Watching more than 70 students, staff and faculty dance in front of the Oregon State University (OSU) Memorial Union steps was quite the sight today.
The OSU’s flashmob was pretty cool too…
Category: This and that
A band that I’ve been listening to for a very long time
I love that Jason and Mike have been able to keep making music for all these years…The Nadas have been one of my favorite bands ever since I was an undergrad at the University of Northern Iowa. I think it’s pretty funny that they just busted out Eye of the Tiger in Philadelphia!
6 tracks that I’ve been spinning lately…
[audio:http://www.nadaradio.com/filedesongs/01/whisper.mp3,http://www.nadaradio.com/filedesongs/02/FarAway.mp3,http://www.nadaradio.com/filedesongs/02/where040105.mp3,http://www.nadaradio.com/filedesongs/01/NowThatFoundYou.mp3,http://thenadas.com/almanac/playerTracks/BitterLove.mp3,http://thenadas.com/almanac/playerTracks/longgoodbye.mp3|titles=Whisper,Far Away,Where Im Going,Now That I Found You,Bitter Love,Long Goodbye]
Life, love, change, and the future.
When you don’t have all the answers
A friend and I were talking about being vulnerable. How it is okay to be vulnerable even when we have very public personas and that sometimes we have to admit that things can be difficult. Today, with 16 days left at OSU, I had an academic advising appointment that really shook my soul.
Blackbird Pie – embedding individual tweets
Are you a blogger? Do you ever reference tweets in your posts? If yes, then you really need to use this http://bit.ly/b6dERc #BlackbirdPie
Eric Stoller
EricStoller
Have you ever wanted to embed an individual tweet from Twitter into a blog post? A couple of months ago, Twitter released “Blackbird Pie.” It’s a nifty web-based tool that generates embed code for a single Twitter post that you can paste into a blog post.
Continue reading Blackbird Pie – embedding individual tweets
WPtouch: Is your WordPress blog optimized for mobile users?
Questions: Do you have a WordPress blog? Is it a self-hosted site (a non-WordPress.com site)? Have you ever accessed your blog via a smartphone?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I would like to introduce you to the WPtouch plugin for WordPress:
“WPtouch automatically transforms your WordPress blog into an iPhone application-style theme, complete with ajax loading articles and effects, when viewed from an iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Opera Mini, Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm mobile devices.”
WPtouch does a terrific job of stripping out your blog’s sidebar / extraneous features. Your site is instantly optimized for smartphones. Sample screenshots after the jump..
Continue reading WPtouch: Is your WordPress blog optimized for mobile users?
Academic Advisors and Versatility
Full disclosure: I am currently an academic advisor. It’s my first full-time academic advising experience. I actually was quite pro-active about avoiding academic advising experiences when I was in graduate school. I never thought that I would be an academic advisor. I’ve been in my current advising position for 3 years. It’s been an incredible experience. Having said that, this post is not about me. It’s for anyone who has ever been an academic advisor who has dealt with the subject matter of this post.
A friend of mine is an academic advisor. She’s currently looking for a new position within student affairs. Having applied for several positions that have not yielded an offer. She came to the conclusion that having “academic advisor” at the top of her most recent experiences on her resume was resulting in her application being ignored or devalued. We chatted about how her resume could be re-worked to be more of a skills-based document. While I wasn’t happy about the apparent devaluing of academic advising that seemed to be occurring, I could empathize with both my friend and prospective hiring departments.
The state of academic advising in higher education is that it is a field that is predominantly seen as being in academic affairs. What this means is that while academic advisors may do exactly the same kinds of work as their student affairs colleagues, they might not be recognized for this due to the “silo effect” in higher education.
Multiple Mentors = Lifelong Mentoring
One of my mentors once told me that mentors are everywhere and that all I needed to do was to seek them out. At the time, I had been struggling with finding experienced practitioners who were as into learning / using technology within student affairs as I was. It took me a while to realize that what I had been looking for was the ultimate mentor. I was seeking someone who matched up with every nuance, every interest area, in effect, the “perfect” mentor.
