Using Technology to Teach Mathematics Saturday, 6 March 2010, 7:10 am

Today I am presenting Using Technology Effectively to Teach Mathematics at the Utah Association of Math Teacher Educators annual meeting being held at Utah State University.

Source: undesigned | joel

Almost Super Wednesday, 3 March 2010, 9:19 pm

I put together a short little trailer for my upcoming book, Almost Super. I've also started a kickstarter campaign.

What is a kickstarter campaign? I'm glad you asked; it's kind of a cool concept. If you have an idea or a product but you don't quite have the funding, you can post it on Kickstarter.com If people like your idea, they make a donation. Often there are rewards for certain levels of donation. If enough money is donated, then the idea is funded.

In my case, I'm raising money to publish a small print-run of Almost Super, and offering signed and numbered copies of the book as a reward.

Why not go the traditional route to publishing? Well, I am. But that route is a long one. My first book came out 16 months after I signed my contract. Almost Super is done, and I'm far to impatient. I want people to read it already! I'm hoping to find an agent and publisher for this book, but in the meantime you can get a copy much earlier by going to the kickstarter site. And if this book ever makes the big time, you'll have a true first edition copy.

Interested in what the book is about? Or would you like to read the first chapter? If so, head on over to AlmostSuper.org.

If you're not interested, then you should at least check this out. Because it's awesome.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Sanpete County Saturday, 27 February 2010, 1:17 pm

A few months ago somebody wrote a comment asking if I wanted to come to Sanpete county and speak to a few elementary schools. I haven't done school visits in a while, and they are always so fun. so I said yes. I'm glad I did.

I love small towns. I grew up in one, and currently live in a big city. It was refreshing to drive until all you can see is lots and lots of earth. No buildings, no cement, no asphalt; just earth.

Actually, I saw more snow than earth, but I used my imagination.

Anyway, the school visits went great. Nobody booed, and I didn't get rocks thrown at me like last time, so I'm counting it a success. I met many people who had read my books, and many more who seemed genuinely excited about discovering them for the first time.

Best of all I got to meet Kate Palmer, and found out that she is a fellow writer. We listen to the same podcasts, know the same people, and it was fun to talk with her as we drove from school to school.

I was filmed for the local television channel, so if one of your hobbies is seeing a grown man stare awkwardly at the camera, boy have I made your wildest dreams come true. Luckily you have to live in Sanpete County to see me, so most of you (thankfully) are out of luck.

Best of all was I premiered my new book trailer--the one for Almost Super--and the kids seemed to like it. I'm hoping to have it posted here by the end of the weekend, so stay tuned.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Great Video Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 11:00 pm

I had to post about this video. If you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat. It's a public service announcement like none you've ever seen. Check it out.



I can't help but analyze what makes this video so effective. It starts out with a father driving an imaginary car. A wife and child sit nearby on the couch, and it's clear that everybody is having a grand time. They are safe at home; all is right with the world.

Then something breaks up this peaceful scene. The father is still driving but it's clear that something is not right. I love the look on the father's face. It isn't one of exaggerated horror. He simply casts his eyes down. Despair. Resignation. It's as if he is saying, "all is lost".

Then we switch to the mother and child on the couch. There is no discussion. There is no moment to pause and reflect, not even so much as a glance between the two. Father is in danger, and so they leap. Their response is complete and resolute.

It is not an accident that the child wears wings. She is both her father's Little Angel, and now his guardian angel.

The girl reaches around and hugs her father's waist. Every day when I return home from work, my six-year-old, who can't reach any higher, hugs me in exactly the same way.

The wife's hugs is more tender, almost intimate. And it comes just in time.

The director could have filmed the next part in a number of ways, but the method he chooses is powerful. The entire scene has been shot in slow motion, but the impact of this imaginary car occurs with shocking rapidity.

Something on the table gives us the impression of broken glass, and the man is almost folded in half from the violent impact. Anybody who has been in a wreck knows this is exactly how it happens. The power at which you are hit is beyond description.

And then it is over. Mother and child still hug the father. He in turn touches both of them as if to convince himself that they are still there; that he is still there.

The ad finishes with a simple message. No stats. No further convincing. Just a message.

Embrace Life.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Friday, 19 February 2010, 7:03 am

I was excited to see yesterday that images from the Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) are being made public. Amazing images. Here is my new computer desktop image that I stare at in wonder.

For more info and cool images check out the WISE project website.

Some of Technology for WISE was developed at Space Dynamics Laboratory here in Cache Valley where some of my neighbors work. Another fun connection for me is that the rocket that carried WISE into orbit was launched from Vandenberg Air Force base where my Dad was serving when I was born.

Source: undesigned | joel

Mind Your Business Saturday, 30 January 2010, 7:32 pm

People are tweeting and blogging about the latest spat between Amazon.com and Macmillan Books. What exactly is going on? Apparently Amazon has pulled all of Macmillan books from their store over a price dispute. But this is just the result of a much deeper problem. What it really comes down to is the fact that one of these companies doesn't know what business they're in.


A hundred and fifty years ago people didn't buy candles so they could be candle owners. And they didn't buy ice from the ice truck because they wanted frozen water. Consumers wanted light, and consumers wanted cold food, and candle making companies and ice delivery services that didn't understand this fact disappeared when the light bulb and the refrigerator came along.

So what business is Macmillan in? That's an easy question to answer. Macmillan is in the business of printing, distributing, and selling hard copies of books. Macmillan doesn't want Amazon to release their ebooks until the hard copy version has been out for seven months. Printed books are their business. It's the one they have become comfortable with, and it's the one to which they are currently clinging, hoping that the life they now understand will still be here tomorrow.

The problem lies in the fact that readers don't buy books to own wood pulp and ink.

They buy books because they want stories.

Amazon is in the business of connections. They connect people who have stories with people who want stories. They allow almost anybody with a book to put it in their store. But they don't stop there. They also make it so that you can download books from Project Gutenberg. They know that good stories aren't just the new releases, but the classics as well. It's not about selling enough hardback copies to cover the bottom line, it's about providing a rip-roaring good story to somebody who needs the escape.

Amazon isn't perfect, but they do know their business. Publishers who figure it out have a good chance of staying in business.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

NLVM team receives Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology Thursday, 28 January 2010, 2:07 pm

Recently our National Library of Virtual Manipulatives team (Bob Heal, Larry Cannon, Jim Dorward, and myself) was awarded the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology.

Here is some press that covered the award:

• Utah State Today – USU Researchers Awarded Governor’s Medals for Science and Technology
• USU College of Science – Three USU Scientists Receive Governor’s Science Medal
• Salt Lake Tribune – Herbert to honor recipients for contributions to science
• UtahPolicy.com – State Advisory Council For Science And Technology Announces Governor’s Science Medals For 2009

Here are some previous articles about the team as well:

• USU – Developed Virtual Math Tutor Aiding Students Worldwide
• USU – Winter Insights 2006

Source: undesigned | joel

Web crawling on a budget Thursday, 28 January 2010, 12:39 pm

Justin and I submitted proposals to the Digital Media and Learning Competition. I was amazed to see the breadth of the 100 pages of submissions. There are a lot of good ideas there. Not being sure that the submissions will always be kept public, I wanted to archive them for later reference. Here was the ruby script I came up with:

(1..100).each {|page| system("curl -o #{page}.html   http://dmlcompetition.net/pligg/index.php?page=#{page}")}

Ruby rocks!

