be enabling, the "why" is empowering. In my opinion, why is more important than how. The how is changing all the time. The how changes like waves in the ocean as new technologies emerge. The why, on the other hand, is like a tidal wave of change that is not just hitting journalism, it is hitting business, it is hitting politics, it is hitting the world.

The course, and the school, has gotten a lot of positive recognition thanks to Journalism 163 (as it is now being taught) and is on the cusp of getting a lot more. J&MC is out in front on this and we instructors have put our hearts and souls and a lot of work into this class. We have learned a lot and have had a wonderful experience.

Most importantly our students have gained valuable skills and more. They have gained insight into the global "new media" conversation (often called "Web 2.0") that is going on and how the media landscape is changing and why things will never go back to being the same as they were in the past.

That is what we did with this "blank slate" and I think our students will be better equipped to deal with the real world of emerging "new media" journalism because of it. We did this all without having even a printer in the classroom because frankly, we did not need one. We did not need paper. The class was all out there for the world to see on the student blogs and the world listened. That is the coolest part, the world listened.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, jmc163, education, web2.0, web 2.0

My Last BBB, for now

My last issue of the bike club newsletter for now
Because we got our house burglarized last week and I had some of my equipment stolen this was an especially challenging issue to get this out. But, the old newspaperman in me could not miss an issue (especially my last one.) So, here it is! There was no time for corrections or edits due to my schedule. The final, finished and complete December 2006 newsletter is posted here in PDF.

This issue is done and it has been sent to the printer. This is the printer's version in PDF. This is how it has gone to the printer.

Steve Sergeant coming to JMC163

Tuesday Nov. 21 Speaker: Steve Sergeant
We are very lucky to have Steve as the speaker to our Tuesday class. Steve is the producer and host of The Wildebeat. This podcast is billed as, "an audio journal — like a radio news magazine — presenting news and features to help you explore the Earth's remaining wild places. Each week, (Steve publishes) a 10 minute documentary piece catered to the needs of people who enjoy wilderness recreation."

His podcast is a great example of new media journalism. He does a weekly feature story of interest to folks who enjoy the wonders of the back country. As well as being very approachable and a really nice a pleasant fellow, Steve has a very interesting story about how he started his podcast. He comes from a public broadcasting background and is very knowledgeable technically. He has given me great advice on podcasting equipment. He knows his stuff! This class should be a real pleasure.

Class Information:

• Location: DBH 226, Dwight Bentel Hall, San Jose State University
• Time: 6 pm, November 21, 2006

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, Steve Sergeant, wildebeat, ssloansjca

An Act of Kindness

A film by Akshay Prem Vyas
With all the bad stuff that has happened recently, especially our recent burglary and Sue's accident plus the struggle to get the safety issues in Clark Hall fixed, it was becoming easy to feel jaded and cynical. Then, a special film was brought back to my attention. Akshay is a wonderful young man from India who works at the San Jose State University Help Desk. Akshay and his friends made this movie for Campus Moviefest that reminds us that in general people have good hearts and that what goes around comes around. Thank you Akshay and friends for making this movie. It made my wife and I very happy to watch it again, it was an act of kindness.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, Campus Moviefest, campusmoviefest, ssloansjca

Clark Hall (Un)Safety Story Continues

The latest from Clark Hall, a letter to the university
Why is this such an ongoing struggle? Why is the university dragging its feet on this?

Workplace safety should not be something that leads to grievances. I have asked both CSUEU and CFA to come in on this matter and to file union grievances. I have been having discussions about this matter since I was assigned to work in this facility. In my opinion; this building, as it is currently being operated, poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the students, faculty and staff who occupy it.

