Actively Reading: "Teach Naked" sans PowerPoint
Some Diigo comments on a Chronicle piece on moving lectures out of the classroom. (Or, if you ask the piece’s author and some commenters, on PowerPoint as a source of boredom.) I’d like to transform...
View ArticleGroupthink in Action
An interesting situation which, I would argue, is representative of Groupthink. As a brief summary of the situation: a subgroup within a larger group is discussing the possibility of changing the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Installing BuddyPress on a Webhost
[Jump here for more technical details.] A few months ago, I installed BuddyPress on my Mac to try it out. It was a bit of an involved process, so I documented it: WordPress MU, BuddyPress, and bbPress...
View ArticleI Hate Books
In a way, this is a followup to a discussion happening on Facebook after something I posted (available publicly on Twitter): “(Alexandre) wishes physical books a quick and painfree death. / aime la...
View ArticleScriptocentrism and the Freedom to Think
As a comment on my previous blogpost on books, a friend sent me (through Facebook) a link to a blogpost about a petition to Amazon with the following statement: The freedom to read is tantamount to the...
View ArticleJazz and Identity: Comment on Lydon's Iyer Interview
Radio Open Source » Blog Archive » Vijay Iyer’s Life in Music: “Striving is the Back Story…”. Sounds like it will be a while before the United States becomes a truly post-racial society. Iyer can...
View ArticleWhat Not to Tweet
Here’s a list I tweeted earlier. Twenty Things You Should Never, Ever Tweet for Fear of Retaliation from the Tweet Police Lists. Too difficult to follow. Do’s and don’ts. Who died and made you...
View ArticleReviewing TRAUMA
As an art piece, one can evaluate TRAUMA as a relatively effective proof-of-concept based on an interesting concept. It does bring about a sense of alienation as would a classroom exercise in...
View ArticleEthnic Diversity and Post-Nationalism
I normally don’t enjoy Quora. But I was just asked an anonymous question there which made me react. It’s close to the kind of question I get in my intro-level courses in sociology or anthropology, so I...
View ArticleTwenty Years Online
This month marks the 20th anniversary of my first Internet account. I don’t remember the exact date but I know it was in late summer 1993, right before what became known as “Eternal September”. The...
View ArticleComputer Frustration
Been using computers intensively and extensivelty since 1987. Never had the urge to throw a computer out the window as much as this one, running Windows XP Pro. Gah! It becomes completely irresponsive...
View Article(Rant) Fold It! Fold It Riiight There!
Don’t get me wrong. I do love children. Children are the reason I feel optimistic about the future of humankind. And what I tend to call championship strollers do have a place. In parks, on bike paths,...
View ArticleAfrican Ingenuity
Via BoingBoing. Who says Africans lack business acumen? (Actually, such methods of empowerment are quite common, throughout Africa. And many Africans are rightfully proud of being able to manage by...
View ArticleIndividualism, Freedom, and Food
A surprisingly superficial podcast episode on what could have been a very deep subject. Open Source » Blog Archive » The End of Free Will? start a conversation about manipulation, persuasion and...
View ArticleComment-Fishing: Think It Through
As I notice that provocative and opinionated pronouncements are more likely to garner feedback than carefully crafted balanced thoughts, I’ll say it like this: bloggers should think before they blog!...
View ArticleWorld Intellectual Property Exploitation Organization Ultimately Threatened...
I do hope they realize it. The infamous, and famously exploitative, lobby group for “intellectual property” is ultimately going to lose. Signs of their ultimate demise abound in the actions of both the...
View ArticleGrapho-fétichistes et discrimination
Les nostalgiques s’emballent, les romantiques se renfrognent, les alarmistes s’exclament, les sentimentalistes se morfondent. Mais ceux d’entre nous qui préfèrent regarder vers l’avenir se réjouissent....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Podcasting Doesn't Work (Reason #23)
Was listening to the latest episode of Scientific American’s ScienceTalk podcast (for Januray 3, 2007). As is often the case with some of my favourite podcasts, I wanted to blog about specific issues...
View ArticleTook a While
The latest episode of Télé-Québec’s Les Francs Tireurs had a segment on international humatarian aid. (Especially of the Euro-American CICR and Reporters sans frontières style.) Maybe there are more (I...
