The Adventures of a Digital Sensei
The other night at the CUNY School of Professional Studies annual Student-Faculty reception I had the opportunity to finally meet some of the students in the Communication and Media program. While working with students in an online can be rewarding, there is a special thrill that can come with interacting face to face with the people in your major. The only downside of the evening was that I had to wear a suit. I hate wearing suits.
I don’t look forward to many games anymore. Maybe it is a sign of me getting older and becoming jaded. But here I am, standing on a line outside of GameStop, waiting to pick up my copy of Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5)
Thankfully I am second on line because the weed smell coming off these people is giving me a headache. My son better appreciate me picking this up for him. If I didn’t work with this demographic on a regular basis, or have kids of my own, I might be worried about the future. But once again I digress.
I really want to stay up all night with this game because all of the early Continue reading “GTA 5 Midnight Launch”
My old flat screen monitor blew out at the beginning of the summer much to my dismay. It was an older HannsG 27in LED monitor that I think I paid about 500 bucks for it a few years back. I remember being ecstatic when it arrived because it was going to be my first dual monitor setup. Well, I have been so satisfied with a dual monitor system that the thought of relying on just my ancient ten year old 20in Planar flat screen was intolerable. I searched the regular sites like TigerDirect, NewEgg and Amazon until I found an inexpensive monitor to snag. I was shocked to find out how cheap monitors have become. So shocked in fact that I figured I might as well replace the older Planar monitor just so I had a matched set that displayed things at the same resolution.
I picked up two AOC 27-Inch LED Backlit Monitors for less than Continue reading “Dual 27s son! They spinnin’, they spinnin’!”
While I officially started last week at the CUNY – School of Professional Studies (SPS), this week was the kickoff of the 2013 Fall I session at LaGuardia. It was a very full day which included Opening Sessions, as well as programmatic and departmental meetings, technical consulting session, and student advisement. At the end of the afternoon I felt like I needed a juice box, my blankie, and a nap. I am hoping that this wasn’t going to be indicative on how the semester was going to unfold. Because just to clarify, despite some of my poorly worded previous posts, I haven’t left LaGuardia. My responsibilities have just shifted a tad.
As the sole full time instructor for the New Media, I didn’t want to abandon the program that I have helped build over the past 12 years. But Continue reading “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!”
“Paris P. Olgilvie. Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur”
“Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict. Murderer.”
My son and I just got back from the new movie Riddick. This was one of the summer movies we had been waiting to see since both of us are die hard Riddick fans. This is largely because Riddick is the only dude that could possibly give Batman a run for his money. And unlike some people, we loved the previous film, The Chronicles of Riddick. While not as exciting as Pitch Black, the first Riddick movie, Chronicles had a visual appeal that blew away the low-budget indie look of Pitch Black all while reinforcing the notion that the title character was indeed the ultimate badass.
The title of the new film is appropriately named just Riddick. It seems that after some criticism about Continue reading “You’re not afraid of the dark are you?”
This was my first bike ride since returning home from Oslo. I have been getting over a cold for the past week or so. I think my body has been rebelling against the NYC air quality and humidity. I had trouble getting to sleep because my legendary insomnia was in full effect as a result of the new job. Since I was wide awake I decided to go for a little late night ride. I was still missing Oslo but I felt pretty good all things considered.
I had forgotten how much I love NYC at night. I stopped biking in the city more than a year ago after being Continue reading “No Sleep ’til Brooklyn part deux”
Today was my first day at the new office. There is a ton of work that needs to be done and I am looking forward to getting underway. I have been asked to take charge of the Communication and Media program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies and to help redefine the degree in light of the recent technological and societal shifts brought forth by digital innovation.
I must say that it was kinda weird to be Continue reading “CUNY SPS – New Office Space”
Matt Damon was recently asked about his take on the Ben Affleck as Batman controversy. Damon, who is a long time friend of Affleck, stated that “Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that”. He then went on to say that “Batman just sits there with his cowl over his head and whispers in a kinda gruff voice at people. Now I understand Matt Damon is just looking out for his boy, but the comments he made about how Batman isn’t a complex character came off as being more than a little ignorant and dismissive of the genre. In fact he only hurts Ben case by reinforcing a commonly held belief that Affleck doesn’t really take preparation for his roles seriously. I am hoping that Affleck does not share Damon’s feeling on Batman/Bruce Wayne or we could be in store for another Daredevil.
The studio isn’t going to back down so we are probably stuck with Affleck. So if I was to give Ben any advice it would be this; Continue reading “Open letter to Ben Affleck, or please shut up Matt Damon”
I was saddened to hear that Red Burns, founder of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, passed away earlier this week. Red was my academic adviser and one of the first people that I met when I arrived to study at ITP in the late 90s. Oddly enough, despite her small stature, she was also one of the most intimidating people I have ever met. And I say that as a person that is not easily intimidated. My first impression of Red was that she was not someone to trifle with, piss off, or just generally wind up on her bad side. Over time I was fortunate to see that there was a kinder and gentler side to her. Red cared deeply for her students, but she demanded the best from them. She was a formidable personality and utterly fearless in her approach to life.
Over the past few days my Facebook and Twitter feeds have been inundated by posts from friends and fellow ITP students who were influenced heavily by Red. She was truly a pioneer in the fields of tech education and digital expression. The overwhelming theme that comes through in all of the posts is that Red, and the program that she created, changed their lives for the better. Continue reading “You will be missed”
The news was just released that Warner Brothers has chosen Ben Affleck to be the new Batman in the next DC Comics inspired movie. I am crushed by this news. Seriously. I try to stay relatively informed on important issues of the day like the NSA revelations, the deficit, the Middle East, stop and frisk, and anything to do with improving the educational system. All the I ask for is a small bone every now and then. Can a brother just look forward enjoying a frivolous movie about a childhood comic book hero without Ben Affleck and his massive cranium mucking up the works? No really, look at his head sometime. It is enormous. My only hope is that they will have to recast the part because they couldn’t find a cowl large enough to slide over that freakish mellon.
I have been a comic book Continue reading “Affleck is Batman??? What da…….”