If you look at the historic structure fire disasters like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Rhode Island disco fire of 2003 it was impeded fire exits that caused such horrible loss of life. I have filed grievances and blogged about this and will continue to file grievances and blog about this until the danger is removed. We should be working together on this, not as adversaries. Is the university really intent on perpetuating and defending unsafe working and learning conditions? As a friend of mine said, the problem is now and it needs to be fixed now!
~Steve

Reference, See Posts: | November 9, 2006 | September 7, 2006

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, fire hazard, firehazard, ssloansjca

Copybot threatens Second life

Copybot threatens Second Life's virtual economy
According to CNET news:

Linden Lab, which publishes Second Life, posted a blog alerting residents of the virtual world to the existence of a program or bot called CopyBot, which allows someone to copy any object in Second Life... Some virtual entrepreneurs now worry their livelihoods are at stake, and some are threatening to shut down their in-world businesses before they get fleeced... Problem is, it's not clear yet if there's anything Linden Lab can do to stop people from using the bot.

Possible strike at SJSU?

So, we marched on the Chancellor's Office
This was the first time I participated in a job action as a member of the faculty union. Faculty members, supported by students and members of the various staff unions from all over the state marched on the Chancellor's Office in Long Beach, California as the university trustee's met. The faculty union in the entire CSU system has been trying to get a fair contract and so far that has not happened. The union may go on strike! This is the university biggest job action I have ever been in in all my years as a labor leader and university employee.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, Higher Education, Labor, unions, highereducation, strikes, Long Beach, ssloansjca

Home Burglary Alert

Canna Lane, San Jose, CA

This information is here in case anybody has a similar incident and goes to do a Google search on the subject.

Our home was broken into today, Nov. 13, 2006, between 10 and 11:30am. Here is what we know. According to witnesses, the burglars were driving a silver/grey Jeep Cherokee. Winesses said, there were three burglars, two white males in their late teens to early twenties and a black woman about 23-26. The witnesses said the men had a green back pack and were carring a white plastic garbage bag.

According to the witnesses the woman had a tattoo on her neck. They said the men were of slight build and appeared to the witnesses to be possible gang members. If you see anybody who matches this description please call the San Jose Police Department.

This is in regards to case 06-317-0585. I had computer, camera and podcasting equipment stolen. My wife lost jewlery and other items.

Steve Sloan
(408) 605-0692

Technorati Tags: Theft, crime, San Jose, ssloansjca

Is higher education on the verge of disruption?

Can higher education adapt to the effects of disruptive technology?
To understand what I am about to say I suggest you read the following Wikipedia entrys:

• Disruptive Technology
• Metaverse
• Skype
• Podcasting
• Moore's Law

To quote the Wikipedia entry on disruptive technology

"...a lower-end disruptive innovation is aimed at mainstream customers who were ignored by established companies. Sometimes, a disruptive technology comes to dominate an existing market by either filling a role in a new market that the older technology could not fill (as more expensive, lower capacity but smaller-sized hard disks did for newly developed notebook computers in the 1980s) or by successively moving up-market through performance improvements until finally displacing the market incumbents (as digital photography has begun to replace film photography)."

This is critical to understand! You cannot dismiss disruptive technology by saying it is not as good as the sustaining technology that given time it may replace and dominate. For example, at the turn of the 20th century the steam powered passenger train was the dominate public transportation paradigm. The airplane was invented in 1903. The airplane lacked the capability for long distance travel and there were no facilities available for public use of airplanes. Compared to the airplane, the train was safe, comfortable and reliable. But, transcontinental travel by rail took days. Airplanes were faster than trains. There was an unmet need for speedy travel. At first, the airplane was a niche market device. The airplane had a market that allowed it to develop and evolve in its niche. Fifty years later the airplane had evolved into a transportation paradigm that was safe, comfortable and unlike passenger trains, airplanes are was also fast. We now travel across the continent in hours routinely by airplane. The airplane disrupted the train as the dominate mode of public long distance travel.

So, what does that have to do with education?
Recently we had a presentation in our class of Second Life. Second Life is a type of Metaverse, a virtual world where people interact over the Internet, using their computers, in a three dimensional and highly detailed virtual world. In this presentation a person was in our class, another person was on the east coast, they were linked together verbally using Skype. Using Second Life and using Skype they were able stand side by side and talk to the class and the class was able to talk to them. Then, using Skype Recorder audio recording software, we recorded the conversation for release in a podcast. Imagine being able to come to class without going to class and/or being able to replay what you may have missed in class!