View ArticleEven Teachers Get the Blues
(With apologies to k.d. lang. Without apologies to Gus Van Sant.) In response to a forum discussion on teacher-rating sites, someone posted a link to this blog: Rate Your Students. I also posted about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Comportement dans le métro de Montréal
Quelques principes de base qui peuvent aider à diminuer le niveau de stress de tout le monde.Facebook | LES RÈGLES DU MÉTRO – “ÇA SE FAIT PAS, ÇA !”J’ai partagé ce lien sur Facebook et un de mes amis...
View ArticleEthnocentrism and Toponymy (Draft Notes)
This one is more of a rant. At least, it’s about a pet peeve. But I don’t think I’ll flesh it out unless I feel really motivated. Basically, I wish people used more precise terms to designate different...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cultural References and Mass Media
An effect of my not having a television is that I occasionally miss “references to popular culture.” Case in point. xkcd – A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language – By Randall Munroe To add...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dismissive Naysayers (Rant)
Ok, I must really be in a ranting spree… Feels kind of good. Don’t worry, it won’t last. So… Why is it that people occasionally seem forced to be dismissive with people who like something that they...
View ArticleManufacturing Taste
In a comment to my rant on naysaying, Carl Dyke posted the following link (to a Josh Ellis piece from 2003): Mindjack – Taste Tribes The piece itself is rather unremarkable. Although, it does contain...
View ArticleThe Issue Is Respect
As a creative generalist, I don’t tend to emphasize expert status too much, but I do see advantages in complementarity between people who act in different spheres of social life. As we say in French,...
View ArticleÉloge de la courtoisie en-ligne
Nous y voilà! Après avoir terminé mon billet sur le contact social, j’ai reçu quelques commentaires et eu d’autres occasions de réfléchir à la question. Ce billet faisait suite à une interaction...
View ArticleFinally! A Drinking Age Debate
This may be more significant than people seem to assume: university and college administrators in the United States are discussing the potential effects of reverting the drinking age back to the age of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Is PRI's The World Having Social Media Issues?
Some raw notes on why PRI’S The World (especially “The World Tech Podcast” or WTP) is having issues with social media. It may sound bad, for many reasons. But I won’t adapt the tone. No offense...
View ArticleOmnivoring Conspiracies
Yup, I occasionally like to jump on bandwagons. Especially when they’re full of food and is being mentioned in a video presenting a cool local event in which I happen to take part. Alejna put the final...
View ArticleIntello-Bullying
A topic which I’ll revisit, to be sure. But while I’m at it… I tend to react rather strongly to a behaviour which I consider the intellectual equivalent of schoolyard bullying. Notice that I don’t...
View ArticleBlogging Academe
LibriVox founder and Montreal geek Hugh McGuire recently posted a blog entry in which he gave a series of nine arguments for academics to blog: Why Academics Should Blog Hugh’s post reminded me of one...
View ArticleMy Problem With Journalism
I hate having an axe to grind. Really, I do. “It’s unlike me.” When I notice that I catch myself grinding an axe, I “get on my own case.” I can be quite harsh with my own self. But I’ve been trained to...
View ArticleQuest for Expertise
Will at Work Learning: People remember 10%, 20%…Oh Really?. This post was mentioned on the mailing-list for the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE-L). In that post, Will...
View ArticleClik here to view.
iTunes Gift Card on Canadian App Store? (Updated)
GRRR! :-E Disappointed by an iTunes gift card [Update, December 27 8:55 pm: I received a reply from Apple: Dear Alexandre, Hello my name is Todd and i am happy to assist you. I understand that you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Influence and Butterflies
Seems like “influence” is a key theme in social media, these days. An example among several others: Influenceur, autorité, passeur de culture ou l’un de ces singes exubérants | Mario tout de go. In...
View ArticleApps and iTunes Cards in Canada: Follow Up
Recently blogged about this issue: though information about this appears nowhere on the card or in the terms of service, iTunes Cards (gift cards or certificates) may not be used to purchase...
View ArticleStarbucks Lost It
Not the case itself. Starbucks has this case against DoubleShot Coffee Company, which is being blogged and podcasted. So far, Starbucks has threatened DoubleShot with a lawsuit. So nobody has won or...
View ArticleNormative Language and Spontaneity
In an interview (in French) with Bruno Guglielminetti (site not yet updated with the interview), copy-editor François Hubert discussed the “quality” of the French language on blogs (by which he means...
View Article
