Podcast Stuff - Episode 27 of Down the Hall

It's that time once again! Yes, Jenny and I are back with the next episode of Down the Hall. Instead of the normal discussion, we have two great interviews for you.

The Master of Educational Technology (MET) program is something that I've been a part of since its inception ten years ago, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished in it. So far, 342 students have graduated with the Master's degree in that time. This year is the 10th anniversary of the program, and we're celebrating with a double-barrel blast of MET goodness that should also be of interest to many other people as well.

First, we have an interview with Yael Tagerud (from Linnaeus University in Sweden) and Leah Macfadyen (UBC's Faculty of Arts), who are designing a new course for the MET program, "Culture and Communication in Virtual Learning Environments." We not only discuss the new course, but also the concepts behind the course. They both have extensive experience with multicultural settings in educational backgrounds. In a classroom where students of many different cultures are represented, how do we get along, get past any cultural biases we may have, and succeed in creating a learning environment that's conducive and supportive to everybody.

We then talk to Tony Bates, who is a respected leader in the field of online learning, as well as being involved with the MET program at its inception. We talk the history of the program and how it was set up, and also get to pick his brain on what he believes is coming in the field of online education.

Both conversations were fun to do, and ones that I found fascinating. I hope you do too.

You can listen to the episode here.

And why not go over to Facebook right now, and "like" our page? Don't make me use my teacher voice...ok, I'm not a teacher. But even so, go do it!

Podcast Stuff - Episode 26 of Down the Hall

It's a brand new year! And, due to unforeseen circumstances (like Jenny being away unexpectedly), this podcast is a little late.

However, it's also very good. I fly solo this week, but it's only for the beginning and the end, as the rest of it is an extended interview with Dr. Blye Frank, Dean of the Faculty of Education. Jenny and I talk to him about the UBC Strategic Plan, called Place & Promise, and what he feels is the Faculty's role in that plan. We talk about everything from diversity to sustainability, indigenous education, global outreach, and a whole lot more.

He's an interesting guy, and very passionate about what we're doing.

Since I am alone, there are no zombie references, sadly. Maybe next time.

You can listen to it here.

And why not "Like" us on Facebook while you're at it?

Book Review - Amerikan Eagle by Alan Glenn

I love alternate history. I love thinking about what would have happened if something else we all know about had happened differently. What if Abraham Lincoln hadn't been assassinated? What if Hitler hadn't wasted three months invading the Balkans before turning on the Soviet Union? What if the assassination attempt on FDR had actually succeeded in 1932? (This is something I didn't even know had happened).

Alan Glenn takes a look at this last one in his latest book, Amerikan Eagle. In it, Glenn sees a country that ends up being run by Huey Long, a country where there is only one party and "Long's Legionnaires" are roving the countryside trying to stifle dissent. Where the United States is not going to get involved in World War II, and instead Long is striving to create a socialist utopia. With him at the top, of course.

It's an interesting book with a fascinating concept, and one that I knew I had to pick up immediately once I read the synopsis. For me, the appeal of alternate history is the concept, and that can often overpower any writing deficiencies in the book itself. That's why I read as much Harry Turtledove as I do, when the topic is interesting. I usually can't stand Turtledove's writing, but what he does with the concept is enough to hook me and guide me through the book, even if I cringe at some of the prose.

Glenn isn't that bad, but the book does have its issues.

My review is now up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"In 1943, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is becoming a hot spot for events that may change the world. Sam Miller is the newly appointed Inspector (there's only one in the city) whose first case is the body of a man dumped on the railroad tracks with a number tattooed on his wrists. Sam's just a man trying to look out for his family, but the events sparked by this discovery will change his life forever, revealing family secrets that will shock him and thrusting him into the dark underside of the world that President Huey Long has created."

The main problem with the book, in addition to an ending that I didn't see coming (mainly because I find it silly and not fitting the rest of the book, and thus couldn't have predicted it) is that it works overly hard to showcase the oppressive atmosphere. I could almost feel the book closing in on me sometimes, giving me a bit of claustrophobia. Glenn really does a good job giving the reader an idea of what life in this society would be like.

He just overdoes it to the point where it detracts from the enjoyment of the book.

Check out my review for more of my thoughts on the book. It's an interesting book, and I do recommend it.

With a caveat, though.

Is it time to change the calendar?

No, this is not another new year's post. Yes, it is indeed time to change from 2011 to 2012. You're actually a few days late if you didn't. Have you been writing 2011 on your cheques still? Do you even write cheques any more?