Source: undesigned | joel

How to unlock your droid when your kids try to guess the pattern too many times Thursday, 28 January 2010, 12:13 pm

My daughter’s friends got a hold of my droid and thought it would be fun to try to guess the password pattern. After enough times, it locked up my droid and asked me to login with my gmail account credentials. Problem is, that didn’t work. It is a known bug. After a few minutes of Googling, I found:

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4784 (comment 35)

1) create a new gmail account on the computer.
2) call your cell phone with a different phone.
3) answer your cell phone then hit the back button and it will take you to the home
screen.
4) turn on wifi so it can do data and voice at the same time (remember that the phone
is still connected)
5) go to Settings -> Location & Security and disable lock pattern (you’ll need to
enter to correct pattern previously set)
6) go to Settings -> Accounts & Sync and click “Add Account” and add your newly
created Gmail account.
7) hang up the phone.
turn the phone back on, at the lockout screen, enter your new Gmail account info
and it should let you back in
9) once the phone is unlocked, you can go in setting and remove the newly added Gmail
account and keep the old one.

Google giveth, and Google taketh away, and then Google giveth again.

Source: undesigned | joel

Wandering the halls of the hospital Wednesday, 20 January 2010, 12:50 pm

So you may (or may not) have been following my cancer/surgery saga. What I haven’t been talking about is my husband’s story. To make a very very very long story short- Rob is currently waiting for his surgery to start and I’m roaming the halls of Logan Regional Hospital because I can’t take the sights and smells of the surgical wing.

Two interesting things have happened since I started wandering-

1-I ran into the OB doc who first told me I had cancer. He recognized me, said hello and then ran from me like a bat out of Hell. That was reassuring.

2-I found a display of really old medical instruments that look and sound like torture devices. Among other things there is a tonsil guillotine, a neurological hammer, a head tong, and adult mouth gags.

As if I needed more proof that the medical profession is a thinly veiled human suppression system designed by Satan and the One World Government.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

FitBit Tuesday, 12 January 2010, 3:10 pm

Anybody can review familiar products like the Kindle, beef, or gravity. But I like to review products you may not have heard about. I should mention that I am NOT receiving any compensation for this review, and I've paid full price for the product.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Kickstarter Fund Tuesday, 5 January 2010, 8:43 pm

I just posted my new year resolutions, and now I'm off doing entirely different things. Why didn't I post that one of my goals was to raise ten thousand dollars for an educational website? Then I could post this, and pat myself on the back. Instead, I'm posting this and wondering if I'm losing my mind.

But this project is too cool to not try to get off the ground. You can visit the kickStarter page by clicking on the image below. The goal of the fundraising is to create a site that will make it easy for schools and organizations to create their own TwHistory project. As Josi Kilpack, Annette Lyon, Carole Warburton, and others can attest, right now it's a bit tricky to make everything work.

So click through and check us out!

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Goals for 2010 Friday, 1 January 2010, 7:03 pm

Ok, usually I'm not one to make resolutions around New Year's Day. I usually just make fun of them because...well, because I'm a stinker.

It's not that I don't set goals, it's just that I do them as I think of them, not at the beginning of the year. But after reading Josi's post, I figure what the heck. I know that none of you are that interested in my goals for 2010, but I figure if I post them here, I might be motivated to actually accomplish them. If I don't accomplish them, you have my complete and full permission to mock me mercilessly come 2011.

• Run a 5k, a 10k, and a half marathon
  
• Start a business, and get at least 10 customers
• Either find an agent, a publisher, or collect 100 rejection letters
• Complete my last two practicums, and finish my comps
• Tweet two historical events
  
• Make a complete fool of myself while I MC at the LDStorymakers

I believe in setting at least one goal that I know I'm going to nail, which is why I included the last one.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Yeast: How I Loathe Thee Friday, 1 January 2010, 12:19 pm

I hate yeast. I hate bread. I don't mean I don't like to eat it. I love to eat it. Fresh out of the oven, nutty whole wheat, flaky and crispy. I love it all.

And while I pride myself on being a pretty fantastic cook (I cook 90 percent of our meals when I'm home), I have never been able to make bread. I can't do it.

I'm a follow-the-recipe kind of guy. I don't vary from the recipe. I don't mess with how much corn starch, flour, sugar, etc. Somebody did a lot of scientific research writing that recipe, and I'm not about to substitute white flour with whole wheat flour willy-nilly.

So yesterday I found idiot-proof bread recipe. You don't even have to knead it, for crying out loud. There are only three ingredients, but one of them was yeast--my arch nemesis.

It's a new year, I told myself. I'm a grown man, I told myself. I can do this.

Well, apparently, no I can't.

The first problem came when the recipe said the dough would be shaggy. What in tarnation does that even mean? I know Shaggy from Scooby Doo, but that didn't seem to apply. And shaggy means hairy, but my dough (thankfully) didn't sprout hair. What it did do was look exactly like an albino cow pie, and about the same consistency.

The dough is supposed to raise for 12-18 hours; the longer the better, the article said. So I dutifully waited 18 hours. The dough is supposed to have bubbles, the article said. And it did! Maybe I had finally found the one kind of bread I could make.

What piled out of the bowl was soupy, runny, and still sticky. The jury was out whether or not the dough was shaggy, because the jury didn't know what shaggy meant either. I had followed the recipe to a T, but the dough was still a horrible mess.

I pressed on. I dusted with flour, I covered with plastic, I folded and tried raising it. Two hours later my pile of dough still looked like a cow pie. The article says, "dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger". Mine didn't double at all, and just sticks to your finger. It looks exactly like something that grows in size and takes over the town in one of those movies they used to show late at night, or on Saturday afternoon on the UHF channels back in the 80s. The dough sits there, like a sleeping sentient being. Like a bloated pimple on a whale. It's cooking right now, and it smells delicious, but I know that when it comes out of the oven it's going to be a flat, hard, tasteless pile of crud.

Because that is how all my bread turns out.

I'm going back to cooking bacon. I have a few new recipes to try.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Still in the hospital Monday, 28 December 2009, 8:41 am

So this is the hospital stay that never ends. If you follow my blog for my brilliant commentary on social media for learning, or for my pithy reviews of new software, sorry.

All I have to say these days is that I hurt. My attention is completely absorbed with fevers, night sweats, pelvic pain and pressure, and an endless parade of CNAs taking my vital signs. Believe me, if you think you are sick of reading these posts, just imagine how sick I am of writing them.

If it sounds like I’m feeling just the tiniest bit sorry for myself, I am. It should pass once the nurse brings my next dose of Toradal. Or maybe I’ll finally convince that arrogant radiologist to drain the damn fluid that is causing all of this pain.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

I’m not patient Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 11:46 pm

I am impatient. It’s been two weeks since my surgery and I’m ready to be back to normal. I ended up in the hospital again today because I’m still hurting. I had a CT Scan and apparently there is some inflammatory fluid and blood in my pelvic region causing pain. I guess my body didn’t like being cut into.

I also have some nerve damage in my leg that likely came from me being dangled upside down while my oncologist sliced and diced. Something was pinched and my whole inner thigh is numb. Awesome, eh? Ok. that’s enough griping for today.

