One of the reason a became an edu-mcator.

Since the begining of the year, when the weather was fair and sunny I’ve been toiling in the back yard trying to mold a bare and barren suburbia into a more interesting form of home.

We’ve expended the $3000 wedding money on stone lookalike bricks, concrete and a whole heap of happy brick laying.

Things are shaping up.

I’m revisiting my days as a laborer.

Keeps me sane amongst the cacophony of the web.

Announcement received a short while ago;

Dear Colleagues,

I’m pleased to announce that after careful consideration from today the website YouTube will be available within the department for all staff.

YouTube is full of excellent teaching resources. And with YouTube now part of Google it has much stronger safe search features which we have been able to enable within the department.

I’m sure staff will use the YouTube resources in an appropriate manner consistent with our acceptable usage policy. This is the first step in making other internet resources available to you and your students in a safe manner.

With my best regards,

Michael Coutts-Trotter
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TAFE NSW
26 June 2009

We are adults after all.

For some reason I dont think that this will end peacefully.

More insights here.

Image : Reuters

Another letter issued today from one of my employers:

“………Dear _____________________ (name of Employee) ,

I understand that you have recently been to a country where there has been community or school transmission of the Human Swine Influenza.

In accordance with advice from xxxxxxx, I ask that you stay at home for seven days from the date that you return to Australia. This is a precautionary strategy being applied throughout xxxxxxxx. During this period you will be on paid special leave.

If you are feeling unwell with any flu-like symptoms, please go to a hospital Emergency Department for assessment, or ring your general practitioner if you do not have ready access to a hospital.

We are hopeful that you will remain well during this period and we look forward to welcoming you back after this period. At this stage, you will return to xxxxxx on __________ (date).

You can obtain further information from the xxxxxxxxxxwebsite at:

xxxxxxxxxxx

I look forward to seeing you back at TAFE as soon as possible.

Please contact __________________ (insert name) on telephone __________ (number) if you require any further information.

Yours sincerely

College Director………”

How Quaint : Organ Failure Map

Get a hold of this.

Issued by one of my workplaces today.

“…….Staff returning from travel to greater metropolitan Melbourne, Mexico, Panama, USA, Canada and Japan should be treated as follows:

1. If a staff member has been to one of these locations and has been mixing with local school children (in a group of 10 or more) then they should be excluded from work. College Directors and Functional Unit managers should make every effort to enable these staff to perform some work from home during their exclusion.
2. If the staff member has not mixed with a group of 10 or more school children then they may return to work, but be excluded if they develop any influenza-like symptoms.
3. If a member of staff is currently excluded because they have travelled to one of the infected locations, but have not mixed with a group of 10 or more local school children, they may now return to work as long as they are not displaying any flu-like symptoms.
4. If they have been directed into quarantine by NSW Health they must complete the quarantine period….”

Well, that rules out going to see my daughter in Melbourne right ?

Oh man……..I’m starting to get worried.

Its what I want….I think.

“….Google Wave is a new model for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. Here’s a preview of just some of the aspects of this new tool….”

Something that brings it all together but still allows me to choose what I want to be doing elsewhere with the more purist modes of web creation.

Promises of ” openess ” ?

Feederation anything scares me so I might just have to let Mr. Downes do the talking for us on it’s implications for other solid commons we fly kites upon.

Meanwhile I’ll get walkin…….time to get back out into the open web.

[image : cogdog ]

Yet again I’m struck with the growing discontent of the CIA’s social app.

I obviously use a plethora of applications but FB very early on struck me as being a nightmare of litigation and a hundred-fold swamp of  rudderless egomaniacs.

Despite it all many of my family insist that it’s the best thing since thinly veiled food posing as bread.

This image for CogDog sums it up nicely for me.

I’d be interested to know if Leigh Blackall has successfully managed to totally delete all his content from FB.

His outpourings across the web confuse me as to what his real position is otherwise.

Trying to get my head around how we link all this together.

I’m sure this social networking thing can be easier.

One big platform with multiple apps. or something simple at least.

Getting very sick of this FaceBook blue most particularly.

2007 - Chinese year of the Chicken - Fact : Bird Flu Pandemic devastates parts of Asia
2008 - Chinese year of the Horse - Fact : Equine Influenza decimates Australian racing
2009 - Chinese year of the Pig - Fact : Swine Flu Pandemic kills hundreds of pigs around the globe.
2010 - Chinese year of the Cock

-
What could possibly go wrong?

Courtesy of Stephan Ridgway.

 [ image : limajulijia ]

A confronting image appeared in my Flickr search when researching a visual for this post.

The title leaves me wanting to know more:

All Soul’s Day. The night from 1st to 2nd of November in Lithuanian cemeteries

The description was just as commanding:

“….We have no Halloween, the young people try to do something alike this in cities, but our All Soul’s Day’s tradition is very old and too beautiful to forget it. 1st and 2nd of November are quiet days to remember all, who left us and the members of a family meet and together visit a cemetery. A night from 1st to 2nd of November is most beautiful night of the year, what you can see on my set, but it is very quiet night. No weddings, no songs, no dances in all country. “

After a long consoling Gmail chat with Bee today I’m feeling a little lighter in load when comparing it to the heavy heart I had driving through thick fog over hill and dale to get to work this morning.

