BAAC 2004

Secrets Revealed.

2007-08-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

According to my RSS reader, the only other subscriber to this blog is wondering who I am.

Like there could be any other answer.

?

2007-07-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

According to my RSS feed, there are two people subscribing to this blog.

I wonder who the other one is?

tips for bloglines

2005-05-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

This is the exact same post as I just made on my new LiveJournal blog for AC365. I have too many blogs. I should just give up on this one, but I don't feel like it just yet.

It was entitled Lending a Helping Hand... so I could link in a picture from my flickr photostream.

When people talk about blogs they also tend to talk about RSS feeds. You might remember RSS from our last course. It might bring back bittersweet memories... but do not despair, RSS is not something to be feared. Or as I like to say, (because I like to use this super geeky joke) RSS is not a pain in the rss.

Simply defined, RSS is Really Simple Syndication... or a set of coding that will automatically update a feed aggregrator (think kind of like an email client that checks for new messages) when that site has been updated. It's kind of like the friends page in LiveJournal, except that you don't have to go to the actual site to see if your friends have posted anything.

Here are some tips for bloglines, a free web-based feed aggregator that helps you keep track of blogs and websites that publish RSS, XML, or Atom feeds. (And did I mention that just like my personal favourite Flickr, Bloglines is free?) Feed aggregators are extremely helpful when you find that you are going to a number of websites all the time to see if they have been updated. Today, especially with the proliferation of online news sources, weblogs, and Flickr photostreams, programs like Bloglines can become a "what did I do without it?" kind of tool (note how my tone has become very infomercial announcer). I use Bloglines to keep track of friends' blogs and photostreams (yes, Flickr publishes RSS and Atom feeds too...), various academic blogs, and of course my selection of online news and entertainment sources (I don't get tv so when I have time I catch up on the few shows I would have watched through this wonderful site). Just remember that not every site publishes an Atom, RSS, or XML feed.

This link gives pretty comprehensive instructions on how to use bloglines. Try it out if you have a bit of time to spare... it will change your online browsing habits dramatically. And with that I conclude today's tip column.

random generation

2005-04-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

I talked about the Sokal hoax a ways back... here's a little something a little more recent that is more or less related. A trio of MIT computer science graduate students created a program that would randomly generate a research paper. The trio submitted two of these computer generated papers to an academic conference and one entitled "Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy" was accepted for presentation.

Go here for the full-text article from BBC News about this newest academic hoax.

on classification and social networks

2005-04-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

Occassionally I come across terms that I am not familiar with in the least. Take for instance folksonomy. This term I came across while researching my current paper on the photo sharing application flickr and online social networks. It's an interesting term to be sure, referring to "an emergent individual/local or small group taxonomy with no imposed hierarchy, pick list (lexicon) or term control. Users apply their own (free) terms aka tags to digital objects (pictures, links)."

The relevance of the term to social networking is a little unclear at first. But folksonomy (or tagging as we lay persons may call it) in flickr is the most basic way that networks are formed. All three of the photos are from the flickr site (two are from my photostream, one is from my friend's photostream) and each have been abitrarily tagged with terms that have some basic reference to the subject or theme of the photographs. Some are tagged with sun, portrait, sunset, shadow, etc. (I think you get the idea...). Anyhow, all the other photos on flickr that share any of the same tags are grouped in a pool that you can view by simply clicking on the tag. Voila... there's a simple explanation of how folksonomy relates to social networks.

Obviously my research paper will explore this term in a lot more depth. But after neglecting the BAAC blog for many months (although I feel no guilt) I felt like making a couple posts for any of the lost souls out there to read and ponder. Comment if you would like, or click on any of the photos that I've posted here to browse the wonderful world that is flickr. If you haven't experienced flickr yet, you don't know what you are missing.

For more about folksonomy... go here:

Social Classification

communication theory list

2005-04-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

I've been noticebly absent from the BAAC blog for several months, but I have the feeling that no one really missed my posts so I do not feel any guilt. I've been busy with other things... school, spring colds, spring snowfalls, digital photography, and growing my hair. It's been a hectic couple of months.

Today I came across this link through one of my RSS feeds. It's a comprehensive list of communication theories from De Universiteit Twente in the Netherlands. I have yet to find another site that so clearly lists all the communication theories that we studied in (what else?) our communication theory course.

So, for future reference bookmark this link:

Communication Theories

and that's my good deed for the year. I hope somebody out there appreciates my effort.

housekeeping

2005-01-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

Not in the mood to post anything that requires prolonged thought. I made some minor changes to the BAAC template... added some things that most people probably won't even notice... but the new items are there nonetheless.

New posts will start to appear when inspriation strikes.

Northern Voice Canadian Blogging Conference

2004-12-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

Anyone up for a little CanCon blogging?

NorthernVoice is a one-day, non-profit community blogging conference that's being held at the UBC downtown campus on February 19, 2005. It's only $20 to register and it is held on a Saturday. What could be better than a weekend networking about blogging?

