An expression piece from my ITP GLBM7600 Intro to Transpersonal Theory class. I thought of it again yesterday while in another class. BTW, ‘eight sides open’ refers to a state of panoramic awareness. Though eight sides open has been described in many cultures, I draw upon the tradition of Musashi. The dragonfly shows utter equanimity and absolute awareness.
I recently finished Paul Bloom’s intro psych course and thought I’d continue my survey with Jeremy Wolfe’s MIT 9.00: Introduction to Psychology. I’m only two lectures in and already I sense Dr. Wolfe’s class has heavier technical leanings. That’s not a bad thing. To read broadly expands awareness.
I tried comparing the syllabi from Yale and MIT. There is some overlap but there is far more unique content than not. At least that’s my impression comparing the two sets of reading assignments. I’ll know more when I finish the balance of the 23 lectures.
So far, I’m pleased. Dr. Bloom has a speaking style that stands apart; he is a hard act to follow. Listening to another lecturer rehash the same syllabus would invite comparison on delivery rather than on content. Happily, this isn’t the case. Even when discussing common material, the lecturers maintain unique courses. As an example, both lecturers talk about Thorndike’s work with cats and puzzle boxes. Even though they talk about the same experiment, the context created by the speakers gives each of their respective lectures a different cast.
Truffles (1996 – 2010)
Loyal and Gentle Friend
“Look in my eyes, Lord, and my sins
will play out on them as on a screen.
Read them all.
Forgive what you can, and send
me on my path. I will walk on,
until you bid me rest.”
—Shepherd Book
There are a lot of haters out there but I’m still rooting for Apple. I want Apple to succeed. I’m not going to WWDC 2010 (tapped out of conference budget).
I wish I were going.
Job’s “you won’t be disappointed” promise has my head spinning. I like surprises. I hope Apple doesn’t disappoint.
So, what would I like to see announced? Here’s my top ten list of wishful thinking.
1. CloudWorks
I liked iTools until it became NotFree and then MobileMe. It just seemed regressive in the age of free online calendars and email. I guess I’ve never gotten over it.
I’d like to see MobileMe move to CloudWorks, a name I made up to describe the mythical Apple Cloud.
iLife
MobileMe backs iLife right now. There are a few issues to solve when iLife is backed by CloudWorks.
2. iPhoto backed by CloudWorks
A Freemium flickr-like model with auto-connection to iPhoto (and Aperature). Some base level service at no charge then additional service levels at a competitive cost.
3. iMovie backed by CloudWorks
A vimeo or viddler like service with auto-connection to iMovie. Some base level service at no charge then additional service levels at a competitive cost. The real advantage is HTML5 video streaming.
iWorks
iWorks is, ummm, okay. Except for Numbers. I cannot yet replace Excel with Numbers.
4. Super iWeb backed by CloudWorks
I know, I know. iWeb publishes to MobileMe now. I would like to see a tiered pricing plan. iWeb isn’t a web application authoring system. It’s a kinder, gentler DreamWeaver or FrontPage. Not everyone want’s to create the next twitter of foursquare. Sometimes a simple website is appropriate. Maybe $1.99/month for the basic service (charged to the App Store). Bandwidth and storage overages are competitive.
I’d like to see iWeb extended as a client editor for WordPress and/or MoveableType. Even better, a deal with one of these vendors to provide the service on CloudWorks.
5. Pages backed by CloudWorks
I use Pages to write papers for school (which I must export into Word format for online submission). Pages is more pleasing to use than Word so long as I don’t need to do much formatting. Besides, I do most of my draft writing using a combination of BBEdit and Scrivener. This blog article was drafted in BBEdit, for example. However, I’d like to save my Pages documents to CloudWorks with revision control. When I grant someone permission to pull the document down, they can select one of three formats: Pages, Word or PDF.
While we’re at it, I’d like to see a repository in CloudWorks for templates. CloudWorks users can submit templates to the repository and other members can rate the template. Like a APA compliant template.
6. Keynote backed by CloudWorks
Keynote is love/hate. It too is more pleasing to use than PowerPoint but almost nobody I interact with uses Keynote so I have that extra export to PowerPoint step. My favorite presentation tool is OmniGraffle. It’s a joy to work with and I like the way it looks in presentation mode. However, there is only one person I share presentations with who has OmniGraffle. Just one. I end up exporting to PDF.