Instead, here are a few things I’m grateful for…

• a wonderful, loving husband
• mia familia
• all my mutts
• DVRs
• the Orton’s Christmas Lights that I can see from my bedroom window
• great neighbors who care for my animals when I can’t

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

I shake my fists of rage in your direction, Sonny Bono Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 12:50 pm

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

It’s time Thursday, 17 December 2009, 12:35 pm

It’s time. Time for me to feel like taking a walk again, putting up a Christmas tree, shopping with my sisters, reading a book, going to a concert, like engaging with my life again. I just wish someone would inform my gut. It hurts. Stupid cancer.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

It is a fine line, but it is a line nonetheless Thursday, 17 December 2009, 7:52 am

I was talking to a friend who mentioned that a company is paying her a certain amount of money each month to say good things about that company. This friend uses some social software as a medium to say these good things. It wasn’t much money, and this friend isn’t being dishonest in what they say, but thinking about this arrangement brought up several issues in my mind.

Things get sticky when it comes to endorsing products. There is a fine line between me giving you my opinion of something, and me being paid to sell you something. You, the reader, should always know the difference. Let’s say I go to a restaurant and I write a review on my blog. That is me giving you an opinion; nothing wrong with that.

Now let’s say the restaurant pays me to place an advertisement on my site. Nothing wrong with that, either.

What is wrong is if the restaurant pays me to say nice things about their food, and I don’t disclose the fact that I’m being paid. Even if my review is honest, it is vital that I disclose that I’m being paid to review the restaurant. Why is this so important? Well, it comes down to trust.

If I don’t disclose that I’m being paid for a review, and you the reader finds out, then there is a loss of trust. This loss is a huge deal. Trust is something that you don’t gain back. If I didn’t disclose advertising dollars, then my readers would forever more wonder if what I was saying was really my opinion, or just something for which I was being paid. My opinions would be worthless, and I would likely lose many, many readers. Why read a site when you don’t know if you’re getting an honest review, or a paid-for pitch?

Even worse are the problems for the restaurant. Every time you hear a review of that restaurant, you will wonder if what is being said is true, or just another sneaky pitch. The restaurant would lose all credibility. There is nothing wrong with advertising, but you can’t do it behind people’s back. They will never forgive you.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Letting my sleeping dogs lie Monday, 14 December 2009, 2:12 pm

Letting my sleeping dogs lie

Originally uploaded by shelleylyn

I’m finally home after surgery. We made a stop at my parents house for a couple of days while I got strong enough to manage my animals at home. I also picked up my mom’s cough and a bladder infection. Apparently hourly trips to the bathroom are not a common side effect of a hysterectomy. I’m on antibiotics now and grateful for modern science.

I’m glad to be back home. I missed my dogs. Unfortunately, we are now out of cats… Shadrack was squashed by a goat, Mishak was murdered by my deceptively sweet-seeming terrier, and Abednego froze without his brothers to keep him warm. We have officially and reluctantly declared our home and barn a kitty-free zone. It is just not safe to be a cat here.

But the mutts are all healthy and happy. Ginger is getting her spots and has learned not to jump ON us. Instead, she jumps NEAR us when we come home or when she gets to come inside. The big dogs are sweet and loving and Jolee is just as much of a princess as ever. Too much dog-talk, I know… but they bring me joy so you get to hear about it.

I’m anxiously awaiting the pathologist’s report after my surgery. The oncologist said it would be at least 10 days after the surgery to get the report back. Because my case is so unusual, they will probably send it back to the medical professor at Harvard who first diagnosed my condition. We’ve got a follow-up appointment set up for next Monday when we’ll find out if, or how much, the cancer has spread. I’m hoping that the surgery got it all out, and I’ll be done with this whole mess, but we’ll have to see. If they put me through radiation treatment, I’ll likely have to sit alone in a hospital room for a week at a time. (Apparently it’s a bad idea to have visitors when you are radioactive…)

So here is a sampling of the jokes my sibs have told about me being radioactive…
“Rob won’t need a nightlight if he has to get up at night, he can just throw back the covers and I’ll light his way to the bathroom.”
“If our microwave goes on the fritz, no worries, I can reheat leftovers on my own.”

And you can imagine how the jokes just devolved from there… my dad eventually pulled the “plug” and told us to knock it off.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

What should I be when I grow up? Monday, 14 December 2009, 1:54 pm

I need to decide what I want to be when I grow up. I need to focus.

The way I see it, if you want to do something well, you need to devote a lot of time to it. I've spent the last 37 years messing around with all sorts of things. I like being a Jack-of-all trades; my interests tend to wander. But if I want to be good at something, I feel like I should focus. The good news is that after all these years, I've got it narrowed down to five professions.

Instructional Designer

I have a master’s degree, and hope to have a doctorate, in this field., so being an instructional designer is definitely a front runner. I love this kind of work. I wouldn't mind teaching in this area (hence the doctorate), but if I want to continue to excel in this field, I need to work at it. I haven't done any doctoral work for over 2 years. I don't read up on the field like I should. Of all the possible professions, this one has been neglected the most.

Author

I guess technically I am an author, since I've had two books published, but I can't support my family on it. If I want to be a serious author I need to spend more time on this profession as well. I haven't written for over a year. I have a novel complete and I'm shopping it around...ok, who am I kidding--I haven't sent out a query in over 6 months. And I've only sent it to 13 agents total. If I want to get this book published, I need to spend more time on it. And I need to spend WAY more time writing.

Entrepreneur

So if I haven't been spending time on the two professions above, what have I been spending time on? Well, I have a few business ideas. I think they're pretty good, and I've shared them with a few friends. The friends think they're pretty good ideas as well, so I've been spending a lot of time pursuing this profession. Although actually what I've been doing is spending time on contract work so that I can fund these ideas. What I really need is a business partner who can help out, since all my time is spent coming up with capital. But how does one go about finding a business partner. Any out-of-work MBA graduates out there?

Teacher

I love teaching. I mean really love it. I’m currently doing some work for the Open High School of Utah, and there is a chance I could teach for them. I would LOVE to be involved with this organization on the long term, but I don’t think I can make it work financially.

Once I get my doctorate, I could also end up at a university. But I’m not sure if that is what I’m cut out for. I don’t like the ‘publish or perish’ side of academia. I would enjoy the teaching side of things, but don’t know if I would enjoy all of the other things that professors have to deal with.

Technological Tinkerer

The rest of my free time has been taken up by my tinkering. Tinkering is important. If you don't want to be left behind, you have to play with the latest technology. To this end, I started a web site on a whim. I called it TwHistory, and the general idea is reenacting historical events via Twitter. The good news is that it has generated a lot of interest. The bad news is that it's generated a lot of interest. You see, there is no real revenue stream tied in with this, but it’s such a cool idea, I can’t seem to give it up. I’m working on a few grant proposals, hoping to make the site what it needs to be to really get off the ground. I’m glad that the idea seems to be resonating with people, but it is taking up a lot of my time.

And then of course there are all the little things in life that need to get done. Shovel the walk, fix dinner, clean up the house, play with the kids, hang out with my wife, etc. It’s no wonder that I’ve been averaging about 6 hours of sleep each night.

