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This past week (11-20-09):
• We are a student centered university. Regardless of legal issues or copyright issues, I've always felt students have the right to determine whether the Turnitin corporation keeps the student's work in the Turnitin database to enable broader search capabilities and the expansion of Turnitin's for profit business. Clearly, Guideline RAG12 FACULTY GUIDANCE ON STUDENT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS agrees with me. Just a simple checkbox is all I think is needed- "Yes keep it to make sure no one steals my work;" or "No, I want all copies of my work to remain in my possession for my use only." Not much, but no one will do it.
  Now, we're distributing a tool (CollectIt, the assessment management tool) that "enables faculty and departments to grab real work examples (student work) to build curriculum and for assessment and accreditation." I've looked briefly and can see no discussion of student rights, permissions, or their agreement to having "evidence" stored in a Penn State database. I would suggest that it be a primary concern before someone else brings it up. Guideline RAG13 says, "Any intellectual property [snip] conceived or first reduced to practice by a student at The Pennsylvania State University [snip] as a work product [snip] of a "for credit" course [snip] will be owned by the student. The University does not claim ownership of such intellectual property." Nothing could be more clear. Include it in development because we are a student centered university.
• John sent me a link to a small Flash interactive image of "Cell Size and Scale" from U. Utah. It's humbling; and I sent it to the nano-tech faculty we worked with. She thanked me and added, "I still love the work you did and miss working with you!" Awwww. I was tickled. Too bad my Flash skills suck.
• Met with Justin and Derick to make sure we were all in agreement for our pitch to Cole.
• Helped Hannah with her poster for the user services conferece. It was 9 x the size it needed to be; then on printing, I got an error essage that kept it from spooling from Photoshop. I found several instances of the error: "Bad Bounding Box; comment seen" on HP, Apple and Adobe web forums. (Can't print from Photoshop CS4) I got a print from a PDF, but I really think the issue comes from the firmware update- the only change to the workflow.
• Continuing to lay out a rough comic around a plato dialog.
• Put info together for Chris about Automatic Sync and CastingWords. Included Wendy's procedural doc.
• Erin had a great post about ID project process on her blog. I left a comment with a few questions. There was no response, but that's fine. A few days later Matt responded, and I left an answer to his comment. Within my response, I included a parenthetical that said even though it sounded like I was specifically targeting Erin as someone young and inexperienced with me as older and experienced- I was not. Erin's work is excellent. Unfortunately, I can't shake the sense that she would perceive it as an attack, and be uncomfortable with it. The situation is written here because it could represent my inability to communicate, it could represent my inability to appear as a "peer" to younger colleagues, or it could be me being crazy.

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This past week (11-13-09):
• Small sign-up sheet for Alan Gyorke
• Tried developing mock-up posters based on mock-up video. Very frustrating, and it points out the complete worthlessness of any sort of poster "marketing" for the event. More important is the establishment of visual models of some sort- some things that tie together the video, web, as well as the few remaining print pieces, establishing unity among them. Wall posters serve no purpose. I have one mock-up, and sent a note to the team to get their thoughts as well.
• Used some time on LYNDA.COM. Their new player allows users to play entire chapters, automatically loading each segment; and they now have a small speed control that lets you watch at a faster, yet intelligible rate. Very cool.
• Trying Fluid- a mac app that lets you create separate browsers that exist as individual apps for specific sites. (instead of tabs, which all sieze if one siezes...) Authentication keeps it from working witha "BlogPost" app. Seems like it would be more useful on a mobile device.
• Trying Seesmic- another twitter interface. Nothing to write home about.
• Trying Posterous- I've had an account for a while, but I'm starting to see more folks use it as a "I think this is cool" sharing repository.
• Trying Google Chrome browser. Seems okay, handles things like Safari. But the "let us gather user data to make Chrome better" checkbox is telling me I need to read terms of service very carefully.
• Did troubleshooting of minor printing profile snafu in Photoshop after the plotter firmware was upgraded. Reinstalled HP Printer driver and that seems to have done it. I hate the HP website.
• Tara asked about print mock-ups. Ran an imposition test from InDesign. Apparently, most of the glitches that kept people from being able to print "booklets"have been fixed. It actually did a nice job.

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This past week (11-06-09):
• Had a long chat with Hannah Williams about ownership. She understands the desire for openness and Penn State rather than unit or department branding, but feels the faculty in her unit are funding driven, and are protective of their identity. So. I'll do this pro-bono on my own time.
• Derick told me Mary had a few minor edits for the TLT booklet. He wanted to know if I wanted to put them in or send him the files so he could. Still not real comfortable with the ambiguity. I said I'd put them in, which I guess implies that I would ready the doc for printing. We already have a quote, the shop has the specs. I asked Derick if the job would be done on the Docutech or go to halftone screens. He didn't know how it was going to be printed but said he'd find out. He forwarded the note from the print shop, which said "We'll print digital." Which means they'll print on the docutech, which is very similar to our old color Xerox printer- different resolution and color space requirements than a press job. I prepared the files, printed two dummies and sent them to Derick. He said great, so I hope it is...
• Justin agreed the room image was good enough to use. He asked for blackboards and maybe a shot of Selber. I did the boards, couldn't find a decent full body shot of Selber, and Justin dummied up a first cut with stand in images. Meanwhile I started to look at his mock-up in terms of static visual elements.
• Received the Wallhog and installed it in Pollock, so I guess we'll see if it works. Will said it looked fine; no report on effectiveness yet.
• I sent out a feeler note to a group of graphics folks and asked if they'd participate in a Web Conference session called "Shut Up and DRAW"- lightening demo in which people sign up to spend five minutes showing their best photoshop, illustrator or fireworks tip or trick. Received enough favorable notes back that I submitted a proposal. We'll see if it flies.

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This past week (10-30-09):
• Contacted by Hannah Williams- she has powerpoint presentations that were done with a few Spongebob characters and is thinking about developing characters to replace them. Asked for assistance.
• Had query from Chuck Anderson, the guy from Mineral science- he wanted a suggestion of a technology that may help with a project he's working on. Zac thinks PaperVision can handle it, so I passed on the info. Hopefully Zac and he can get together.
• I was forwarded a request for identity marks, and also had one from within the group. I did a blog post on the ease of Photoshop custom shapes for the Mark; and I did a series of videos walking through he process of making one.
• I think I have a rough take on a script for a Plato cartoon and will execute as time allows.
• Met with Justin and discussed the video idea he has for symposium stuff. We went to the fifth floor and shot some photos- each of us worked on a vanishing point projection. Justin did an excellent screen pan, and we realized we should go back up on Monday to re-shoot without furniture. Meanwhile, I started to pick apart the files and process, and was able to render a room without furniture from the shots we had. I exported a rough pan in Flash video and passed it on to Justin. We'll see. It's here if you wanna check it out...
• Derick requested a PDF that he could send as a demo to the printer as part of the estimate process. As this proceeds bit by bit, I'm thinking that I should have just prepared it for printing and had done with it.
• Checked with WallHogs and the order was shipped on the 29^th. I expect it next Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

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This past week (10-23-09):
• Laminated Pollock poster. Picked up out-sized foamcore. Picked up a small amount of contact cement and did adhesion tests- it worked great but smelled very bad- need to mount on the weekend. Then it dawned on me that this would be an excellent place to use WallHogs- I'd been stressing over permanence and how to hang the damn thing on a block wall- a WallHog would solve both problems and present the idea to the Pollock folks in case they wanted to utilize them for other things. They might add to the environment...
• Tried to repair some CSS layout problems with my personal website- succeeded, but geez it's been a long time since I've needed to troubleshoot CSS.
• Had big flurry of spam on my blogs oddly after I sent the notice of a possible authentication bug in Safari to the help desk. I've turned off commenting- let people write their own damned post if they have an opinion. No big deal, but I never heard anything from helpdesk or the blogs at penn state team.
• Brief assistance with an Illustrator image tracing for Tara
• Trying to re-interpret Plato's dialogs.
• Stayed on Friday till I heard from Wallhogs and was able to ftp a large file to their server. Tried several ways but finally succeeded with Fetch. I don't do it enough. Now, I just need to wait- probably 5 days to process, three to ship, makes it November 4^th
• I was concerned that I may have been too "intense" during a symposium marketing meeting, making others either uncomfortable, afraid, or not willing to participate. I sent them all the URL to my anonymous feedback form and asked for their feedback. So far I received three. The first was obviously from Derick and didn't contain criticism. The second was by email from Tara, who was mostly positive, to the specific about my being opinionated, did say, "What's that? You mean not open minded? If so, maybe.Ê" The third note in a similar way said in total, "I don't think you are too opinionated or out of line. I like the fact that you bring up points that no one has thought about before. The only counter productive aspect is that sometimes people don't know how to respond and/or react."
  So there's a problem. We can't have this, but for my own sanity and peace of mind, I really don't see my being able to work in an environment that reacts that way. Not sure what the solution is. I'll send the comments on, sans names, to management.