“Sometimes one must stop and sit by the roadside, and wait for the soul to catch up.” −African proverb

Perhaps the 4 AM forced start didnt help nor the weak McDonalds coffee heading down the freeway. Or maybe it was the sheer terror of not making it to the end of the financial year that was striking home.

Bee has mooted that perhaps it’s a time for contemplation rather than frantic action following indication that I was not successful with my application for CE Innovations Coordinator with the Framework. I was interviewed, left happy with my performance and awaited the political fallout.

The best person was chosen for the job.

Now I must move on.

So the plan of action may look like as follows;

• get some sleep
• prioritise family
• go to the gym - 15 mins once a month is not enough
• play golf more often on a wider selection of golf courses
• drink less - maybe that should be, drink more but selectively including water into the list of beverages
• throw out my black shirts and replace them with moderate & neutral business shirts
• consider that adding extensions to the house needs a plan of action first as well as saved finances
• base work around the fact I live in Orange, NSW, Australia not downtown Paris, New York or Sydney
• use my skills strategically - dont accept employment that compromises them
• breathe more often
• value my online networks by partcipating authentically and poignantly
• accept that sometimes it time to be quiet

I’ll begin with the first point in the list of things to do.

Here’s three weeks of solid stress and planning.

Powerpoint  going up into Slideshare also.

Facebook to me
show details 11:09 PM (9 hours ago)

Jane said on Facebook that you two are married.  We need you to confirm that you are, in fact, married to Jane.

To confirm this relationship request, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?home.php&mid=4fd9c0G203ee216G19e5ba5G4

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

It begs the question; will Facebooks marketing ,target messaging and adware complicit now change for us both in Facebook ?

More from the Freakshow….

Lets begin.

I would like firstly to thank each and everyone of you for travelling to celebrate our wedding.

Jane and I truly appreciate you being here here today and tonight and hope that you enjoy this time with your extended family ……because that’s what this is all about.

I have one person who I’d like to acknowledge now who has been instrumental in ensuring this occasion ( and many others ) has been possible - Judy Rogan. Judy has worked tirelessly over the last weeks and many months to ensure Jane and I have been able to do all we needed to do to bring this all together.

On that note and as Jane will concur, I am the easiset person to live with and as my immediate family also know my life has been one of the most uncomplicated in comparison to many of my friends and extended family members.

On a more serious note, I would like to bring to you an excerpt from a telegram I received a short while ago from a dear friend Raelee Golding who unfortunatley wasnt able to join us today.

Raelee wrote;

“……I just want to say that you have been a dear and treasured friend to Craig and I, spanning a good many years, and a whole heap of ups and downs!

This is the mark of a true friend and I count you amongst my truest friends.

With Craig by my side I do not doubt that we would be there with you celebrating a pivotal moment in your life ……with some cracking dance moves and too many drinks.

Sadly I am still finding my way in the simplest of tasks now that he is no longer with us, and feel unable to make the journey.

I know you will understand! He loved you so very much and I know if he were here he would wish you heartfelt congratulations and mirth and merriment on this momentous occasion!

I wish you both a long and prosperous exchange with one another, culminating in a life of abundance and joy in each other and your beautiful little boy Ethan!….”

Well, luckily I asked Phil for Jane’s hand in marraige long before Ethan, our beautiful son was ever thought of and travelling from the big smoky city to Ungarie in rural Australia was the best thing I have ever done……even if I did get the ute bogged and took one too many photos as a roustabout badging me as the tourist …….much like the same route I take when playing golf.

So……. Jane and I settled half way in Orange so now the city-boy-meets-country-gal moniker is no longer used to describe our union.

And it is that union which I would like to speak about now that means the most to me and I’m sure by you also. I am the luckiest guy in the world …….to have met my match in kitchen renovations, in appreciation of Shakespearean anecdotes and amongst our undying love for…… rum and coke on cold winter nights.

I’m sure you will agree Jane looked every bit the princess today…… that has met her dashing tall dark and handsome knight. I’ve replaced my steed with and equally fit Mazda Bravo ute and together we shall ride off into the sunset together …..forever….and have hundreds of children as our Scottish / Irish heritage ….and genes would allow.

I’ve been instructed to keep this speech to a five minute limit and therefore with 30 seconds to spare I’d like to conclude with the following.

Jane looked ravishing today and I will treasure this precious time with you all for the rest of my life. Jane is the most adorable and loving person I could have ever hoped to meet to share my life with. I am the luckiest guy alive to have stepped off a plane and been part of a match-making episode made in heaven.

Jane and I will travel together knowing that you and all our extended families and treasured friends will travel with us and on that journey we will grow to love and appreciate all there is to appreciate that love and friendships ensure.

Thankyou……and lets cut the cake