You know, in looking over this list, if I could come up with one more possible profession, then my troubles would be solved. I could number them, roll a die, and let chance dictate the rest of my life.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

It's that time of year again... Saturday, 12 December 2009, 8:53 am

It's that time of year again. This may end up being a tradition on my blog. Some may see this as blasphemous, and it's very possibly that this is nothing more than a joke. But part of me hopes that this version of the story behind the song is real. That there is some guy out there who 'sang like nobody was listening', threw caution to the wind, and created this Yuletide masterpiece. What it lacks in just about anything, it makes up for in guts and effort. Enjoy.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Post-Surgery waiting, wondering, and living Saturday, 12 December 2009, 3:14 am

It’s been almost a week since I had a hysterectomy. The oncologist says it will likely be another week before the pathology report is back and we know if the cancer has spread or not.

It’s a good thing that I’ve been hurting so much-it takes my mind off of the waiting and focuses my whole attention on my gut. Well, my gut and the wierd hand-shaped numb spot on my right inner thigh. The swelling in my belly is down so I can see that the skin in that spot is discolored a bit… kind of looks like an abrasion, but it doesn’t hurt like one. Wierd-and distracting, which, like I said, is good

Here are some pearls of wisdom I’ve learned doing since I got home from the hospital…

• Being able to pee is an ability that I’ll never take for granted again.
• My husband loves me and while he is strong and loving through this, I can see that he is deeply concerned about me and my welfare.
• My mom is an angel. She’s making “quiet books” for my nieces and nephews for Christmas and I’ve had a great time helping her. Today I made four sets of tennis shoes that lace up, two felt Christmas trees that have button ornaments, and a Temple that is a puzzle. These will all go into the quiet books to help little ones keep busy and quiet during church services. It’s good for me to have a creative outlet right now.
• A heating pad can be like the Balm of Gilead when you hurt.
• My Jolee Dog is really just an external manifestation of my own soul.
• Sleep can be delicious.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

I’m not a Cylon… but my oncologist is Friday, 4 December 2009, 11:59 am

I know pain. Not the physical kind… the kind of pain that can only be experienced by a person who has navigated through bureauocracies at four massive organizations to get one little surgery pre-authorized.

Here’s the story. My uterus is confused and instead of being a loving place for a future child to begin life, it’s trying to kill me. So, it’s got to go. I need a hysterectomy. These days there many ways to get a hysterectomy. The old, tried and true ways involves cutting through my abdominal wall. The recovery for this surgery is long and painful.

The new and improved way is called Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Hysterectomy. They make little incisions, blow up my abdomen with CO2 and then robotic fingers directed by the surgeon do their magic. Recovery is much, much easier and shorter.

As you can imagine, I want option B.  You’d think it would be a no-brainer. Less time in the hospital, less time away from my job, less pain and suffering. But nope. Brick walls everywhere. Here is a list of all of the people I had to work with to even figure out if the robotic surgery COULD be covered…

• the Oncologist’s office assistants
• an outsourced HR group who manages my company’s benefits
• the billing department from hospital where the surgery will be held
• the admiting department from the hospital where the surgery will be held
• a nurse support person from my insurance company
• a healthcare advocate
• the healthcare advocate’s boss
• the healthcare advocate’s boss’s boss
• a representative from the robotic surgery makers
• a benefits manager from my company

To make a long story short(er)… After hours of calls, emails, and in-person visits… I got several policies changed at two different bureaucratic organizations so that I can get the robotic surgery. I’ve always said… if you want something from someone, just stand there in their line of vision, smiling, and don’t go away until they give you what you want.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

Presenting personal recommendations Monday, 23 November 2009, 11:31 am

Generating personal recommendations is one thing, presenting them to the user in a way that they find them useful is something else. Here are our plans for folksemantic.com:

• Personal recommendations page – For each user, provide a personal recommendations page. Visually separate recommendations that they have already clicked on.
• Personal recommendations tool – Include a personal recommendations button on our folksemantic bar that when clicked on will display their recommendations in the right panel. Linking to the recommendations from that panel will refresh the content in the iframe (not do a full page refresh).
• Personal recommendations action link – Include a link to the user’s recommendations page on their dashboard.
• Inject recommendations into activity feeds – Whenever we generate new personal recommendations, inject them into a user’s activity feed that is displayed on their dashboard.
• Email personal recommendations – Email personal recommendations to users as often as they would like (controllable in their account settings).

Source: undesigned | joel

A personal recommendation algorithm Monday, 23 November 2009, 11:23 am

We’re in the process of building out personal recommendations for folksemantic.com. The basis for the recommendations is user attention metadata. The data we use includes:

• Identity feeds – RSS feeds that users register that represent their interests. For example, their blog or their delicious account.
• Clicks – The articles that the user clicks on.
• Shares – The articles that the user shares to others.
• Comments – Articles that the user comments on.
• Time on page – Amount of time that a user spends on an article before moving on.
• Searches – Searches the user executes.

Recommendation Assumptions

Some of our assumptions are:

• Semantic relatedness – The more semantically similar an article is to articles that a user has paid attention to, the more interesting to the user.
• Attention types – Different types of attention should be given different weights. For example, following a link to an article should not give it as much weight as writing the article.
• Attention details – The particulars of a given type of attention might make it more important than another attention of the same type. For example, if a person shares an article with 100 people, it might be reasonable to infer that it is more important than an article that they share with one person.
• Entry recency – The more recently an article has been added to the system, the more interesting to the user (they probably haven’t seen it before).
• Attention recency – The more recently a user has showed attention to an article, the more weight that should be given to it.
• Attention frequency – The more frequently a user has showed attention to an article, the more weight that should be given to it.

Stating these assumptions reminds me of the difference between relevance and certainty. So while an item that a user clicks on may be more relevant than an blog article they have written, it is harder to be certain of that. Our approach is to give the click less weight than the article.

Recommendation Score

Right now, we score articles using the formula:

(relevance)(attention type)(attention details)(attention recency)(article recency)

For all articles that a user has paid attention to, we score the 20 “related articles” using this algorithm; rank the scores and cache the top 20 (that the user hasn’t already clicked on) to recommend to the user. There are obvious weaknesses to this approach, but we are going to start there and see where to go next.

Possible Extensions / Improvements

We are considering:

• Collaborative Filtering, Bipartite Graph, and Discriminative Weight Algorithms – Putting into production, the algorithm that combines discriminative weights with a novel sparse matrix clustering method we conducted research on.
• Modeling user interests separately – Modeling users interests using multiple term vectors (one for each interest) by extracting vectors from closely related (clustered documents) that users have paid attention to.

Source: undesigned | joel

Gatekeepers and Holes Friday, 20 November 2009, 10:32 am

Last night I wrote a post on the publishing industry and then scrapped it. This morning, Jaime Theler points me to a blog post written on the exact topic. So I've decided to try once again.

Rachelle Gardner poses an interesting question, over on her blog. She is talking about Harlequin moving into the self-publishing world. The end result, according to Ms. Gardner, will be a decline in the quality of literature. She even goes so far as to say that ""Literature" as we know it could be a thing of the past."

She then poses the question, "Am I totally off base?"

Respectfully, I say yes. Way off base. Here is why.

Imagine a wall. Readers are on one side, authors on the other. Authors have great stories in their heads; readers would like to hear them. Under the current system, literary agents, editors, publishers, and business folks have served as the gatekeepers (as Ms. Gardner calls it). They make sure that only certain authors and their stories are allowed through the wall. They must past certain levels of quality before they are allowed to move through the wall.

Rachelle says this is a good thing because there are a lot of authors with bad stories. They have not mastered their craft, and so, the gatekeepers tell us, we the readers don't want to listen to them.