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This past week (10-16-09):
• Told Mike his poster was printed and standing by his office door. I received no response, the poster was there for a few days, then gone. I guess he got it. No word one way or the other.
• Received what I thought was approval from all parties on the lion sign for Pollock. After a small text change, Will asked if I'd send another "proof". I sent a full size version with the text change. I had already printed out the revised version, as it had been approved and the change was very minor. Now I'm waiting on word from the second "proof" Should I get approval again before proceeding? Do I need to ask for it? Does will actually mean "another idea" rather than "another proof"? I don't have a clue. I will send him a note on Monday and ask if I should proceed. It shouldn't be like this. I have never, in 40 years of working, had to work so god damned hard trying to figure out what people want, need, or expect.
• Final note from Derick on the report handout, "I don't think I need anything else from you other than the final specs. I am working with MPC on a quote and have given them specs based on a mock-up I saw that you had given Mary.We did not speak about particular images, and I guess I am not quite sure what you mean when you say he mentioned Audrey." Well. Okey dokey then.
• While several things obviously waiting, I used LYNDA.COM and managed to pick up a couple of new Photoshop techniques- very cool use of raw files as smart objects with blending modes applied. Quick and easy; and who knew? Also, InDesign "Find and Replace" dialog has complete support for GREP, and even includes some point and click drop down choices to get people started. It's a great way to apply styles, though from discussion, not too many of our InDesign users use styles. Probably wouldn't get "GREP" either. But it is extremely powerful and very cool.
• Also looking further into using my image skills to help in Wikipedia. (Who else but people in Higher Ed?) I am, however, completely stymied by the information available on the "how to help" pages. The English is mostly poor, the information is mostly stuff I don't need to know. From what I gather, peopl enter requests for public domain images to be cleaned, improved, layered, etc. Often images can be vectorized. Occassionally, people need specific renderings. I can do it all on a caliber at the very least equal to everything I've seen. Why do they make it so hard to join the fray? Possibly if I worked with an ID who could translate "wiki" into english for me, I could do some work that would reflect well on Penn State...

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This past week (10-09-09):
• Several versions of handout to Cole. Derick is back from vacation, but we haven't talked- not sure if he and Cole have talked yet or not. I have files as printer spreads so I can print out clean, printed mock-ups for assessment- they aren't the same thing that will be needed for final printing. Not sure if the visual design is actually enough or if I should move everything into InDesign. Also, not sure what should be done about images- but I magine that will be decided by Derick and Cole. I'd mentioned images as seen in a handheld device- wasn't sure if Cole knew what I meant- did a rough example and hung it on his door.
• Mike had me print out a copy of his poster for whatever conference he's heading to. Some of the images were pixelated. I created and sent him new versions. He asked If I could put them in. After approval of a digital version he asked if I'd print the final poster- I will take care of that on Monday.
• Went to Pollock to discuss signage for the Testing center. I began sketches for a lifesize Nittany lion cut out to stand beside the Testing center's bag storage box. I'll mock up a photo with the image in place once I have it. It's difficult to complete sketches here during regular work hours- I'll probably work on it over the weekend.
• Only four blog posts this week. One included photos of students at the testing center, shot with the thought that it might somehow be usable on a TLT handout. Also shot a few images of Mike Halm's space, universally claimed as "really nice"- but I found it to just be a bunch of desks with computers on them. No great images, but I show some anyway. Never know when we might want another photo of a blank computer screen to put something on...
• I had attempted to layout a digital poster session in the drupal symposium template. Before I got very far, I saw that they'd moved from a drupal space to an MT space. I decided chasing that whole thing was silly and tried aggregating tagged flickr "posters" in my MT blog. I used several of my own as well as one that I asked Jeff to tag on his site. It works, but there's no opportunity for specific poster feedback or discussion. What would be good is a Penn State image service like flickr.

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This past week (10-02-09):
• Finished layout of the Connect poster
• Finished layout of the EGC poster
• Completed rough mock-up of TLT handout for Cole
• Completed layout of three moo cards for jeff and symposium 2010
• Set up UIE seminar for Christian
• Attended ITS all-staff.
• The day after the all-staff, about a half dozen of us were discussing how bad we thought the event was. Cole joined us and it was about the most unified I think I've seen out group. Apparently even some of the senior directors agreed. There seems to be no movement to take a next step, though. How do we make sure it doesn't happen again? Who can we depend on to assert our agenda: guard our time, methods, and resources while promoting a rich teaching and learning experience at Penn State? So far, everyone appears to think joking about the event is enough. Till next time.
• I've received little information about the TLT handout. First Derick said "just tell me what you need" then Cole said, "what do you need from me?" Both seem to be words to sidestep responsibility in planning this. Managers and directors need to be able to volunteer what I should know. I was in no initial meeting- in fact, no meeting at all. I don't have a clear idea of what the intent is nor who initiated the work (who is it for?). By leaving it to me to ask for help or what I need it assumes I have way more information than I do; a stressful, limiting situation at best. I will do the best I can, speculating about things I'm not really sure of. From this point forward, however, if I am to work on marketing for ets, tlt, or ITS, I need to be treated as a full fledged contact with all rights-to-know. Trying to do credible, effective work when called in late and with limited information makes all work suffer from low quality issues. I'm not sure if I'm saying this right- but bottom line, after 12 years we should be better than this. Way better.

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This past week (9-25-09):
• Attended three of four Training applicant presentations, provided feedback.
• Dealt, albeit weakly, with Jacqui's request for a letter. At least I recognized that I wasn't the person she needed to talk with.
• Brett asked for assisstance with his egc poster for the ITS all-staff. I'll do what I can.
• Brett asked for help with .raw landscape terrain file he purchased in Second life and needed to edit but couldn't open. I found open source software that allowed me to view the 13 channels in the thing, and I figured out how to export individual channels as PNGs that could be edited in Photoshop, then re-imported. It was fun.
• Started layout of Connect poster for the ITS allstaff.
• Note to Jacqui-print and digital-about my involvement as a consultant in the flapbook project

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This past week (9-18-09):
• Attended Library open house.
• Several attempts at a "how I did it" video on the disappearing lion file. Some problems with QT and reinstalled. Problems with web access and web space too. Gettin' tired of it.Posted first overview capture in my blog. Worked on a new method, recording sound separately then reworking the capture to the sound. It allowed me to work at different levels of zoom so I could easily splice in close-ups without messing up sound. Worked well, but it's probably a kluge...
• Built a series of five videos, converted to FLV to post as how to steps on my blog. This allows me to put links in my blog- like a launch page- and use FLVs that are wider than my blogs 465 pixels. The new ones I think I'll keep at 600.
• Hannah Williams asked if I'd consult with a grad assistant in Physics who was having color issues with his Macbook. We went over a number of things that he was thankful for, but final results for the problem were had at Connecting Point- I didn't have access to another Macbook, and anyone that I knew had one was out.
• I'm thinking that when I produce what I see as entertaining social satire many don't see the same way. With few around me really trying to create in the same field, it's hard to discuss and impossible to get a handle on whether what I produce is worthwhile, is "art", is effective, or is just the short sighted self-absorbed rantings of a lunatic. Ralph Ellison wrote, "You go along for years knowing something is wrong, then suddenly you discover that you're as transparent as air." Clearly I'm ineffective. Is it because I'm no good at what I do? because I'm shallow in my thoughts and insights? or do others not understand or not give a damn?
• It must be one of those...

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This past week (9-11-09):
• Problem with scanner station- I did minor troubleshooting, then submitted a footprints ticket to involve the tech team.
• Finished last of the iStudy toons (so far)
• Attended all-staff. Had thoughts provoked.
• Attended UIE seminar. Way too crowded.

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This past week (9-04-09):
• Cole posted a link on twitter to an MIT Media Lab project that presents a visual graph of what, based on sites visited and participated in, you "look" like to the internet. It's an interesting device, I used it and posted my results to flickr (and on my door). Cole commented. I ran most of the manager's names through the device, compiled them in one image but thought it might not be the best thing to put on the hall board. Monday AM I hung it on the fridge door; it was gone within 20 minutes. No sight of it in any cans. Guess somebody didn't like it.
• I believe I finally resolved the issues I was experiencing working on web pages in PASS. It's especially difficult since it isn't my field, and I have to first establish a new knowledge base. It would be fun to see what I could do if I ever got to work full-tilt on something really in my field of experise and interest..
• Worked up backgrounds for the new iStudy toon and am placing figures. The dialog is very unnatural- I printed a copy for Brett to review and am continuing while I wait for his input.
• Helped Audry with her monitor color issues- she's trying to match a Dell monitor withher mac laptop. I think it's impossible, and don't really understand why a designer was given a Dell monitor in the first place- especially a Mac designer.
• While there, Audry asked me to look at a Flash piece that Zack did for the symposium. He was pretty much left with no real parameters other than size. What he did satisfies the requirements he was given and for the most part, is beautiful. His font choices are never what I would pick, but that's okay. The problem here is that now Audrey realizes that there were parameters/expectations that just weren't relayed- symposium uses the Myriad font, Zack used ComicSans. The symposium uses cool, muted grays for a neutral background, Zack used rich browns and oranges. I could see it being a difficult situation. When we chatted, I suggested that she mentions the stylistic guidlines to Zach. I also realized later, and sent a note, that perhaps Zach's piece should be viewed as content rather than symposium chrome? In that case, the color scheme would work and only the fonts would need adjusting. I feel bad that he wasn't given clearer direction.
• Saw Justin's video of the lion disappearing. He did a great job. Thinking about how it was set up, and how it looked, I realized there might be a problem with the way reflections are tracking. I took my image into Flash, scaled and cropped it to match Justin's video, and animated it the way I think the reflections would move (they are on the glass, but should track as if they're 20 ft beyond it; something AfterEffects should be able to understand.) I tried to describe what I was seeing in an email to Justin and exported my Flash file as an FLV, put it on the streaming server, and sent Justin a link. We'll see what he thinks. My guess is he'll agree with me, but may not have the time to make a change.
• Attended talk on Yaddo, a community of writers and artists in upstate New York. It was a gallery talk around an exhibit prepared by Sandra Stetz- the flapbook people. It was a good talk, good sense of community, no internet.
• I'm reading Sam Richards' class blog. Even commented briefly and made my own post on the "microsoft- rascist or not" question. Sam had 119 comments averaging between 450 and 500 words each: Total of 57000 words counting Sam's. If this stuff is archived, who would ever read it all? I know for education purposes the writing and reflecting is important. I've heard in our "blog" conversations however that some want to archive the responses and make them part of the reading. Seems wrong- there needs to be vetting. Apparently, Sam doesn't even read them all. So a student makes some incorrect analysis-how does he learn if no one catches it? Where is the "value added" that professors are supposed to give to online resources? Not sure about this...
• Went to Brett's EGC open house.
• While trying to describe to Kim what I was seeing in my mind's eye concerning the movement of objects and reflections in 3D space, I was also mentally working out how I could present a visual that would show my point. In the discussion I was pretty intense and abrupt. I was also a bit annoyed and frustrated at the fact that others woud have difficulty with my point. I know Justin would understand instantly what I was saying, but I wasn't talking to Justin and actually, rarely will be in a position of talking with people that understand what I want them to understand without adequate calm communication. Not I big deal, I think, but note worthy.

