Category: Technology

Posted on

The Periodic Program Review, or I’m down with PPR!

PPR

Every five to seven years academic degree programs in the CUNY system have to undergo a process called a Periodic Program Review (PPR). The PPR is an in depth look at the academic major under review from a programmatic,  institutional, and industry wide perspective. The ultimate goal of the PPR is to begin an honest review of the program effectiveness which will then be used to help to guide the evolution of the major for the next five to seven years. Because I am the sole full time New Media faculty member, the research and drafting of the report for the LaGuardia New Media Technology program became  Continue reading “The Periodic Program Review, or I’m down with PPR!”

Posted on

New York Cine respects ‘da skills!

287808_446862628678337_1596781307_o

The stars are aligning for a brother. I am having one of those weeks where everything aligns and the world just falls into place. In my 47 years on the planet it has happen only a handful of times. It is right up there with sex, love and old school hip-hop. I had a great meeting with a group of educators that I hope to be working with in the coming months. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Plus the interview that I done awhile back for the Film and Media web site, New York Cine, was finally released. I had forgotten that they sat me down to talk about the effects of torrenting and piracy on the film industry. Digital disruption at its finest. I plan to savor this ‘ish for as long as I can.


Podcast Powered By Podbean
Posted on

iPad & iPhone Development Training

ipad_sdk_overview_hero_20120610

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.

Posted on

My New Mac Mini is on the way


Since it has been at least 7 years since I have upgraded my Apple desktop system I finally decided it was time to pull the trigger on the new Mac Mini that Apple announced last week. I ordered my new setup from MacMall and it should arrive in the next few days. The miniature form factor of the mini is perfect for my desk, and the third generation Intel quad core processor will provide enough power for most basic multimedia tasks. After years of favoring Apple, I have been primarily working on PCs since this summer because certain software could not be run on my old Powermac Quad G5. However, while the transition was not as dreadful as I had expected because Windows 7 was better than Vista, I still I missed my mac environment and have been anxious to Continue reading “My New Mac Mini is on the way”

Posted on

……does whatever a spider can!

It was a pretty good day for me. I had a couple of really productive meetings followed by an opportunity to reconnect with an old passion of mine that I have neglected for far too long, podcasting. Thanks to a good friend of mine I was asked to participate in a podcast about the new Spider-man movie with the guys over at NewYorkCine. I was brought in for my expertise on all things related to Spider-man and comic nerdism/geekdom. Plus I was one of the few people on the panel that actually loved the new Spider-man reboot more than the Sam Raimi versions.

Big up to my boy Thomas Edward Seymour for the invite. I had a blast. Here is to hoping they ask me back to help review the new Chris Nolan Batman flick, The Dark Knight Rises, later this month.

The Spider-man podcast with my commentary can be found here:

If your browser does not support the audio element. Please access the podcast at:
http://newyorkcine.podbean.com/2012/07/10/new-york-cine-not-so-amazing-spider-man-27/

Podcast Powered By Podbean

You can check Continue reading “……does whatever a spider can!”

Posted on

The new baby

I just got the new Acer Aspire V3-771G-9875 17.3-Inch laptop I ordered as an early birthday present to myself. I bought it online from Amazon for a great price. My 2009 17 inch Macbook Pro was starting to show it’s age with the old Intel Core 2 Duo processor powering it. I was starting to worry that my Macbook  was going to have problems dealing with the new Adobe CS6 software suite, especially the video based applications like After Effects and Premiere Pro. So I put on my big boy pants and finally pulled the trigger on a new Acer system.

 

Now for the record I am not happy that I have switched from Macs back to the darkside, but this laptop was too good to pass up. I love my macs but the new systems are priced too high when compared to some Windows systems. The desktop system that I built a few months back had made me more comfortable about switching to Continue reading “The new baby”

Posted on

CUNY Pathways & The Council of Digital Media Programs


A few months back I organized and hosted a panel discussion at John Jay College’s 10th Annual City University of New York (CUNY) IT Conference. The presentation was on “Creating a CUNY-wide approach towards Digital Media Programs” and focused on what I believe are some of the major issues facing digital media programs within CUNY. I assembled the panel group from colleagues at four separate CUNY institutions and within five distinct New Media subdivisions. We discussed strategies that the university could implement to prepare our digital media programs for the future.

One of the major initiatives that I suggested during the conference presentation was the establishment of a digital media council to address the specific needs and concerns of the faculty and students within the digital disciplines. Well I am happy to say that the first steps toward the creating a CUNY-wide digital media council happened today thanks to my colleagues in the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Media Arts and Technology Department. Today a luncheon was held at Continue reading “CUNY Pathways & The Council of Digital Media Programs”