Classifications

2004-12-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago... on some discussion board a url away, we discussed Weblogs, Discourse and Power. This was a minor upset on my part because I had failed to motivate my group enough to bid for this presentation topic, but I was consoled by choosing the coveted blog topic for my research paper.

In the course of the discussion there was some issue as to what constituted a blog... such as whether a true blog was simply a frequently updated site of interesting web links. Lucky for this dedicated blog audience, I have come across a new classification system for weblogs.

You, the BAAC blog audience, will be thrilled to discover that this classification system has dual links: one to the original, more detailed classification system in Log Frenzy by Paul Ford; and the second, the compiled list of Narrative Forms & Weblog Types in Oliver Wrede's Weblogs and Discourse: Weblogs as a transformational technology for higher education and academic research. For those of you who are keenly interested in the subject of blogs and education (my research topic of choice for this upcoming paper), please read Wrede.

And now, the new blog classification system.

Narrative forms of weblog posts*

DiaLog	Mimic a dialog between two fictional characters
OppoLog	Always post to counterposition when posting to a position
ResoLog	Seek resolution between disparate opinions
RootLog	For each link, post an accompanying link to the root concept, or to a topic in a given context.
MeroLog	Identify the intellectual components of a given topic.
TextLog	Break up a public-domain text into component parts and post a new, brief section each day, with related web links and discussion.
ConnectLog	Find connections between different ideas and things.
QueryLog	Ask people to fill in the blanks for you.
MemeSmear	Track an idea and show how the language around the issue evolves and changes from one idea to another.
NarraLog	Entries which are organized by topic and build longer "narratives".
CharaLog	Create a character and browse in their guise.
OxyLog/ParaLog	Use the classic "links + commentary" form, but log items not found on the Internet.
ForeLog	Post links to stories about current issues. Identify what you think the outcome of the stories will be.

Weblog types by content (suggested)*

LifeLog	Log things offline (children, books, asphalt, trees, bugs). [Form: ParaLog]
RaceLog	Regularly document links related to racial prejudice, whether black or white or other. Alternatively: RapeLog, PovertyLog. [Form: ResoLog]
TheoLog	Athiests vs. Christians. [Form: OppoLog]
PoliLog	Create a characters for each political party/movement. Let them argue. [Form: RootLog]
CritiLig	Link to critical texts and provide historical critical contexts for the thinking in those texts. Challenge their accuracy and bias. [Form: OppoLog]
ArtSciLog	For every cultural activity, find a corresponding scientific way to interpret it. [Form: MeroLog]
CorpLog	Remark on the activities of corporations. Show the social and political precedents for their actions, and identify consequences. [Form: RootLog & ForeLog]
ClassicsLog	Read a large group of the classics. Abstract your knowledge into a 20-page text. [Form: TextLog]
FuryLog	Create a very angry man or woman and have them write extensively about their opinions. [Form: CharaLog]
RhetoLog	Identify the rhetorical constructs beneath the links you post. If you link to a news article, examine the writer's biases and use of language. Point out fallacies. Define a system of thinking. [Form: RootLog]

Any classification suggestions for the BAAC blog?

* and if you are still rusty on your blog terminology, here is a link to a weblog glossary that you will need to become au fait with the world of weblogs.

Distance Educating Ourselves to Death

2004-12-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

It may appear that I have been neglecting my project, the BAAC blog. This is not the case. I actually started a post about mid November, published the work in progress for a few days in anticipation of returning to finish it when I was more inclined, but then never got around to completing my inspired post. So, one day I changed the status of that post back to draft, and I recently used the content from that post as the basis of one of my recent essays. Now that is what I call repurposing text. The completed essay was significantly different than my vision for my blog post, and it is possible that I might one day complete the entry.

I came up with several excellent ideas for blog posts recently, but until today I haven't had the inclination to compose anything. Perhaps over the Christmas holidays I will stockpile a set of posts so you, my dedicated blog audience, will not be without reading material for such extended periods of time ever again. But on to the content of today's post.

I was browsing the online journal Radical Pedagogy earlier this week and came across a few articles of interest. I was particularly intrigued by Are We Distance Educating Our Students to Death? Some Reflections on the Educational Assumptions of Distance Learning. article by Stephen Greenwald and David Rosner published in Radical Pedagogy's Spring 2003 Volume 5 Issue 1. I was interested not only because the BAAC program is primarily a DL program, but also because the article relates to Neil Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business which I have recently read. Read the article if you have time... It might be some fun holiday reading for some of you, the loyal BAAC blog audience.

Greenwald and Rosner state the following in their introduction:

Distance learning is a topic to which scholars have recently devoted a great deal of attention. In our view, a crucial but neglected question about online education is raised, albeit implicitly, in Neil Postman’s work, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985). According to Postman, television, an image-based medium, necessarily imposes an entertainment modality upon cultural institutions, including educational ones. This is neither a conscious process nor one with sinister motivations. Rather it is a problem built into the very structure of image-based technology institutions, and the cognitive assumptions people hold when they encounter these institutions. This paper argues that the practice of using the computer as the main instructional medium in distance learning courses may similarly have the unintended consequence of reducing academic content to the level of mere entertainment. While Postman’s objections are not leveled specifically against online learning, we believe many of his criticisms regarding the use of television as an instructional source apply to the use of computers in distance education ventures as well.