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This past week (8-28-09):
• Sent note to marketing team suggesting that we send links to good examples of posters on flickr. This would introduce the idea of flickr based posters and the benefits of digital distribution and discussion. Derick was the only response- he liked the idea. I posted about poster shows- I'm against running them. I'm shocked we still do something that's modeled on junior high science fairs. Participants gathered up in a single room for a brief moment- and judging by the quality and lateness of most entrants, few really take it seriously.
• Took the camera with a polarizing filter to Pattee for another shoot-still not acceptable. Finished the matte painting for the digital commons library video. Justin thinks it will work. This was a rather extensive piece- I could develop this skill.
• Sat with Hannah and pushed pixels in the DMC logo to her recommendations. Posted to the wiki and placed an editable layered copy on ATHENA. Chris said we're getting close, and asked if he could have a copy of the layered file.
• Discovered software that would allow control of the camera from a computer- apparently it's common studio practice. The software I found for the D1X will not work on intell macs. However, there is software, Camera Control Pro 2, that allows computer control of a Nikon D90 (the camera Audrey has)
• Sent info to Jacqui about open source Flash products, suggested that they might not be up to the task, and if there was a problem, we wouldn't know if it was our approach, the technician or the software.
• Took online survey for Smeal group. Found several problems with the survey and reported them. They included reversing scales that could lead to false responses, and this one:
  The survey directions said: "For each of the following items, rate how disgusting you would find each of the ideas on a scale from not at all disgusting (0) to extremely disgusting (100):"
  One of the responses is: "Seeing a cockroach in someone else's house while eating dinner doesn't bother me."
  Am I to assess my disgust at not being bothered? The response from the survey team was pretty much all the problems they were having with Qualtrics. Funny- I had similar problems with a survey fro HFI- a company that should know better. I received no response.
• Jacqui asked if she could list me as a consultant and if so if she could have a bio. I told her that I shy away from bios and preferred that she simply say that I've designed multimedia for ETS since 1997. I loath this sort of thing.
• Started to read the TLT Annual Report. 102 pages. cripes.
• Logged in to Second Life for the first in a long time. World Campus and Abington now have builds next to mine, so I took a few moments to "spruce up", and added images as a gallery "portfolio". Key also is the fact that I put the comic intro and three cartoons from Mike's timeline Flash activity. Maybe WC will see it? I think the activity could be carried out easily in Second Life.

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This past week (8-21-09):
• Delivered cartoon sign to Bart and Chris. Used a style from the "Biohazard" game. They seem to think it works.
• Allan stopped by to say he got the button and it was fine. He also mentioned that it looked distorted in the email, but fine in the browser. I recently had similar problems with images for Carol: she asked for an image to be smaller twice, then let me know the first version was fine after she viewed it in a browser. This is worth some investigation.
• Received photos from Justin. After an initial attempt to use them, it turned out that they were a bit too distorted and grainy. I returned twice to shoot more, then again on Saturday to see if I could getr a shot with a polarizing filter. I used most of my time this week working on the composite image.
• Met with symposium marketing team. Voiced some objection to the symposium site taking on the "training" of professors in poster making. My thought is that they have the right to fail- just like kids with science projects; including "training" is an insult. There are already ample resources. After, I forwarded the information I had, designed for undergrads, to Jeff if he wanted to enhance it for use.
• I did disagree with Jeff in the meeting. I think I was within the constraints of business propriety, and we agreed to disagree. It might be good for a third party to find out his take.

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This past week (8-14-09):
• Four vacation days in this two week periond...
• Met with Bart to discuss a cartoon sign for the game lab. I sketched some ideas, but in the discussion, Bart and Chris seemed to like the idea of using a style from one of the games. I'll work something up as quickly as I can, and see if I can get it ready for Kevin's walkthrough next Friday...
• I think I'll plan on suggestions for iStudy characters from Brett's note to his assistant and I. I won't wait for her response. I've started the backgrounds , added text.
• Justin liked the image of the lion, and we discussed his intent. We discussed the photos, and he'll shoot several that I'll separate into a final matte compilation for their video.
• Brief consult with Hannah I. over dc fonts. They're getting plastic letters spelling out "Digital Media Commons" for the wall, and Century Gothic wasn't available. She'd already selected Avant Garde, and I agreed- it's generally recognized as the Font that Century Gothic was based on. I also suggested they put up all three words even though they don't change the name till January- they can cover "Media" with a mounted logo....
• Allan requested a button for his copyright-CC commons web page.
• Whle I was watching a presentation from OpenEd with Pat in the Cafe, Audrey came in and sat down (which is good) followed by Derick, who said they wanted to have their meeting in the room. I asked if we hadn't created a rule that there weren't to be any scheduled meetings in the Cafe and he replied, "Yes, but we're breaking the rules." I responded, "We'll if we're all breaking the rules, get the fuck out!" Mary (my benchmark...) was there, laughed, realized that I was "breaking the rules" in jest. I wanted to list it here, because this is the sort of thing that people often mistake as Dave being mean. It may come up.

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This past week (7-31-09):
• Attended the Tufte lecture in Philadelphia. Remarkable man. I gave two old copies of his books, left over from Marylinne's tenur, to Kim.
• So far I have two of the three scripts for iStudy turned into comics. The third is very long, with uncharacteristic stiff dialog, and featuring two characters not in the original lineup. I sent a note requesting character descriptions. In general, this makes me want to proceed more slowly, as I don't feel as though it has been thought through enough.
• Found a reasonable web photo of the original Nittany Lion display case and began using it as a proof of concept test for a disappearing lion. Hannah asked if I thought it was possible, I know it is and thought I'd try to give the video people an asset that would let them find the right questions.
• Also, Hannah seems intent on making "movie" style posters for the digital commons student films- I walked her throughsome Photoshop opps.
• Wade Shumaker got back in touch about seeing the haptic pen- he'll be out next week, but the following week I'll make an appointment. I also passed his name on to Linda Friend at the library.

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This past week (7-24-09):
• Did NOT attend the LDSC, though I listened to all of the content over uStream, participated in the twitter stream, ran the stream in the hall without sound and in the Cafe with sound. I saw one remarkable presentation, and contacted the presenter for follow-up. I will get a demo of IST's haptic pen for touch sensitive digital 3D input.
• Provided some info to Linda Frend, neither suggestion being anything she'd considered.
• Continued with iStudy toons, though it was difficult to focus during the ldsc.
• Consulted with stevie rocco on a minor psd problem
• While trying to get the sound function working on the hall monitor I became very frustrated. There had already been a pattern of minor frustrations and I blew up with a string of loud explitives. Jane and Robin were walking by at the time and the blow up was as much performance as anger- but still, it lacked control, was impulsive, and inconsiderate. Probably worse than yelling at Allan or Chris, since both of those instances had, what I felt, were legitimate antecedents- this was the pure uncontrolled, pointless venting of frustration. I will make every effort to recognize these moments before they erupt. In my behalf, I would add that in this case I directed no anger at the people present.

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This past week (7-17-09):
• Several versions of a new dc logo uploaded to the wiki. Chris said it seemed like it was going well, and asked if I could try a version as he described- I did, uploaded and am waiting for feedback. His suggestion was good- I'm hoping the stakes holders-whoever they are- approve.
• Put up the completed first iStudy toon, finalized the font and size issues, and started a second with Brett's approval.
• Mentioned to Justin the letter from John about the New Kensington art prof. He, and I, will proceed slowly and try to get a sense of what will be useful. We also discussed a joint effort on a photoshop generated matte painting to be used in compiled video.
• Attended crucial Conversation sessions aand will give you some verbal feedback
• This is a test with a lab Mac
• At our weekly 1-on-1 I went a bit overboard venting about several issues. Not a big deal considering Barb has known me for a few years. For an outsider, or someone overhearing, it could have been an uncomfortable-stressful situation.