But, you argue, real classrooms are "better"!
If that is your argument you are missing the point! Remember, "a lower-end disruptive innovation is aimed at mainstream customers who were ignored by established companies." Consider the many people who are disenfranchised from, and cannot participate in, the existing paradigm because they have conflicting jobs, travel issues, child care responsibilities and/or other members of their families who require their attention.

Metaversities?
In this mix you have, in my opinion, a huge unmet need. That is the niche opportunity for this technology to be developed to meet this unmet need. Add to this scenario Moore's Law, "Moore's Law equates to an average performance improvement in the (technology) industry as a whole of over 1% per week." When you look at the emerging technologies we are seeing now, think of them in light of performance improvements via Moore's Law. Think of them against a backdrop of increasing cost of oil based transportation. And, think of the huge cost of maintaining and sustaining the physical brick and mortar universities we all hold so dear. Will they be replaced by metaversities?

In my opinion, you have the recipe for disruption in higher education. I think higher education as we know it is ripe for disruption and does not have a clue what it is that may be coming at it!

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, Higher Education, Second Life, secondlife, highereducation, pedagogy, Skype, ssloansjca

Stupid people and trains

Another stupid person and a train

Recently I talked about stupid people and trains. Well, here is more!

Podcamp West

Checkout Podcamp West. It looks like a great event and it is free! We have signed up to go. The list of folks attending looks good.

Will it blend?

Don't try this at home!
Eric Rice says this is the best use of coporate video ever! He may be right, this is too funny and well worth the time to check it out. Eric said:

This is like an actual company’s vlog… Blendtec makes blendors. I was cracking up at other videos and was thinkin, man I got to get one of those. I googled it just for the hell of it and sure enough, the logos matched, did a WHOIS, it’s blendtec.

You gotta check out Eric's blog. Eric Rice is one of the world’s leading experts in consumer generated media, particularly in podcasting and videoblogging. He is co-founder of Hipcast (previously Audioblog.com) as well as being the founder and executive producer of Slackstreet Entertainment, a holding company for podcast and videoblog consulting and products. Eric is also the coordinator of the Silicon Valley Pocasting Meetup Group. This a great group. We met last night. Kenneth, my youngest son, and I went. Eric has turned both of us on to Second Life and has bent my mind with great ideas several times. Folks who miss out on events like this miss out on some of the great moments of being in Silicon Valley.

Clark fire exit blocked again

Camera Phone Post: The danger continues
Here is a photo taken this morning of blocked fire exits on the northwest corner of San Jose State University's Clark Hall, where the Academic Success Center is located and where I work. This is not a new problem. Before, on September 7, 2006 this situation was observed, photographed, reported and blogged. There is even a pending union grievance regarding safety matters related to Clark Hall. I would like to see the following added to that grievance:

• The university shall place appropriate sineage that is clearly visible from a distance to anybody that blocking these fire exits is not allowed.
• The university shall take any other actions necessary to see that these areas are kept clear.

Perhaps what they need to do is to paint on the concrete here in big bold letters Keep Clear!

In my opinion, in the event of a fire or an earthquake, the blocking of these exits could possibly lead to tragic loss of life. Safe working and learning conditions should not be something that leads to labor conflict. Having a safe campus is something we all should be on the same page about.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Press Release: CSU & SJSU Join iTunes U

Media Contact: Paul Browning, 562-951-4064, pbrowning@calstate.edu

California State University Adopts Podcast Learning

iTunes U Provides On-The-Move Studying

(November 2, 2006) -- Several California State University campuses have adopted iTunes U, an innovative software that enables students to download podcasts of such items as lectures, campus news, and class notes into their portable iPod systems.

The iTunes U service, developed and hosted by the Apple Computer, Inc., enables students to download audio, graphic and video images onto their Macintosh or PC computers, then copy them to their iPods to listen or view anywhere. Students may also upload content to share with professors, or the class. Professors and students using this free service are also linked to university news and information related to academic and student events.

