Monday, February 28, 2011

Prezi Mull

Sorry, clearly music does not interest me enough.  I forgot it as a subject the moment I opened prezi and started to work.  :-) 

http://prezi.com/gowlkxw1_nyf/book-binding-tip-mull/


For the first while working with prezi Arrrrrgggghhhh was my only comment.  And if there is another way to get my presentation into my blog other than as a link I haven't found it yet.  I began to get used to the program.  Still can't figure out how to get my mull samples to show up in the centre of the screen when they were on stage by themselves.  I shrunk them and the shot only zoomed in closer.  Thus far, I think I am glad I do not have to do many presentations.

Colin Firth.  Heavy sigh, even after all these years.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

documents

 artist: Liu Bolin
I can see the advantage of joint documents through google docs.  Brilliant in fact.  I once had a mail-around writer's group.  It took months to get back the comments from everyone.  But with this, zip. As to putting my personal documents up, I cannot see the point.  Perhaps I am just too aware that we are putting a big brother infrastructure in place and after that we have only good governance to keep us afloat.  Of course, no bad governments have ever come to power.  People is waaaaay too sensible for that.  So we are safe. :-)

Proud to be Canadian....

"For the past 50 years, Canada has run a program whereby retired teachers travel overseas to teach in the developing world. The retired teachers are all volunteers.In the 50 years of its existence, it has sent them to such places as India, Mongolia, Sierra Leone - places which desperately need to educate their children.The Canadians not only teach children, they teach teachers.They focus on math and science but also on student discipline and health programs. They also help local schools in developing countries create their own curricula designed for local needs.In short, the volunteer teacher program is a model of how the developed west can help the Third World.But the government has announced it is killing the program. It has given no clear reason. It can't be money. The costs are peanuts - about a million dollars a year over five years. The Canadian Teachers Federation picks up about 40 per cent of the costs.The cancellation hasn't gone unnoticed in the developing or for that matter the developed world. It does not put the country in a favorable light."  Michael Enwright 2011-02-20

Doesn't our Prime Minister just leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling?  Doesn't his long term vision for Canada in a global world make you want to stand proud as a Canadian?  In a world where we are told that education is a marker of better life, better health, better popluation control, doesn't our Prime Minister just fill you with pride?

....Not.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Three meters...how far will be go?

It is now law in Saskatchewan that you can not (or is that cannot---are we together on this?) smoke within three metres of the doors of public buildings.  http://www.health.gov.sk.ca/new-tobacco-laws  In the good old days a metre was the length from the tip of the nose to the hand when the arm was fully extended.  I begin to feel we are long nosed and short armed.  We better get the street painter guys out there to mark off the three metres.  We don't want measurement challenged people making mistakes.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

RSS: rotating subject suggestions

Luddite: I am Luddite enough not to have that many websites to check. Though I currently have a good number of blogs to look at :-).

Learning: But it is cool to know how this works from the linking side. It is on my igoogle, but I haven't use my igoogle page since I set up my blog.  Apparently shooting off my mouth is far more appealing than checking the weather and the latest Einstein quote.  My next adventure will be figuring out how to get an RSS link onto a non google site.  Will keep you posted as to my adventure.

Leading actress: my cameo appearance as an evil librarian in a legal follies movie has had several positive comments this afternoon.  If I ever get a copy of the movie from Karol I will post it.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Count down to home time

17 minutes and counting to my Friday afternoon enjoyment:  turning off the lights and seeing if I can surprize them with my closing comments.  "This is your final departure call.  Please put your chair trays and bookbags in the upright and closed position.  Please de-library through gate one."  Only now we have two gates!  Are we the only branch with two gates?  I can see them both from desk vantage point, but its a counter clearing leap and a dead run to catch them going out the college doors.

Good night John Boy.  Good weekend all.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Multitasking is not heroic; it’s counterproductive.

A quote from the Derek Dean article Recovering From Information Overload in the McKinsey&Company Quarterly. (Another skill mastered.  I have figures out links in blogger!) I feel a wee bit justified when I read it, it confirms my understanding of humans. Mr. Dean is speaking of CEO's, but they're human too, right?  I think humans actually like to deal with humans.  Hence students will come an ask a question at the desk when they could find the information themselves online.  They want the contact.  I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by all the changes (like comfyshoe I change but slowly), but by figuring out what these new technologies are in terms of what humans I bring it all into perspective.  No matter the system, no matter the technology, we are the same and will continue to be the same.  Tweeting for example is not new, it is word or mouth.  When we were an oral culture, everything was word of mouth.  Now that we are a global community and we have the technology to accommodate the communication, we are once again doing things by word of mouth.  It's not what you know, but who you know.  When the social media video was posted at the beginning of 23 things I thought of course 78% of people take what others they know say about a product over what the company says about the product.  (And if they are very lucky, all those people in Sweden etc. don't have to know anything about Ashton and Brittany.)  We may use new tools, but we do not change.

There, I think I've got linking down.  :-)

Oh~! one more.  Kate's site, which has been registered last time I checked, has a bit about the coptic binding course we taught last night at Art Placement.  Lots of fun, and funny as I had to give my glasses to one of the students and then demonstrate the rest of the evening out of focus.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Oh look, there is a title place!


Oh the observant me. 


The Learned Friend for the Defense
aem '11

This morning I experienced the Court of Appeal.  I got up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am to be at work at 7:45.  Don't laugh.  I usually start work at 1 pm.  I was responsible for pushing play on the audio visual equipment at the Law College annual Moot Court (and several other buttons too, for which I was fully trained).  Three judges, three or four 'learned friends', one case twice argued.  Most interesting.  Confirms my opinion that exams should be oral.  You have got to know your stuff.


The distinquished Judges
aem '11


23 things. Today, having read other people's blogs I noticed titles on their posts and look how quickly I figured out how to do it.  And how to add pictures into the post!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Book repair hint.  Make sure you scrape ALL the old glue off the spine before putting on the new. 

Try this. (Let me know if it works ;-))
          1/2 cup flour
          Cold water
Add cold water to flour until mixture is as thick as cream.
Simmer and stir in saucepan for 5 minutes.

Also I have completed my second thing.*  Much more fun than the first.  Though I was a bit slow to work out the design, took me five minutes.  I am used to photoshop.  I can squish, twist, move, rotate, colour, expand, anything I want in any position.  But templates are okay.  Just need to figure out how to get around them by not putting something in slot one. That way your picture comes out next to your text and not over top of it.
*Did you know a Thing is originally a Norse meeting?  A parliment like type thing. 
Welcome to Uncle Lew's Spoon.  A place where those who like to cook up things to do with books can come for fun and information. 

Also I will be reporting on my progress in the world of 23 things.  Thing one, a website at igoogle.  I get a quote everyday.  I get several paintings.  I get the weather.  I can access Lew's email.   Usefulness rating:  low.  Entertainment factor:  short lived.   Quotes: Enstein is my favourite: 
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.