There is a serious flaw in this line of thinking. The self-imposed gatekeepers are not always the best judges of what is good. I know that is a bold statement, but take a look at this list. Gatekeepers, skilled as they may be, are prone to make errors just like the rest of us. Books like Harry Potter, The Diary of Anne Frank, Catch 22, and Animal Farm, and authors like Stephen King, Tony Hillerman, and Ursula K. LeGuin, could very well have never made it over the wall. Agents and editors do very well at spotting bad books, but I think it's clear they can often miss the good ones. The really good ones. The paradigm shifting, world changing ones. And who suffers? The readers. How many really good books have never been published because the author gave up after rejection 52?

The simple fact of the matter is that in a digital world, we don't need gatekeepers. What we need are more holes in the wall. Lots of them.

Look at blogs; 25 years ago, how many people had a medium by which they could share their thoughts with the world at large? Newspaper editors had a medium. Television personalities had a medium. You and I did not. Now, every grandmother and her cat has a blog. True, most of them are poorly written, but you know what? It doesn't matter. The cream rises to the top without the help of gatekeepers, because in the digital world it all comes down to merit. You create a fantastic blog, and people will come. You churn out mediocrity, and the world will say, "meh."

I argue that contrary to Ms. Gardner's statement, tearing down the wall will not lead to the end of literature, but in fact be the beginning of a new, exciting era. Readers will realize there is much more than the same tired fare that we've been fed for years by the publishing industry. Authors will realize that contrary to what agents and editors have been telling them, they do in fact have a good story, and there are people out there that want to read their work. Yes, crap will be produced, because crap has always been produced. And in the digital world the crap sits on the same browser as the good stuff. But we all know that there is good stuff out there, and we all know how to find it.

The publishing industry is one of the last industries to be affected by the digital revolution. The record industry, movie industry, TV industry, and newspaper industry have been grappling with this for almost a decade. Now it's our turn.

And I, for one, couldn't be more excited.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Encouraging the creation of assessments to measure deep understanding Thursday, 19 November 2009, 2:21 pm

I had the chance to talk with David Yaron again about how to generate more and better assessments that get at deeper levels of knowledge than what typical assessments do. I didn’t realize this but, Turadg, whose presentation I attended is one of David’s students. I shared my reaction to Turadg’s study with David: in order to help teachers produce quality assessments, we should present good examples, help them see the structure of the assessments and how the problems can be adapted. I need to write up some examples of what I mean by this.

David shared Evidence Based Design (not sure if this is what he was referring to) as a model. I shared Conditions of Learning – the idea that different types of learning outcomes should be taught differently, and Jim Cangelosi’s (forgive the flashing text) work on designing mathematics instruction for different types of learning outcomes. Interestingly he has advocated the idea of mini experiments as an approach for teachers to learn about and evolve learning.

Source: undesigned | joel

ATE – A sister program to NSF Wednesday, 18 November 2009, 7:01 pm

Rachel Bower – Internet Scout Wisconson Madison, ATE Central, AMSER. Advanced Technological Education is a sister program to NSDL. Designed to connect NSDL with community and technical college faculty. Instead of focusing on a content area, they chose to focus on an audience and to cover all of applied math and science. AMSER is being created by a team of folks led by InternetScout. ATE, AAC, AMATYC, NISOD, MERLOT, NSDL. Scout not only connects higher ed with resources but also best practices. Mellon funded the development of Scout Portal Toolkit, which became CWIS – DL in a box. I was made aware of Internet Scout when they featured the NLVM in 2002.

ATE Central is an example of how a project in NSDL can influence other NSF programs. It brings all of the ATE resources in to one searchable portal. It builds the ATE brand and helps disseminate the projects. ATE is different than NSDL in that they focus on content development, industry connections, and the improvement of training and teaching for workforce development. ATE offers smaller grants and larger center grants. Example national, regional, and resource centers of excellence are geoTech, CARCAM, AgrowKnow. ATE Central has been funded for 1 year. They focus more on events than in other portals. This is partially because ATE focuses a lot on workshops including virtual. They create resource areas on ATE Central for each projects and centers. This has been a big deal to their projects to help them collaborate. ATE has a center that is funded just for evaluation. They send out a monthly update and are creating success stories. She showed videos of people that have found success of students that have benefited from ATE.

Linea Fletcher and Rachel is interested in the life of NSDL projects that continue beyond funding (are sustainable). They want to capture and share these stories. Another focus is on how to capture of evidence of impact across projects. They currently track 320 projects and aggregate and share it in interesting ways.

Source: undesigned | joel

per central – Conference services as a sustainability model Wednesday, 18 November 2009, 5:29 pm

Lyle Barbato, the comPADRE lead developer talked about conference services as a model for sustainability. Each collection in comPADRE is focused around supporting existing community or a particular course. Teachers, Courses, Specific Students, Specific faculty. They offer workshops etc to those communities. The Physics Education Research community has existed since the 60s. It has grown alot in the past 10 years. Until recently, they had few publication outlets. Robert Beichner came to them asking them to build a central repository which became p(e)r central and a Physics Education Journal, and a PER conference established in 1998. That has become the premier outlet. In 2007 PER came to comPADRE to provide a portal for hosting the annual conferences. It fits into the library model because it allows them to capture and preserve a full record of what happened. They are adapting existing services including rubrics for evaluating abstracts and resources. The conferences and the new content they provide has driven the use of the website.

This work reminds me some of what Justin did with 51weeks – a platform for supporting communication around a conference and the other 51 weeks of the year.

Source: undesigned | joel

Funny Quote Saturday, 14 November 2009, 5:14 pm

Overheard at my parent's house last night.

[5-year-old] - Uncle Mike, I have the funniest knock knock joke in the world.
[Uncle Mike] - Oh yeah?
[5yo] - Yeah, you start.
[Uncle Mike] - Knock knock
[5yo] - Who's there?
[Uncle Mike] - Interrupting cow
[5y0] - Inter...wait, no, you're supposed to-
[Uncle Mike] MOOOOOOO!

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Health, wealth, and strawberry jello Saturday, 14 November 2009, 10:21 am

Hello my friends and family- As you may have heard (or already sensed my guts have turned out to actually be rotten. The surgery I had a couple of weeks ago found a cancerous mass in my uterus. In addition, my uterine wall also has pre-cancerous cells. It’s rare to have both of these conditions happening in one uterus, but I suppose it means I’m special (something my mom always told me anyway).

The treatment for this is a hysterectomy. The good news: uterine cancer has something like a 98% cure rate and once the uterus is gone, my health problems should go with it. I have surgery scheduled for December 8th. And please, though my sisters have already started arguing over who wants to be the alternate gestation host for our frozen embryos, no offers for surrogates will be accepted as I am afraid of V babies. The ovaries are going out with the bathwater.

So, I’ve decided to have a “Say Goodbye to My Uterus” party. Any of you who have ever been frustrated with a uterus are invited. Gentlemen, you are welcome, but I can, in no way, promise that the general topic of conversation won’t run you out of the house after 5 minutes. Attend at your own risk

Party details:
When: December 5, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Where: Shelley’s house in Cache Valley
Please bring: Your worst or most painful uterus story written on something flammable

Angela promised to bring red jello with strawberries, so come hungry!