Of CSU’s 23 campuses, Fresno State, Cal State East Bay, San Jose State, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and Sacramento State have already adopted iTunes U.

“Podcasting and iTunes U provides us with yet another method to offer portable learning opportunities for our students, and enables Sac State to build on its long-standing tradition of providing educational access to its diverse community of learners,” said Rosemary Papa, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Sacramento State.

Using iTunes, professors may also effortlessly modify their messages, which reduces IT Department time. All content is stored in Apple’s hosted repository, which can be browsed, searched and configured to providing open or secure access. iTunes U also complements other higher education online learning systems, such as Blackboard.

According to Dr. Gary Reichard, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at CSU, the fact that both students and faculty are familiar with iPods greatly reduces the complications of learning how to use iTunes U.”

“Walking across a CSU campus, it seems that every other student is listening to an iPod. That’s why this technology is such a natural fit to our campuses— iTunes U represents a vehicle for learning and communication that students and professors have already embraced,” he said. “This software and its applications complement CSU’s objective to continually adopt the latest technologies for enhancing learning on and off campus.”

Peter Beyersdorf, associate professor of physics at San Jose State, agrees that iTunes U’s applications are a great tool for students, but also believes it provides professors an additional way to be there for them outside the classroom.

“One of the challenges I am continually confronted with is how to make myself available to my students outside of class,” he said “Via podcasts, I’m able to remotely provide the resources I want my students to have access to, and they are able to control when and how they access those resources.”

About California State University
The California State University is the largest system of senior higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, approximately 405,000 students and 44,000 faculty and staff. Since the system was created in 1961, it has awarded nearly 2.5 million degrees, about 84,000 annually. The CSU is renowned for the quality of its teaching and for the job-ready graduates it produces. Its mission is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of the people of California. With its commitment to excellence, diversity and innovation, the CSU is the university system that is working for California. See www.calstate.edu

SJSU students sleep on sidewalk

Camera Phone Post: Students sleep out at SJSU
Students spent the night on the sidewalk not far from the statues of San Jose State student activists and 1968 Olympic Medal Winners, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. They did this to illustrate the issue of homelessness in our country. Despite all the technology and all the wealth in our society there are still folks who lack a roof over their head. Homelessness is an issue that does not go away. Housing is so very expensive and so many people are a paycheck or two from living on the street. "Over a five-year period, about 2–3 percent of the U.S. population (5–8 million people) will experience at least one night of homelessness," according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Clearing Storm over SJSU

Camera Phone Post: Clearing Storm over SJSU
Storm clouds giving way to sun over tower hall. The rain is ending and it is Friday!

Great visit to CSU Stanislaus

I had a great visit to "turkey tech" and spent about five hours there in a very intensive day of shooting. Frank Borrelli is a fantastic union leader. He is president of the California State University Stanislaus (CSUS) CSUEU chapter. He has a way of making being in the union not only be the right thing to do, but also a fun thing to do. It is like everybody on campus knows him, and he knows them. He remembers everybody's name and knows and remembers details about their families. He can instantly launch into conversations with members of his chapter in a way that shows he genuinely cares about them. He has charisma, charm, optimism and a never ending sense of humor. What a wonderful experience this was. I feel so very lucky to have been able to visit Stanislaus and the two other campuses I have visited so far in this project. I shot over 150 usable images yesterday. The uses for the image library this is building for CSUEU in the UE, organizing fliers, the website and of course the upcoming calendar, in my opinion, are very worthwhile. By featuring a lot of pictures of our constituents we can really show them our desire to put the you in our union.

This has been so much fun, I wish I could have done this years ago!

Mac Podcasting Software

Podcast Maker Is Another Mac Tool
While I hope folks will at least give hacking RSS feeds a try, Podcast Maker is another tool for Mac podcast creation. If RSS is giving you fits, Podcast Maker is close to a drag and drop solution. Of course it has a free 30 day evaluation period!

