Let's Make Some Art, Dammit

August 29, 2016. I had a fun fun day today messing around with YouTube feeds and podcasting. I'm to the point where I can subscribe to a feed with my harvester, download the video, and convert it to audio. The data is there, now just to capture the information properly do I can create podcast files. These are hostas from the front yard, today's photo because I was pretty focused all day on podcasts. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bA4GqH

August 28, 2016. This is the LaRose Forest at Calypso Road at Baker Road. It doesn't look like this from the road - you have to go in through the outer brush. 35 painful kilometers today, including a wipeout on loose gravel at Calypso Park. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bu6ktJ

August 27, 2016. Maxville is special to me because my grandparents lived there for a number of years and we visited a fair number of times when I was a child. So it was special today when i was able to bicycle to Maxville and back from my home, a total distance of 56.75 kilometers. I also got to listen to the Blue Jays come from behind to win on my ride. Accomplishments: - installed and adapted perl script to download YouTube videos as MP4s (still working on installing ffmpeg to convert them to MP3s) From Flickr http://ift.tt/2btB65s

August 26, 2016. Still studying angular. This is something I haven't seen for a long time, a praying mantis. It was on our front step. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bqPz2g

August 24, 2016. Today's noon-hour walk was to the other side of the NRC campus and back. This should have been a distance of 5 km or so, but for some reason Runkeeper kept topping into pause mode, so I can't be sure of the exact distance. This is a wind tunnel at NRC. Accomplishments: - got my time records up to date - got my new Bose wireless noise-canceling earphones From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bBbmVX

August 23, 2016. This is the day I finally got No Man's Sky working. It wouldn't work on my office desktop, or my laptop, but i got it going at home. It's every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be. I've only begin to explore. This is a hydrangea in our back yar photographed in the late afternoon / evening sunset. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bM98E7

August 22, 2016. I was quite surprised to find this large stand of dahlias in tiny little Whiterock Park on my lunchtime walk. Nestled at the end of the forest beside an outside basketball court, these flowers stood at eye level as I took my photo. Accomplishments: - three mini-project descriptions completed - installed and tested xSplit for YouTube Live - submitted revised version of paper for DE in China From Flickr http://ift.tt/2be0fBu

August 22, 2016. I was quite surprised to find this large stand of dahlias in tiny little Whiterock Park on my lunchtime walk. Nestled at the end of the forest beside an outside basketball court, these flowers stood at eye level as I took my photo. Accomplishments: - three mini-project descriptions completed - installed and tested xSplit for YouTube Live - submitted revised version of paper for DE in China From Flickr http://ift.tt/2be0fBu

August 21, 2016. Lots of rain today so we went to teh Rideau Centre to walk around a bit. This is a voioew of the Chateau Laurier from the Centre. It's dark and grey and rainy. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2ba2mcj

August 20, 2016. Cycled 50 km to Avonmore and back. In the middle of Avonmore is Rock'n Ronda's, an authentic 1950s soda shop. I stopped there for ice cream on the ride. It was a sweltering day, 33 degrees plus humidity, that's my bicycle just at the corner of the building. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bs8DOj

August 19, 2016. This black squirrel was determined not to share his snack as I left the office this evening. Spent the day messing around with Angular and with GitBook. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bjY4zx

August 18, 2016. I went for a walk through a nearby forest on my way to the local Bridgeheads at noon today and discovered this fine pile of rocks hidden in the brush. Accomplishments: - installed Anaconda Pygthon, also Visual Studio Community, by accident (once it started I just let it run its course; I'll explore it by and by) From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bq1Gld

August 17, 2016. "Plant." That's what Google image search returned as its "best guess for this image". Anyhow, Planty McPlantface is in out back yard attracting wasps and being eaten by leaf cutters. Today was spent watching baseball and working with Solid, getting the server up and running and experimenting with apps. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aWKK5f

August 16, 2016. I got off to an early start thi morrning so stopped to take advantage of the light and still water to try to capture a photo of the railway bridge. Not the greatest result, but there wasn't really any safe footing closer to the water. Accomplishments: - LaPresse interview - discovered and explored Solid From Flickr http://ift.tt/2blnsXh

August 15, 2016. Nice day today, quiet and relaxed in the office, got some shopping done on the way home. This beautiful creature was in our back yard feeding on the flowers. Accomplishments: - updated Ed Radio page and made it mobile-friendly From Flickr http://ift.tt/2b7yQo0

August 14, 2016. Back on the bicycle for a brisk 40 km ride to Chrysler and back - Chrysler is a town near here on the Nation River; this is a picture of it just below Chriysler dam. I'm been on the bike so infrequently this year each ride feels like the first one of the season. *sigh* From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aUty1B

August 13, 2016. That canoe is not upside down; it is perfect protection for two people during a heavy downpour in downtown Ottawa. We went to Rideau Centre to browse and the to see Star Trek, which was terrific. Accomplishments: - cleaned up laptop and archived 50 gig worth of data From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aMj6b7

