OUZ’s wireless:
(fast-forward past the file selection dialog–the machine I did this on was pretty under-spec’d)

ZSC’s wired (direct to wall, no switch):

The fundamental problem with this view of the unpredictable, unfathomable future is that it assumes that the relatively recent historical growth trends will continue in a positive direction, always more and more. In other words, the assumption is that we’ll continue to live in a technology and information rich, globalized world.

But then it happened. I started reading about peak oil and how we have been sleepwalking into the future with little understanding of what will happen when our society, built on a steady supply of cheap oil, no longer has it. Consider the changes that have resulted from increased gas prices over the last couple of years. Imagine what will happen in the coming years with our current financial crisis. Will there be a place for those quick-learning information masters we’re supposed to be training?

Here’s what I can see happening: The world becomes more local. Based on my admittedly rudimentary understanding of peak oil, I don’t see how the trend toward globalism is sustainable or even possible before long. Sure, there will be international talk and trade, but only at an elite level. Unfortunately, we’ve contracted out our manufacturing base to cheaper labor sources scattered about the world; we’re quickly becoming dependent on other nations to supply us with the stuff we want. The stuff we want, and even the stuff we need, will cost more.

As our world contracts, there will be increased demand and pressure to organize ourselves according to traditional models, such as villages. The demand for traditional trades and practices increases (think traditional, small-scale agriculture vs. industrial agriculture).

The information economy goes boom. I mean really, what demand will there be for it when we struggle to meet even our most basic needs?

The questions for me are: What will the role of education be in this new world? Are current schooling models sustainable without cheap oil? Will those in control of education miss the mark by trying to educate our youth for a world that won’t exist in a few years? Perhaps the shrinking world will finally let us choose more meaningful indicators of successful schools beyond test scores. Maybe education as we know it becomes even more irrelevant. My guess is that the much forgotten wisdom of our ancestors becomes much more important. All of a sudden, knowing a trade doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

The irony, of course, is that David was right; I just didn’t realize it would be in the opposite direction of what I first assumed.

What do you think the future without oil will be like? How do you think that will impact education?

After you log in, look for Personal Information under Tools on the left side of the screen. Then click the link to set the visual text box editor options and tick the box to make it unavailable and submit the form. The next time you visit a discussion board you will have a box to type in.

“We are the first generation in history that knows we have to prepare our children for a world which we cannot imagine.” - @dwarlick

I replied that I thought the quote was absurd, and Corrie asked why. Since I thought my response would take more than 140 characters, I decided to write a short post here instead of via twitter.

I’m actually surprised that this statement just passes unchallenged as truth. We’re the first generation to rear children in uncertain times? Really? I was born and grew up at the tail end of Vietnam, the civil rights movement, free love–a time more broadly known as “the 60s.” I can’t even imagine what my parents might have thought about my future. I think it would be a fairly trivial exercise to look back at history and pick out periods of unrest or change where parents might have thought the future uncertain or unimaginable.

Such alarmist quotes bring to mind a Mark Twain essay I read in high school, Was the World Made for Man? In short, it’s a satire about man’s hubris in thinking that he is the perfect end result of creation. I also think it’s a bit of hubris to think that we are the only generation to live in a time of change or uncertainty. A few quotes from that Twain essay:

An oyster has hardly any more reasoning power than a scientist has; and so it is reasonably certain that this one jumped to the conclusion that the nineteen million years was a preparation for him; but that would be just like an oyster, which is the most conceited animal there is, except man. And anyway, this one could not know, at that early date, that he was only an incident in a scheme, and that there was some more to the scheme, yet…

Man has been here 32,000 years. That it took a hundred million years to prepare the world for him is proof that that is what it was done for. I suppose it is. I dunno. If the Eiffel Tower were now representing the world’s age, the skin of paint on the pinnacle-knob at its summit would represent man’s share of that age; and anybody would perceive that that skin was what the tower was built for. I reckon they would, I dunno.

That’s why I think the quote is absurd; it is absurd to think that we are the first generation to face an unknown future. It is extreme and alarmist. If you have to resort to absurd, extreme, alarmist statements to sell your ideas, I wonder just how valid (and valuable) those ideas are.