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This past week (7-10-09):
• Finished backing up my web site to disk, and converted most of my old links to files in the ets ~drs space (remember when we weren't supposed to have "personal" in the URLs?) to files I transferred to my personal space.
• Worked on Brett's cartoon. Working out the process- drawing background elements once, separating figures and scenes to layers all of which can be compiled at the end into a "strip". Actually sketching digitally is working, though it has me going forward without as much planning as I normally give things when I'm on paper. Also, saving versions becomes a burden. They tend to accumulate.
• Started thinking about a "DMC" logo change for the digital media commons. Agreed to follow Chris's lead, but also placed some initial thoughts in Flickr.
• Although I've subscribed to the PSULYNDACOM tag, I haven't seen any posts but mine. Others I've talked to continue to use our subscriptions rather than the University's. The log in URL is a bitch- bookmarking the initial one that then redirects you into LDC requires several extra steps. Sent note to Lucas and Lacombe asking if I can share the link with UR. Haven't heard back yet.
• Attended Spool UIE seminar on keywords, links, and page navigation.
• Sent note to Marcus R. about ITS identity. He responded and suggested we have a chat.
• Harwood sent a note to Cole, Millet, and me about an artist he met at a trustees dinner- suggested we could work together-have a conversation. I checked the guys website, sent him a note explaining my director had met him and sent me a link. I liked his work. Also forwarded his response to Cole in case he sees John he can say we've made initial contact.
• This is a test of the PASS Explorer

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This past week (7-03-09):
• Last Friday at 5 Erin asked for the artwork to my old scenic version of the Learning Design poster. Someone thought it would be nice on a water bottle. I provided it, and today when I checked it out am surprised that the text was changed (understandable) but the image was radically changed as well. I sincerely hope my name in no way gets associated with it. This kind of thing makes my blood run cold- not that it happens, but that I'm obviously connected. Eeesh.
• Scanned Cole article in Penn Stater Mag. Made scans into two PDFs- print and web, and made all available to Cole.
• Finished all corrections to BiSci pics. Placed stuff on ATHENA for Dean.
• Worked up some sketches for Brett's iStudy cartoons. This could actually be something good, something worth working into a decent example. I started placing sketches in my blog for "openness" sake, thinking others might be interested and have input. I sent a note to Brett asking him if I can use his text in the public strip.
• Checked out some of lynda.com through the new ITS test login. Seems the same. Yay. Made blog post as asked in Lisa's post, used PSULYNDACOM tag. Hope it helps
• Looked into a Tufte seminar in Phila. Actually looks pretty useful. I don't know who else would benefit by going; I'll certainly share anything I learn if I can get to it.
• Consult with Hannah Wlliams on her logo project.

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This past week (6-26-09):
• Erin requested a "symposium" poster of Stuart Selbar- He'd seen the ones printed of Brady, and wanted "his" for his office. I prepared and printed a poster.
• Consult with Hannah Williams over Fair Use. I talked with Allan to get his thoughts then sent Hannah a note with some advice and links.
• Offered to label all the photos in TK's help pages so they were consistent with the schematic- he agreed they need help but suggest we hold off till we need to make other adjustments. I thought it was important to make the suggestion and offer.
• Finished three BiSci illustrations, (one of which was a set of five, another a set of two) presented them and started minor corrections to the set of five. Also adjusted nudes.
• Continued looking at Adobe Flow. I seriously think it would be worth group licensing. It's useful for document/project tracking, even to me. My trial is up next Monday.
• Discovered minor glitch with the modbook. Looked it up on Axiotron forums, filed a footprint, then updated with more info as I found it. I think EMI foil around the battery would end the problem. Never took out a battey before, though- so I'll leave it to the tech group.
• Jacqui requested an estimation of how much time went into the Flash Flapbook. Wild guess.
• Brett sent me a set of very short "scripts" and character profiles for a series of iStudy training cartoon panels.

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This past week (6-19-09):
• Text change and reprint of a couple Digital Commons posters for Abington. Not a big deal at all, just unusual because it was the consolidation of two rooms into one, and because I thought they'd changed to the photos of students in sharp perspective...
• Met Jim Leous' mother-in-law, a medical illustrator. She's retired, losing her vision, and I talked and showed her my tablet set up.
• TK asked for help with a "schemata" as he called it- a rather technical drawing of the layout of Mary Ramsey's audio lab to sit on their help pages. I did the rendering, and think everybody's satisfied with it.
• Good headway on the Lamarck evolution rendering for BiSci. Got another one, making three to finish asap.
• Did a lion toon, tried to upload a zipped photoshop version to the server and discovered that my folder at ets.tlt.psu.edu/~drs18 is no l onger serving. Which means the last several people that I told to download what they wanted, couldn't access the largest files. Jason was great about it, explained that it just was no longer "serving". He restored my files and I moved the zipped lions into my personal directory.
• Brett asked about business cards for the gaming commons.

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This past week (6-12-09):
• Using Google Reader, considering Google GMAIL. I have an account, but never use it. Perhaps it's time to move to the G-cloud before Penn State mandates it?
• Following several comments, I grabbed a ustream account. Good service, but I question the ads. Also I discovered a major bug- clicking embedded popup ads freezes the movie. Brad confirmed.
• Looked at IntenseDebate, opened account and commented on Cole and Brad's blogs. It's a comment tracking app that installs into a blog. Cole is thinking "Live Question Tool" replacement, I wonder about the user interface if used for that- LQT has two columns, making most questions visible without scrolling- important so people read, and just don't vote for stuff already at the top....
• Downloaded and installed AdobeFlow Beta- its a workflow monitoring platform/application that seems pretty powerful. It tracks files and interconnected files. I forgot it was on my machine, then, after saving some images for the web in Photoshop I dragged the originals (backed up on Athena but copied to my desktop) to the trash- I got a discreet pop up from Flow warning me that the files I was trashing were linked files. Pretty cool. It'll work over networks and external drives, too. It bares more investigation...
• Downloaded a beta plugin for Photoshop (PixelBender) that allows real-time adjustment of some of the filters. Pretty amazing, obviously relying on OpenGL engine- my guess is that it will become the standard in later versions of the app.
• Downloaded Google Earth (what... Google AGAIN?) to view bamboo sponsored team work creating Virtual Omaha Beach. Linked for delicious network, then after I saw that Bryan Alexander was going to blog about it, tagged it with the psuets tag. I think Google earth and the internet linking capabilities represent a ready-made virtual environment for game-like learning. We'd be smart to use it instead of heavily coding apps or relying on Second Life. Enough of the "cool" factor exists in Google Earth that anything tied togather in its locale becomes instantly engaging. Logically bound together, as well.
• After consultation with Hannah Williams, I met successfully with Chuck Anderson to brainstorm the interface to his GeoWall movie on segments of time. Chuck also took the time to run the geo wall for me and show me some of the apps he uses.
• I 'm starting to understand the science in the bad illustration I'm re-doing for BiSci. It's so bad, though, that I really have to wonder what the class lecture was like. There are terms in the image (RFLP Pattern) that do not appear in Mike's notes. The concept of genetic screening and the potential for abuse seems clear enough with out this or any image. I'm thinking it's intended to be primarily "eye-candy"
• Read about and downloaded an application called princexml- it turns xhtml with valid printstylesheets in to printer ready PDF files. I'm unclear as to the benefit over web deployment, stylesheets, and "print to PDF" on a Mac- may be the quality of the PDF. Regardless, it turned out to be a command-line UI. I could probably follow the instructions, but the chance for damage is togreat for me to try. I'll stick to just styles for now.
• Incidentally- did not yell at anyone for a while. Mike Halm "spontaneously" said I was easy to work with- a statement obviously emerging from a managerial discussion on some level. Come on, lets keep it real...
  Also, I sent a very nice private email explaining a problem I discovered rather than posting a volatile public blog post. Just sayin'...

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This past week (6-05-09):
• Uploaded last (?) edits to recombinant plasmid set of images. Reading about genetic screening for next image- image need is a bit unclear. I think it was just eye candy at first.
• In GooglrReader. Don't like it. But I'm in there.
• Reading writing thinking this week. Cole's horizontal conversations concept is so obvious one could say it's a no-brainer- except no one has mentioned it before. I've lamented my lost comments, public and private. I've wondered how faculty who involve students in blogs would actually track individual participation across all of the blogs. Developing taxonomies for each class seems silly- there should be a metadata tagging happening in the background. Based on IP#? Dunno. Hope this stuff will help.
• Trying to grow my digital rendering skills by posting images sketched digitally. Don't know if it will be worth while but it feels like a good path in response to the New Yorker cover. Maybe I'll buy an iTouch.
• Noodling with a multmedia group mock-up page. Pat said we have a drupal site, but I've never seen it. It seems like it would be a great place to post "examples"- in a sense, the idea Zak had of a "multimedia potentials" track at symposium done in a blog. None of us really wants to meet as a group; having a joint site for uploads makes much more sense. I showed Pat how I aggregate outside posts with the Feed2JS script, and I placed an aggregation of the "psummgroup" delicious tag on my page and in my mock-up.
• Took Flash Catalyst tutorial, commented on Adobe forum. It may be useful for some. Not sure-
• Sent note to Jacqui. She will be back in touch after talking with John and going to the bamboo conference in DC.
• Minor consultation with Hannah Williams. Has lead to f2f with physics faculty next week.

