DancingSamurai.ca

xkcd never gets old:

If you haven’t seen it already, check out Wolfram Alpha. Check out the demo for the possibilities.

Unfortunately, it has a looong way to go – the demo is very slick but actually using it for questions I have returns the dreaded “Wolfram|Alpha isn’t sure what to do with your input” or “no data available” messages far too often…

Is it just me or is xkcd getting better lately? It’s uber geeky but hey, I laugh. This panel is even more appropriate with all the “Twilight” hype out there (it’s even sunken its fangs into one of my wife’s friends…)

xkcd – A Webcomic – Troll Slayer.

Interesting post by danah boyd on why it’s OK, even a good thing, for students & teachers to interact outside the classroom:

The fear about teacher-student interactions also worries me at a broader societal level. A caring teacher (a genuinely well-intended, thoughtful, concerned adult) can often turn a lost teen into a teen with a mission. Many of us are lucky to have parents who helped us at every turn, but this is by no means universal. There are countless youth out there whose parents are absent, distrustful, or otherwise sources of frustration rather than support and encouragement. Teens need to have adults on their side. When I interview teens who have tough family lives (and I’m not talking about abuse here) but are doing OK themselves, I often find that it’s a teacher or pastor that they turn to for advice. All too often, the truly troubled kids that I meet have no adults that they can turn to for support.

As I’m moving into practice (Residency is finally approaching it’s end!!), I needed to order some business cards. One of my colleagues suggested VistaPrint.ca, and boy are they awesome!

They have a slick web interface from designing everything from business cards to rubber stamps to envelope labels, etc… and their prices don’t appear to be too bad. I’ll let you know when I receive my cards how they are…

A very interesting paper about youth and their digital lives has been published. The 2-page summary is very revealing and resonates well with me – certainly what I’ve done with all my ‘online time’ since I was very young. It’s neat to find that this kind of experimentation and exploration has gone mainstream. (via BoingBoing)

Contrary to adult perceptions, while hanging out online,
youth are picking up basic social and technical skills they
need to fully participate in contemporary society. Erecting
barriers to participation deprives teens of access to
these forms of learning. Participation in the digital age
means more than being able to access serious online
information and culture. Youth could benefit from educators
being more open to forms of experimentation and
social exploration that are generally not characteristic
of educational institutions.

I’ll have to read the whole book… as soon as I find some time. There must be some hiding beneath the couch cushions or in the lint basket of my dryer or… *sigh*

Local cache: digitalyouth-twopagesummary

CAIP has submitted their response to Bell, and Wireless Nomad and l’Union des Consommateurs have written in support. Michael Geist has the scoop. Again, all these documents are available on the CRTC page for this complaint.

As per this forum post:

1) click on the following link: CRTC Submissions

2) Select “Part VII/PN” from the list

3) insert the CRTC file number (# 8622-C51-200805153) into the “Subject” Line and

4) insert the following suggested text into the “Description / Comments / Questions” box: “I am writing to express my support for the Application that CAIP has filed with the CRTC regarding Bell Canada’s throttling practices. I believe that these practices contravene Bell
Canada’s duties as a common carrier and that the Commission should direct Bell to immediately cease and desist from throttling the traffic of independent ISPs.”

The comments should appear on this CRTC page.
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