Is that what we expect from the online component of our program... to be entertained? Have we just replaced our televisions with computer screens? Thanks to the influence of television, are we more willing to sit in front of our computers reading the posts in the discussion groups if only the content is short, snappy, and entertaining? The major complaint concerning our weekly discussions in our first DL course was that there were too many posts... too much to read. "Keep things succinct!" we cried, "If posts are too long I'm not going to read them." As Greenwald and Rosner state, if anything is perceived to be the slightest bit boring, then, one can change the channels without even getting off the couch... or in the case of us in the online learning environment, without leaving our computer chairs. Has the television remote been replaced by the computer mouse?

Will shorter, snappier blog entries increase the BAAC blog readership?

Information Gluttony and Obesity of the Mind

2004-10-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

de·ter·min·ism (d-tûrm-nzm) n.

The philosophical doctrine that every state of affairs, including every human event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedent states of affairs.

technological determinism:

The notion that technology is an autonomous and driving force in structuring society or elements of society.

technological imperative:

The perspective or way of thinking, often said to be typical of Western thought and Western society, that priveleges the conceptualization and development of technology and favours the application of technology once it is developed; it perceives technology as a social force.

The cohort is in the midst of writing midterms, and even though my workload is signficantly less than it was in previous programs my body cannot distinguish the difference. So, as was typical for me during my busier student days I am experiencing a little insomnia and have spent several nights awake when it seems that the rest of the city is slumbering in their beds. I've often considered what keeps me awake at the wee hours of the morning. Is it something I ate... something that I thought? Was it the chicken... or was it McLuhan? What leaves me in this frenzied state where I can't fall asleep... can't stay asleep, and generally don't sleep at all? And what the hell does McLuhan have to do with my sleeping patterns?

(For the purposes of this post, I am going to choose to ignore all of the arguments against technological determinism and leap from the compact definition borrowed from our good friends Lorimer and Gasher)

What do we mean when we call someone determined? Usually, one would think, that person is resolute and consistently working towards a goal. The nature of his or her goal (that is whether we think the outcome is positive or negative) plays an integral role in our perception of this determination as good or bad. When we speak of technological determinism, we also apply similar rules of understanding. For example, McLuhan's prediction of media's transformation of society sparks many debates as to the positive and negative (and all the areas in between) aspects of this so-called deterministic change.

We live in what has been called an information glut. New technologies have much to do with this, especially the internet through which for relatively little cost and little effort people are able to share information. Additionally, more and more books are being published... we have hundreds of televison channels to choose from... and we are bombarded with billboards, posters, and ads on the sides of buildings, buses, roadsides... almost everywhere we look.

Drawing from these principles that determinism can have both positive and negative connotations and that we are surrounded by information, I am going to argue something slightly different. May I be so bold as to suggest another type of deterministic behaviour exists... that of educational determinism?

To be completely introspective, I have frequently contemplated what is my primary driving force and I am almost always returned to the fabled quest for knowledge. Like a toddler, my favourite question is why... but thankfully my range of questions has become far more critical (I should hope). I seem to be incapable of shutting off or ignoring this insatiable hunger. One should think then that I am out rejoicing in the streets during this age of the information glut. Unfortunately this is not the case... I have some serious concerns... I have a serious problem. My mind is obese.

My pursuit of knowledge (what some might call Life-Long-Learning, a term that I have shed for the more elitist educational determinism) has taken control over my life. Not only is it forcing enormous financial debt on my shoulders and causing insomnia... but it is also shaping my thoughts and ideas. Education has become the powerful driving force in my life and has contributed to the structure of my ideals and elements of my personality. It has also made me into a fathead.

Now it's hard enough to change one's physical diet, let alone an intellectual one. I just can't stop consuming this stuff. I've tried to take the suggestions of health practitioners who advise that we try to moderate our diet, applying their ideas to what I pile on my intellectual plate. I tried to increase my roughage (fibre) intake. It wasn't successful. Reality television, trash novels, tabloids, celebrity magazines were just like eating celery... tasteless and requiring more energy to process than it did to consume. It left me feeling empty. Give me my high calorie ideas any day. Far more satisfying...

I'm still concerned though. I think people need to know about this growing trend of information gluttony and obesity of the mind. Documentaries seem to be the thing to do these days, so I'm going to make a film called Overeducate Me and go across Canada, interview experts on the effects of education and try every course that is offered at a university at least once. My mind will continue to become obese, but it will be in the name of social responsibility. This film might wake people up a bit... it might change the nature of our educational system, encouraging schools to offer lighter fare on their educational menus. You see, then people would have more choice. The mind obesity rate would go down significantly, and I might be able to sleep again.