August 12, 2016. Slow day today. Went for a walk at noon in what was essentially 36 degree weather. Very nice, but it didn't help me accomplish any work. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bqTCOE

August 11, 2016. It was 35 degrees today, a nice day for a five km walk at lunch time. Accomplishments: - wrote 'Ascent from Social Media' From Flickr http://ift.tt/2b2l5WR

August 10, 2016. It's really hot, the lawn is a uniform brown, and this is the only thing growing. Too hot to go for a walk today but I got some work done. Accomplishments: - added the 'Everything' section on my home page - completed a review of a scientific paper From Flickr http://ift.tt/2bbBvyL

August 9, 2016. I had my back to the CSEC building, which is a strict no-photo zone, so I was constantly worried about the black helecopters as I took this (perfectly legal) shot on a walk from the office to the mall today. Good day; I was productive, and got exercise. Accomplishments: - updated house insurance policy - finished draft of 'Looking at the Future of Online Learning' for Distance Education in China journal From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aEjnIK

August 8, 2016. Slow day today. Getting used to the idea of being back home and back at work. Things have been percolating for a while and now I'm ready to buckle down and get stuff done. Tomorrow. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aK6ySZ

August 7, 2016. Alex is overjoyed that I am back and has been spending a lot of time between me and my keyboard. Accomplishments: - got the bill payments caught up From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aG2T4u

August 6, 2016. Back in Casselman and so we headed down the road to Embrun for a family barbeque. That's my mother, centre, Aunt Marilyn, right, and my monster niece Lorelei at left. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aSgo1H

August 6, 2016. Back in Casselman and so we headed down the road to Embrun for a family barbeque. That's my mother, centre, Aunt Marilyn, right, and my monster niece Lorelei at left. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aSgo1H

August 6, 2016. Back in Casselman and so we headed down the road to Embrun for a family barbeeque. That's my mother, centre, Aunt Marilyn, right, and my monster niece Lorlei at left. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aSgo1H

August 5, 2016. Travel day, but before my flight I had the time to take a tour of Fenway Park in Boston. I would rather have seen a game, but the Sox were out west. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aSguXm

August 4, 2016. Attended the conference in the morning and then went on one of Boston's famous Duck Boat tours in the afternoon. If you look closely you can see me on the duck in the picture (right behind the driver). This tour was great value; the guide was excellent, the sights interesting, and the seating and view just right. Accomplishments: - recorded video of Amy Collier's talk From Flickr http://ift.tt/2b0DxyP

August 4, 2016. Attended the conference in the morning and then went on one of Boston's famous Duck Boat tours in the afternoon. If you look closely you can see me on the duck in the picture (right behind the driver). This tour was great value; the guide was excellent, the sights interesting, and the seating and view just right. Accomplishments: - recorded video of Amy Collier's talk From Flickr http://ift.tt/2b0DxyP

August 2, 2016. This is a panel from the Camnous Technology conference in Boston, which I watched while preparing for my keynote on Wednesday. Notes from the panel: Jamie Casap - Chief Education Evangilist, Google Transformation in education - typical white model - driving kids to 4-year school - Latinos beginning to dominate enrolments in K12 - "staying jhere & taking care of your brothers and sisters" - Computer science grads - schools not so much - boot camp phenomenon - "Why do we let them go at all?" - why do we let them go to college, as opposed to learning right here Michael Horn - Entangled Solutions Three trends (drivers) - growth of online learning - campuses blended learning strategies - rise of competency-based learning - pace of technology changing - eg. VR / Oculus, Cardboard John Katzman, CEO Noodle Partners - progression to college grads - no evidence college going away any time soon - but seeing beginning of consolidation of the higher ed space...

August 3, 2016. Keynote day, which is how I spent the morning. Then in the afternoon I took an 11 km walk through the city, basically from the hotel to the waterfront and back. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aSfZxW

August 2, 2016. This is a panel from the Camnous Technology conference in Boston, which I watched while preparing for my keynote on Wednesday. Notes from the panel: Jamie Casap - Chief Education Evangilist, Google Transformation in education - typical white model - driving kids to 4-year school - Latinos beginning to dominate enrolments in K12 - "staying jhere & taking care of your brothers and sisters" - Computer science grads - schools not so much - boot camp phenomenon - "Why do we let them go at all?" - why do we let them go to college, as opposed to learning right here Michael Horn - Entangled Solutions Three trends (drivers) - growth of online learning - campuses blended learning strategies - rise of competency-based learning - pace of technology changing - eg. VR / Oculus, Cardboard John Katzman, CEO Noodle Partners - progression to college grads - no evidence college going away any time soon - but seeing beginning of consolidation of the higher ed space...

August 1, 2016. I completed my workshop, took a nap, and then celebrated the return of my camwra by going out for a short photo walk. Accomplishments: latest set of workshop slides. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aidiS1

August 1, 2016. I completed my workshop, took a nap, and then celebrated the return of my camwra by going out for a short photo walk. Accomplishments: latest set of workshop slides. From Flickr http://ift.tt/2aidiS1