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This past week (5-29-09):
• Continued with corrections to the BiSci illustrations. Some are minor text edits, others require new thinking. One image added- which makes sense. Interesting side note: Jim stopped by saw a print out of the image I'd been working on and said, "You working on genetic engenering?" He recognized all the parts. Turns out his mother was a medical illustrator.
• Attended and hosted Spool web seminar for 14 attendees
• Converted most RSS feeds to Google Reader from NetNewsWire. Greatly prefer NetNewsWire, but Google is on line and will soon own our souls. I haven't been able to read only in Google yet- I still go back to NetNewsWire during the day.
• Once in Google world, I'm trying to understand the different ways I can aggregate feeds using the j2feed script
• Attended tlt all-staff. Question about testing led to a blog post about "meat" which opens up new ways of thinking about Penn State and education: Penn State IS the large mass processor in higher ed. Accepting that makes other things easier. ITS serves the large processor- bigger, faster, more powerful. I think the promise of ets is that we make the large processor seem more sensitive to the individual.
• Started to look at SumoPaint, completely online grphics application. Interesting.
• Using free time in Lynda.com. There are several advanced Photoshop tutorials from Deke that look pretty useful
• Signed up for GoogleWave. Haven't heard. Signed up for Fotonauts, haven't heard.
• There was a multimedia meeting. It was recorded unfortunately. I'm thinking we should either get together to talk and brainstorm or get together to create a record- not both

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This past week (5-22-09):
• Managed to add to one of the captioned LARCH videos a CC sprite that works.
• Came up with a different approach for the latest BiSci illustration. Did four small illustrations floating in text that I knocked together based on my own understanding of the process. Need to do some corrections.
• Compiled a few old snips from Psych213 for Wendy.
• Looked into Publisher conversion for Yvonne. Strange behavior- needed to open files in Publisher on a lab clone and convert to PDF
• Mike Halm asked me to print out 120 of the small versions of the Plone day schedule. I assumed he just wanted the large versions, but he liked the small ones I'd suggested and wanted to use both. Late Thursday. He hasn't requested a registration banner yet. I'll wait and see if he stops by Tuesday.
• Christian asked if I'd run the UIE webinar he biiked while he's at the Plone conference.
• Looking at Pencil, a free animation app. It's very simple, but has many little quirks and a few bugs. Might be worth a short video.

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This past week (5-15-09):
• Printed 150 copies of Mike Halm's plone schedule
• Sent note to Mike and Steph pointing to the animation in ANGEL
• Vacation all this week

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This past week (5-08-09):
• Created new navigation for old meiosis animation. Since it was different from the mitosis navigation, I changed a version of mitosis to match. Reading and gathering info for recombinant bacteria illustration.
• Did image for Mike's namebadges. He thinks he can do the InDesign version
• Did schedule layout for Plone festival. Printed day at a glance sign as well as room signs. Did layout for schedule handout, ready to print 150 copies
• Also did an experimental version in a card size, but I believe Mike still wants the 8x11 version
• Cole sent OMEKA.ORG to both Brad and I.

  Take a look at Omeka ... it is a digital publishing platform that supports the creation of "complex narratives and rich collections." ÊI've been following the development of this since last summer when I met one of the key developers and faculty on the project at Bamboo in Princeton. ÊAt that time it wasn't ready for prime time, but they now have a 1.0 release. ÊMay be worth looking at for the two digital publishing projects you guys are working on? ÊAny thoughts? ÊShould we kick the tires? ÊHot Team?

  It took me a bit to understand what it was. I still don't understand what I'm working on that would be facilitated by it; however I sent a note to Brad with thoughts on the websites listed that use omeka. I was unimpreseed and actually put off by the lack of navigation, way finding and a few other things. The one group who should have had an exemplary example was the NYPL. What they made didn't even constitute a decent web site. So, No I don't think we should spend time on it. It appears to be a Lionshare/Meld mash-up; so in a sense, we could build our own. It was already better when Brian and I had the first version of MELD done. Possibly, with real content and a purpose, the tool could be used to create a user enhanced collection. It doesn't, however, look like something anyone would want to use. Has anyone ever looked at the first version of MELD that Brian and I did?

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This past week (5-01-09):
• Finished several illustrations for BiSci. Finished PCR animation, made corrections and uploaded to ANGEL
• Working on the restriction enzyme illustration. It's a bit intricate- more involved than most. Have the initial image done and am working on the second- which shows the first in different configurations
• Jerry Maddox asked Cole and I for feedback on an online version of Jane Austen's Emma. I read several chapters, sent feedback. Cole asked me if I could contact Jerry and possibly we could work with him to create type and readability conscious CSS for blogs. I sent a note to Jerry- took him a bit to grespond, but he said he'd like to be involved but is having trouble figuring out the simplest things in MoveableType. We'll meet when Jerry's grading crunch is finished.
• Attended symposium de-brief. Went okay. As a side note- a third of the way in, Cole made a reference and Jeff asked if he should turn off the recorder. To that point, I hadn't heard anyone say they were recording. Good idea, but it needs to be blatantly obvious.
• Blog post "remixing" Lessig text. I'm happy with it- makes me giggle. Would be perfect if we could sell google ad space...
• Looking into adding images to wikipedia- an involved process that I'm not real sure about. Once I am, I'll be able to generate images specifically for it.
• Gathered a few graphics for Mike's symposium. Helped his daughter print her poster.
• Solved the buggy code issues in flapbook. Sent a new version URL to Jacqui- I believe in time for her MIT presentation.

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This past week (4-24-09):
• Did corrections on last weeks BiSci images, started new ones finishing three. Still have twio images and the animation of PCR.
• Cleaned up the edges and fit of the flapbook. Still can't figure out the bugs...

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This past week (4-17-09):
• Attended meeting at the Library with the Rare Books and IT people.
• Managed to export a functional, though buggy, version of the flapbook flash file. Still problems with the code, but I want to give Jacqui something tangible on Saturday
• I did a screen cap of the flapbook, showing a complete step through. One of the Library folks asked if we'd considered Quicktime, and though I saw several problems with it and realized the path through the book would then be only linear, I wanted to provide an example. I exported several sizes, and gave the QT files, along with the SWF and FLAs to Jacqui.
• Booked and attended a UIE virtual seminar on design failure.
• Final symposium prep
• Mounted a poster that Cole seems to enjoy so that it would be hanging when Friday's guests arrived. Also put up two old symposium posters on a temporary basis for the same reason.
• Symposium on Saturday
• One instance: I was in the 210 conference room and talked to Barb, who was in her office, about the quality of the scizzors in the meeting room. I was making what I thought was a comedic though sincere comment. It was, however way too loud for the area- Jane and Cole both had their doors open.

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This past week (4-10-09):
• Hadn't heard about more signage. Asked and didn't get anywhere. I printed the agenda web page to postscript and tweeked the layout so the page could be blown up to poster size. I thought it would work well as a "Day at a Glance" poster (if needed, I wanted to be prepared) and would tie the days activities to the web presence while showing that the schedule was also available on the site. I suggested it to Jeff, Jeff didn't get back to me.
• Printed room signs, picked up foam core, mounted trimmed and prepared all for hanging.
• Finished three drawings for Mike. Re-uploaded all of my finished Flash and still images to the ANGEL section Barb created. Yay!
• Attended art criticism lecture by David Hickey at the HUB, visited Robeson Gallery Women in the Arts show.
• Encrypted the modbook.
• Attended the computer show at the Inn. Absolutely nothing new. Did learn from Mike Tribone that they recommend turning computers off at night.
• Involved in a conversation in the ITS blog about the where-a-bouts of the PICCC Report. Contacted several people at Penn State as well as People at the Private Industries Council.
• Cole wasn't able to come in on the day we had a staff meeting. There seemed to be little to cover and I sent an email to the list suggesting that we postpone it because we were so busy with symposium and other work. Cole replied, "Good points ... I'll leave that to all of you to decide. Again, I am really sorry I cannot be there. If the consensus is to cancel for the this month I am more than fine with it!" I stood up and started to look for people. There were none in yet on my side so I headed to 202. In the hall I noiticed that the agenda that was virtually empty when I came in now had a string of topics, none of which seemed of immediate concern. I entered 202 and was told that "Allan was here already and he said he's holding the meeting anyway." I took that as a disregard for Cole's intent and a complete abuse of Allan's new authority. I was livid. When Allan came to my cubicle to explain, I screamed at him and I'm told I swore pretty profusely; I didn't give him a chance to talk. Very unfortunate. Unprofessional, insensitive, abusive. I had heard Pat and Tara speak favorably and recommend the "Crucial Conversations" course. I had read the course outline from Training Services and saved Tracy Leitzel's email about registration. My bad behavior is a shortcoming on my part, not a skill that needs to be enhanced. Staying current and correcting shortcomings is my responsibility: I'd considered taking the course on my own and this was the occassion that showed me I shouldn't wait.
• Something else that came from my outburst: I learned that the reason noone invites me to meetings or involves me with teams is because I'm loud abrassive and opinionated. I asked Barb to get confirmation- this is shattering.

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This past week (4-03-09):
• Completed some Flash work on the flapbook; very buggy, but promising. I can see a team approach- grphics specialist and Flash developer really doing well with something like this.
• Jeff took a sign out to the Penn Stater and the idea for hanging works. Now we print and mount them.
• Created a vector version of Derick's EGC logo for the symposium room signs. Couldn't find one on ATHENA.
• Two posts to the Flapbook project blog- one on the navigation, and one on conservation and image adjustments. Hopefully it gives Jacqui background material for her discussions.
• Adjusted the header image on the Flapbook page- I've been thinking I should and the idea that someone might see it prompted a subtle fix.
• Completed Mike's latest illustration to his approval and received 4-5 more.
• Jeff and Derick stopped by for a completed cover image. I asked if they had a photo of the last video star, Derick had forgotten and asked Tim to send me one. I asked if I should build the cover image over justin's version or mine- Jeff felt that my version was fine and noone would notice they were slightly different. I finished and sent to Derick.
• When Chris Demchek told me that the modbook would require a keyboard to access log-in once incryption software is installed, I was shocked. I really don't understand these decisions, nor do I understand why the people that make them are left unquestioned. I told Chris that I wasn't offering argument and didn't really need explanation- what was going to happen would happen. I needed him to take my professional user feedback-that it would render the modbook very close to useless-back to the group making decisions. Since I'm to note instances in which I may seem loud and scary, this is one. Not loud at all, but it's possible that Chris could have thought I was scary. There was no one else here.

