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Showing posts from October, 2014

Graveyard

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October 31, 2014. Happy Halloween from Armenia. This is the largest graveyard in Yerevan - I visited it after lunch on a longish walk in the southern part of the city. Grey day today, lots of cloud and smog. from Flickr http://ift.tt/10aTRVy

Armenia

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October 30, 2014. It's a seven hour time difference here in Yerevan so it's not surprising I woke up after noon. I still managed to take a good long walk (11 km) around the city. This is a statue of Alexander Tamanian , the master planner of the city, who rebuilt what was a smallish town into the modern capital of the republic. from Flickr http://ift.tt/10CBREM

Airbus A-380

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October 29, 2014. It's hard to imagine how this thing flies. I viewed it as you can see through the window at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. No, I did not fly it. I flew on what appeared to be a very old A-319 (which for some reason they had to spend an hour 'cleaning' before departure (it was so old it still had ashtrays and ceiling-mounted movie screens). 36 hours door to door on WestJet (OK) and Air France (brutal). from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/15644388816

2,000 Kilometers

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October 28, 2014. Traveling today. I had a 12 hour layover in Toronto, which is crazy. But what I did is I went down to Gears, a bike shop in Port Credit, rented a nice road bike, and set out down Lakeshore Road for Burlington. It was 77 kilometers there and back (I actuallt went half way across the Hamilton Harbour causeway. But more significantly, it was on this ride that I accomplished by 2014 goal of cycling 2,000 kilometers. This is a hard goal, for many reasons - hard enough that I will not be increasingit next year. But for now, I'm in a lounge in Pearson, waiting for my flight, and reflecting on the glory that is mine. Oh yeah - the photo is Lake Ontario - you can see Toronto in the distant background. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1wAnQSz

Polly

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October 27, 2014. Very busy day, meetings plus running around getting ready to travel. Plus a spin class. Last thing before bed: this photo of Polly in the kitchen, waiting for her evening treat. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1zG7X1E

Target

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October 26, 2014. Andrea contemplates becoming a witch while I spot the flu shot sign to the left. We were there to get me travel food for my upcoming flight - we also got a new travel adapter and a pair of flu shots. I get them every year and haven't had the flu for a long time. I don't know why people won't get the shots; it was painless, took five minutes, and is way better than getting the flu. from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/15448704579

Rain and Mist

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October 25, 2014. Went out for a couple hours in the rain and added another 30 kilometers to my cycling distance, brining me that much closer to my annual goal. This is up Mclaughlin Road, at the 10km mark from home. This evening, went to the Miracles exhibition game - good game, good crowd, looks like we might have a good year. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1DNKIBs

Maple Leaf

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October 24, 2014. The maple leaf is ubiquitous around these parts, and this time of the year the ground is coaovered with them. This is just one in a billion in the area. It landed on the sidewalk outside the office; I liked the symmetry and the colouring and made it my photo for today. Five meetings today, good progress. I sometimes miss writing and coding, but I like getting stuff done. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1rw4Y2T

On Guard

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October 22, 2014. It's interesting that as we were in this building discussing safety and security with the Vice President of NRC, the shooting events were unfolding at government facilities in Ottawa. So we've all been a bit more security conscious today. Aside from that, it was a pretty good day, with a good demo of LPSS and the sending out of the first of the invitations to the public (true to form, the first non-NRC person into the system received an invite by accident). from Flickr http://ift.tt/1DEQvt4

Fall Day, Grey Day

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October 21, 2014. It was gloomy when I left the office this afternoon, a longish day with meetings and attempted meetings. I'm feeling a lottle stressed these days; I enjoy my job but there's a lot to it, and it's pretty difficult sometimes. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1yWjsk6

Celosia

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October 20, 2014. These bright red plants, Celosia , are characteristic of the New Brunswick fall landscape. These were photographed in front of the Coliseum in the bright noon sun as I stopped by to pick up out Miracles basketball season tickets. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1wgwPIA

Magnetic Hill

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October 19, 2014. It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for a bike ride, and so I put in 60 km cyclying up Gorge Road (pictured) and over the two mountains - Lutes Mountain (also pictured) and Steeves Mountain - on the way to Salisbury and back. Magnetic Hill is at the base of Lutes Mounatin and I passed by it on the way. from Flickr http://ift.tt/11Tuk4G

Illustration

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Octiber 18, 2014. Pretty tired today, too tired to notice I've accidentally set the 'Illustration' picture effect on today's lazy photo pf the front yard. But it's a pretty nice result. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1qRbfWx

Paroisse

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October 17, 2014. Sainte-Anne-Des-Pays-Bas (Paroisse) in Fredericton. I drove to Freddie and back today for meetings at our office there (and to get some free food from the staff pot-luck). I snapped this while stuck in the permanent Regent Street traffic jam on the way home. We got weather like this in the evening, but for the rest of the day it was overcast and rainy. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1qKStA7

Youth Quest

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October 16, 2014. This is the interior of the Youth Quest storefront location in downtown Moncton on St. George Street. This is one of the projects we halped fund with our Ride for Refuge event a couple of weeks ago. It's a drop-in centre for youth who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. I don't show people in the photo, but there were people there and activity happening, which a nice low-level vibe. from Flickr http://ift.tt/11Dljwt

Victoria Park

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October 15, 2014. One thing that attracted me to New Brunswick originally was its exceptional beauty in the fall. This is Victoria Park today, a city square less than a block away from where I live. This park is a beauty year round, but it's exceptional this time of the year. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1sRzcT5