This might be the information glut but it is also the age where the distinction between fathead and bonehead was never so clear.

Blatant Promotion of Brother's Work....

2004-10-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

My brother (a lanky fellow in his late twenties and self-proclaimed modern day Renaissance man) recently published an article on the "contradictions between the professed political stance taken towards sexuality versus the implicit attitudes suggested by our choice of language." This article, "Fucking watch your oppressive language!" was featured in the final issue of good girl magazine, a quarterly dedicated to publishing ideas that challenge, critique, and break the rules of the status quo.

This post is not only a blatant promotion of my brother's work, but also a shameless campaign for the renewed interest in the blogging world. In an effort to assasinate a pair of avian animals with a single rock (reinventing the cliché kill two birds with one stone) I have posted the article on my own blog.

Here is an excerpt....

Calling someone a “pig,” say, a “capitalist pig,” is only an insult because pigs, the animals, have had a bad rap in the past. (Note that the insult isn’t “capitalist water buffalo” or “capitalist Vancouver Island marmot.”) And calling someone a “capitalist pig” reinforces the idea of “pig” being an appropriate insult, and therefore perpetuates oppression of pigs (hence, the growing global pig liberation and justice movement)...

I know what you're thinking: "Jesus Christ, man! Next you'll be saying the term 'asshole' unfairly demeans anuses, 'shithead' denigrates excrement... Is nothing unsacred? If you keep this up, we'll have no bleedin' cuss words left! What will there be left to live for?"

For the full text of the article go to...
Fucking watch your oppressive language!

Please read the article, and offer your comments.

The Narcotics of Linguistics

2004-09-28T01:28:00.000-07:00

A less structured post... inspired by the concept of being dumbed down.

This title is not my own invention. It was extracted from the article Clichés are not dead as doornail by Jeffrey Westhoff of the Northwest Herald (I have to insert my editorial comments here... why is his article entitled not dead as doornail instead of not dead as a doornail or not dead as doornails? That is a very sloppy title, his editor should be ashamed.). Westhoff doesn't say much in his article. It is not a groundbreaking report detaiiling a resurgence in cliché popularity. However, despite not revealing the darkside of clichés, Westhoff's article still gives us something to think about... clichés as the drug of our vocabulary.

Why do we use clichés so much? Is it a result of laziness or are clichés such a part of our culture that they do not have an effective replacement?

Let us sample some clichés... handsome is as handsome does, kill two birds with one stone, came up smelling like roses, heads will roll, can't see the forest for the trees, see light at the end of the tunnel, naked truth, money doesn't grow on trees, sell like hotcakes, take with a grain of salt, right on the money, a no win situation, rule with an iron fist... Needless to say the list goes on and on.

Dictionary.com, the poor student's answer to the OED online, (editorial comments... why do UVic students get the UPass and access to the OED online?) in the section identifying synonyms for cliché (bromide, commonplace, platitude, truism), states that these nouns denote an expression or idea that has lost its originality or force through overuse. If the originality and the power behind these expressions is gone, why do we persist in still using them?

From Westhoff's article

"I think that people use them because they are attuned to them," said Greg Alfus, a retired English instructor from McHenry County College with a fascination of linguistics. "They don't realize what's coming out of their mouths or appearing in their [writing]."

Newer clichés, buzzwords such as "proactive," spread through a sort of peer pressure, said Gabriel Decio, an English instructor at MCC.

"People use it as a hallmark of being up to date, of being an insider instead of an outsider," Decio said. "But in several years a new word will come in because people will need a new way to convinve themselves they are on the cutting edge."

(editoral comments... Please note the limits in the verb selection; each source "said". If you check out the full text of the article you will see many other saids... Editor, where are you or is it standard journalistic practice to use only one verb relating to speech in a story? Is the media dumbing us down? What would this article read like if you were to replace said with synonyms such as articulated, recounted, uttered, voiced, etc.? I have a slight obsession with synonyms, please forgive me.)

Is the answer to the mystery that we use clichés because we all just want to fit in? Does our desire to be seen as "cutting edge" make our overuse of clichés acceptable? I can just imagine a defense for a cliché ridden document, "But [insert instructor's/editor's/reviewer's name here], everyone is doing it. What do you mean I can't tell people in our sales pitch that beggars can't be choosers? Money doesn't grow on trees you know. They know what side of their bread is buttered on." Perhaps my example included a few too many antiquated clichés. Not exactly the "cream of the crop" you might say. Let me give an example of a more hip use of cliché and see if it fares any better. From Westhoff's article, "Let me give you a heads up on the new killer app coming out of the Left Coast. Those guys really think outside the box." Now, I have to ask the question... are clichés dumbing us down? Are we not capable of expressing ourselves so that we are understood by others without the assistance of the cliché?