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This past week (3-27-09):
• Got a note from Jacqui. She has used the animation as a demo and asked permission to show it at MIT. I apologized for not being farther along, and added a phrase to the web page at Jacqui's request about the library owning the original. We'll discuss the library's needs at some point.
• Put two "WallHogs" up. Different style than last time- don't know why. Don't know a lot... After hanging I had to re trim them to eliminate a graphite line embedded in the glue. Betcha' didn't even notice.
• I completed what appears to be final layout of the symposium room signs. I printed and mounted one full size, prepared it for hanging, and will take it to the Penn Stater for a test as soon as I have my car. I don't see any problem.
• Earlier I had noticed variance in the way presenters were listed: a few names were different, but mostly it was in whether there were titles. Jeff said any updates and changes would appear in the online agenda. When I went there to check names, the titles were all gone. I checked with Mary, who has sent two updates directly to me. I told her that changes were easy as long as I can depend on getting current information. We discussed the titles and I asked her judgement as editor- we have titles on the room signs.
• As a side note on the conversation with Mary: we reached a point where Mary told me she could give me the list with or without the titles- whatever I wanted. I told her that what I wanted didn't matter- there needed to be a judgement so everything was consistent. Mary told me that she thought I was yelling at her- which dovetails with the inclusion of similar sentiments (loudness) in my SRDP. I think my placing incidents here may help me be more aware.
  Whether that's the best solution, I'm not so sure. In a conversation with Cole, he mentioned how crazy, inhibiting, and negative the environment at ASSET is. I always respected the groups passion and committment, the low levels of bullshit. I don't even notice the yelling. I'm feeling that I'm approaching a serious crossroad; it would be good to have someone to talk to, but there is no one. I experience a great deal of frustration with the job, and a strong sense that the only reason people are listened to is out of politeness: decisions are made elsewhere. I've worked in a number of environments where there is passion, creativity, and quality work. Loud voices have never been an issue though always present. Possibly the fact that I'm here physically so often, I feel a certain familiarity and ownership to the space. It's "home" and I can loosen up. Not sure. I will pay attention, and I will realize that I affect the work environment of others.
• Completed complex illustration for BiSci made a minor addition, and uploaded images, so far, to ANGEL.
• Booked and attended the UIE web seminar on designing navigation.
• Minor tweaks to Brett's silhouettes and exported as a new version.
• Jeff and Derick stopped by and asked if I could do the image of video screens for the cover of the program. I requested that they check the videos and give me the images they thought should be included. They gave me a selection so I'd have a choice (?) and said they had one more video to shoot and would get me an image from that. I did a version from what I had so far as a trial.

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This past week (3-20-09):
• Completed several BiSci illustrations, then adjusted several based on feedback from Mike, and reposted them
• Formatted another flapbook spread but haven't animated it yet- maybe by days end.
• Brett requested three simple silhouettes to be used as patterns for sound baffles on the gaming commons walls. Did what I could.
• Finished symposium room signs- discovered changes that weren't communicated and adjusted accordingly. Sent Derick a comp wordle of presenter names for his program.
• Attended Stan Katz presentation at Foster, on books, publishing etc. Not as worthwhile as I'd hoped. He's a scholar- and he offered nothing new, nothing especially perceptive, no experienced insights.

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This past week (3-13-09):
• Finished SRDP. Handed it on on schedule, then reformated onto old SRDP form and handed it in a second time.
• Finished Ames Test illo for BiSci.
• Spent time trying different interface controls for the flash flapbook. Coding is fairly complex, and I'm working through Learning ActionScript 3.0 and several appropriate lynda videos.
• Working on trial wordle layouts for symposium room menus. Posted complete mock-ups to flickr and took photos at the Penn Stater to demonstrate use and appearance
• Layout of text phrases for symposium videos, utilized one in a poster
• Attempt at laying out a TLA MOO card- not too exciting yet.
• Removed dot files from BiSci flash uploads, checked permissions, recompressed, still couldn't get archives to work after upload.

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This past week (3-06-09):
• Finished two of three cartoons for Wednesday meeting with Mike. Minor lable change on one, second corrected faculties understanding of a process. Third is illustrated, but doesn't communicate correctly yet.
• Showed Mike the new "Replay" link for the Flash animations. He preferred it, and I applied it to the other animations. I tried to upload archive d sets of Flash files onto ANGEL but couldn't get the files to "unzip". ANGEL help desk told me that index html shouldn't be on the same level as the archive and needed to be uploaded separately, and attached with the Associated File Manager. Sad. I created a primary download page for BiSci so files could be viewed and downloaded in one spot. Possibly the still images should be done the same way?
• I responded to a blog post from TK. He was having unusual results with a PNG that got larger after the image was made smaller. I looked at the file, then we looked at it together on his machine and mine. Interesting. Basically, Software on his machine generated an 8 bit image on his 24 bit monitor. Screen caps saved as a 24 bit PNG, but the image actually only had 8 bit data. When the image was resized, the edges within the image that were created due to 8 bit software now got fuzzy- in effect, creating more data in what now looked like a 24 bit file. Saving in the original format of PNG-24 no longer could take advantage of its 8 bit appearance and had to write far more data even though the pixels were fewer. It was interesting mainly because I could easily create a smaller file, I just couldn't explain the results we were getting with the capture that only looked 8 bit..
• Re-did text info for Justin's new Symposium video treatment. No big deal; interesting because I sent it to him and he sent a note thanking me. Good guy.
• Trying to do a worthwhile SRDP. Difficult when you already know it's a waste of time. I'm trying to force some good out of it, regardless.
• Finished JRW, handed it in on schedule. (could've been last week- don't recall...)

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This past week (2-27-09):
• Mike approved the illustration for BiSci and gave me three more. No time for them, though.
• Reduced the resolution and filesize of the flapbook SWF piece and posted the second version on the website. I also completed a small illustration as a replacement for the industrial header that comes with the blog. I sent a note pointing to it so Jacqui could both see the swf and access one of our blogs. She was appreciative of the swf but was "too shy to leave a comment". Maybe I should ask Erin if she wants to talk with her?
• Allen sent a note with two images and a link to Zak's blog movie, incase I thought it would be worth seeing since I had already started work on the MOO card layouts. The graphic look of the video was similar in some respects to other ets work but different in a few important ones. I created three card layouts based on the new style and it looks like Allen approves. I included a shield emblem for the back of the card so there is some Penn State identifiers- he asked if it was okay to use just the shield, I explained that it was, quoted the standards and put up a complete mark just in case. No response to that yet, but he liked the mock-ups.
• Erin finalized the data for her handout and said they wanted them for Dean Brady to use on the weekend. I prepared the file for Schreyer use and a generic version, and suggested we offer to print some for Brady since he'd obviously have other things on his mind. He wanted 150.
• Downloaded and installed Tweetdeck- a new twitter aggregator- on the hall monitor machine. It will allow "direct messaging" which means you can use twitter to post directly to the hall monitor, without to post going to anyone else. Could be a nice channel for internal communications.
• Met with Lisa Lacombe- short discussion of training v. teaching, work pressures, training direction
• No time to work on BiSci illustrations. This isn't good. I can see that Erin's layout is within my higher priority duties, but moo cards are not. Are these things that should be controlled and produced by the marketing group? Are they things that should, after full consideration, be handled by an ITS marketing group? I think so. It's promotional, and reflects on the perceptions of ITS. If it's important to separate our work from work done across ITS, the TLT marketing group should be conceiving and executing the work. If that isn't happening, we need to figure out why and fix it.

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This past week (2-20-09):
• Attended three MarCom group director search presentations. Reasearched each candidate, prepared questions and sent feedback to the list
• Moved my two Flash entries for the FlipBook project into TLT space. I will fix the interace over the weekend and point Jacki to it. I'd also like to generate a smaller file. If this is to be web deployed, a bit more sleekness is necessary. I just have to figure out where the line is between too small and illegible v. too large and slow to open.
• Managed a method to hang foam core posters without damaging anything. It seems simple enough, uses monofilament line and spring clips. I think I can make directions so derick could do it too.
• Talked to Erin about her blog handout- she thinks they'll want me to do the final layout with her screen aps and my doing the hand text.
• Talked with Allen about moo cards- I suggested we try to have them by symposium- which eans ordering in the next couple wees. I told him that I'd ry to have samples on line by early next week.
• Allan also asked if Matt was in touch. I told him that I hadn't heard from Matt, but was subscribed to basecamp feeds and knew there was stuff going on. Allan thought Matt might be unsure about how and when he can contact me- I said that when I see him, I'll try to bring it up. Maybe that'll make it easier. From what I've seen, the "illustration" work would be of flower parts. Zak has to animate pollenation, so it might be easiest just to do screen caps and label what he animates.
• Did the dogma of biology illo for BiSci. Used captures from the Flash animations then tweeked and labeled them in Photoshop. I added short descriptions, pulled from Mike's text, of each process.
• Successfully found open and used the iSight camera on the modbook. First time for all of it. It could be useful, I guess... Posted and explained short experimental video to the blog.
• Spent inordinate amount of time on what I would call managerial-human resource activities. Trying to understand expectations that are changing from something I never understood to something else I don't understand. The JRW seems useless in light of the huge amount of time that was already spent on the broadbanding initiative. Did that fail to get the proper results? Heads need to roll. I already am on record questioning the process and descriptions with our very own Susan Morse when she was at OHR. Doesn't that get me some sort of dispensation? I try to see into every job I do, understand its purpose and implications, and go beyond just fulfilling requirements. If I'm given a task like the JRW, I try to understand what it is, why it was created, why it's being used, if it's the right tool for the job, or if something else might give the intended results. This requires questioning and understanding a lot that isn't part of my skill set. That requires more reading and reflection. Is that what Penn State wants from me? Is that a good use of my time and is it the best return on their investment? I don't think so. And it is a significant divergence from anything I view as a career path.
• Contacted again by someone who wanted to use my poster show info. (This time from Brandeis) I should go in there and polish it a bit. I told them to take what they needed and repurpose at will so they serve their group.