Since I got rid of cable TV, I’ve had a lot more time to read. Instead of channel surfing, I’m now book surfing–reading a chapter of one, picking up another… Currently, I’m working my way through the following.

Job-related

Why we do what we do (Deci), a fabulous read chock full of summaries of the author’s and other’s research on motivation, autonomy, and self-determination theory. This makes me want to go back to school.

Learned optimism (Seligman). I’ve just cracked the book–read the intro to this edition. I was familiar with his work regarding learned helplessness and the experiments with those poor dogs, and I’m getting kind of interested in this field of positive psychology.

Cultivating communities of practice (Wenger). So far I’ve just skimmed bits and pieces. I’m starting some faculty learning communities this year, and there’s an initiative on campus to use learning communities with students, so I thought I’d go to the source.

Successful beginnings for college teaching (McGlynn). This is the book I’m giving to new faculty this year, so I thought I’d better be familiar with it. It’s pretty decent as it focuses on tips to get started in contrast to some of the more comprehensive–and perhaps intimidating–teaching books out there.

Personal

Bringing nature home: How native plants sustain wildlife in our gardens (Tallamy). The second time through on this one. The first time was enough to convince me I was on the right path in going native in the yard and garden. This time through, I’m focusing on the insects.

Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder (Louv). I’ve been reading this for a long time, I should just sit down and finish it! Louv makes a great case for free, unstructured play in nature.

In defense of food: An eater’s manifesto (Pollan). Another great work by Pollan. Even if you already eat healthy, there’s much to think about regarding the pleasure of eating.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling). I’m reading this one to my daughter, when we are able to find the time.

Download audio file (bespricecameras.mp3)

I guess I’m still amazed at this. This is basically a phishing scheme perpetrated by a seemingly legitimate online merchant. Caveat emptor!

The confirmation email from Broadway Photo was the first warning (emphasis mine):

Please allow a minimum of two days for order processing.
To expedite order processing, please give us a call.
If the address to which your package is being delivered is different then the address where you receive your monthly credit card statements (billing address). You must list that address as an alternate ship to with your credit card company by calling the customer service number on the back of your credit card. (This is simply a temporary note on your account that will allow us to ship to an alternate address)

They’ve got a high-tech website, why should it take them two days to process my order? Why should I have to call them to “expedite” order processing? See how convenient Internet shopping has become? Finally, poor English.

The second warning was the email I received from Broadway Photo the next day:

Due to verification issues with your order # Wxxxxxxx we are unable to process your order. In order for us to process your order, please contact our verification department at 1-800-307-1148 Extension 233.

I have used the same card to purchase items from several online merchants and never had a “verification issue.”

The third warning was when I actually called the 800 number, or the “verification department.” Nobody answered and I was sent to a voice mail system. Thinking that there might really be a problem, I actually left my telephone number! A few hours later, I received another email detailing the “verification problems,” so I called back and spoke with a human.

To call the person I spoke with human is probably too kind. The first thing he needed to do was “confirm” my mailing address. Next, he informed me that the battery that came with the camera was low capacity and would only last for 15-20 minutes, and that it would take 12 hours to charge each time. I knew this wasn’t true because I had read reviews of the camera and learned that the battery was good for several hundred shots; in fact, I knew that the D40x model’s battery lasted longer than the D40’s, but I still found it acceptable. When I told the guy I didn’t want the battery, he said I’d need to buy one anyway and it would cost a lot more somewhere else. How much do you figure he was selling it for? The bargain discount price of $99 (normally $199)! From my previous research I knew that I could buy a Nikon brand battery for under $40 on amazon.com; knockoffs are available starting around $10. $99 didn’t really seem like such a bargain. In addition, I was told I’d need a battery charger. I said I’d just use the battery charger that came with the camera. He said it didn’t come with a charger. I said it did, I know what’s in the kit. He said it was an AC adapter that you had to plug into the camera. (What?!) I re-emphasized the fact that I just wanted the standard kit with no extras.

