Well, I made it Orlando and other than eating breakfast at 4 am and having to go to bet at 7 am, all is well. I just hate traveling east. I'm such a whiner. At least it is warm today.
I am here for the Educause Conference which is a national technology conference for higher education. It is an amazing conference that I look forward to going to every year. I look forward to it for two reasons: amazing sessions and old friends.
The sessions really start tomorrow, but yesterday was about catching up with old friends. Yesterday, I met up with my CCCU friends for dinner at the Olive Garden for an impromptu social event. It was a great time to find out what was going on in their lives both professionally and personally. These people have truly become true friends and people I have grown to care about rather than just network with. Today we all met up professionally as part of a Commisson on Technology for the CCCU. We had a terrific planning session for our yearly conference, to find out how everyone is doing, to network, and to find out what we can do to help support other member schools like our own. We got a lot of work done and planning for our future conference which will be held at Indiana Wesleyan. It stands to be a great conference.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Why does one blog?
I've noticed recently that many people I know will actually tell you they have a blog and that they blog, but upon going to their actual blogs one could note that they have blogged, but currently are not doing so. I too am guilty of the blogger bug, but note... I have not blogged since June. In fact, I have two blogs and I haven't blogged on either on since June.
So this made me ponder... why does one blog?
(In the spirit of Dave)
THE TOP TEN REASONS WHY PEOPLE BLOG
10. To share information that you think others may be interested in. (you are so fooled)
9. To share information that others have already shared.
8. Because your boss tells you to and you get paid for it.
7. To practice your writing skills.
6. Because you travel and you keep losing your travel journal.
5. To let your family know that you are still alive.
4. To be heard because no one ever listens.
3. In a nerdy world it is uncool not to have a blog.
2. People don't have lives so they create their own virtual life.
1. They want to get a hard bound book published in the real world.
At any rate, maybe I should put it in my PDA as a reminder that I should blog on a more regular basis because I really don't think I have the right to say I am a blogger and not just tell people, "I have a blog."
So this made me ponder... why does one blog?
(In the spirit of Dave)
THE TOP TEN REASONS WHY PEOPLE BLOG
10. To share information that you think others may be interested in. (you are so fooled)
9. To share information that others have already shared.
8. Because your boss tells you to and you get paid for it.
7. To practice your writing skills.
6. Because you travel and you keep losing your travel journal.
5. To let your family know that you are still alive.
4. To be heard because no one ever listens.
3. In a nerdy world it is uncool not to have a blog.
2. People don't have lives so they create their own virtual life.
1. They want to get a hard bound book published in the real world.
At any rate, maybe I should put it in my PDA as a reminder that I should blog on a more regular basis because I really don't think I have the right to say I am a blogger and not just tell people, "I have a blog."
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Coffee Maker Needs a Security update?!
Okay, so first of all who buys a coffee maker for $1798 U.S.? And, why do you need one that can be connected to the Internet? What? You say it can adjust the strength of their coffee via the Internet! How did I live without this thing! I can't believe that I have had to adjust mine by adding a little more coffee or taking out a bit all of this time?
Well, according to Cnet News a man in Australia owns just that, a coffee maker with Internet connectivity called the Jura F90 which allows him to not only adjust his coffee strength, but also allows him to get diagnostics on the thing via the Internet. This $1800 unit seems to have also come with an additional feature...it may allow people to gain remote access to his PC as well as his coffee maker. I hope his home security system isn't connected to his PC or else he may come home to find that someone has not only made coffee with his Jura F90, but they may have gone over and picked it up without leaving a tip.
Well, I will stick to my programmable Mr Coffee (44.95 US) until they get the bugs worked out. :) But for those of you who are early adopters, it looks like they still have 2 left in stock at Amazon.com so you better hurry and get yours.
Well, according to Cnet News a man in Australia owns just that, a coffee maker with Internet connectivity called the Jura F90 which allows him to not only adjust his coffee strength, but also allows him to get diagnostics on the thing via the Internet. This $1800 unit seems to have also come with an additional feature...it may allow people to gain remote access to his PC as well as his coffee maker. I hope his home security system isn't connected to his PC or else he may come home to find that someone has not only made coffee with his Jura F90, but they may have gone over and picked it up without leaving a tip.
