Author: James

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Where my dawgs at?

My boys!!

Every now and then the tone of a day can just turn around and head in a totally opposite direction. This was the case today. The morning got off to a rocky start because I was still feeling like crap from the cold bug that has been floating around. I had meetings scattered all throughout the morning and afternoon and wanted nothing more than to call in sick and rest up. I was scheduled to lecture in the evening and the prospect of talking for a couple of hours with this cold was not something I was relishing. However just as I was expecting the day to be a total drag, two of my closest friends in the world called to see if I was gonna be available to hang out later that evening. It had been a couple of years since all of us were in the same place. So after my evening class I sucked it up and I went to go hang out wit’ my boys. Continue reading “Where my dawgs at?”

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WAC’ed at Baruch

Baruch and LaGuardia faculty
Now before you think that I am involved with something out of the Sopranos I just need to state that that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact I met with a group of faculty members today from LaGuardia and Baruch to discuss issues surrounding the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program that both schools have initiated. Selected faculty members from both schools have been meeting all year long to discuss how WAC, also referred to as Writing in the Disciplines (WID), can impact students and faculty in transformative ways.

The discussions that we have engaged in during the group sessions have honestly been some of most interesting conversations that I have had in while. I had been fighting the flu all week so I was very glad that I was up to attending. The opportunity to directly interact with a faculty cohort from a sister CUNY institution, and to discuss our different approaches to pedagogy, has helped me a great deal in thinking through the restructuring of the curriculum for the LaGuardia New Media Technology degree.

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A Visit from Norway

Bagels for Norway
My mother-in-law and my nephew flew in from Norway last week to spend some time with us over the kids’ winter break. It was good to see them since we had not gotten together in a few months. The kids are always excited to see “Mor-Mor” and their older cousin Bjorn.

Their visit made me realize how much I miss being overseas.

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LaGuardia Web Standards Committee

Creating web standards for the implementation and management of web content is a topic that more and more companies are having to face. LaGuardia is current struggling with this issue and is proactively working to address the problem. One of the solutions that the LaGuardia IT department is investigating is establishing a Content Management Systems (CMS) to assist in the management of website updates and presentation. I mention this because today I attended a meeting to look a some of the Content Management Systems (CMS) that LaGuardia is considering. Continue reading “LaGuardia Web Standards Committee”

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My first Video game system

I was watching Attack of the Show on G4TV and saw a reference to the first video game system that I ever owned, the Magnavox Odyssey. The Odyssey, while more primitive than games found on today’s cellphones, was cutting edge at the time. I had to be around 7-8 years old when it came out. I still remember when my father brought it home and my cousin Clarence and I played all night on it. I think was hooked on gaming and computers from that point on.

Now keep in mind that this system pre-dated the Atari 2600, Colecovision, Intellivision, the Commodore Vic 20, and just about all of the old classic gaming systems. In fact I was shocked to see that it was released in 1973. Pops must have paid nearly $100 bucks for the system. So in “1973 dollars”, the Odyssey was probably more expensive than the PS3 is today. So I guess buying my kids PSPs and DS Lites isn’t so strange in comparison now.

I found an old commercial for the system on YouTube. I still can’t get over how silly it looks by today’s standards.

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An Oberlin event: Out on the town with old friends

It is rare that Ski and I get a chance to go out. For better or worse, this is just something that you get used to once you have kids. However, Mike Sorrell, an old friend of mine was in town and invited us to a special dinner concert that Oberlin College was holding at The Birdland Jazz Club. The invitation only event was hosted by the new president of Oberlin, Marvin Krislov, and featured the Oberlin Jazz Septet. Since I hadn’t seen Mike since our graduation from Oberlin almost twenty years ago, I made it a point to ask my moms to watch the kids for a few hours. I wanted to catch up with an old college buddy, and being a cheapskate, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to take my wife out at the same time. Continue reading “An Oberlin event: Out on the town with old friends”

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I am not very political….

but I have to admit that the prospect of a Black President has me more than a little intrigued. I find myself watching the evening news channels, reading the internet blog sites, and getting up early to view the Sunday morning talk shows. I think that my interest has been sparked largely because I never truly believed that there would be a Black Commander-in-Chief in my lifetime. I am still not sure that it will really happen, but for the first time in years am hopeful that true change may be possible.

I guess only time will tell.

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3rd Annual New Media Conference: Coldfusion Guru confirmed

Coldfusion Guru: Michael DinowitzMichael Dinowitz, head of the NYC Coldfusion Users Group and owner of the House of Fusion (http://www.houseoffusion.com) will be presenting at the LaGuardia 3rd Annual New Media Conference. Outside of Abobe, there are few evangelists as dedicated as Michael to the spread of the Coldfusion language and the strengthening of the community. Michael has co-authored many of the best selling CF web application construction kits and videos. Continue reading “3rd Annual New Media Conference: Coldfusion Guru confirmed”

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3rd Annual New Media Conference: Adobe is coming

Ali Hanyaloglu, Adobe Sr. Solutions Engineer discusses CS3

The planning for the 3rd Annual LaGuardia Community College New Media Technology conference is underway and Adobe has confirmed their attendance. The team from Adobe presented last year at our conference to a packed house and we are excited to have them back again. Adobe has agreed to present at both the morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session is going to focus on the creative and design applications in CS3 while the afternoon session is going to highlight the new CS3 video apps. Continue reading “3rd Annual New Media Conference: Adobe is coming”