Nature Trail

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October 14, 2014. Four meetings today, but I had a little time at noon to walk up the nature trail to the pond - the pond was pretty dry (just a little water in the bottom) and the leaves were in good form. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1sOAcXn

Thanksgiving

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October 13, 2014. Home again. The leaves on the oak are much more yellow after eight days away. I notice the tree has grown a full foot both upward and outward this summer - a veritable explosion of growth for a bur oak. The cats are overjoyed to see me again. I'm happy to be home. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1xLldNL

Iguana for the Road

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October 12, 2014. Time for one more short walk in the forests around the hotel, taking photos and saying good-bye to the iguanas. This one flicked its tongue at me. That shows me it cares. Now to spend the next 24 hours traveling home. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1tSY7B2

Paraguay

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October 11, 2014. Not all of Paraguay is like this, of course. Not even all of Cuidad del Este, whicch I visited today, is like this (I have photos to prove it). But the first impression is what you see here. I was offered tasers for sale numerous times, saw men with shotguns guarding electronics stores, men fishing in a heavily polluted lake, and yet, people playing vollyball in the park, children with their parents at the fruit stand, and the man who stopped me just to tell me how much he liked my hat. Well, it is a very nice hat. I loved Paraguay, but like everything I love, I am also somewhat afraid of it. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1vXvSDQ

Moulin Ching

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All life is encompassed in Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love To play this game of life, Toss the coin four times The first two coins are the left The last two coins are the top Truth (0-0) Beauty (0-1) Freedom (1-0) Love (1-1) Truth (0-0) Truth on truth. Absolute truth. You do not belong here. Beauty on truth. Truth embellished. No different than lies. Freedom on truth. Relativism. There is no truth here. Love on truth. Love of truth. The philosopher’s life. Beauty (0-1) Truth on beauty. Inner beauty. The superficial does not satisfy. Beauty on beauty. The angel. No room for her on Earth. Freedom on beauty. I know what I like. Beauty in the eye of the beholder. Love on beauty. Vanity. No more beauty would satisfy. Freedom (1-0) Truth on freedom. Justice. The courage of our convictions. Beauty on freedom. Swee

Iguazu Falls

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October 10, 2014. I spnt the better part of the day walking along the Brazilian side of the tremendous Iguazu Falls, a sight that has to be seen to be believed. The cameras cannot do it justice. In addition to the absolutely spectacular setting, a wealth of birds and butterflies and lizards, the constant thunder of the falls is overwhelming, a noise that will stay in my mind for many years to come. I just want to tip my hat and say, "Well done, nature. Well done." from Flickr http://ift.tt/1uSZF23

Botanical Gardens

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October 9, 2014. Though ill with food poisoning I managed to drag myself to the Botanical Gardens in Curitiba and went for a short 0.93km walk in the sunshine. It wasn't really the right season for flowers but it was a beautiful day and I took the opportunity to just sit and watch people go by while nursing a single Coke Zero. Not so bad, all in all. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1ygKIcP

Cavalo

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October 8, 2014. Again I had a couple hours in late afternoon to explore Curitiba. One place I found was an exhibit honouring the city's history, and this large figure was the centrepiece. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1uDIdhS

Full Jazz / Reflection Tree

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October 6, 2010. This palm tree is at the side of the conference centre here in Curitiba. As I explained to people here, I wanted to go photograph some trees in order to relax before my two-hour Q&A on connectivism this afternoon. The session, which was completely unscripted, went really well, I thought. I went "full jazz" on theory - that is, felt free to dive deep without holding back because it might be too difficult (the term "full jazz", which I coin here as used this way, is an homage to the hotel where I'm staring, the Slaviero Full Jazz hotel - yes, it's a fully themed concept hotel. Love it). from Flickr http://ift.tt/1vQXmKR

Araucaria

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October 7, 2014. I gave my keynote this morning in Curitiba and then took the afternoon to catch up on some work and then take a walk around the city. I wandered through the downtown core (I missed a lot) and took this photo of the characteristic pine trees that dot the landscape here, the Araucaria tree (after which the city is named) from Flickr http://ift.tt/1qdefLt

Curitiba

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October 5, 2014. Flew all night and all morning and now I'm in Curitiba , Brazil. I'm here for the ABED conference to talk about MOOCs and learning networks. This is a photo taken from the car on the way into the city. from Flickr http://ift.tt/10C5mWY

Ride For Refuge

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October 4, 2014. It was cool and rainy this morning but I and about 75 others went out for the Ride for Refuge event to raise money for the homeless. Here we are at Gorge Road and Ammon Road. It was 50K to Upper Mountain Road ( bonus photo ) and back. I ended up very wet but happy to contribute. from Flickr http://ift.tt/Z1Ia2U

Mapleton Walk

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October 3, 2014. Stressed. Took a break at lunch to walk in Mapleton Park. Saw a bunch of ducks - I love ducks - and a chickadee and some chipmunks and felt better. I didn't get very much done today, but I feel a bit better. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1rT92Od

Oak Leaves

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October 2, 2014. Busy day, buy also more relaxed. This is the oak tree in my front yard; we planted it a couple of years ago. Ah, but it grows slowly. from Flickr http://ift.tt/1r4E5RY

Royal Princess

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October 1, 2014. Drove down to Saint John with Rod and Pierre today for a business meeting. This is the Royal Princess , one of three cruise ships that were moored in Saint John harbour today. Between the three of them they will add 9200 guests and 3600 crew to the city's population. This ship towered over most of the buildings in the downtown area. Back hope, more work, and launched lpss.me from Flickr http://ift.tt/1pruwgj