Well, I will stick to my programmable Mr Coffee (44.95 US) until they get the bugs worked out. :) But for those of you who are early adopters, it looks like they still have 2 left in stock at Amazon.com so you better hurry and get yours.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Mozilla's Firefox 3 (RC3) was released today
I just downloaded Firefox 3 and installed it on my computer although Michael Horowitz for Cnet News recommended that I don't until all of the bugs are worked out. Well, as far as I know all software is buggy. I would never upgrade if I let others workout the bugs. Aren't there bugs in Windows XP and it is on the way out.
There are a lot of great features in FF3 RC3 listed on the website which I won't bore you with since you are smart enough to go to the website to read if you are reading my blog right now. The biggest plus is suppose to be security and speed. We will see. The thing I noticed when installing is that none of my add-ons are going to work with the newest version, but I am sure developers will be quick to make those updates. That is the the thing about Open Source fans, they are quick to move.
Am I giving up on IE7? No, I pride myself on being an open person and that includes the world of browsers. I'm the kind of girl who likes to keep her options open, when it comes to computing.
There are a lot of great features in FF3 RC3 listed on the website which I won't bore you with since you are smart enough to go to the website to read if you are reading my blog right now. The biggest plus is suppose to be security and speed. We will see. The thing I noticed when installing is that none of my add-ons are going to work with the newest version, but I am sure developers will be quick to make those updates. That is the the thing about Open Source fans, they are quick to move.
Am I giving up on IE7? No, I pride myself on being an open person and that includes the world of browsers. I'm the kind of girl who likes to keep her options open, when it comes to computing.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Made it Home and through Graduation
Well...
I made it home alive from British Columbia with nothing more than an hour or so wait at the border. I'm sure my friend who was riding with me could tell me the exact number of minutes. Once again it was great to meet up with people in my technology community. I already miss their company and our time together to collaborate and share ideas.
Upon returning home, it was a world wind rush into graduation. My middle daughter graduated from HS. She was one of the valedictorians of her class- one of 23 out of 429 students. I have heard from many that there were too many, but as a mother of one of them, I know how hard my daughter worked to get there. She took AP classes and she has come home almost every night since the 5th grade and studied.
Her study habits were much better than mine or her father's but what I found interesting is that they were not all that different. With major jumps in technological advances and so much technology in our lives, studying has not changed in 25 years. She took notes in a notebook and hightlighted them with her pink highlighter. She went to the coffee shop with her friends and collaborated on projects or studied for tests. She colored in her anatomy packet with colored pencils and made enough notecards to kill at least 3 trees. Finally, she too fell asleep on her books hoping that osmosis would really work and learned that a good night's sleep and a little extra work does pay off!
I made it home alive from British Columbia with nothing more than an hour or so wait at the border. I'm sure my friend who was riding with me could tell me the exact number of minutes. Once again it was great to meet up with people in my technology community. I already miss their company and our time together to collaborate and share ideas.
Upon returning home, it was a world wind rush into graduation. My middle daughter graduated from HS. She was one of the valedictorians of her class- one of 23 out of 429 students. I have heard from many that there were too many, but as a mother of one of them, I know how hard my daughter worked to get there. She took AP classes and she has come home almost every night since the 5th grade and studied.
Her study habits were much better than mine or her father's but what I found interesting is that they were not all that different. With major jumps in technological advances and so much technology in our lives, studying has not changed in 25 years. She took notes in a notebook and hightlighted them with her pink highlighter. She went to the coffee shop with her friends and collaborated on projects or studied for tests. She colored in her anatomy packet with colored pencils and made enough notecards to kill at least 3 trees. Finally, she too fell asleep on her books hoping that osmosis would really work and learned that a good night's sleep and a little extra work does pay off!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
2008 CCCU Day 2
So I woke up this morning in another country. It is an odd place where they spell words a little differently such a the word center is spelled centre. They also have black squirrels...Weird
I also found that if you wish to watch a television show from the states online that they are blocked. When I came in on Tuesday, I thought I would relax by watching the Big Bang Theory, one of my new favorite shows so I went to hulu and found that it was not available in Canada so then I went to CBS and I just kept getting a lovely voice stating, "This content cannot be found" everytime I tried to watch full episodes. I'll have to check into that later since it is 9 pm and I'm watching "The Tonight Show" right now via satellite. I'll have to check on this a little later when I have more time.
