11/365

This year, I’ve decided to plunge into a 365 project. That’s right, a photo a day for a whole year. Things have gotten off to a great start, with lots of wonderful people participating. I couldn’t help but join in. I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground, trying to get a sense of what this is all about (some advice has been helpfully blogged) and one of the most important things I’ve heard so far is this: tell people what you’re doing. So I am. While I’m aware that the readership of this blog is pretty limited, I know some of you out there will keep me honest. I’m counting on you!

I’m already sensing some of the larger things that may come out of this project, but I’ll keep quiet about those for now – we’re barely into mid-January! But I will give you some predictable predictions. For my 365 project, I predict:

• many photos of cats
• many photos of video games
• lots of photos taken right at the end of the day
• much of the mundane and inane. You’ll probably get to know me, to some extent.

So, there it is. Let’s see what happens this year.

There’s nothing like a meme to bring a blog back from the dead.

The final hours of 2008 seem like a pretty good time reveal a few things about myself that you may or may not know. Thanks to Cindy for the tag.

1. I was named after a men’s clothing store. It’s true! I always took that story from my parents with a grain of salt until I found a listing in a 1969 Henderson directory. Jaymie’s men’s wear was in the Golden Mile shopping centre from the late 50’s to the early 70’s. I’d love to get a newspaper ad to hang on my wall someday. Despite growing up in Ontario, I ended up living across the street from that very shopping mall for a few years when I was in university. Incidentally, my middle name is Lee, making my name effectively gender neutral. My sister’s name is the same way. Neither of us particularly buy into gender stereotypes (except maybe shoes ). Coincidence?

2. When I was 14 I hit a parked car with a dogsled. We were on a school trip in the backwoods of Quebec. Between crazy dogs and glare ice, that car didn’t have a chance. It wasn’t serious at all; I just love being able to say this is something that happened to me.

3. I am a science fiction nerd, and have been one from a very early age. I can honestly say the first TV show I ever remember watching was Doctor Who. I would come home from school to watch all the old reruns starting right from the black and white stuff. I think out of all the Doctors though, Tom Baker made the biggest impression on me. He’s still my favourite.

4. When I finished high school, I didn’t want to go to university at all, much less into education. Bowing to parental pressure, I applied for music, because that was the only thing I could think of (I’ve been playing the piano and various other instruments from about age 6). I got my acceptance, and then for reasons that remain unknown, my acceptance was revoked! I was crushed, but the university still wanted me. The Dean of Fine Arts herself recommended me for the Arts Education program. Needless to say, things turned out pretty well… But while I have an incredible passion for all things to do with learning, I have zero desire to be a “regular” classroom teacher. I don’t even like being referred to as a teacher.

5. My sister is my best friend. I know it doesn’t always work out that way with siblings, but we got lucky. Considering we are almost 6 years apart and haven’t lived in the same place for about 15 years, we’re still incredibly close. She’s the one person I can (and do) talk to about anything.

6. When I was little I had night terrors. I had terrible nightmares every single night. I didn’t sleep a night through until I was a teenager. For years after I didn’t remember my dreams at all. I remember a few random bits now, but still not much. I get the occasional bout of insomnia, but for the most part I sleep just fine. In fact, I love sleeping. I want to come back as a cat.

7. I’m afraid of falling down stairs. To my knowledge, this has never happened, but it’s something I think about every day. It’s not enough to stop me from taking the stairs (my knees will give out first), but it does cross my mind. Apparently the official name for that is climaphobia, and is related to a fear of heights.

The world is just awesome.

I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, but I saw this commercial for the Discovery Channel recently, and I like it a lot. I feel this way most days. What is it you love about the world?

Anmoku no ryokai

I should probably start this post with an apology. In the past, I have said less than charitable things about Wired magazine. Why, you might ask? I guess because of the fact that it’s no long the uber-geeky, almost technically opaque magazine I remember of the past. It’s taken a decidedly pop culture spin, probably owing to the emergence of geekery into mainstream culture. But, I’m starting to loosen up a bit. It’s an enjoyable read, and they are still doing good things. Thanks Wired, keep it up! All the same, I ended up browsing an issue over Christmas time, and ran across a really interesting article that made me think differently about copyright. You can read the article here. (I really recommend that you do so, actually)

What got me interested was the author’s description of anmoku no ryokai, a Japanese phrase that loosely translated (according to Daniel H. Pink, anyway), means “unspoken, implicit agreement”. How does this relate to copyright? To put things in context, this term was being applied to the use of licensed manga characters and imagery in fan-produced comic books. In some ways, this is similar to some fair-use agreements. The publishers of these comic books see the potential value and pure enjoyment in letting fans build on already established characters and scenarios. Basically, if you don’t go too far, they allow it, even though copyright law is technically being violated.

In a world where copyright enforcement never seems to fit the crime, I see value in this kind of philosophy. There are potential advantages to letting content loose – new material can be produced, new audiences introduced to material that might not have found it otherwise, and the world can just generally be a happier place.

Is this a potentially dangerous approach? Hell yes! Choosing to look the other way when laws are being broken is a treacherous, slippery slope. But that danger forces us into constant vigilance, and I think that’s a good thing. We can’t simply “set and forget” copyright rules – technology has shown us how quickly things can change, and how rules might not apply in new situations.  An “unspoken, implicit agreement” would make us constantly re-evaluate our ideas about sharing. What is acceptable? What isn’t? Why? These are questions we need to keep asking ourselves.