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

How cool is this? Sunday, 25 October 2009, 10:56 pm

You can post pictures or documents and then talk about them. No, not as in write about them--as in talk about them. One person starts the discussion, and then others can join in.




If you want to see it in full screen, you can click on this link. http://voicethread.com/#q.b692014

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Twitter Project Sunday, 11 October 2009, 12:25 pm

Greetings, friends and readers.

I'm starting a project and I think it's going to be fun. I'm looking for volunteers and I expect the time commitment to be very small. I'm thinking 15-30 minutes a week, for maybe 15-20 weeks.

This summer I tweeted the Battle of Gettysburg. I found journals of fifteen Civil War Soldiers, and I followed them in 'real time', tweeting as I wen. I did this for about two and a half months. The end result for those that followed was the opportunity to experience history in 'real time', from original sources.

The Gettysburg project attracted attention from folks in the LBJ Presidential library, the National Archives, and historians from around the US. We ended up with almost a thousand followers.

I spoke with my brother the other day and he mentioned how the first pioneer group (those that came with Brigham Young) was by far the best documented. He said that the people who came over knew they were involved in an historic event,and so they kept good journals.

What I would like to do is recreate this pioneer trek in real time, on the right day. So by next July 24, Brigham Young will 'tweet', "This is the right place,drive on."

Anybody who volunteers will be given a journal of a person or family; they will be responsible for coming up with tweets for that person for each day of the trek. However, we will do this in advance in a Google spreadsheet. This way you can sit down, come up with tweets for a week or two, and then I will take care of it from there. You do NOT need to sign up for or know how to use twitter. As I mentioned, I suspect that it will only take 10-20 hours to do a complete journal, and you can spread it out over the next several months.

If anybody is interested, leave a comment here, and I'll be in touch.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Thursday, 8 October 2009, 10:59 am

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Originally uploaded by shelleylyn

We inherited these three kittens from our neighbors who are moving. They were nothing but skin and bones and when we brought out the tuna, Shadrach did a belly flop on the plate and spread his paws out so the others couldn’t take it all from him

They have moved into the barn and are now happily chasing our bajillion mice. Maybe they’ll even get to the homing pigeons that keep breeding in our rafters out there. The guy that built the house raised homing pigeons and they keep coming back.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

Ginger Bear Thursday, 8 October 2009, 10:48 am

Ginger Bear

Originally uploaded by shelleylyn

This is Ginger.. our English Pointer puppy. She is sleeping here, but is usually romping around, challenging the dominance structure of our other mutts. We got her a snuggie cape since her coat is thin and Jolee (our terrier) beat the bejebees out of her for wearing it… Jolee likes to be the only one who wears a princess cape.

Source: i'm sorry, i just don't know | shelleylyn

Moving Saturday, 3 October 2009, 7:56 pm

When I came to Logan 4 years ago, a group of my co-workers came to help move me into my house. I didn't know any of them that well, but I was very grateful for the help.

During the course of the move, Justin Ball, one of my new coworkers, dropped a box of bottled tomatoes, breaking one of the jars.

I felt bad.

Not because of the lost tomatoes. Those are cheap; probably 10 cents for the bottle, and maybe 12 cents for the tomatoes.

No, the reason I felt bad was first, he dropped the box after he tripped down our cement stairs. He hurt his ankle pretty bad. The second reason I felt bad was because I hardly knew all of these people helping me move. They pitched in because it had become 'tradition' to help the new member of the team get adjusted into their home. I didn't want Justin to feel bad because he had dropped my tomatoes. I was going to work with these folks for who knows how long, and I wanted to get off on the right foot.

Last night, I went to a party. It was held at Justin's house. If he has any ill feelings toward me for making him carry my tomatoes, he's hidden it well these past four years. Justin, as well as every other member of COSL, including their spouses, have become very dear friends.

The members of COSL have played many a board game. We've ran many a raid. We've rocked out together, and shared lunches, dinners, and even an occasional breakfast. We've built things, and attended and presented at conferences. I can brag about what we've done, only because I feel I was a small part of it.

But as I've blogged before, my time at COSL has come to an end, and today my family moved. I hired movers because...well, because I'm getting old. And hiring movers isn't as expensive as I thought.

But just as the movers were finishing up, I walked into the garage. There on the floor was a lone box, with liquid pooling around it. I opened the lid, and couldn't believe my eyes.

It was a box of bottled tomatoes. And one of the jars had broken.

My time in Logan was christened with a bottle of tomatoes, and it appears my exit is heralded with the same.

My only hope is that second break does not mark the end of my Logan years, but only a pause.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Killer Bees! Sunday, 27 September 2009, 9:13 pm

Today my family and I went up Green Canyon. We've loved living so close to such a beautiful area, and we will miss it when we are gone.

We decided to take a pleasant stroll along the single trail. We enjoyed the leaves, saying hello to other hikers, and finding the extra special rock that must be taken home and placed in a treasure box.

My oldest son was leading the way when he gave out a cry of alarm.

"BEES! RUN!"

He came tearing down the trail, "It's a nest of bees!" he called over his shoulder as he ran past us and quickly disappeared up the trail.

I could hear some angry buzzing coming from up the trail. Now, I don't like bees as much as the next person, but I was curious. I walked cautiously down the trail. There was buzzing, yes, but I couldn't see bees. What I did see what a bunch of large flies.

And then I spied the 'nest'.

"No bees here!" I called out.

The rest of the family came up the trail. My oldest was at the rear. "What is it?" he asked.

What my son had thought was a nest was actually what we in the business call canine excrement. It was covered in flies, and when my oldest son walked past, the flies scattered; he assumed the worst and ran.

Needless to say the rest of the family got a kick out of the 'bees nest', and my oldest son still hasn't heard the end of it.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Technological Generation Gap? Sunday, 20 September 2009, 12:23 pm

We may be witnessing a serious gap in technology. One that spans thegenerations. But I'm not talking about those wacky old people who don't know a bit from a byte. I'm talking about the youth. That's right, people are starting to wonder if these young kids are using technology like they're supposed to.

A recent report gives us some shocking information. Sixteen percent of people on Twitter are under the age of twenty. While twenty percent are older than 55.

What!

That's right, there are more people tweeting about their dentures than there are tweeting about acne medication. Today, kids use technology to goof off. In my day, we used technology to hack into government computers and start fake nuclear wars. Oh, and goof off.

I'm fine with this. I'm part of the 60+ percent of twitter users between the age of 25 and 55. I'm starting to think that my generation, the one labeled only with an X, is the greatest generation when it comes to technology.

But you see, this is a real problem. I write books for kids, and the internet gives me a never-before-seen opportunity to reach an very wide audience. I can write a blog post and it can be seen by millions of people. Ok, it's only seen by a few hundred, but that is not the point.

But all these new-fangled technological ways to reach my audience aren't coming to fruition because my audience is doing things like...reading actual books. Or playing outside. Or talking with other people. What are they thinking?

Think about it. I can post my book as an e-book, and it can be downloaded onto a kindle or iPhone. But I doubt many 10-year-olds have a kindle or iPhone. I can relase it as an audio book, but again, how many of them have mp3 players? Or for that matter, how many of them even have a commute on which to listen to it? I can let them listen or read it right in the browser; but as good as my book is, it's not going to be more interesting that something like...Keyboard Cat. Seriously, now; how am I supposed to compete with a cat in a blue leisure suit? I'm not, that's how.