"Everything in moderation," some might argue. "Keep a stiff upper lip. Don't cry over spilled milk," others might intone. "Clichés are a far cry from being a albatross around the neck," a few might pronounce. Despite the obvious prominence of clichés in our everyday conversation, we should not allow ourselves to be passified. What happens when clichés take on a life of their own? Much like jargon filled abstruseness (see my last post... alternative working title The Jargon Bargain...) overuse of cliché interferes with the clarity of the written work and rather than improve our communication, reduces it to a level of generality and monotony.

For a drole look at the an overdeveloped set of clichés specific to the literary world, go to Tom Payne's article Circle of Clichés. Payne's discussion of words that reviewers and publishers love too much may perhaps inspire us to step back and look at our writing more critically. Already we look for mistakes in grammar, unecessary use of jargon, repetition of similar adjectives, verbs, etc, and flaws to the overall structure of our document and flow of ideas. In an effort to regain some element of originality to our writing we also need to be conscious of our reliance on cliché and make efforts to limit their use or find new ways to say the same old thing. Clichés became popular because they are helpful for people in remembering things. So make up your own. Create your own memorable soundbite.

From Westhoff's article

As English instructors, Alfus and Decio don't mind spoken clichés nearly as much as ones that appear on the page. "In writing, clichés are a sign of a lack of creativity," Decio said.

But not matter how many English teachers harangue their students not to use clichés, Decio knows they will remain part of the language.

"People are not going to give them up," he said. "Language is not what they tell us it should be. Language is what it is."

Is that where we are left? Things are what they are? An interesting attitude... think of how well that works when we see injustice in the world. "Oh well, it is what it is." I am not about to let my vocabulary be overthrown by cliché. I don't want to be addicted anymore. I see a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm heading for that. Anyone care to join?

Sly Like a Fox: The Line Between Clarity and Confusion

2004-09-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Back in the days of yore, my history teacher lead my class through the hallways of my high school to the mezzanine overlooking the cafeteria. We were then instructed to yell out to our fellow students sitting below, "WE ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED!" My teacher did not explain the purpose of this little activity, but the experience has remained with me since then (I won't tell you how long it has been, you will have to guess). So, why all this talk about interconnectedness you might ask? What does any of this have to do with being sly like a fox?

In an attempt to enhance your understanding I have provided a roughly hewn vignette....

It was a fine September day much like any other. My brother, a tall lanky fellow in his late twenties, stood just beyond his front door stoop with an eraser in one hand and a book in the other. Like many students he had employed the trick of 'highlighting in pencil' in one of his recent library books and now he needed the aid of the sun to see the faint markings in the margins so he could erase all trace of them. "Ah ha," I heard him exclaim from my spot in front of the kitchen. "Here's something interesting," he said, handing me the book. "Read from this paragraph to here," he directed, pointing to specific sections on the page. I remained in the kitchen while I read the excerpt from Robert L. Peters' book 'Getting What You Came For' The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or a Ph.D. Suddenly it all made sense. Everything was interconnected.

Well, that more or less is what happened if you eliminate my epiphany about everything making sense and my realization that everything is interconnected. It is not quite so simple. What I did read from the Peters' book (excellent read by the way, very amusing and informative for anyone looking into pursuing higher levels of education), in his section on Advice on Writing Clearly, was a description of one reason why academic writing can at times be so confusing and so poorly written.

Unitelligible Management Research and Academic Prestige by J. Scott Armstrong detailed the results of an experiment performed in the 1970s that showed that despite a lecture being incomprehensible and nonsense, the audience still evaluated the lecture as intelligent and more or less understandable.

Dr. Fox was an actor who looked distinguished and sounded authoratative. He was provided with a fictitious but impressive biography and was sent to lecture about a subject on which he knew nothing. The talk, "Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education," was delivered to a total of 55 people. One hour was allowed for talk and 30 minutes for discussion. The audiences consisted on highly educated social workers, pyschologists, psychiatrists, educators, and administrators. The lecture was comprised of double talk, meaningless words, false logic, contradictory statements, irrelevant humor, and meaningless references to unrelated topics. Judging from a questionnaire administered after the talk, the audience found Dr. Fox's lecture to be clear and stimulating. None of the subjects realized that the lecture was pure nonsense. (Naftulin et al.)

Now, in his book Peters does go into more detail to state that this experiment with "Dr. Fox" has been criticized for its poor methodology and further research has shown that audiences may not always be so gullible. However, if you link to Scott Armstrong's article, Unitelligible Management Research and Academic Prestige, you will see that serious research has shown that the "Dr. Fox effect" (that clear communication is not always appreciated, and less readable articles are often viewed as more impressive) appears real enough.

I do not address this topic in an effort to aid the effort to put an end to metadiscourse, or to eliminate the many beautiful polysyllabic words that feature so prominently in my vocabularly. Rather, I am posting this information because it made me ponder... When does a text cross the line between clarity and confusion?