Cindy Chavez for Mayor

Cindy Chavez For Mayor of San Jose
In the coming election I urge my friends and members of the University Community to vote for Cindy Chavez for Mayor of San Jose. In my opinion she has repeatedly proved to be a friend of working people and members of the campus community. She supported us in getting the traffic light at the corner of 9th and San Fernando and I think she will be a great mayor for our city.

Staff union reaches tentative agreement with CSU

Tentative Agreement Reached with CSU - 15% package over three years

E-mail from Union HQ (Posted on union Web Site here) -- The CSUEU bargaining team is pleased to announce that we reached a Tentative Agreement with the CSU late on Friday, October 27. We plan to make the entire tentative agreement after November 8, and ratification packets will be sent to members shortly thereafter.

The short story is that the economic package totals 15% over three years (divided between GSI, SSI, and Market Salary increases) with no take-aways in benefits. The SSI cap will be moved upwards by 5% each year over the next three years, making step increases available to nearly two thousand employees who have been frozen at the top of their SSI maximum range. There will be some parking fee increases on some campuses where employees have not been paying the same fees as students. However, no increases will go into effect on any campus until after parking fees are implemented for faculty. The increase is limited to $3, $6, and $9 respectively over the next three years on affected campuses. On campuses where students pay more than staff, the CSU had been demanding that staff pay increases of $10 per month the first year, $15 per month the second year, and then increases to whatever fees students are paying in the third year. CSUEU was able to hold the CSU to a much more gradual increase. We will also be addressing a few campuses in the first year of the contract after this one.

More information about the Tentative Agreement will be coming soon.

Update from Vera
In the previous version of this post I just posted what I received in an e-mail from headquarters. It seems that may have not been 100 percent accurate. Vera, who is on the negotiating team, sent this out, "We have a "Conceptual Agreement" with the CSU. We have not TA'd the contract as of yet. The bargaining team will meet again up in Sacramento on November 8th to clear up some items still outstanding."

Thanks Vera!

More Clark Hall Safety Concerns

Why do we have to file grievances to get safe working, teaching and learning conditions? Why is safety not just something that happens by default at SJSU? After many complaints I just filed a grievace cosidering what I feel are unsafe conditions in the Academic Success Center in Clark Hall. I am frustrated issues have not been properly addressed by San Jose State University, including the following:

• Lack of visible and appropriate sineage regarding exit routes for emergency egress from the stage area of Clark Hall.
• Lack of training by a knowledgeable party for appropriate emergency evacuation procedures from the Clark Hall, ASC.
• Lack of appropriate sineage for the glass doors in Clark Hall.
• Difficult procedures for unlocking the glass doors in Clark Hall.

I do not understand how this facility was able to be opened without these issues being addressed in the first place.

SJSU J&MC Ad Students GM Competition Finalists

SJSU Advertising Students Named Finalists In Chevy Competition
FROM PRESS RELEASE - Today, three SJSU advertising students will learn if their idea will  become the basis for a $2 million Super Bowl commercial. The School of  Journalism and Mass Communications team is a finalist in the Chevy Super  Bowl College Ad Challenge. The competition asked students nationwide to  submit concepts for a 30-second Chevrolet commercial by October 13. SJSU  team members Anna Pogosova, LouLou Quintela and Kelly Sherman learned last  Tuesday they were among five teams of finalists. All five teams spent the  weekend in Detroit refining their concept with assistance from ad agency  executives. The teams are now presenting their concepts to Chevrolet  executives, who will select a winner by day's end. CBS, the Super Bowl's  broadcaster, taped the entire process including the moment SJSU's team was  named a finalist, an announcement made on campus during class. The network  plans to produce a reality program based on the competition. The SJSU team  advisor, Assistant Professor Lilly Buchwitz, also went to Detroit. Other  finalists hail from Elon University, Savannah College of Art and Design,  Washington University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. For  more, see: http://www.edventurepartners.com/

There and back again

I am home from LA
It was a short trip, less than 36 hours total. Some people make trips like this all the time and for them it is routine. For me it was a bit disorienting. I do not like flying in airliners. It is not the flying that bothers me, it is the security. When you fly you agree to submit to it. I do, but I resent it. I feel as though I am a prisoner in some kind of police state. That is the bargain we make in order to fly. Given my druthers, I rather drive if I can. But, this trip I couldn't. It is too bad we could not have had this meeting in Second Life! Considering how much it costs to fly so many folks to attend meetings like this, the economics of virtual meetings in virtual worlds just is inescapable.