So, I need a different medium. I need to find a way to get my stories in the hands of my target audience. A medium they are already familiar with. I could try to go the book route, but then I have agents, editors, publishers, and large bookstores standing between me and my audience.

Ah well, back to the drawing board.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Crowd Source Your Game Design Friday, 18 September 2009, 10:34 am

I find the idea of crowdsourcing interesting. Crouwdsourcing is the idea of getting a large group of people to help you out in a project. You pay them a bit of cash, or give them a promise of possible cash, and they do the work for you. Examples might include the X-Prize, or the Netflix Prize. If you want to get in on the money side of crowdsourcing, you can check out Amazon's Mechanical Turk.


Maybe we need a few open-source games, just to see what the wisdom of the crowds can come up with.

Image Courtesy of masmad.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

The New Group Thursday, 10 September 2009, 8:11 am

I've had a lot of life changes in the past few months, and those changes have rippled to other aspects of my life. One change is that I've no longer been able to meet with my old critique group. Since I'm staying down in SLC, it's just too hard to go to the meetings.

Through pure chance, I happened to go out for frozen custard at this year's storymaker conference with a great group of folks. I got chatting with a few up and coming writers, and over the months I've exchanged e-mails and followed their blogs. Through the course of the discussion we came up with the idea of starting our own critique group.

Tonight was our first meeting. Or rather, the first time we got together to talk about a book. And that book was mine.

It was a great experience. They started off by telling my how much they loved my book. They went on and on until my neck muscles were straining, trying to keep my big head upright. "Tomorrow," I thought. "Tomorrow I'll have agents beating down my door, trying to get me to sign up with them".

And then they tore my book apart. Not the kind of tearing that makes you give up and feel discouraged, but the kind of straight-to-the-point, useful, hard-to-hear-but-exactly-what-you-need-to-hear kind of tearing. The feedback was incredible. They didn't pull punches, but those punches were precisely placed. Everything they said rang true.

I came away with two things last night. Five talented writers think my book is really good, and five talented writers told me how my book can be even better.

Time to get working.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

The Wife's Blog Sunday, 6 September 2009, 7:28 pm

My wife has started a blog. So for those of you who know both me and my lovely wife, feel free to check it out.

Just ignore the picture of me when I was 23. I looked like a dork. Not the stunning image of grace and strength you all know me as now.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Few and far between... Thursday, 3 September 2009, 7:25 pm

Wow, when you work two jobs, have a 190 mile commute, and don't have internet access in the evenings, there isn't much time to blog. But I did want to drop a line as I was mentioned and quoted in an article on the Chronicle of Higher Education's blog. You can read the article here.

My favorite part of when the gentleman was interviewing me was when he asked about my blog. David Wiley had told him that this was my blog. But then it had this bizarre title. And the guy listed on the side was Matthew Buckley, not Marion Jensen. Was this really my blog?

After I explained the methods behind my madness, all was good.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

Allow me to buy you a book. Thursday, 13 August 2009, 10:17 pm

I'm a nice guy. A really nice guy. You've seen other blogs that give away a book to one lucky reader? Those guys are pretty nice. But I'm even nicer. I'm going to give a book away to everybody reading this post.

That is right, not one book for one person, but multiple books for multiple people. The book is a good one. I've just started reading it, but I've followed the author, Chris Anderson, ever since his Long Tail days. He's a smart cookie.

I know what you're thinking. "Stop typing and get to that part about the free book." OK, the book is called Free: The Future of a Radical Price. It will be interesting to most of you, but should be particularly interesting to many of you, especially my fellow authors out there. Many industries have already struggled with the concepts Anderson covers in his book--the newspaper industry, for example, is currently in the throes of it--and book publishers are about to follow suit.

Seriously, if you are an author, you need to read this book.

Now, about your free copy...I'm not going to buy you the boring hard cover. You can only read that if you're not driving, exercising, deep-sea diving, making deviled eggs, or doing sign language. No, I'm going to buy you the audio version of this book, read by the author himself. That is right, you can listen to the book while doing just about anything except for cleaning your ears with cotton swabs.

So, go to iTunes, do a search for 'free future radical' and you will see the audio book. What I've done is track all of your IP addresses, and pre-paid for a copy of the book. That is why is appears as 'free' on your iTunes. That's right, I'm just that tech-savy, and I'm just that nice.

And if you like the audio version, consider buying a hard copy for your editor. They will need it sooner than they like to think.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

iPods Friday, 24 July 2009, 8:16 pm

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to wear iPods,
and a time to leave iPods at home.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

My wife dragged...er, I mean invited me to go camping with her and the kids last night. We had a fun time swatting mosquitoes, eating raw food, sleeping on gravel, and listening to teenagers drive up and down Green Canyon all night.

This morning, I reluctantly pulled myself away from this veritable carnival, and went for a bike ride. I made my way slowly up the canyon on the wonderful single trail.

Before I left, I thought about taking my iPod. I enjoy listening to podcasts, or music, but I hesitated taking my tunes along with me. If I had those buds stuck in my ears, I may not be able to hear other bikers, cars, or marauding bears. I finally decided to leave the tunes back, and head up with just my thoughts to keep me company.

I got bored really quick.

Anyway, I was about a half mile from the top; the path had a steep ravine on the left, and a steep wall of dirt on the right. The trail was narrow, and there wasn't a lot of room for one bike, let alone two.

My bud-free ears thought they heard something. I wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like...

Before I could decide what the noise was, a biker, going what looked like to be almost the speed of sound, shot around a bend about 10 yards in front of me came . He was tearing it up.

I didn't want to leap down the ravine, as gravity and I have never really had a good relationship. So I threw myself and my bike to the right, up against the wall of dirt. At the same time, I yelled, "Ho, ho!"

Why I choose that moment to quote Old St. Nick, I can't really say, but I'm glad I did. You see, the guy coming down the trail wasn't listening to an iPod either. He slammed on his brakes, and was just doing about 90 mph when he rode past me on the left. He hollered over his shoulder "Three more coming!"

I hugged and caressed the side of the mountain until I saw three more blurs zoom by, and then I continued my slow ascent to the top.

So, there you have it. Another post brought to you by Matthew Buckley where he does little more than recount a slightly interesting story, and then states the obvious.

Tune in next week when I discuss why you don't want to drive with your teeth.

Source: Chickens Don't Have Armpits | Matthew Buckley

RIAA, Here's your New Business Model: Innovate Monday, 15 June 2009, 4:49 pm

For years the Recording Industry Association of America has been cracking down on some really annoying people—their customers. The plan to stop this? Target more customers and make them pay outlandish amounts for distributing it.Now it would stand to reason that if a large portion of your customers demanded to receive your services in a way that you weren't offering, that you would figure out a

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

New Young Womens Theme Sunday, 11 January 2009, 7:31 am

After the Young Women Presidency announced the new Young Womens theme (adding the value "virtue" with the color gold), I wrote on our theme poster and tried sticking it to the wall. That poster just doesn't want to stay up.So being the designer I am, I designed a whole new look for the Young Womens theme, which is less grandma-looking. It's a banner that can be hung and has a damask pattern with

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Form vs. Function debate Tuesday, 9 December 2008, 11:14 am

Here is a design paper that I've put together on the whole form vs. function debate.What do you design/content/function theorists think?