That's neither here nor there, though. What I mean by my title question is whether it's time to change the calendar completely? Do you find leap years confusing? Do you find it hard to figure out what day it should be, or whether some plan you have later in the year actually falls on a weekend? What about your salary? When do you get paid? The 15th and end of the month, or every two weeks? Isn't that confusing?

A couple of researchers at Johns Hopkins University think so, and they've come up with a new calendar that they recommend the world switching to, that would eliminate all of this confusion. Is it hard to remember whether November 30 was on a Wednesday or Thursday last year? What about next year? This would eliminate that problem too.

Most important question: how would this affect
page-a-day calendars? (Thanks to Smartcal) 

"Richard Conn Henry, an astrophysicist in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, and Steve H. Hanke, an applied economist in the Whiting School of Engineering, have created a new calendar in which each new 12-month period is identical to the one which came before, and remains that way from one year to the next in perpetuity."

That's right. The calendar will remain the same every year. Every month will be the same as it was last year. Christmas will always be on a Sunday.

They suggest that there are many reasons for switching to this new, more stable calendar, beyond just the societal ones. There are economic reasons as well.

"Our calendar would simplify financial calculations and eliminate what we call the 'rip off' factor," explains Hanke. "Determining how much interest accrues on mortgages, bonds, forward rate agreements, swaps and others, day counts are required. Our current calendar is full of anomalies that have led to the establishment of a wide range of conventions that attempt to simplify interest calculations. Our proposed permanent calendar has a predictable 91-day quarterly pattern of two months of 30 days and a third month of 31 days, which does away with the need for artificial day count conventions."

It's actually a really fascinating idea.

The need for "leap years" is fixed by adding an additional week at the end of December every five or six years. They say that the extra weeks would happen "every year in which the Gregorian calendar begins or ends on a Thursday," which I actually find really confusing, but may be easy to keep track of in practice.

Maybe?

I can't imagine how hard it would be to change the entire world's calendar system, though. I know that there are other calendars used by various societies, of course. The Hebrew calendar and the Moslem one are two that I'm familiar with. But universally, I believe the Gregorian calendar is used for things like international relations and economics. An overhaul of the system would be massive.

They do address that, though. Ok, not necessarily the "how will they implement it" idea, but more why they think this one would be more attractive to people while other attempts have failed:

"Attempts at reform have failed in the past because all of the major ones have involved breaking the seven-day cycle of the week, which is not acceptable to many people because it violates the Fourth Commandment about keeping the Sabbath Day," Henry explains. "Our version never breaks that cycle."

That is true. They keep the seven-day cycle that we all know and love, and most importantly, are familiar with. There will still be the normal weekends, the normal work days. They will all just be divided differently. Some months will still have 31 days, but because every year has the same date on the same day, that won't create as much confusion.

I think.

Actually, I'm not totally sure I understand it. Certainly I don't understand it well enough to either advocate for it or to criticise it. Take a look at the press release and see what you think. I just find the whole thing interesting, and will be looking forward to seeing if it ever catches on and gets a public discussion going.

Or maybe it will sit in the halls of academia, like so many other proposals that never really see the light of day.

You can take a look at the calendar itself here (Warning: that's a pdf file). Also, there's a great FAQ site that also has the goal for a universal adoption of the calendar being 2017. Ambitious!

Also mentioned in the press release, Henry and Hanke advocate getting rid of time zones, and instead having a "universal time", streamlining things for international businesses as well as for people trying to set up appointments (I really hate having to say "2:00 pm my time, 3:00 pm your time?" when trying to set up PS3 appointments with the guy I game with). Of course, it would be very hard to get used to "2:00 am" being in the middle of the day if you were in that part of the world.

But we can adjust, I guess.

Book Review - Shadow Fall by Seressia Glass

(Thanks to Innsmouth Free Press)

Urban fantasy is an interesting phenomenon. It takes some modern setting, our everyday lives, and puts a fantastical spin on it. Most often it has vampires/werewolves/demons interacting behind the scenes, but it also usually showcases a huge battle between two opposing cosmic forces, with the general population having no idea what's going on under their noses.

It also used to usually take place in New York or Los Angeles. Now, however, it's branching out. One series I read takes places in Portland, Oregon, but the one in question for this post takes place in Atlanta. Seressia Glass has created an interesting series about the war between Light and Shadow and how a young woman named Kira Solomon fights in it. While the first two books were good (you can find my reviews of the first and second book by following the links), but the third book, Shadow Fall, is miles above the other two. It's better written and much more interesting. A plus is that it's not anticlimactic like the second book was. It doesn't build up to a big confrontation and then fizzle.

