site « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

site

In like a lion

Things are fine here, weatherwise, but everyone else had it rough. That is one impressive map.

Samford, and a lot schools across the state, closed early. That means more time on the bike for me. I felt defeated by headwinds, probably the latent energy that couldn’t make it up into the storms. There were 10 miles out on familiar roads, one of our base routes, and then 10 brand new miles, mostly uphill. On the first half of the return, downhill through those 10 new miles, I was actually moving slower than the ride out. Headwinds are tough like that. Especially when there aren’t any tailwinds.

So I perfected the art of steering at an angle to aim through crosswinds and tried in vain, like every other cyclist, to make myself as small as possible to keep my cross section low. I hit breezes that would drop me four miles per hour instantly. And this wasn’t really even a windy day.

And since we have the informal Where Were You When You Heard Party in the U.S.A. rule around here:

Hey, it is a catchy tune and I needed something to round out the 11 hours on my iPod. Every five or six rides it rolls back around and I stop and take this picture. I have no idea why, really, but it always seems to come along at a time when I need the break.

A blooming tree nearby:

The church at today’s turnaround point:

That place will show up again on the site next week as part of the new Lee County Historic Markers section of the site.

Caught most of the baseball game — they’d moved up the first pitch to avoid the evening’s rain — Purdue and Auburn see-sawed back and forth, but the Boilermakers held on 9-8 after fighting off a late rally. Auburn stranded eight in the game, which seems a fairly low number for the team so far this year.

Hit the grocery store, bought things, boiled pasta and grilled chicken. I’d intended to make some to leave for tomorrow but, what do you know, it all looked appetizing, it all had to be eaten. Hey, I’d burned several thousand calories today. Headwinds.

iPhone / journalism / links / photo / Samford / site / things to read / Thursday — Comments Off
1
Mar 12

In like a lamb

Earlier this week campus looked like this:

Today on Talbird Circle, just off the quad, this was hanging over passing students:

I love the spring, the variable of the local weather. It looks like England one day and the Caribbean the next. We can have 40 degree swings. Pollen makes every car look like a school bus. It seems too warm for March, but then, hey, it is March. And spring is just 14 minutes away.

A couple of meetings today. Some reading and critiquing the paper. There was even a little grading. I made good time getting off campus, covering some of the distance in the lingering daylight. As I closed the garage door at home the rain came. It was a day of good timing like that. One person left as another person came along. Everyone I needed to run into I ran into while I was looking for them.

That and spring! What else does one need?

Things to read: Nine visual elements

Carnival of journalism

Stuff from elsewhere:

Branded apps have officially jumped the shark. No, they haven’t.

Ad of the day: The Guardian. Not sure if I like this foreshadowing or not.

The newsonomics of crossover:

The signs are everywhere — the signs of crossover. We’re not there yet, but publishers are starting to sense that the time when their business models become more about digital and less about print gets closer every day.

Since the web’s dawn, publishers have lived in a mainly print/somewhat digital world. We’re on the brink of a heavily digital/somewhat print world. The difference means hundreds of billions of dollars, euros, pounds, and yen to content creators and distributors. Get it right, and you win the prize: America’s Next Top (Business) Model.

This is a story from last year, but it is making its way back around today. It is a cute read. Maybe the best part is that a reporter pretended to try to interview a pigeon.

Finally: There’s a new section of the site for Thursdays:

I’m going to pedal around the county and collect pictures of all of the historic markers. That should be a few days of riding and weeks worth of pictures. There’s even an interactive map in the banner!

journalism / links / Samford / site / things to read / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
29
Feb 12

A collection of things

And now, the day that leaps. I hope you enjoy at least 25 percent of this video that explains the quadrennial correction:

And now for a truly creepy video:

The first version of that story, which I saw on television and haven’t yet discovered online, had the father irate. After which he confronted his family and, writing later (to Target, I think) admitted that he had not been up-to-date on the details of his home. That wouldn’t be an awkward or uncomfortable conversation, would it?

Visited Intermark on a field trip today. This is the second year I’ve taken students there, and they do a great job. One of their account executives tells the class about the work he does. A public relations expert talks about her day. Two former internships who now have full time jobs there talk about their experience — they pitch to actual clients in their internships — and then there’s the social media talks. Media planning, the creative types and then the video production crews show off their work.

