Idea Warehouse

This kitty in the window is now 12 or 13 years old, but we made it together, driving to Boston yesterday. Still grading like crazy, but at least I'm finished teaching for this semester. I wish there were more time between end of semester and Christmas!

The Sunday before Finals Week!: Okay, now there's this big push of grading, and then figuring out grades from the last things, and boom!--it'll be over! (I have far too many exclamation points for any self-respecting English teacher.) I should be posting more regularly on here for the next semester. Meanwhile, I showed up today to create a folder on which to post student projects that didn't quite make it onto their own web page, often through no fault of their own. I didn't know until Thursday afternoon that the students' webstorage accounts had to be created by request, which I then requested, and then on Friday, Dec. 11, the snow prevented most everybody from getting to campus, which shut down officially about 12:30 by my text2camupus message and by 2:00 by email. I was wiser and did so before my students had to get out and shovel.

12 Types of Facebookers and blogger fired for outing identity.

CNN's article on 12 types of Facebookers is kind of interesting today.

1. The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore.
2. The Self-Promoter.
3. The Friend-Padder.
4. The Town Crier.
5. The TMIer (Too Much Information).
6. The Bad Grammarian.
7. The Sympathy-Baiter.
8. The Lurker.
9. The Crank.
10. The Paparazzo.
11. The Maddening Obscurist.
12. The Chronic Inviter.

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On another note, here's an example of a local blogger (PittGirl's blog "That's Church) who reveals her identity and, in doing so, gets herself fired. I haven't delved too deeply in the matter, but she was working for NEED in Pittsburgh and also writing a humor column for Pittsburgh magazine. Here's the article I read: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/21/outing.anonymous.bloggers/index.html

Twittering

I'm trying out Twitter--hoping to keep abreast of CCCC happenings, good presentations, etc., as well as the SXSW event. Twitter's good if you can't be everywhere at once and want to be...but meanwhile I'm trying to find out what it really is good for, what not to do, and why to use it.

What/Where I Read Online

I read so many things online and do so many things online that I can't keep track of it all, but I'm going to attempt to for at least a week or two and then update this blog space to reflect that.

• CNN
• Woot.com
• Salon.com
• Chronicle of Higher Education
• Slate
• Educause
•  (more to come...)

Pleasant Nights

I guess you could count the 3 hour nap I took this afternoon a "vacation-y" thing to do, even though it's more of a Sunday thing to do. Tonight Dan and I took the dinner Dan had been making all day over to a friend's house, where we had the best ham ever, his garlic mashed potatoes, freshly picked beets, a blackberry/peach/banana salad, and his homemade chocolate chip cookies. Um-um-good! Plus, I got a wonderful neck rub, and then after we left, we drove down the road a bit in the deepening dusk, spotting four or five deer in a field, passing the peaceful Slippery Rock Creek, and taking in the fresh, cool, evening air with the moonroof open.

Stretching Summer

Yesterday, with it being the very first day of August, I vowed to do something every day in August that was SUMMERY or VACTION-LIKE, in order to stretch out the summer as much as I can. So, yesterday, I browsed around the store The Amish Buggy in Erie, like a tourist, and taught summer school (that only counts once as a summery thing--any more days of counting it turns it into a SCHOOL-LIKE thing, rather than summery thing. But I did wear Bermuda shorts to class (!) so I guess that counts.

Today, I went down to the Farmer's Market in Slippery Rock and picked up some ripe, juicy peaches, a pint of blueberries (not enough even for the two of us for a week; we have to go back and get another if we can), a plastic container (a pint?) of blackberries, and 2 ears of corn called Ecstasy. Really, they are JUST EARS of CORN. Anyway, I hope to get out later today and attend our neighbor's famous annual Pig Roast, a huge bash where the neighbors two doors down invite the entire neighborhood (everyone in Applewood Meadows), all their friends, and probably all their friends' friends. I can already hear the thump, thump of big bass speakers that they must have set up. This is one of those times when I wish I could drink beer again (not that can't, I just choose not to). It's usually a pretty good time for all and I reckon it can get a lot more crazy when you've had a few. Maybe I'll ice down a few O'Doul's just to get the flavor.......That's a good summery thing to do, too!

Okay, back to work, but meanwhile, I'll upload a few photos from earlier this summer....

Long hiatus ends

It's been so long since I wrote on this blog that the technology has probably already changed on me!! Well, with the spring sabbatical and my shoulder surgery and being unable to write for so long, it put a crimp in my blogging. Then all the changes with my parents occurring.....and then being soooo sick for ALL of April and then Dan's dad dying, it's been an unusual and emotion-packed year. Now I go back to teaching in a few weeks, but probably will go through even more transitions. We have no more children at home anymore, so that's something to get used to. It's nice at times, but often more just weird or overly quiet. Especially since Monk isn't around even to call. I will get back to putting pertinent things in here soon.This post will be my entry back.  

Court Decision regarding pivacy of emails

A federal appeals court today made a startling decision about the privacy of emails: they determined that 3rd part ISPs must consider their subscribers' message content private unless they notify them that it is not or allow them permission to read them, if I read this article right. That is a turnabout from what we've been expected to believe, essentially, as the writer of this article describes, making email more like a sealed letter than an open postcard.

Wearable Code

Julia Vallera has created these readable private/public t-shirts that have QR code on them that are readable by cell phones after you take a picture of the code that's on them. Incredible! Also loved the link she put on there-- textually.org--that features a "juice bag" at the top of the list, a tote bag that charges all of your electronic gadgets while they're in there.