My review of the book is now on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

Kira Solomon is still getting used to being able to actually touch a human being without putting them in a coma, and thus her relationship with the ancient Nubian warrior Khefar is starting to develop nicely. The only problem is that Kira has been touched by Shadow and is constantly in fear that it will overtake her. Khefar has vowed to use his blade to "unmake" her if she falls into the dark. This could become more prominent when an Atlanta museum exhibit based on the Egyptian Book of the Dead turns out to be more real than anybody ever intended. As Kira learns more about her past and her origins, everything comes together in events that Kira may find impossible to stop and that may even force Khefar to keep his vow.

I think Glass does a lot better job with the characterization in Shadow Fall, though it was never bad before. Instead, the books just didn't grab me as much as I would have liked. I raced through the second book on a reread, because I had neglected to review it the first time and I need to submit a review. It had been so long that I had to reread it before doing that. However, I was able to race through it because it seemed quite inconsequential.

This book is different. There is a lot of stuff going on, even as there isn't necessarily a lot of swords flying and blood flowing. The relationships are well-defined and actually intriguing to read about, and it just felt like a more enjoyable book.

If Glass keeps this up, she'll have a fan for life.

Check out my review and tell me what you think.

A Brand New Year

The year 2012 is upon us, and as always it's a time of reflection.

I thought about posting some drunken revelry on New Year's Eve, something that would make you all laugh, but there were two problems with that. First, I wasn't drinking. Second, I wasn't reveling. I was having a wonderful evening with my wife, just enjoying her company as well as playing some video games and a Midnight kiss, of course. However, I wouldn't call it "reveling," as that implies a party, with lots of people around, confetti, champagne, and all that good stuff.

So no drunken revelry post from me. However, here it is January 2 and I'm sitting at the computer having just finished a book review and looking at the computer screen, and thinking. ("Uh oh, that's not a good sign" - The Peanut Gallery) Thinking about this blog, about blogging in general, about writing, and just thinking about what the new year is going to bring me. More importantly, thinking about what I'm going to bring to it.

I'm not a believer in New Year's resolutions (I share my friend Dawn's views on those), but I do believe that the turning of the year is a good time to reflect back on the year that's past and forward to the year that's coming (ok, that's not technically "reflecting," but never mind). The year 2011 was a really bad and stressful one for me, but it also had some good things as well. Work has been going very well, and the success of our podcast (maybe not in the number of listens, but in the buzz around the Faculty as well as the fact that it's something I've stuck with for a year now) has been very heartening for me. It's something that's beyond my comfort zone, and the fact that I am putting myself out there, not just my writing but my voice as well, is something that I'm very proud of. Now we just need to expand our listener base.

I've made some progress on my personal growth journey as well.

For example, I went to V-Con, the Vancouver science fiction convention. The last time I went, four years ago, I pretty much just went to panels and hid in a shell. I was absorbing stuff, watching stuff, but not participating. This year, it became the first step in bringing me out of my shell. I didn't go to as many panels, but instead I interacted with people there. I hung out in the gaming room and socialized with some of the gamers there. I actually stopped people who were in interesting costumes and asked to take their picture. That seems weird, but it's something that I would never have done before, despite the fact that I know one of the reasons people wear costumes to conventions is because they want to be photographed. I sat in the Hospitality Suite and talked to people. Yes, I went to the convention to have fun, so it wasn't just a "social experiment" for me. But I was determined that part of that fun would be actual interaction, and I think I accomplished that. Next year will be even better, I think.

This year, I plan to do more of that. I am enrolled in a short story course that starts in February. Again, there are two good things about that. First, it will get me writing again. The second thing is, again, social interaction. I look forward to interacting with my classmates, both with writing and other stuff as well. Will any of us come out of there as friends? Who knows. But I look forward to doing it, and maybe I'll have something written to share with some of you folks afterward.

I also plan on going to the Northern Voice social media conference again in May. Last year, I didn't socialize much, as my re-found determination to do so came afterward. This year, I'm going to take a bigger part in it. I'm not going to leave the Friday night party early like I did last year. I'm going to talk to people at the conference itself. I'm really looking forward to it. Even better, since it's professional development (I do social media work for my office), I don't have to pay for it! But even if I did, I would be going. I had a lot of fun last year, so hopefully it will be even better this year.

None of these are "New Year's Resolutions," though, because I decided I was going to do this a few months ago. But as I sit here on the cusp of the new year, thinking about the year to come and the plans I have for continuing this personal journey, I greet it with great anticipation.