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This past week (2-13-09):
• Attended Sim's Student affairs presentation to ITS. Intelligent, well spoken, long winded man.
• I had a call from a friend who wanted my recommendation for extracting wispy images in Photoshop. I tried to consult as best I could over the phone and realized that it would be a good subject for a video. I've tried three- I digress and drift repeatedly- I'll need to work a bit to do something useful. I'm thinking a willing participant would help. Regardlesds- more prep is caled for with this one. Perhaps two videos with an elementary intro?
• We received the poster from WallHogs and it is the correct thing. Yay. I showed Jeff, and suggested I set up another file with the second set of posters. I'm struggling trying to export the PDF- it isn't retaining the vector data.
• Derick asked for assistance putting up the poster from wallhogs. Cole wanted it on an inside wall by the kitchen. I pointed out that it was actually two posters- we hung one, then after Cole approved we hung the other.
• Allan stopped in my cubicle and asked for designs of two MOO cards- one for the TLA project and another for Erin and the blog project. It doesn't appear to have been something that went through derick and marketing.
• Cole and Allan liked wordles and wanted a few layouts in the "symposium" style that we could produce as wallhog posters. I tried a couple and placed them on flickr. To be clear, "WORDLE" is a text box- a web site that allows people without skills, talents, or software to create interesting visuals from pasted text. Someone would do well to copy, paste, and tweek their own image rather than using an appointee.
• I showed the flash version of the DNA replication "theories" to Mike- he's okay with it, but questioning the navigation. I'll make adjustments and send him updates
• Jacqui sent a note saying that she received her initial grant. Cole asked if I can handle it so he could step aside and take care of his own work. I wanted to wait until I had a web site before answering Jacqui, but didn't receive the account until EOD Thursday. I sent her a note and pointed her to my blog video
• No symposium marketing meeting this month- derick canceled it, said everything was under control and going well. Good to know.
• I tried a response to Cole's post and request for community participation in a "boom d Ya da" video. My understanding is that the community would send verses they record of their own "love the whole world" verses. Cole could compile them all into one video. I had software and server issues; plus, my desire for rapid respose impaired my own abilities and judgement. Conceivably, this stuff should happen as fast as a blog comment.
• I'm still discovering complexities in Illustrator and Flash CS4 versions that make them difficult to manage. The Flash interface, the change of a long standing mac paradigm for no clear reason, really has me fed up.
• I talked up a UIE web seminar to the marketing writers- it was specifically on writing web content and was being presented by a known leader in the field. The presenters voice is quite grating, and I'll read her script instead.
• Allan gave me a "heads up" that he might want my assistance on the BiSci 12 project- story boards? illustrations? not sure what or how much. If their deadline is really April 2009, the best I may be able to do is say "good luck"
• Erin showed me a three page rough of a handout idea for blog/portfolios that Glenn had done. We all agreed that the screen caps with hand written text over layed was friendly and inviting. I suggested Erin do the writing on clean paper and I could scan it and warehouse it for her as insertable objects on transparent backgrounds. Seems like a good idea.
• I started to gather info and write questions for the public interviews for ITS MarCom Director
• I wrote a post about titles. It was aimed at me, but was intended to address my own vision of a great work environment. Unfortunately, much of my point was missed, my work load and the general access to my time seems to have increased, and may be a detriment to projects I'm already on. I've already been addressed as "The Dave". It's a pointless, meaningless situation; work will suffer, not improve, and known problems will be ignored. If I wanted a title and the masquerade of authority, wouldn't I have applied for Robin Anderson's job?

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This past week (2-06-09):
• I downloaded a PDF copy of the flapbook available as an online asset through the library. It's an 1818 edition, and the hardcopy is an 1814 edition, but the images are the same. I was able to separate the individual pages, take them into photoshop and clean them up. They're relatively square and will provide a template to lay out-of-square photos on. I discovered that there's a small section missing from the internationally available PDF-odd because the pages reverse side is included- that I was able to rebuild using Jaqcui's photos.
• Using photoshop's Layer Comps I was able to simulate a flip-through of the recompiled pdf pages. This is one aspect missing from the pdf, and crucial to understanding the interactive nature of this seminal media piece.
• I'd requested a project blog, but haven't heard a final URL yet. In the mean time, I created a video of the flipbook assets to-date and put it in my blog. This was a second attempt at placing streaming Flash video in my blog. Users are told to add assets to the blog with an asset manager. This places the asset in personal space, but gives it a separate URI that can be tracked in the MT software. For streaming Flash video, I create an SWF shell, an html document, a player swf that gets referenced by the shell, and an FLV that's pulled into the shell. All have interconnected URIs: to publish the SWF shell, I need to have the URI of the FLV on the streaming media server, and the URI of the player. For the player, the default assumes a relative link to the same directory but that relationship doesn't exist with the blog asset manager. I deploy assets, and utilize their absolute paths for final publication: the player is already in my personal space and I use an absolute path to the SWF shell. The code in my blog also uses absolute paths to the SWF shell already in my personal space.
• Anyhow, the flash video stuff is investigative, but the other part of the video is the information I'm trying to convey with the content.
• Trying to do a "simple" animation explaining semi-conservative and conservative DNA replication. The original idea was based on the fact that we "already have the parts" in other flash animations. That's an almost insignificant help- Flash isn't a 3d program, so to have a "part" is just having a rendering that's usable in one view for limited purposes. What we have is an awareness of what the things look like within the context of our animated environment. That's somewhat of a help, but not a lot. Getting the effect of having a complete strand of DNA unravel and replicate is complex; I've completed enough of three different versions to understand the complexity of the problem- but I don't have much to show for it yet.
• I posted a small blurb in the blog abaout saving energy, and with in the comments I linked to a sound bite from Spanier's talk with ITS in November. He actually talks about the confusion, asks Kevin for help, and eventually leaves without answers. We should be embarrassed.
• Jeff came to my space genuinely concerned that he was interupting me. He wanted the graphic of the microphone that we use in symposium ads and couldn't locate it. I showed him where much of it is, then grabbed a 2 versions of the microphone and emailed them to him. He wanted them for a presentation he was preparing, and the importance of that didn't dawn on me at the moment. I went to his office and mentioned that if he needed help with slides, video, or presentations, that was what we did- all he had to do was let derick and I know. Derick came in right at that moment and heard; I joked with Jeff that "yes, he just needed to tell Derick..." Jeff seemed surprised that he'd be able to do that. What does marketing do if not exactly that? Oh well. If the point is to establish a cache about the symposium that encourages professional participation, we should be professional in everything we project. Why does this come as "news" at this late point?
• Derick mentioned ordering WallTex in his blog. Hope it works out- I specified Vinyl not PhotoTex. How did he make the decision? Every time I sent a URL it was to the Vinyl page- it's $27 more expensive for weather protection. For the hall. Oh well. We'll see.

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This past week (1-30-09):
• Derick responded to my note about the posters. My take is that he thinks the four posters that we have represent the Chris Brady video and each of the other videos will generate other posters. I think he might misunderstand but I really don't have the energy to talk about it further. What I did was obvious. Those in charge met and chose to make moo cards and posters knowing what I had done. This should all be part of a well planned strategy. It feels like I either follow what I know to be wrong or expend the energy to try to steer from the back seat. I don't have that kind of time.
• We get the posters back mounted and laminated with one requiring a re-do. There's no clear plan for hanging them. I see no clear, easily implimentable-by-anyone path so I suggest Wallhogs as a solution. They look good and are adhesive backed. Later, in discussion with Cole, we again discussed various options for hanging. Even though we can both see it as a somewhat engaging, fun challenge, we've agreed that probably the best solution is calling OPP, stating the problem, and asking them to solve it.
• I filled out the green sheet, told Derick and Jeff that I don't do purchases and asked them who would order? I prepared the file for upload to Wall hogs and gave it to Robin.
• Getting my head into BiSci with random Symposium stuff popping up is difficult. It seems a bit unfair to Mike. The chart that I'd managed to complete (and do a blog post about) was unsuccessful. I completed a new version that should suit the faculty, though it's my strong conviction that an ID would suggest going with my earlier version. I think the faculty's familiarity with the old chart is coloring their view of a new layout.
• After moving files onto Athena and closing down my old machine, I lost files associated with the "Harlequin" project. I grabbed replacements, found several URLs, including Jacqui's talk at MIT on an MP3, shared some assetts with Cole and otherwise tried to get my head back into the project. Cole and I talked before meeting with Jaccqui and he suggests that the real educational value in the project is in the discussion of the importance of the objects, what they mean, and a few of the implications. Bottom line, I have to agree; Cole suggests a blog platform as the backend for delivery to fascilitate discourse.
• We met with Jacqui, went through her powerpoint, and came away with some of her assets and the plan to generate a Flash prototype using photos that she took of one of Penn State owned flip-books. Possibly we can deploy that and a few initial attempts on a "Learning Space" blog.
• I'm recreating the first few pages of Jacqui's book using the PDF as a template since all the pages are squared and sized similarly. The photos are more detailed and I can drag them in place, squaring and sizing over the identical PDF page. It seems to be very important that the images work together-that's the purpose of the project. Scaling, trueing edges and aligning sections is critical. I've already discovered that there's a section missing from the stored PDF.
• I mentioned the posters to Jeff- my sense is that he feels like it just isn't his field. Derick told me they'd ordered "WallHogs and he thinks they'll be nice.
• I requested blog space in the Learning Spaces area to track the work on Jacqui's book. I received quick response from the team.