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Let's "Spread the Health" Tuesday, 4 November 2008, 4:57 am

Before I moved to England, I had heard the horror stories of Socialised Healthcare. All the doctors were bad because they didn't get paid very well and had no incentive to treat people better or improve their profession because there was no reward system to be recognized for good work and everyone got paid the same. This meant that although my doctor was free, my doctor wouldn't be good. I was

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Ballot Design Review Monday, 20 October 2008, 7:24 am

Today I cast my overseas ballot. The designer in me couldn't help but be annoyed at the horrible design associated with these punch cards. Allow me to elaborate on what I mean...The trick to making a clear design where the number and the dot are an obvious correct pair, is through close proximity and alignment. So I'll share with you what's wrong with the current ballot design of today (A) and

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Rexburg Temple Sketchup Sunday, 14 September 2008, 2:31 pm

Google released their own version of AutoCAD, and now you can download 3-D models of all sorts of buildings. Including the Rexburg Temple.It will be interesting to see where this free modeling software goes!

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Why you should believe what they say about dirty money... Saturday, 19 July 2008, 1:41 pm

People have always said, "You should wash your hands after handling money, you never know where it has been."Well, here is one possibility. Perhaps this woman is vacationing near you?

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

I WWWove You, Office Friday, 11 July 2008, 5:12 am

Andrew and I are addicted to this show. Maybe more me than him, but not by much. It makes me feel like I'm connected to the US even though I'm surrounded by english land, people and accents.So it was a nice find today to see these additional scenes and episodes on the nbc site. Too bad that I can't watch the new webisodes, because I'm using an English internet and NBC doesn't want me to feel at

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

New Old Kids on the Block Friday, 27 June 2008, 12:03 pm

As a fifth grader, I loved these guys. As a 11th year university grader my affection has changed. Yep, the New Kids on the Block are out with a new song "Summertime". Check out the video on itunes and feel young (and weird) all over again.

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Still part of the "Youth Vote" Tuesday, 24 June 2008, 7:20 am

Today I registered to be an overseas voter. I was surprised to find out I'm still part of the "youth vote". Next year though, I'll have to forgo the hip stylish website and go with the vanilla corporate one. Ah well.I thought I'd share some links on how to find out information about candidates. This year I want to be extra informed and make a really good vote, despite the fact that no matter what

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

I guess they used to be analog? Tuesday, 3 June 2008, 10:40 am

Saw this the other day while I was online grocery shopping, so I took a screenshot (I didn't photoshop it, why would I spend time on a joke this lame?). I just had to share. Everything is going digital these days. Sadly, they don't sell these anymore (hence why I took a screen shot before it disappeared!).

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Some Sweet Stamps Thursday, 1 May 2008, 5:57 am

Aren't these awesome? See the whole set. Although, I think it is strange that they credit the design of these to a human. ;)

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

RIP: Student Loan Sunday, 27 April 2008, 11:40 am

This is one of my favorite images so far! :) Bye bye student loan!And, in 2019, Andrew's will be paid off too. Party pending. ;)

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Say Cheese: "Ossau Iraty" Sunday, 27 April 2008, 6:15 am

Since birth, I have been allergic to milk. Without getting into detail, milk and my body don't get along, and sometimes it puts me to sleep. But thanks to last year's revelation that my allergy is based on the milk of cows; the world of goats, and now sheep have opened new possibilities to me as never before! Which means cheese is no longer taboo! :)I went to a local cheese shop yesterday and

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

This is for Becca Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 5:21 am

British boy that Becca stole his soul and put into a camera.My friend Becca and I went on a pretty fun trip to Europe a few years ago, part of which involved hijacking a train. It's harder than you think.She recently put up a post about her habit of taking photos of strangers. I have the same problem, particularly people sleeping and strange outfits. Becca, I dedicate this post to you.A dutch

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The votes are in Thursday, 27 March 2008, 11:54 am

Well, despite all of your efforts, my project didn't make it to the final 20 projects. Thanks everyone for your help, I'm sure I'll get this built one way or the other! I'll keep you posted!The good news is that I may be going to the USA vs. ENGLAND match at Wembley Stadium instead, so that should be fun!

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

The internet is cool, once again Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 10:57 am

I am amazed by the people I am able to find through random online connections. Last week I got an email from pinkribbonsally asking if she could add my breast cancer website to her blogroll. Then, she wrote this post on her blog. Wow! Talk about motivation to keep going. After a while of working on my own, I do feel like a crazy inventor and wonder if I'm making something that really is useful.

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Winner announced tomorrow morning! Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 10:05 am

03/27/08:The top 20 Mashup Projects will be announced on March 27 at 9:00am Pacific Time and the winners will be invited to attend this year's NetSquared conference in San Jose, CA, scheduled for 5/27 and 5/28. Each of the top 20 projects gets an allowance for travel (including airfare to and from the conference, along with a hotel room for two nights). 05/27/08 & 05/28/08:At the conference,

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Voting extended Friday, 21 March 2008, 1:39 am

The NetSquared team has decided to extend voting until Monday March 24 at 5:00pm Pacific Time!   Please notify your communities and encourage them to continue showing their support!  The top 20 Featured Projects will be announced on Thursday, March 27 at 9:00am Pacific Time.

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

Cold weather! Thursday, 20 March 2008, 10:46 am

Why is March looking and feeling like February? It is very cold don't you think? Still a foot of snow on the ground in my front yard, but it is beginning to melt. Should make a nice muddy wedding day. Any tips for not getting mud on my dress?

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How to vote for Breast Cancer Tuesday, 18 March 2008, 9:46 pm

I've made a mashup project for my phd breast cancer work and need votes to get it built by a group of geeks who feel democratic.If you have 5 minutes to spend, I'd really appreciate it if you could take the time to vote for it before Friday afternoon, here's the details:Ok. Let's rock the vote! 1. Please register and log in to the NetSquared site by Thursday, and pick a user name for a new

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My Breast Cancer Map Thursday, 13 March 2008, 11:04 pm

A good opportunity has come up for my breast cancer project. A organization is granting money to the best web project that improves social change. The top 20 all get money with the top 3 getting a large amount of funding and the winner...$100K and resources to build their project. One of the people involved in the effort encouraged me to enter, so I have.Have a look at my project. Here is a video

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Suzanne Tagged Me Thursday, 6 March 2008, 2:33 am

Okay, she tagged me a while ago, but I missed the post! Here goes:Here it is:1. Pick up the nearest book to you (one of at least 123 pages).2. Open the book to page 123.3. Find the fifth sentence.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people.Okay my book is "A Designer's Research Manual" and it says:They applied a multilateral research approach by using several different qualitative tactics

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See, I am addicted to starting blogs Thursday, 6 March 2008, 2:20 am

I am great at starting blogs. Keeping them filled constantly is another thing. But part of my resolution this year was to make a blog that I like, so for me that meant to start from scratch on wordpress (a service like blogger, but more customizable).If you would like to get the address to my blog, post a comment and I'll email you the address (just leave your email and I'll delete the comment so

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine

The English Post Office (a rant) Thursday, 6 March 2008, 2:14 am

So yesterday I went to the post office to mail off some cards. I had stamps on everything except for one piece of mail for my brother in France. So I went to the post office to drop off the cards and get my one little stamp.Not so.The Post Office here is a brand, and is no longer owned by the government. There is the Royal Mail, which uses Post Office branches to operate. I'm not sure if Royal

Source: Lady Corrine of England | Corrine