Be that as it may, I am not here to test out the ability to watch television over the internet in Canada although that would be a great gig. I'm up for it if anyone wants an international internet media tester as long as my expenses are paid. Actually, I am at the CCCU Conference on Technology at Trinity Western University. It is a conference for work, but it is actually a great time as I get to hang out with what my kids call my "little technology friends" from all over the U.S. and Canada. It has been a great trip and a great time to interact with technology professionals from institutions just like mine. It is always great to get together and learn from and network with people from schools just like ours. The sessions have been interesting, the fellowship has been wonderful, the food has been good, and the host has been fabulous.
Monday, January 7, 2008
2008 GOALS- NOT resolutions
Well, 2008 is HERE. At my house, it didn't scream in so much as it trickled into our dreams. We all went to bed early. Wow has my life changed! With technology, bringing in the new year has also changed, I could DVR the ball falling and watch it New Year's Day if I had wanted to see it our headed over to YouTube and watched those who did feel the need to record it and were kind enough to share it. My youngest daughter set her cell phone alarm to wake her back up at midnight so that see could welcome in 2008. LOL Life really has changed, but some things haven't. People still feel the need to plan out their New Year Resolutions. Go to the top 10 at About and check them out. You go to work and everyone asks you what your resolution is this year and then we all laugh about how long before you break it. Even the government has a list at http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml You can even go to sites like eHow that tell you how to do it.
So as the new year approached, I begin to ponder a few things like why do we resolve to change things that we probably will not change? Resolve is such a negative word. The root of solve is even more negative like I now have to solve my issues. So this year, I turned it around and thought... Hmmm, what about the word Goal. If I set mini Goals, they will become good habits. They will take on a more positive light. So this year that is want I decided, I have set a few goals for the year. Things I want to do, not things I should do. Things that make me happy. I also decided that I can add to these Goals as I go along, once they do become habits. Everyone knows that Goals much be very precise and measurable and that one should write them down. A couple of great places to do this is at 43Things or Joe's Goals or MyGoals. I prefer Joe's Goals as I get reminders and it is less about social networking although I have a 43Things account. Tasks in Outlook also works great, I just don't want to mix my goals up with tasks as tasks are what I have to do, again making it sound a little negative.
So currently my list of Goals includes:
1. Writing in my blogs twice a month. I have two so it really means a once a week blog entry.
2. Publishing a photo of the week on my scrapbooking blog and then making it into a book called My Life in 52
3. Coming up with a photo of the month for a calendar to give to family next year.
So as the new year approached, I begin to ponder a few things like why do we resolve to change things that we probably will not change? Resolve is such a negative word. The root of solve is even more negative like I now have to solve my issues. So this year, I turned it around and thought... Hmmm, what about the word Goal. If I set mini Goals, they will become good habits. They will take on a more positive light. So this year that is want I decided, I have set a few goals for the year. Things I want to do, not things I should do. Things that make me happy. I also decided that I can add to these Goals as I go along, once they do become habits. Everyone knows that Goals much be very precise and measurable and that one should write them down. A couple of great places to do this is at 43Things or Joe's Goals or MyGoals. I prefer Joe's Goals as I get reminders and it is less about social networking although I have a 43Things account. Tasks in Outlook also works great, I just don't want to mix my goals up with tasks as tasks are what I have to do, again making it sound a little negative.
So currently my list of Goals includes:
1. Writing in my blogs twice a month. I have two so it really means a once a week blog entry.
2. Publishing a photo of the week on my scrapbooking blog and then making it into a book called My Life in 52
3. Coming up with a photo of the month for a calendar to give to family next year.
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