The Adventures of a Digital Sensei
Just got the word that I got accepted into a native iPad/iPhone app development course at Access Code NYC. I was one of the 20 people selected out of 200 applicants. I am psyched up because while I have developed some mobile apps using third party applications and frameworks like PhoneGap and Adobe AIR, this will be my first foray into native programming for Apple devices. Objective C here I come! Luckily I purchased a Mac Mini a few months back in preparation for a course like this one.
One of the areas in new media that is experiencing phenomenal growth is mobile app development. Students see a large audience using smartphones and tablets, and as developers and entrepreneurs they want in on the market. I can’t blame them. I want in as well. Truth The money is good and the future for mobile devises is very strong. Due to the pressure of meeting my academic commitments I have been putting off training in mobile app development for the past year. Part of the issue was finding a quality school that teaches the material I needed at a reasonable price. This was Continue reading “Mobile App Training with AS3 and Adobe AIR”
So last night I get in late from teaching an evening class and my son meets me at the door in damn near a panic. He tells me they are finalizing the pre-order sales for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
I wanted to share with you a recently published article on the topic of the student motivation that I authored. The title of the piece is “Motivating at Risk African Americans and Hispanics Through the Study of New Media Technology“. The peer-reviewed article was based on many of the interactions that I have had over the years with my amazing students. The primary focus of the research was on how to inspire African American and Hispanic students by using digital media. However, the principles and techniques described can be applied to students of all races and cultures. The article was published in the second edition of the Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) Online Journal. The digital copy of the journal can be found here in pdf format.
Overall, I was very disappointed at what Apple announced today concerning their much anticipated update to the iPad. Let me state for the record that I absolutely love my 1st generation iPad. I love it so much that I touched my Kindle and netbook for the first time in months the other day only to brush the dust off of them as I was cleaning up my bedroom. And I loved both of those devises when they Continue reading “iPad 2…..ehh!”
Just a quick video on my weekend with the kids at the Comic Con. I was extremely proud of my 9 year old son who shot and edited much of the above video on his own. I am hoping to spark his desire to become an indie filmmaker. We picked up a bunch of collectible action figures Continue reading “2010 NYC Comic Con”
In the fall of 2008, Peter Katopes Vice President of Academic Affairs at LaGuardia Community College) appointed me to the CUNY wide Committee for Academic Technology (CAT). I was asked to act as LaGuardia’s representative on all issues pertaining to the use of advanced technology in support of pedagogy. This assignment required me to attend monthly meetings and frequent sub-committee sessions to vote on issues of how technology should be adopted throughout CUNY. In addition to helping to support CUNY’s overall vision, I acted as LaGuardia’s liaison to the CAT committee to insure that LaGuardia interests were fully represented. My involvement as a member of the CAT group required me to serve as a member on the CAT sub-committees for Blackboard and ePortfolio. I would like to believe that my participation was extremely valuable on these sub-committees due to my experience as LaGuardia’s initial Director of ePortfolio and my work with vendors like Concord and Blackboard to link disparate systems to support ePortfolio.
I guess I am gonna have to finally breakdown and finally get a Playstation 3 (PS3) because Grand Theft Auto IV has just been released. I have put it off buying a next gen system because I really wanted a PS3. Plus when the system came out last year the games pretty much sucked and the console was 700 bucks. Since then there have been a number of solid games released for the PS3 and Sony dropped the price of the console down to 400 bucks. With the release of GTA IV, my bank account may have to take another hit. Continue reading “The Grand Theft Auto IV Launch party”
The footage above is the actual video of the speech that I gave to a group of High School juniors and seniors during the Microsoft sponsored IT Tech Trends seminar earlier this month. The purpose of the seminar was to get high school students interested in IT careers. While it wasn’t my finest speech (I rambled a little bit), overall I think I did okay. The students seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.
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.