Now, I agree that the copyleft movement and creative commons licenses represent huge strides forward in content management. But, on the other hand, I think in some ways they overcomplicate things. Sometimes reading all those little creative commons symbols feels like trying to read the washing directions on a sweater. There is potential for confusion and loopholes. Anmoku no ryokai brings the issue down to individual examination and negotiation, which realistically, is what seems to be happening in the judicial system anyway with regards to copyright violation. How often do copyright cases go to court? If the system was ideal, this wouldn’t be happening. So, why let it get to court in the first place? Let’s talk to each other about what is happening, and come to an agreement.

on the phases of the moon, and non-interference.

Well, anyone who might read this page can tell I’m not exactly a prolific or ambitious blogger. My posts tend to correspond to the phases of the moon rather than the time of day. But you know what? I’m coming to terms with that. I’ve found that tenacity counts for a lot, and if I give up and delete yet another blog, I won’t have anything to show for my efforts. So I’ll stick with things the way they are. And that folks, is the last apology you will ever hear from me about my less-than-regular posting.

In other news, I’ve been busy doing research and trying to get this whole thesis thing sorted out. And honestly, the more I read, and the more I think, the less I know. It’s crazy! There are already so many ideas out there, it can be hard to wade through them all. I’ve found lots of interesting stuff though, and lots of food for thought.

One of the more interesting things I found reminded me of Jen’s edupunk blog post from a few months back (the “down in front” entry – click if you don’t know what I mean). I found something that echoed eerily her sentiments, and to my amazement it wasn’t a recent source at all! This little gem of wisdom comes (albeit third-hand) from Lao-tse:

“If I keep from meddling with people, they take care of themselves.

If I keep from commanding people, they behave themselves.

If I keep from preaching at people, they improve themselves.

If I keep from imposing on people, they become themselves.”

What lovely parallels here! As someone who generally prefers to learn things the “hard” way (if you really need gory details, go talk to my parents) I can definitely relate to this sentiment. That does bring up the question though – what does this mean for educators? What does this mean for formal education? I think it means changes. Big changes. But not necessarily new ones – after all, here we have a 6th century B.C.E philosopher describing constructivism at its best.

sounds like…

This video has been floating around for a little while, but I wanted to save and share it here. It’s a good reminder that most of the things we see are some kind of interface, that help us make sense of all those ones and zeroes:

Revamped Graphic Equalizer from Marcelo Costa on Vimeo.

Sorry about the lack of embedded video… Apparently Vimeo and WordPress don’t get along. If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know.

little domain on the prairie.

When Dean Shareski posted about domain registration and identity, I listened. I thought “hey, Dean seems like a pretty smart guy, and I’ve been meaning to do this for a while…“, so I did it. I finally got off my ass and registered my own domain:

http://www.jaymiek.ca <– Be warned, DNS forwarding takes a day or two to kick in; this probably won’t look very exciting right now. Eventually it will bounce to my googlepage.

So there it is. I have my own home, and my own identity on the web. But I thought I would share my experience here – for the benefit of anyone who has never done this before, or for those who have, maybe highlight a point:

When you register a .ca domain, you become a member of CIRA, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority. Now, when I hear the word authority, my inner angry teenager feels the need to pipe in: “You’re not the boss of me! No one can own the internet!” But after going through the process, I realized that it’s less about ownership and more about citizenship. In fact, being a member of the CIRA takes the notion of digital citizenship to a logical, and very literal conclusion. If you stake out your claim on the internet (by registering a domain), and pay your fees (kind of like paying taxes), you get a say. More specifically, benefits include:

• having a voice in how the Internet is run in Canada,
• nominating yourself or an individual to be elected to CIRA’s
  Board of Directors,
• voting during elections for CIRA’s Board of Directors,
• voting on issues at CIRA’s Annual General Meeting,
• going to Special Members’ Meetings,
• taking part in membership consultations and
• getting thank you gifts at CIRA events.

Admittedly, I don’t know a heck of a lot about these benefits. Special meetings sound interesting, and everyone likes presents, but I do need to learn more. Still, it was this part of the process that made me stop and reminded me that as a digital citizen I need to be aware of the issues, be aware of my actions, and generally be a contributing member of our online society.

To me, this just adds to the importance of registering your chosen domain, if possible and you are an active internet user. It gives you a permanent (well, as long as you keep paying your taxes), stable home that you can control. It’s your homestead.

all that you can’t leave behind

I’m heading up to Banff tomorrow for the CNIE conference. After some debate, I decided not to take my laptop. I’m staying in a backpacking hostel where I’ll have to chain my stuff to my bed while I’m gone as it is, and I don’t feel like lugging the thing around all the time. And realistically, I have no idea if I’ll have access to reliable wireless or power, and I don’t really use my computer much during conferences anyway. So it stays home.

While the decision makes easy sense, it was still something I had to think about. It’s been a long time since I haven’t been attached at the hip (or fingertips) with my computer for a span as long as a week. It’s not like I’ll be totally offline (there are computers at the hostel, and surely internet cafes somewhere in Banff), but I won’t be as constantly connected as usual. Should be interesting. I’ll fill my time in the conference (obviously) but also wandering around, taking lots of pictures, reading, writing (by hand!) and maybe even *gasp* talking to REAL LIVE people!

At any rate, I’m looking forward to some mountain air.

So long Internets! When I come back I will be a year older!