Tag: michigan

Courageous Conversations @ Whitworth: Peter Rollins

in love you know you love someone when you miss them when they are present because they are like a universe or a black hole of infinite proportions with more to discover.

the idol is what you don’t have and want and when you get it you realize it doesn’t satisfy.

in love you get what you want, but it only calls you to go deeper when you realize you can’t own it.

we are like ships sunken in the ocean. the ocean contains all of the ship, but the ship only contains a portion of the ocean.

what we think is actually a cover for what we believe and that what we believe is actually hidden within our actions.

i can say i love animals, but if i participate in a cruel dairy system of practices, then i don’t really love animals.

i can say i don’t believe in child slavery, but if i participate in clothing, technology or chocolate systems of injustice, then i do believe in child slavery.

hitler was probably a lovely guy… his Facebook profile would have been very attractive. that is not the truth of his beliefs, it is hidden in his actions.

it is not about embracing cynicism or skepticism, it is about scrutinizing what we really believe.

admit our true selves in a community of grace that accepts you for who you are and mysteriously we begin to change and become more human (more like God’s image).

we need to become more human.

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7tRd6wVeGw]

“Transforming Higher Education with Emerging Technologies” | EDUCAUSE 2012

Chris Dede from Harvard gave an outstanding talk called “Transforming Higher Education with Emerging Technologies” at the recent Educause Learning Initiative in Austin Texas on the morning of February 14th. In vuDAT (where I work), we had the privilege of hosting an online streaming of this talk and host of others for those interested in attending at Michigan State University.

This talk envisioned the transformation of teaching and learning for 21st-century skills and citizenship. The focus highlighted an array of interactive Web 2.0 technologies designed to aid in collaboration, social interaction, and creation. Both formative and summative assessments strategies were described. These strategies were proposed to be able to leverage the holistic data derived from an immersive simulation interfaces such as augmented reality with mobile devices as well as virtual worlds.

One of Dede’s main points was that education has historically been purposefully removed from the chaotic world in order to reflect analytically. He argues that now with these emerging technologies there are opportunities to strengthen links between life inside and outside the classroom.

Video of this session can be viewed here.

What are your reactions to his vision?

How to use google voice for extremely easy on-the-fly podcasting:

Many online course instructors use announcements to communicate on a regular basis with the learners. Some instructors create introductions to modules using video, audio, or presentation tools. Leveraging google voice for “on-the-fly” podcasts allows instructors to be able to quickly and easily record their announcments so that learners can hear the announcement coming directly from their instructor to give the course a more personalized tone.

  • See my tutorial on this here: http://bit.ly/AB3hbe
  • View/duplicate/edit/use my slides from here: How to use google voice for extremely easy on-the-fly podcasting: – Google Docs http://bit.ly/z6xUoE

On-The-Fly Podcasting Using Google Voice?

How to use google voice for extremely easy on-the-fly podcasting:

  1. Make sure you have a google voice account if you don’t already have one and sign into your inbox area.
  2. Call your google voice number and leave yourself a message.
  3. When the message populates in your inbox, select the “more” option and then select “Embed”:

4. Add a caption for your podcast (this is optional).

5. Copy the embed code into your computer’s clipboard (control + “c” on the P.C. & Command + “c” on the Mac)

6. Go to your course in Blackboard and select to create a new announcement.

7. Give the announcement a title and then select the “Toggle HTML Source Code” button in the rich text editor toolbar and paste in the embed code that is in your clipboard (control + “v” on the P.C. & Command + “v” on the Mac)

8. Hit the “Toggle HTML Source Code” button in the rich text editor toolbar.

9. Hit the “Toggle HTML Source Code” button in the rich text editor toolbar one more time.

10. Make sure that the “width: 100px” is changed to “width: 500px” in the embed code and then hit submit!

*This same process can be followed for a recorded phone call from google voice which can be done by using these instructions.

The end result will have a flash player embedded media player from Google Voice that the learner will see in the announcements page so that they can listen to your nifty podcast:

 

Walmart as Environment for Spiritual Practice

So, I go to take the milk back yesterday and was able to get a refund on an in-store credit card. Cool. That made-up for it… I thought…

Last week, I purchased a gallon of milk from Walmart in Jackson, Michigan, where I live. While doing so, I noticed that the supercenter has been undergoing some major renovations. In the midst of them, there seems to be a few things neglected, I am afraid.

You see, the milk that I purchased was nearly expired and smelled like cheese as soon as I brought it home and opened it.

Why didn’t I look at the expiration date when I purchased it, you ask? Well, that is easy.

I was probably half asleep when I purchased it, as I usually am when I get around to picking up grub from the grocery store. It is usually a last minute endeavor.

So, I go to take the milk back yesterday and was able to get a refund on an in-store credit card. Cool. That made-up for it… I thought…

—

I then went to pick up 4 things:

  1. milk
  2. extension cord
  3. garbage bags
  4. hedge trimmer

All was fine and dandy until I got to number 4.

You see, there wasn’t a corresponding box for the trimmer I was interested in. So, I resorted to finding somebody to help me.

About 7 hours later, I found somebody who looked through all the boxes that I had just sorted through myself. Apparently, my eyes work too, but I understand.

After about another 7 hours of “checking in the back” they were unable to find a box for the product I needed.

Did I mention this isle was next to the fish tanks that were half empty and smelled like a mix between sweaty gym socks and rotten earthworms?

After I finally convinced them to sell me the floor model, they then had to find the price for the product (another 7 hours) and the packed away manual.

Finally, I was at the check-out! Did, I mention I came to pick up 4 items?

I needed to use the gift card from the returned milk and then pay the rest on my debit card.

Not too much to ask right?

Wrong.

14 hours later (sarcasm font) and with the help of four different employees at seemingly all different rankings, I was able to purchase the four items.

—

You could say that my inner-Jesus was being a bit suffocated in my high blood pressure and internal boiling in an attempt to stay calm and peaceful while the line began to grow to about a mile in length behind me.

Why so uptight, David? It is all good! Roll with it. You have all the time in the world to get to your lawn care which has been neglected for weeks on end before you move onto your nine-million other tasks for the day.

Not really, but I did walk away from that thinking that I could be more graceful to people who are simply trying to do their job in the midst of renovation and change themselves. This is especially after the employee who was helping me thanked me for my patience.

Now, if I can only get better of having internal patience like I apparently did on the outside. I think that is where it really counts.

My psychological health would probably concur.

Interview with Shane Hipps – The OAT Podcast

Check out my interview with Shane Hipps for the OAT Podcast!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCh68gAOOBY&w=480&h=300]

Calm and Cool

Hi. Sorry for the shameless plug here. As I continue to evolve in my music writing hobby that I do more as therapy than anything else, I recently looked back at a project that Noah and I worked on about 5 years ago as “Tommy Tomorrow” called “Solstice”.

It was a really fun project to work on during the weekend evenings while I was student teaching, but I quickly discovered that the energy requirements to continue in the electro-pop-rock genre/scene was personally unsustainable. The music was generally well received, though and I thought I would share a glimpse of that album here.

This song is called “Calm and Cool” and was the one that people seemed to like the most when we would play it at shows or after they listened to the album.

Listen to more or even purchase the album by searching for “Tommy Tomorrow” in iTunes. If you don’t want to pay for it, I would gladly pass on the files with no hard feelings at all. Just let me know.

I look forward to future projects with Noah and friends and there is some stuff boiling up to the surface recently that has been fun, but with more acoustic/folk roots.

We hope to start playing with some new material in the coming months and years at local coffee shops and festivals. Don’t worry, I will be sure to keep you posted on developments as they come.

Thanks for listening!