Posts

Posted on

New Years Day: The Star Trek Experience

I went to Vegas and all I got was this nerdy picture

It is the first day of the New Year so so what could be better than a trip to the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton? Since I don’t gamble at all, and the Bunny Ranch would probably get me shot by my wife, I had to find something to do in Vegas. This was gonna be my third time at the exhibit. However it was my first time with the kids. Believe it or not, Ski and I came here a few years back as we were on a belated Honeymoon. She enjoyed it, which is odd because she usually hates anything having to do with Sci-fi.

Continue reading “New Years Day: The Star Trek Experience”

Posted on

New Media Capstone course

Since being appointed the Program Director for LaGuardia’s New Media Technology degree I have started to make revisions to the overall curriculum. One of my priorities is in establishing a more effective capstone course for LaGuardia’s New Media program. The final capstone course in the major, the New Media Project Lab, is being restructured to better prepare students for transfer to a four year university or for employment. During the past semester I have focused heavily on developing new Continue reading “New Media Capstone course”

Posted on

Thoughts on ePortfolios

My feelings on ePortfolio continue to evolve and adapt as new technologies and instructional schools of thought are developed. I am very lucky in the sense that Eportfolio is heavily tied into all of the courses in the New Media Technology Program. Within the New Media Program students are encouraged to develop digital expressions of their learning throughout their time at LaGuardia. Since professional portfolios are a mainstay in the New Media field, the development of a student centered ePortfolio is a natural and progressive step.

The development of a ePortfolio helps my students to think more intensely about their career goals and aspirations. Since the field of New Media Technology is rapidly expanding and morphing almost monthly, students are, Continue reading “Thoughts on ePortfolios”

Posted on

ePortfolio systems testing

Today the IT department piloted a new open source eportfolio system in one of my capstone classes. The team from LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and Learning, who are main champions of the LaGuardia ePortfolio Initiative, were eager to test out the system in front of some real students. The proposed new system may someday replace the existing ePortfolio system in use today at LaGuardia. However prior to a switch being made, a new system will need to be throughly tested before it can be deployed in a production environment that must support up to 11,000 users. Since I had done much of the preliminary work in reviewing and selecting LaGuardia’s current eportfolio system, I was asked to review the new system which is being considered. Continue reading “ePortfolio systems testing”

Posted on

British TV ain’t half bad

Christopher Eccleston, the Ninth Doctor Who
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I have gotten hooked on British TV over the last few years. I always loved Ab Fab and Benny Hill, but then again who in their right minds doesn’t love Benny and Eddy. It is just that the rest of the TV shows from the UK seemed so….British. I just didn’t get the point. Even Monty Python, with the exception of a few skits, always left me cold. That kind of changed for me about 3 years back when the BBC relaunched the new Doctor Who.

Continue reading “British TV ain’t half bad”

Posted on

Bit Torrent…is kinda like crack.

DemonoidA couple of my friends are going through withdrawal because their favorite torrent site, Demonoid, shut down last week as a result of pressure from Canadian version of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). This also comes on the heels of their other favorite torrents sites, Isohunt and Torrentspy, shutting down access to people in the US. The issues with Isohunt and Torrentspy’s new policies were minimal since many people can still access the sites via a foreign proxy. However things are different with Demonoid since they may now be down for good. That really Continue reading “Bit Torrent…is kinda like crack.”

Posted on

Run….run like the wind!

Run girl run

I am so proud of my wife. She completed the NYC Marathon last Sunday in a little over 3 and a half hours. I have to give her a hand because she trained hard all summer to get into shape. Personally I don’t know how she did it. Running 26 miles at that pace would probably force me to sleep for a couple of weeks. However my girl ran the race and still got up the next morning and went off to work with a spring in her step. It was her second time running in the NYC marathon. The last time that she did it was 11 years and two kids ago. The amazing thing is that she ran a faster pace this time than she did 11 years earlier.

Posted on

Family Night Out: Knick Game!!!

Knicks vs. the Sixers
One of the benefits of having a cousin who has Knicks season tickets is that every once and awhile he can’t use them and is generous enough to pass them over to me. That is what happened this week. My cousin C called me up and asked me if I wanted to take the family to the Knicks game against the 76ers. Luckily none of the fam had any previous plans that evening so it was clear sailing. I had taken my son to his first couple of games earlier this year. Needless to say, he loved it. However this was the first time that the whole fam would Continue reading “Family Night Out: Knick Game!!!”

Posted on

NYC Blender Conference

This weekend I attended the first NYC Blender conference at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. The two day conference brought together some of the best Blender artists on the East Coast. For those that don’t know, Blender is free open source 3D animation program that can be used for everything from modeling and animating, to creating interactive 3D applications. Blender is available on all the major operating systems and is similar in scope and depth to other high-end 3D software such as Softimage|XSI, Cinema 4D, 3d Studio Max and Maya. Continue reading “NYC Blender Conference”

Posted on

MS Bike Tour: I thought I was in better shape

msbikerace1.jpg

I participated in the MS Bike tour yesterday and rode under the LaGuardia banner. I got to the start line a few minutes late so I didn’t get a chance to hook up with the rest of the team from LaGuardia. As a result I rode the whole length of the course by myself. I didn’t mind too much since I had the iPod loaded with Jay Z, Biggie, and some ole’ school Run/DMC. Still it wasn’t the same as the previous bike tour. You see, Ski and I did the race last year. We had a great time despite the fact that I had to bail out at the thirty mile mark because I was so outta shape. I figured that I wouldn’t have any problems this year since I had been Continue reading “MS Bike Tour: I thought I was in better shape”