From a hotel near LA

I am at a meeting in Manhattan Beach, near LA. It is warm here, very warm for almost November. The Santa Ana winds have been blowing off the desert bringing both northern and southern California amazing clear and warm weather. That same amazing warm weather is giving added life to the fire season.

I started a new novel today. It is Snow Crash, by Neal Stephensen. This book was the inspiration to a very popular virtual world called Second Life. Snow Crash is in the genre "cyberpunk." Snow Crash happens in a future world where American society is crumbling. The way some lucky folks in Snow Crash escape the spreading societal decay is through a virtual world called "the Metaverse." It is the core idea of this Metaverse that is at the heart and the inspiration of Second Life.

So, I am going to the source code, the Zen of Second Life, by exploring the book that inspired it. That is what I am doing in the middle of autumn in a hotel near LA, as the Santa Ana winds blow outside.

Podcast: Uhrmacher, Kemp, Text 100, Second Life

Podcast: 48:05 duration, 44 MB MP3 - Posted October 25, 2006
Audio, recorded October 24, 2006.
To listen to audio, click here –> MP3 File Here

Kemp-Uhrmacher Skype conversation in and about Second Life
This is the presentation SJSU Educator Jeremy Kemp did last night with Aaron Uhrmacher, Senior Account Executive at Text 100. Kemp was in the class, Uhrmacher was in another part of the country. Despite being thousands of miles apart, they both presented to the class in real time side by side on the screen from within the virtual world called Second Life. The tool Uhrmacher used to talk to the class was Skype. It was a wonderful immersive experience.

Listening Notes
I will be the first to admit, the audio here is lacking in parts. It is much better than the first podcast I did of a Skype conversation. Sometimes I learn as much by what goes wrong as by what goes right. Next time I will have a wireless mic on the speaker. Please, the audio is worth the fuss I think! The presentation was great. Kemp and Uhrmacher were superb. I used Ecamm's Skype Call Recorder to capture the conversation, Quicktime Pro to convert it to WAV, Levelator to bring up the low points and to moderate the peaks and Audacity to do final prep and, with the LAME encoder, to convert it to MP3.

Next Podcast: Student Reaction
In the next podcast we will listen to a conversation by the students about the Second Life Presentation.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, Skype, Web 2.0, Aaron Uhrmacher, jmc163, Text100, Text 100, Second Life, SecondLife, Jeremy Kemp , j-school

Today I went to San Francisco

Today I went to San Francisco State University
It was a rare clear and warm day in San Francisco. I took photos of University employees who are union members for a project we are working on. On the way home I went south through Daly City on Skyline and stopped where I found a spectacular view of the ocean.

Kemp presented on Second Life

An inspiring presentation by Kemp
If the greatest asset we have at San Jose State University is our people, then Jeremy Kemp is one of SJSU's greatest technology assets. The presentation he did last night with Aaron Uhrmacher, senior account executive at Text 100, was mind blowing. Kemp was in class. Uhrmacher was in another part of the country. They both presented to the class from within the virtual world called Second Life, where they were standing side by side on the screen. It was an immersive experience and I learned a lot from Kemp both about Second Life and about teaching. I captured the audio from the Kemp-Uhrmacher Skype conversation and that will be released as a podcast very soon.

Podcast: Greene on Video

Podcast: 1:09:16 duration, 63.4 MB MP3 - Posted October 23, 2006
Audio, recorded October 17, 2006.
To listen to high quality audio, click here –> MP3 File Here

Steve Greene Talks About Video
Journalism 163 discussion
This is last week's discussion by Journalism Professor Steve Greene about video production. This is the second podcast I produced entirely in Windows on my new MacPro and is the first time I used Levelator, a new tool by Gigavox for adjusting audio levels on Podcasts.