I’d like to save my Keynote presentations to CloudWorks with revision control. When I grant someone permission to pull the document down, they can select one of three formats: Keynote, PowerPoint or PDF. Additionally, there is an HTML5 presentation feature that allows for online slideshow viewing.
Fix Things
There just two things I’d like fixed. They may seem small but it’s my blog and I’m making a statement.
7. Fix iTunes U
Maybe no one but me uses iTunes U and therefore no one will be disappointed if there are no improvements here. Except for me. I’ll be disappointed. For example, the ability to sort the lectures within a course. That would be nice.
It seems as if Apple has conceded K-12 to Windows. I would like to see the Mac emerge as strong leader in online education. That’s just me being selfish as I like school.
8. Fix the Cocoa Finder
I was happy to hear Apple moved Finder from Carbon to Cocoa… until I used it. There are subtle annoying quirks that showed up in the new Finder. For example, when I tab between desktops in Spaces, the focus is wrong when I get there. Even when the application has the focus (in the menu) upon arrival to a new desktop, the actual window doesn’t have focus.
Two More Things
9. iPhone on Verizon
I know this is a very United States centric request but this is where I live. ATT service at my house sucks. I’d immediately switch to Verizon. I don’t much care for Verizon but they do have great coverage (including my house).
10. Full CSS3, HTML5 Support in Safari
Whatever that means. I’d be happy if Safari reached functional parity with Chrome (except for the audio/video elements, cause that’s just not going to happen.) Safari is not far off.
Will any of this emerge at WWDC 2010? Who knows? Maybe what’s coming is so stunning that it eclipses any of my current desires. <-- grin -->
I’ve stumbled upon a new means of relaxation at Open Yale Courses. It sounds strange that recordings of university lectures are relaxing but I find they are. Paul Bloom’s PSYC 110: Introduction to Psychology is far more interesting than television. I’m currently on lecture ten of twenty.
His has an enjoyable speaking style; the hour flies by. A sidebar at the end of Dr. Bloom’s lecture on Freud exemplifies his sense of humor.
“One other thing on Freud–just a story of the falsification of Freud. I was taking my younger child home from a play date on Sunday and he asked me out of the blue, “Why can’t you marry your mother or your father?” Now, that’s actually a difficult question to ask–to answer for a child, but I tried my best to give him an answer. And then I said–then I thought back on the Freud lecture and so I asked him, “If you could marry anybody you want, who would it be?” imagining he’d make explicit the Oedipal complex and name his mother. Instead, he paused for a moment and said, ‘I would marry a donkey and a big bag of peanuts.’ [laughter] Both his parents are psychologists and he hates these questions and at times he just screws around with us.” [source]
The lectures are available on the Open Yale Courses website as audio, video and text transcripts. There are reading assignments, which I skip. (I’m currently taking courses elsewhere with considerable reading requirements.) One could probably get most of the value found in the original course if they completed the assignments but that’s not really my objective. For me, the lectures are firstly informative and secondly entertaining.
I originally downloaded the audio files from iTunes U but found that I had to move the audio out of iTunes U and into music so I could create a playlists. The lectures show up out of order in iTunes U and I cannot for the life of me puzzle out how to rearrange the order except as a playlist.
It’s nice to find a gem among the dredge that we know as the internet.
I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with broadcast and cable news outlets. News outlets have sadly taken distinctly partisan roles in society. I find their content specious at best and makes for very poor commentary. (One notable except is Deutsche Welle.)
I recently stumbled upon spiked, which itself has a bias but its bias pleasantly lacks the shrill insanity commonly found nowadays. It’s not news but rather commentary on newsworthy events and trends. Even those articles with which I disagree will often have a point two I hadn’t considered. I find this to be the real value.
“spiked is an independent online phenomenon dedicated to raising the horizons of humanity by waging a culture war of words against misanthropy, priggishness, prejudice, luddism, illiberalism and irrationalism in all their ancient and modern forms. spiked is endorsed by free-thinkers such as John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx, and hated by the narrow-minded such as Torquemada and Stalin. Or it would be, if they were lucky enough to be around to read it.” —From the spiked about page, www.spiked-online.com