Peters' book addresses many common sense approaches to writing clearly. He talks about writing with the goal to communicate... avoiding "jargon filled abstruseness"... Later on, Peters makes a humourous point about jargon, stating that contrary to the defense by some academics that jargon words are essential terms, we use jargon because it sounds impressive. I agree (somewhat) with this statement, I know that I use jargon to improve the tone of my writing but I try to be conscious not to overuse it. As Applied Communicators we discuss repurposing our information for various audiences (and for some audiences.. jargon is appropriate). Our goal is always to communicate. But is our goal always to communicate to the lay audience? I tend to think not. (However, one should hope that our writing, regardless of the inclusion of jargon, is clear enough that most people can understand it)

In an effort to find the full transcript of the Dr. Fox lecture, I came across some interesting articles regarding the Sokal hoax, where the Dr. Fox effect (jargon filled abstruseness... my new favourite term) was extremely evident. In the article, A Physicist Experiments with Cultural Studies, Alan D. Sokal describes how, in an effort to test what he saw as "an apparent decline in the standards of intellectual rigour in certain precincts of the American academic humanities", he was able to publish an article that made no sense in a leading North American journal of cultural studies. Sokal's nonsense article, Trangressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantam Gravity appeared in the Spring/Summer 1996 edition of Social Text. Both are worth a read, especially Sokal's analysis of his experiment.

So, again you ask, what does any of this have to do with interconnectedness? Let me recap... There I was, standing in the kitchen minding my own business, and my brother tosses me a book. From this book I read a passage about writing clearly that sparks my interest... I search for more information on this topic and this leads me to another topic that makes me ponder the considerable social importance of effective communication. Funny thing, since I am studying communications. But my poorly supported point is, our observation of interconnectedness is hard to avoid. Even when we are standing in the kitchen... minding our own business... Similarly (because I feel the need to link my title to my overarching concept of interconnectedness), perhaps all we need to do to avoid ineffective writing or communication is to understand how clarity and confusion are interconnected. Hey, it is a stretch... but this is a blog that no one really reads or responds to so I can say whatever I feel like for the time being.

For your additional reading pleasure:
The Doctor Fox Lecture: A Paradigm of Educational Seduction

Take a running jump, Holy Joes, humbugs!

2004-09-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

In a previous discussion (elsewhere... not on this blog) we examined the changes in vocabulary resulting from usage of new technologies. This discussion prompted lots of debate over the direction of the English language... raising the alarm in some that perhaps our traditional vocabulary is dying off and it is being replaced by "tech-speak"... language that is geared towards efficiency. (I'm generalizing here...)

Does the "old" vocabulary of the English language already have it's foot out the door? What are the implications of this?

A related issue came to mind during our discussion, about a radical new translation that makes the Bible acessible to the unchurched. The ONE translation, hailed as "a new, fresh and adventurous" take on the early Christian scriptures, claims to tackle the problem of what Christianity would look like, what Christianity would sound like, if we really tried to screen out the stale, the technical, the unconsciously exclusive words and policies, and to hear for the first time what the Christian Scriptures were saying.

Excerpts about the One Translation from Ekklesia website

The translation is pioneering in its accessibility, and changes the original Greek and Hebrew nomenclature into modern nicknames. St Peter becomes “Rocky”, Mary Magdalen becomes “Maggie”, Aaron becomes “Ron”, Andronicus becomes “Andy” and Barabbas becomes “Barry”.

In other passages the translator John Henson, a retired Baptist minister, renders “demon possession” as “mental illness” and “Son of Man”, the phrase used frequently to refer to Jesus, as “the Complete Person”.

Parables become “riddles” and to baptise, to “dip” in water. Salvation becomes “healing” or “completeness” and Heaven becomes “the world beyond time and space.”

DIPPING INTO A NEW TRANSLATION (as reported in the Times)

Mark 1:4

Authorised version: “John did baptise in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”

New: “John, nicknamed ‘The Dipper’, was ‘The Voice’. He was in the desert, inviting people to be dipped, to show they were determined to change their ways and wanted to be forgiven.”

Mark 1:10-11

Authorised version: “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And there came a voice from the heaven saying, Thou are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

New: As he was climbing up the bank again, the sun shone through a gap in the clouds. At the same time a pigeon flew down and perched on him. Jesus took this as a sign that God’s spirit was with him. A voice from overhead was heard saying, ‘That’s my boy! You’re doing fine!’ ”

Matthew 23:25

Authorised version: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”

New version: “Take a running jump, Holy Joes, humbugs!

Matthew 26:69-70

Authorised version: “Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, ‘Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.’ But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest”.

New: Meanwhile Rocky was still sitting in the courtyard. A woman came up to him and said: “Haven’t I seen you with Jesus, the hero from Galilee?” Rocky shook his head and said: “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”

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Another excerpt...

In his foreward to the new version of the New Testament, which also includes the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, Dr. Williams describes it as a work of "extraordinary power" because it is "so close to the prose and poetry of ordinary life." He writes: "Instead of being taken into a specialized religious frame of reference - as happens with even the most conscientious formal modern translations - and being given a gospel addressed to specialised concerns... we have here a vehicle for thinking and worshipping that is fully earthed, recognisably about our humanity."

