Posts from — December 2006

Two game Ph.D’s in two days!:
I think it must be the first time in history that two game Ph.D’s comes out of the same institution within two days, nevertheless this is what happens at the IT University exactly these days. Jonas Heide Smith and Miguel Sicart, who for a long time have been sharing an office and the pains of writing a Ph.D, have reached the end of their journey – on time! Jonas defended his Ph.D. thesis on Plans

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I remember when i met Jonas and Miguel…. It doesn’t seem like 3 years ago, but I guess it is. Congratulations to both of them.

Raimi’s Pulp Adventures?:
Rumor has it that Sam Raimi plans to direct a movie featuring Doc Savage, the Shadow, and the Avenger.

Please, please, please let it be true!

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Oh, these could be fun…..

Yesterday, I was thinking about the MLS. I don’t know much about the tradition of the degree, but I think there are some real issues. I am not sure that the MLS does what the MLS says it does. keep in mind, I am not a big advocate of certification in general, but I think the MLS is a certification. The issue is that it is a huge, 30-36 credit, that is 10-12 course program of study at most schools. I think that this causes some issues with what an MLS is. It on the one hand looks like a professional program of study, like an MBA or and MPA, but is in fact a certificate to be a librarian, or occasionally archivist, etc. This causes a great deal of tension. I think that the certificate part of the MLS needs to be stripped out and put into a certificate program. This program would be a 3 or 4 course program that could would be a graduate certificate. Then the ALA could provide a certificatory exam based on those 3-4 courses. The curriculum in those courses could be standardized, and then students would know that if you do those courses and pass the exam, you can be an ALA accredited librarian. Here is the caveat. You should not be able to take that exam without a Master’s degree. That master’s or higher degree could be an MLS or it might be in say Digital Humanities, information systems, art history, or anything really. So Master’s Degree + 12 credits + Test = Librarian . This would resolve, in my mind, the issues around whether a MLS can prepare someone to be a Systems Librarian. What are people’s thoughts? does this make sense?

it wasn’t bad or anything like that, but last night we lost power. now giving that the last time the major outages happened, it took a week to recover, it really makes one wonder when you’ll get power back… when you lose power. the answer… 2 am. Still, it made me dig out some matches and candles, though i need better candles to read by… power outage in astoria always is proceeded by brownout so far in my experience. that just makes me want it to recover or go out, the flickering lights kill reading.

Microsoft Security Advisory (929433): Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution:
Microsoft Security Advisory (929433)Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code ExecutionPublished: December 5, 2006sID=’l1-EXB’Top of sectionMicrosoft is investigating a new report of limited “zero-day” attacks using a vulnerability in Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Word Viewer 2003, Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac, and Microsoft Word 2004 v. X for Mac, as well as Microsoft Works 2004, 2005, and 2006.In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must first open a malicious Word file attached to an e-mail or otherwise provided to them by an attacker.

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no word for you!

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | God. Who knows?:
We are in a period of intense debate about religion. It seems there are believers, secularists and atheists – in their manifold varieties – arguing over their various concerns. Veils. Intelligent design v evolution. Ordaining gays and women. Contraception and Aids.

But there is one voice that is squeezed out, partly because it can equivocate, partly because it tires of the tit-for-tat that the debate is so often reduced to. That is the agnostic.

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I’m not really agnostic… I’m mostly a humanist, sometimes a nihilist, occasionally something like a Quaker, but usually just a humanist.

the first issue of SLC is now online!
http://www.languageandcapitalism.info/

We’d like to thank the authors of the articles for submitting their work (and also for their patience), as well as others on the list who have supported the journal either through reviewing our submissions or assisting on the editorial board.
The contents of the first issue are:

Marnie Holborow Putting the social back into language : Marx, Volosinov and Vygotsky re-examined
Robert de Beaugrande Critical Discourse Analysis: History, Ideology, Methodology
Phil Graham ‘Capitalism’ as False Consciousness
Panayota Gounari Reclaiming the Language of Possibility: Beyond the Cynicism of Neoliberalism.
Carmen Luke Eduscapes: Knowledge Capital and Cultures
Peter Ives ‘Global English’: Linguistic Imperialism or Practical Lingua Franca?
Adrian Blackledge ‘The men say “They don’t need it”’. Gender and the extension of language testing for British citizenship.
Richard Jackson Genealogy, Ideology, and Counter-Terrorism: Writing Wars on Terrorism from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush Jr.

We are very happy with the quality and breadth of work in this first issue, and we hope you think the same. Each article can be downloaded separately, or you can also download the complete issue as a single pdf file.

SmartFlix:
SmartFlix will rent you nearly four thousand How-To DVDs in English. Subjects range from construction techniques (tile laying, cabinet making, timber framing), outdoor activities (kayaking, archery), and self-help, to such specialties as welding, lock-picking, and primitive fire-making.
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this might be better than netflx

Intellectual Property Watch » Inside Views: Indigenous Communal Moral Rights:
A more and more robust literature on traditional cultural expressions is being written, discussed and even filtered into legislation. Most academic thinking on the topic agrees that Western intellectual property (IP) laws do not offer adequate or appropriate protection for certain types of creations. One example is the poor fit Western copyright law provides for traditional cultural expressions.1 A traditional cultural expression (TCE) can be described as forming “part of cultural heritage and identity, and their protection and preservation are linked to the promotion of cultural diversity and human creativity.”2

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worth the read.

If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind:
Did you see NCLB–The Football Version?

Author Unknown

l. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL

3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability, or whose parents don’t like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th, and 11th games.

5. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.

If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.

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harrison begeron?