At this point I’m thinking to myself that I can just refuse the high-pressure sales tactics of Broadway Photo and still get the camera. But then, he asked whether I wanted the 5- or 3-year warranty. I said I didn’t want to buy an extended warranty and that I’d just take my chances with the 1-year warranty that came with the camera. He said it didn’t come with a warranty. I said it did. Then he asked if I wanted the Japanese version or the US version, and if I even knew what the difference was (asked as if I were a total idiot). I said I guess I wanted the US version and he reiterated that the camera didn’t come with the warranty. At this point I was so angry with this worm that I said, “I’ll tell you what, let’s just cancel this order.” He said, “OK, I’m cancelling your order,” and hung up. Period.

I thought it was odd that he was willing to lose the sale despite the fact that I wouldn’t be buying the ridiculous battery, charger, and warranty. I decided to call Broadway Photo’s customer service to see if this was their business model or if I had just talked to a bad seed. Customer service wasn’t any better. I got him to admit that they sold grey market items (he didn’t deny it, it’s clearly stated in light grey text buried in the Warranty Coverage section of their About us page). I got him to admit that the sales rep I had talked to lied about the camera not coming with a charger. I got him to admit that the web site does not state that the camera I was trying to buy was grey market. I told him that their practices were deceptive. He apologized that the Broadway Photo web site did not specifically state that the Nikon D40 kit was a grey market item. He explained that the camera did in fact come with a one-year, in-store only warranty, but that Nikon would not honor it.

In the end, the Broadway Photo customer service representative wasn’t willing to make things right. Oh well, lesson learned.

After this experience, I decided to google Broadway Photo sucks and found lots of hits to forum posts of folks who had exactly the same experience I did. Luckily, I didn’t waste nearly as much time as some of those people who actually had their orders go through, only to be faced with all kinds of delays.

A little further digging revealed a seemingly incestuous relationship among some price comparison sites like lowpricedigital.com, shopcartusa.com, and everyprice.com and shady businesses like Broadway Photo. These comparison sites always list the shady businesses first with the lowest prices and the highest customer ratings. They throw in a few legitimate businesses for appearance, and it’s odd that the legitimate businesses have lower customer ratings. One site even says that the shady Broadway Photo has earned the “Customer’s Trust Award!”

If you want to see just how shady Broadway Photo is, see this post from the Consumerist with photos of the actual buildings of Broadway Photo. (found via Thomas Hawke’s blog)

OK, I know, I should have googled first.

Feel free to share your experiences with shady businesses like Broadway Photo.

1. List folders first, please. You can set up Finder to list folders first, which is fine. However, when you switch to the file open or save dialogs, you’re forced to revert to an alphabetical listing of all files and folders. Huh? See proof below.

   

2. No simple option to show hidden files in Finder. OK you’ve adopted the concept of dot-files, so please provide an easy way within the Finder interface to view them.

   While I’m on the Finder, I wish there were a quicker way to choose the method for arranging files (by size, date, type, etc.).

3. The disembodied menu bar doesn’t make sense to me. I use the keyboard shortcut cmd-q to quit applications. I don’t know how many times I’ve hit cmd-q, thinking the application I wanted to quit had the focus, only to realize it didn’t. As a result, I end up closing the wrong app! To combat this, I now have to look up at the menu-panel thingy to make sure the app I want to close has the focus. This causes eye strain.

   Another reason the disembodied menu bar doesn’t make sense is that it also serves as a place to store applets: clock, battery monitor, IM clients, weather, wi-fi, volume, etc. When giving a presentation with a data projector with low resolution, I couldn’t access things I needed because they wouldn’t fit on the screen.

4. The window switching still defies all logic. I’ve really tried to understand how this is cool, elegant, sophisticated, or whatever Mac is supposed to be, but it’s really stupid that you can cycle through applications with cmd-tab and not be able to bring a minimized app out of the dock. I’m willing to use cmd-tilde to cycle through multiple windows of an application, but not allowing me to focus a minimized app via cmd-tab is just a cruel joke. Somewhere, a Bohemian dressed in black is laughing at me.
5. The scroll wheel is there for a reason; please allow me to use it. In particular, the volume applet should allow you to scroll to change the volume when just hovering over it, without having to click first. Trying to change a font face or size in NeoOffice is just painful, though in all fairness, it’s probably a function of NeoOffice and not Mac.

I really like my Mac, but it could be better.