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It's a very thought provoking issue. How often do we assume a different frame of reference when we engage in different forms of communication?

Are we out to eliminate metadiscourse?

the experience and perception of time

2004-09-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

for the theorists and philosophers of the group...

"We see colours, hear sounds and feel textures. Some aspects of the world, it seems, are perceived through a particular sense. Others, like shape, are perceived through more than one sense. But what sense or senses do we use when perceiving time? It is certainly not associated with one particular sense. In fact, it seems odd to say that we see, hear or touch time passing. And indeed, even if all our senses were prevented from functioning for a while, we could still notice the passing of time through the changing pattern of our thought. Perhaps, then, we have a special faculty, distinct from the five senses, for detecting time. Or perhaps, as seems more likely, we notice time through perception of other things. But how?

Time perception raises a number of intriguing puzzles, including what it means to say we perceive time. In this article, we shall explore the various processes through which we are made aware of time, and which influence the way we think time really is. Inevitably, we shall be concerned with the psychology of time perception, but the purpose of the article is to draw out the philosophical issues, and in particular whether and how aspects of our experience can be accommodated within certain metaphysical theories concerning the nature of time and causation."

for more on the experience and perception of time

my original thoughts on the matter...

Expanded Time Perception Hypothesis: Understanding Procrastination

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A firm understanding of Expanded Time Perception Hypothesis (ETPH) is essential for all procrastinators. The main difference between the procrastinator and the non-procrastinator is the slight alteration to the traditional understanding of the length of a second. A simple definition of a second as a unit of time without the aid of a stopwatch or other type of time keeping device, is the length of time it takes to say one Mississippi or one steamboat once in a regular speaking voice. However, to a procrastinator, applying ETPH, the understanding of what constitutes a second is the length of time it takes to say one Mississippi or one steamboat ten times. Therefore an hour to a non-procrastinator consists of 60 minutes or 3600 traditional seconds. To a procrastinator, however, an hour still consists of 60 minutes, but thanks to EPTH, contains 36000 traditional seconds. Both the non-procrastinator and the procrastinator may schedule to watch television, knit, or colour coordinate their closets for five minutes before beginning a task. While both begin the task in five minutes, the non-procrastinator begins the task in 300 traditional seconds while the procrastinator actually begins the task in 3000 traditional seconds. ETPH is essential for all successful procrastinators as it reduces the stress of impending deadlines of writing assignments by creating the sense that the actual deadline is much farther than it appears.

Educational Blogging

2004-09-04T19:02:00.000-07:00

An article of interest related to the merits of the blog...

EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 5 (September/October 2004): 14–26.

Educational Blogging
by Stephen Downes
read the article

an excerpt from Stephen's website...

"The September EDUCAUSE Review is out and features my article on the topic (as the title suggests) educational blogging. This is a longer article, looking at the nature and history of blogging, educational applications, tools and technologies, trends, and early experiences in educational blogging." read the article

to paraphrase... words and phrases for the enlightened academic...

2004-09-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

here's a little something I gathered on my travels...