Tuesday's class is not to be missed!

Machinima: Text 100 in Second Life



Tuesday's class is not to be missed!

This is a big one folks! Prepare to have your mind bent, prepare for a journey into a new Metaverse! Jeremy Kemp is going to be presenting on Second Life and it is planned that he will be joined by Aaron Uhrmacher. Aaron Uhrmacher is senior account executive at Text 100 the first PR agency to establish a presence in Second Life.

Here is to better days!

A better day than yesterday!
What a weird unplanned weekend. It started Saturday with Madison's birthday. I went for a bike ride later Saturday. Sue and I went to dinner that night. I went for another ride on Sunday and hooked up with some friends in our bike club. When I came home from the ride Sue was working in the yard. I showered, then she showered. My shower was fine, hers ended very badly. She is doing much better this evening. She is still sore, but better. The glass is cleaned up. The bathroom is back together (no more shower doors!) Life goes on. Life is like that, I guess.

After the crash

Susie update
Sue is doing well considering the number of lacerations she had from the broken glass. She is bandaged up. The broken glass is picked up and I am working on fixing the bathroom. I guess that bathroom remodel is going to go higher on our to do list.

Suddenly standing in shattered glass

A glass shower door fell on Sue as she was exiting the shower this afternoon. Suddenly she was standing in a tub of broken glass. I heard it fall and her calling for help. I came in and threw down towels so she could escape. She was cut on her hands and feet and needed to go to the hospital for stitches. She is in bandages. It's a real mess.

Podcast: Students talk about their podcasts

Podcast: 24:32 duration, 22.47 MB MP3 - Posted October 20, 2006
Audio, recorded October 17, 2006.
To listen to high quality audio, click here –> MP3 File Here

Great Ideas for Podcasts!
Journalism 163 Mid-term discussion
Students in Journalism 163 discuss the mid-term assignment, which is to do a podcast. In this in-class conversation they are talking about the ideas they have for their podcasts. The students discuss the format of their podcasts, the subjects of their podcasts and who their audiences are.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, jmc163

Lunch at Mac's Cafe

Camera Phone Post: Lunch at Mac's Cafe
We had a great lunch. It was a lot of fun. I always enjoy having an opportunity to eat here.

I am in training this week

I am in training at Apple
My training continues through the end of the week. This training is on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It is part of the Apple certification track. I applied for, and was funded for, this training through a lottery grant. In my opinion we should be trained on all the software we support. We should not have to apply for training and hope we get funded for it through a lottery grant. As it is now, we staff members still have to provide technical support to faculty and students whether we are funded and are trained or not. I think the cost of not training our support staff is higher than the cost of training them. It is my opinion that trained employees are more productive and more likely to do the job right than employees who are not trained. So, training is good. Some folks say we can't afford training. I say we can't afford the mistakes being untrained leads to.

University Staff Pay vs. Inflation

I am at Apple

Camera Phone Post: I am at Apple today
This is the think different script. It is on the entry to the training center.

Podcast: JACC sesssion on podcasting

Podcast: 42.54 duration, 39.2 MB MP3 - Posted October 16, 2006
Audio, recorded October 14, 2006.
To listen to high quality audio, click here –> MP3 File Here

My Podcast Session at JACC
This is the session I did at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges Northern California Conference at SJSU on October 14. The topic is Journalism is a Conversation, Podcasting and Journalism. In the audience are students from junior colleges and from SJSU.

Update: Tue Oct 17 06:53:53 PDT 2006

• Here is the PowerPoint that was shown along with the presentation. Note: the videos included in the original version have been removed from this PowerPoint download to simplify download.
• Correction (1) - In the audio you will hear me use the term "horse and buggy" what I meant to say and what was displayed in the PowerPoint was "horseless carriage."
• Correction (2) The person's named in the credits were individuals whose input to me through conversations helped me put together this presentation. They were not involved directly with production of this podcast or the associated PowerPoint.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca, j-school, Web 2.0