When I woke up this morning, I had a realization. A thought that I had never really allowed to materialize. I currently have multiple individuals who I call “mentor.” No single person. Not a lone individual. I have multiple mentors. Some of my mentors provide professional advice. Some of my mentors assist me in the “apprenticeship of life.” This cadre of mentors provides me with an amazing breadth and depth of learning, experiences, and guidance. A community of mentors who I look to for strength, insight, humor, and caring.
My mentors come from all over the place. They have been instrumental in where I am and where I want to be. Here are a few ideas that I have been pondering about mentoring:
- Sometimes mentors bring mentorship into your life without it being strategic or intentional. It just happens.
- Age does not always equal wisdom. Be open to mentoring from anyone. Wisdom can surprise you.
- If your mentors are well-known, be prepared to spend less time with them. Learn as much as you can when you have access. Maximize your time with them.
- Social media spans the globe. Your access to mentors has just increased…be ready.
- Sometimes mentors and mentees switch roles depending on circumstances, timing, and need. It’s okay.
Photo credit: quacktaculous
My parents need a new computer
My parents now have “the broadband” and are in need of a new computer. Their Dell desktop PC (that I customized for them when I lived in Chicago) is about 8 years old. It is now time for a new PC. Since I’m now a total Mac head, I am in need of some PC suggestions…my Macbook Pro is about 4 years old and I will never go back to a PC or MS Windows.
My parents have a budget of about $600 to $700 for a new computer. I’ve been looking at Dell.com and HP.com, but haven’t been able to configure a desktop that meets their requirements without going over budget. The added cost of Windows 7 Professional and Microsoft Office – the useful edition – keeps putting me above $700.
Here are the basic requirements for the new computer:
- Windows 7*
- Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010
- 4GB’s of ram
- 19 in. LCD
Does anyone have any ideas for a reliable yet inexpensive computer setup that meets these requirements?
*I wonder if Windows 7 Home Premium is as useless as Dell and HP make it seem to be? Is Windows 7 Professional worth the added cost?
**Every post that mentions computers should really include a Commodore 64. Just saying:
Droid X wifi hotspot creates force field around users
My new Droid X smartphone (hardware: Motorola, network: Verizon Wireless) has many nifty features. One of its most touted features is that it can serve as a 3G mobile wifi hotspot for up to 5 devices. In the promo video for the hotspot feature, the phone’s owner places the Droid X (unplugged) next to her and voilà , instant internet for all of the fortunate souls caught in the Droid X’s wifi force field.
Having had the Droid X for a little while now, I can say that the wifi hotspot works fairly well. The connection speeds are fairly quick and it works great for checking email and reading web content. Where it doesn’t work so great is when you try to doing anything that requires a fair amount of bandwidth. Watching YouTube videos and/or downloading anything large than a megabyte causes the Droid X hotspot to intermittently drop your connection. Your only recourse is to tap the 3G icon and restart the mobile hotspot service. It’s also important to note that the 3G hotspot drains your battery exceptionally fast. I only use it when I can plug my phone into my laptop. The Droid X gets extremely hot when you’re using it as a hotspot. That’s the result of copious amounts of battery charge consumption. My hope is that Android 2.2 (Froyo) will maximize battery life and fix the connection issue. Overall, the Droid X is a terrific phone….even if it doesn’t create a visible force field around you.
It’s okay if you don’t “get” Twitter right away
I started using Twitter on March 14, 2007. I didn’t “get” Twitter at first. It took me more than a year before I realized that Twitter was useful. When you first start using Twitter, it’s like being on Facebook without friends…It’s not exactly a party. Once I started following various Twitter accounts and being followed by folks, Twitter became much more useful. In fact, Twitter has turned out to be one of my favorite ways to connect with people in a variety of spheres.
Don’t worry if you don’t “get” Twitter right away. Be patient with it. Follow some folks. Engage with people/accounts. Take the time to learn how Twitter works.
Twitter stats courtesy of TweetStats.