A POSTMODERN VOCABULARY

aporia [de Man] / black nihilist hole of doom [TCG] :-}
author, the death of the [Barthes]
binary [Derrida]
bracket / bracketing [Husserl]
carnival / carnivalesque [Bakhtin]
-centric / -centrism
chora, the [Kristeva]
code
commodify / commodified / commodification
constative vs. performative [Austin]
constructivism / constructivist
containment vs. subversion [Foucault]
contest (verb) / contestatory
co-opt / co-opted (and its So. Dak. form?: ""co-op") :-}
critical theory / Critical Theory
decenter / decentered
deconstruct / deconstruction / deconstructive [Derrida]
defamiliarization [Shklovsky]
demystify / demystification // demythologization
desire / lack
dialogic / dialogism [Bakhtin]
difference / différence / différance [Derrida]
discourse [Foucault, et al.] (and its So. Dak. converse: "datcourse") :-}
displace / displacement [Freud/Lacan]
empower / empowerment
énuncé / énonciation
gap / blank [Iser] / lack / black nihilist hole of doom :-}
gender / sexuality [. . . lack thereof: TCG?] :-}
grands récits [Lyotard]
gynocriticism [Showalter]
habitus [Bourdieu]
hegemony (hegemonic), consensus [Gramsci] / counter-hegemonic
hermeneutics / hermeneutic circle
heterogeneity
history / historiography / New Historicism [cf. Foucault; cf. Reagan!]
homosocial [Sedgwick]
hybridity [Bhabha]
ideology / ideological
Imaginary (the ~) [Lacan]
imperialism / colonialism / postcolonialism / neo-colonialism
infrastructure vs. superstructure [Marx, (Althusser)]
interpellation [Althusser]
langue, parole [Saussure]
Law, the [Lacan]
liminal / liminality
logocentric / logocentrism [Derrida]
margin / marginal / marginalized
male gaze, the [Mulvey]
materialism [Marx, et al.] / historical ~ [Benjamin, et al.] / cultural ~ [R. Williams, et al.]
meta- [followed by any word, damn near!]
- e.g.: metatheatrical / metatheatricality
metaphor / metaphoric vs. metonymy / metonymic [Jacobson]
mirror stage [Lacan] / lipstick & gloss stage :-}
misprision [Bloom]
neo- [followed by any word, damn near!]
nightmare of history, the [Benjamin]
oppression / oppressor / oppressed
Orientalism [Said]
Other / Othered [de Beauvoir; Lacan; etc.]
palimpsest
paradigmatic vs. syntagmatic [Saussure]
patriarchy / patriarchal
performative / performativity
phallus / phallocentrism / phallocentric / phallogocentrism / phallogocentric [Lacan, etc.]
polyphony / polyphonic [Bakhtin, Said]
poco / pomo / porno :-}
post- [followed by any word, damn near!]
- e.g.: postcolonial / postcolonialism
postmodern / postmodernism / postmodernist / Post-Kellogg :-}
poststructuralism / poststructuralist
power [Foucault]
praxis
privilege (verb)
projection [Freud, Lacan]
["]race["] / racism / racist
Real [Lacan]
referent
reification [Lukács]
repression [Freud, Lacan]
secular criticism [Said]
Self, the [vs.] Other, the [Lacan, etc.]
semiotic (the ~) [Kristeva]
sex, sex, sex :-} / sexism / sexist
simulation / simulacra
sign / signifier vs. signified [Saussure] / transcendental ~ [Lacan, Derrida]
- signify / resignify / (re)signification / sigmundfreudification :-}
space / place / room / black nihilist hole of doom :-}
specularity
subaltern [Gramsci; Spivak]
substitution [Freud, Lacan]
subvert / subversion [Foucault, et al.] / resistance
Symbolic ( the ~) [Lacan]
synchronic vs. diachronic [Saussure]
text / textuality / intertextuality / meta-intertextuality!? :-}
trope
theatrical / theatricality [Butler, et al.]
uncanny [J.H. Miller]
unconscious [Freud, et al.] / political ~ [Jameson]
womanspeak [Irigaray]

*"Cool" Proper Names to Throw Around

Bakhtin, Mikhail
Barthes, Roland
Benjamin, Walter
Bhabha, Homi
Butler, Judith
~~De Man, Paul~~
Derrida, Jacques
Foucault, Michel
Freud
Greenblatt, Stephen
hooks, bell
Jameson, Frederic
Kristeva, Julia
Lacan, Jacques
Nietzsche
Said, Edward
Spivak, Gayatri
Williams, Raymond

*Words & Phrases to Avoid, Unless Attacking! :-}

archetype
Canon, the
collective unconscious
essential / essentialism
form / formalism / formalist / formalistic
God / the big Guy upstairs
humanism / New Humanism
"I'm a New Critic!"
innate
intent / intention / intentionality
"little woman, the" / "my better half" (etc.)
man
meaning
metaphor / symbol
metrics / prosody
mimesis
modernism / High Modernism
moral / morality
"my impression" / "my gut feeling" (etc.)
organic unity / irony / tension / paradox
Romanticism
sense, common
subject (humanist ~)
truth, beauty, et al.
universal / universals
Victorian / Victorianism

*"Bad" Proper Names to Avoid--Unless Attacking

Abrams, M.H.
Arnold, Matthew
Brooks & Warren
Eliot, T.S.
Frye, Northrop
Hirsch, E.D.
Jung, C.G.
Leavis, F.R.

theory really is all around...

2004-09-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

in the midst of writing our brilliant theory papers... here is another definition of theory that I just came across in the Menswear Retailing magazine that was upstairs in my dining room.

*Theory 1. a visionary concept
2. for the casual, sophisticated
man 3. a phenomenon that
spun out of great fitting items
4. made from the finest stretch
fabrics 5. founded in New York
City 6. appreciated everywhere

any comments?

Final Residency Evaluations

2004-09-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

word on the street...

final residency evaluations are going to be up... real, real soon.

have your comments ready people. and throw in a good dash of theory while you're at it.

2004-09-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

Baac and his buddy k-nigget

The Book Club

2004-09-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Bibliographies to Live By....

What we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. The good doctor David Black has graciously supplied us with THE Bibilographies for Cultural and Media Studies.

Watch for the list in a blog near you.

Issue of the Day.... Government As We Know It

2004-08-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

So, here I pose the question.... since we have nothing to go on here...
What do you want the BAAC Exec Council to deal with?

Councils fail without clear direction... so we need to establish some roles and responsibilities... dare I say it... a MISSION...

This topic has stimulated a lot of debate in the past few days, and now we have the opportunity to address it... in the most organized fashion that we have available to us.

"Let's pull back the curtains... open the windows... and let the energy flow through..."

2004-08-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

from the gardens of rru...

The First Test Post

2004-08-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Welcome to our new blog.