Computer Lab Access

I have now experienced the computer lab problem of the almost-finals-week. The computer labs are crazy! I decided to come to campus today, on my day off, to get some work done. If I sit at home, I just end up watching tv and procrastinating even more. So, my great plan was to come up here to the library - that way I can get my student papers graded on D2L without saving anything to my own PC. And I decided not to bring my laptop at all because it gets heavy to carry around with all of my other crap. Mistake on top of mistake. I decided to hit the second floor of the library where all the computers are at. It is a balmy 90-plus degrees in here, and I was in such a hurry that I didn't stop to fill my water on my way in. Plus I had to hover around a person that looked like they might be leaving just to get a computer because it is full of students (the majority of which are working on Facebook homework). I felt very awkward and rude doing that...but I did what I had to do. My chair is uncomfortable and I can't figure out how to adjust it without looking like a freak.

Ahh....the best laid plans...

Facebook Addiction

So recently I have been reading a lot about Facebook addiction on CNN - mostly because I'm afraid I'm addicted. Not really... While I do check Facebook several times a day, I can go with out it and not have a panic attack.

Some of the things I have read are very strange to me. There was a story about a 12 year old girl who went to her mom and asked for help with her homework and the mom said no because she was too busy Facebooking. Then the girl went up to her room and emailed her mom asking her for help...an email that the mother didn't check because she was too busy Facebooking. I'm sorry...but when you can't get off Facebook to do your job as a parent, you don't deserve to have children.

The signs of addiction in this article seem a little silly to me, mostly because they don't really fit me at all. But check it out for yourself.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/23/ep.facebook.addict/index.html?iref=newssearch

Flickr Mosaic Obsession

Recently I have discovered these mosaics on Facebook as a form of artistic expression. I am obsessed. I love them. The basic idea is looking for pictures on Flickr based on keywords and putting the picture urls into http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php. You can decide what size mosaic you want and everything. This one that I made is based on the idea of light. It also helps you cite it, it gives you an area to copy with all the urls or a way to show clickable links for the pictures. It is pretty responsible. I think this would be a good way to achieve the goals of some of the photo assignments we have discussed in class. Plus you can share your own pictures on Flickr also. Cool, huh?

1. The Gathering, 2. the light collector, 3. 17 Light bulbs ( Photo Nº 500), 4. The Tangle of Tradition, 5. Which Way Should He GLOW Now?, 6. Homemade electricity, 7. Light bulb, 8. Untitled, 9. Unplugged

Powerpoint

Last week, I was in my class about scholarly writing and we are doing presentations right now. Everybody has pretty much been sticking with Powerpoint as a method of presenting their research and somebody mentioned that they have never used Powerpoint before...ever. I thought that was so weird. Now, most of what I use it for now is teaching, but I've used it several times before. But then I kind of wonder, how dependent are we becoming on Powerpoint. If we aren't comfortable talking to a group, we just stick stuff up on a slide?

Website

What to do...what to do? I still haven't truly figured what I want to do with my own web space. Part of me doesn't know how much I will use the space that I create at this point. I might use it for English 191 for next semester, but many of my students don't even read the syllabus in front of them, let alone seek out a web page.

I am also worried about the lack of time left in the semester - can you believe it is mid-April?

Creative Creations

I have always wondered if one can ever really say anything new. After reading Johnson-Eilola's essay, I have realized that it is an improbabilty. All we ever really do is re-create other people's work. This is especially evident to me in articles I might write now, I need to look up all of the information researched in the past and use it to create a new argument. Could I really dream of saying anything new about Romeo and Juliet?

Twitter-ific

So I was reading Johndan Johnson Eilola's blog and he had an interesting post about Twitter. Someone had "tweeted" that they had been offered a job by a company but would only work there due to the paycheck, and somebody from high up in that company saw their "tweet" and commented on it. Looks like his job offer will disappear.

It kind of reminds you that it is not only Facebook where people can get in trouble.