The students come away with an idea of what happens in a full service public relations and marketing shop. (It is an intro course.) Some people get a sense of what they might like to do; others may decide this isn’t for them. Someone asked about if they get discounts on car deals with the dealerships they promote.

Outside, the first dandelion of the season:

Things to read:

And now for a startling graphic

Burlington Free Press resizing

Photogs, visual artists, historians rejoice

“Owning” news

Stuff from elsewhere: AT&T Customers Petition CEO To Stop Throttling Unlimited Data Plans

Facebook cheat sheet: Sizes and dimensions

Tomorrow: Work! Meetings! A new section of the site! More!

cycling / links / site / Thursday — Comments Off
23
Feb 12

Who’s counting?

I realized today that I need a new gimmick for the site. Thursday is usually a day with extra content here, and now I’m out of material. Last Thursday we wrapped up the section on my grandfather’s textbooks.

Not to worry. I have an idea. Now we’ll just have to make it work. Maybe by next week it will be ready to roll out.

Read a little. Wrote a little. Remembered how many people I still need to call this week. Somehow the day got away from me a bit.

A great essay by Jason Farman on using disruptive technologies to a classroom advantage:

I was excited by the potential of the iPad and other mobile technologies as a means to practice different forms of engagement. I am now a strong believer that these tools, when used correctly, truly foster a deep sense of interpersonal engagement between the students and with the spaces they move through.

I’ll finish up by getting on my soapbox and preaching to the choir (among other clichés): Soon, if it hasn’t happened already, every teacher in higher education will have to develop a strategy for mobile phone use in the classroom (whether that be to integrate the technology or to ban it). Currently, mobile phones are the most pervasive computing technology in existence. There are currently over 5.3 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide. In a planet of around 7 billion people, that’s around 76% of the world that has access to — and uses — a mobile phone. Almost all of our students have them. The mobile device is something that they have on them throughout the day and has become embedded into the fabric of their everyday lives.

While it will be some time before the same can be said of tablet computers like the iPad, it is still worth noting at this stage that simply responding to these pervasive technologies by banning them from the classroom does little to address the importance of these media in our students’ everyday lives. From my perspective, as an educator, I must respond those practices that have become pervasive in the lives of my students, demonstrate that there are many ways to use these tools, and, ultimately, show them how to analyze and critique their own everyday practices. I am taking small steps toward figuring out the best techniques to achieve those goals.

Did manage to sneak in a few miles on the bike. I’m still adjusting to my new shoes and clips, so riding behind the neighborhood seemed like a good idea. While getting acquainted with the new gear my feet have been taking a beating. About four miles in my arches start complaining. After about 10 miles I had to take a break, just to rest my barking dogs.

I never think of my feet as dogs until they hurt. And on those rare occasions they snarl. That’s a good description for today.

So after a bit of standing around I hoped back on the bike and raced the daylight home.

The local bike shop says all of this should be better in three or six rides. Two down, some pain still to go.

Auburn / baseball / football / memories / photo / site / weekend — Comments Off
19
Feb 12

Catching up

The weekly attempt to share a few more of the pictures that haven’t, as yet, made it elsewhere on the site.

Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams spent some great years playing football at Auburn. They were both taken in the first round of the NFL draft after their perfect 2004 season. Shame about the people they ran around with when they were in school, though:

Look at the fu manchu, the handlebars, the eye patch, the neck tats. Those kids are of ill-repute.

That’s actually a chart-your-growth-compare-to-NFL-caliber-athletes-and-try-not-to-be-disappointed poster. It is still on display at Momma Goldberg’s, some eight years after it was timely. The location means the second half of that sentence makes perfect sense. People can see the picture alone and know where I’m standing at that moment.

Meanwhile, one of the current football superstars was having dinner on the patio, just outside, when I took that shot. And, yes, we were about to have dinner outside in February. Life is good.

Quick! Count the typos! There are a few. This is the fine print on the back of a gymnastics ticket:

This pitch is too low:

That’s from the Friday game against Missouri. Auburn won. The Saturday game was rained out. Mizzou won both of those games, the last one was shortened to 7 innings because of time constraints. (Missouri had to catch their plane.) Auburn left 29 runners on base in 25 innings this weekend.

It was a cold and drizzly day for baseball. Friday? Friday evening was beautiful. (Click to embiggen the panorama.)

And now, a few more gymnastics pictures from Friday night:

Still more in the February photo gallery.