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This past week (1-23-09):
• Experimented further with a simple Flash file that animates word replacement in the "reimagine ..." phrase. It works, but could be done with actionscript pulling words from an XML file. Regardless, my version is only 6K.
• Created several sizes of the "reimagine" web ad file. I have it as a widget on my blog, but Jeff's display badly distorted the dimensions. I forwarded info, and created a test page. I don't know how feasible it is, anymore, to expect people to be able to do this. Sad- lack of familiarity with HTML is a real short-coming.
• I have the "reimagine" images on a temporary page, with placement code for MT widgets. I've also done a blog post with experimental placement code that accesses an image in Jeff's space (It would be good to have access to a server so we could deploy things like this.). The accompanying FLV involved a new Penn State player, and figuring out how to get the video to stream into the blog. It just utilizes absolute links to the assets, which all have to be already deployed with their own URIs. I need to find out if image sizing with percent is generally acceptable with this specific image. Works well for me, but some extremes would be a good test.
• Jeff and Derick sent an email request for four symposium posters based on four images on my flickr site. I did the layouts, printed and had them mounted at the Copy Center. What remains is creating a non-destructive method of hanging them. I'm okay with tacks, if I hang them. Also, straight pins may be less obvious and less invasive. I don't like the idea of traditional frames, which, too, would require hanging. Vertically mounted springed poles might be interesting; as would plate rail. All are a bit outside the realm of my just doing it. This sort of thing should be part of a master plan. Or, just thumb tacks- taking the things down after the symposium.
• Little time for BiSci, unfortunately. The foray into Flash CS4 for the symposium piece was useful in that I'll need it for the next two BiSci animations. I placed the DNA condensation image in our standard bracketing field and created an image showing a connection between the style of the DNA rendering and the more graphically chart-like style of the DNA animatons. It, too, is labeled and in place.
• I began work on the codon chart. Basically it's all text, but a challenge in presentation. It's interesting to note how confusing many of the assets that come up on an image search really are. The image Mike has been using is the most sound from an infographic perspective. It just looks like crap.
• Tara had an insightful post on team work. Her observations were dead-on, and touched on problems I've commented on, too. We have problems working as visual designers in this specific work environment, but more, we see the problems and seem to blindly perpetuate many of them for design colleagues-our team mates. As difficult as it is, we don't make it easy for non-designers to work with us. I get seminar ads from the Design Management Institute all the time; I wonder if someone should be encouraged to pursue that path?. And too, though I should develop a post around it instead of just logging it here: what do we do when we fail?
• Have 4 symposium posters for the hall. Small brackets or strips of molding to hold each end of a wire or monofilament line a bit above the height of the hall monitor may be a good, workable solution to hanging stuff. No one here to check with- it should be part of a master plan. I like the idea of push pins, but that was implimented badly and seemed to be disliked. OPP should be given the problem and we will just work with their solution.
• Jeff successfully used the badge placement code that includes width in percent- making the image placement work regardless of column size in both DRupal and MT4. I've used percent before- it's important to assess image quality; it doesn't do a great job with all images.
• There's ongoing discussion in the blogs of some design concerns. I had a few posts weeks back, pulled another that pointed to Tara's, Derick commented on several. I hope it leads somewhere. Tara's post was especially insightful. For some reason I found it to be especially well written, too. We'll see.
• Finished codon chart and put the image on my BiSci image page. It's far from art, but I think it's a better-met challenge than many of my illustrations. It tends to simplify the organization of the codon proteins so they're findable. And even though I'm immensly proud of a "chart", the crystaline zen bullet of awareness hit me in the forehead and I realized that the entire left side of the chart, along with labels, could be completely eliminated- adding to the simplicity and ease of use. We'll see. It remains to be seen why noone else has placed the codons in order before- four letters usually listed as UCAG instead of the alphabetical ACGU
• Sent note to Jeff and Derick about posters. They're based on Moo cards which were based on roughs I'd mocked up to sell the idea. I think my rough solutions served their purpose well but we need to deside if they fulfill project requirements.

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This past week (1-16-09):
• Jeff received an email from Cole that requested Moo cards- I did several and posted the layouts to flickr- Cole and Jeff commented. I'm thinking that with the quick turn-around, using just the already established "cards" layout makes the most sense- though a Wordle option may be worth looking at.
• Thought a good bit about the ITS Community Principles- settled (so far...) for a short comment on the ITS blog and a cartoon to my blog. I'm very uncomfortable with several of the comments in the "Question" web site- it really looks like some folks who really think they "get it" are highly intolerant. My guess is the effort on this thing is only a CYA measure in case of lawsuit. I'm embarrassed that that is the best we ever do, and all we're ever concerned about. May we all have "never lost in court" as an epitaph.
• Grabbed the text of the Principles from the web, re-formatted, and printed in larger type so we older citizens can read it w/o magnification.
• Read several articles about portfolios, and the idea of portfolios in education. A comment from Cole, that he wasn't happy with the term "portfolio" and the static, repository implications, points out my own problem. I love the idea of inquiry, reflective learning, and writing to reinforce learning but don't link any of those ideas with the idea of "portfolio"- which has specific meaning in the field of the arts. "Evidence" is good; it's one of the first things i said to Glenn when we started discussions- I liked the concept of evidence of learning. Ongoing reference to portfolios just continued to put up walls.
• Created several concept testing rough drafts of Wordle cloud Symposium signs. We'll discuss further in a marketing meeting, but it was a quick push. Images are in the Wiki and on flickr.
• Downloaded and started to read the educause book on learning spaces that Allan mentioned. Made blog post in reference.
• Presented BiSci illustrations to Mike, had them approved. Picked up four more and two simple animations. Relatively straight forward, and will just take time.
• Two "Peril" game images to Jason Wolfe. Simple stuff, have no idea if I'm hitting the mark or not- will these guys say so if they want something else? It's a tad difficult doing work when there's so little involvement.
• Installed and ran Eye-One color management software on the new machine, calibrated my monitor. Also, downloaded the new version of the HP Print Utility and created a paper profile for the Oce satin paper. It was a fairly extensive test- apparently the plotter uses the same software that I do, so even though it technically shouldn't matter, our color should be in sync.
• Attended the symposium marketing meeting. Suggested that we don't use wordle word clouds in marketing, only for signage. Was given task of generating a quick banner ad image. I posted examples on both flickr for approval, and the wiki. I used the vector file to generate a sidebar ad for the symposium to place on my own blog, too.
• Talked with Alan Klein about seminars- what he teaches what reactions he gets—his assessment of need. Initially, I've subscribed to his training group blog. Perhaps if I do videos, I can post links there?
• Alan and I discussed video tutorial presentation methods. His group seems to gravitate to Captivate and floating text balloons. I have trouble with that style, prefer lynda.com style video with voice-over, and I mentioned Richard Mayer's book on Multimedia Learning- the problems of cognitive load. After subscribing to his Photoshop blog and watching a Captivate video I did a quick from-the-hip video response as a Streaming FLV. Thanks Jason for figuring out problems with the Media Server so I can use it again!
• Successfully created a soft mask with ActionScript3. It may be possible to use it on a dynamic text box that grabs random words from an XML list- we could use it to create a Flash reimagine... piece for web pages. Need to kno more and work more with it- the new CS4 interface is just horrible

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This past week (1-09-09):
• Elizabeth asked if she could link to the headers that I'd created several months ago for the blog portfolio project. She thought the videos were good as well; Glenn Johnson thought they'd be useful too. The videos were being served by the Flash Media Server- they were subject to whim and currently not working at all. I found the original docs, installed the FLVs in my webspace and republished for progressive download. I'll see if this works well enough for other tutorials. It's unfortunate the streaming service wasn't kept up, but as I understand it, I was the only one using it. Also a bit unfortunate that my videos would be used-they were done primarily as a "proof of concept" to demonstrate what I thought we should be doing.
• Completed three illustrations for BiSci- one of which was fairly complex. The meeting this week didn't happen, so I'll have to wait till next week for feedback and edits.
• Switched to new machine, new OS, and new software versions. Many, many changes that will take a few days to adapt to. I'm using lynda.com to de-mystify the software updates; there are a few major differences in the way my primary apps work.
• Several blog posts (11); some aimed at building a relevant portfolio, a few aimd at presenting an opinion.
• Trying to participate with "Feedback" tab on ETS site. Not the most intuitive, but certainly usable. Submitted several ideas, voted on others. I can only guess at what our "grid" refers to.
• Batteries on DC Nikon ran down, had no charger, and already purchased my own card reader- so I returned it without extensive testing. The small amount I did shoot seems to confirm that the camera shoots good images, but needs to be set correctly. An ISO of 1600 is way too high. Using the controls is a bit different than our other Nikon.
• Contacted by Jason Wolfe about a few images for new game. Just looked briefly at the material and will get more involved next week.
• Feedback to Jerry Maddox on his new photos.
• Cole posted on twitter about Wordle and potential for Symposium; picked up by Jeff. I re-sent info I'd sent on wordle to Jeff and Allen in June. I've already had a conversation on the w3c-wai list about wordle, emailed the creator (guy at Microsoft working in his spare time) and posted several blog posts. Hmmm- I've got to re-examine my approach to communication.