tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2145082584448496102020-02-29T01:33:32.892-05:00A place to track what I'm reading and learning. Opinions are solely my own, and could take place while I'm under the influence.Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-65896809042711255242014-06-11T10:07:00.003-04:002014-06-11T10:29:47.894-04:00

Please don't complain about not having time to vote or think about who to elect and then ask me if I watched Duck Dynasty... Here's a quick rundown and a few options While the PCs and Liberals are providing starkly contrasting views for the province, the NDP are trying to be more centrist. The Green Party has a bold idea to save 1.6 Billion (how many elections could you buy with that?) by

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-79519801707527463692014-06-09T23:28:00.000-04:002014-06-09T23:28:37.653-04:00

Soylent is getting a ridiculous amount of publicity for an apparently horrible tasting slurry. Why? Is this the iphone or itunes of food products? I think the excitement around its proposition  can be related to the growing acceptance of fasting. You want to make healthy choices but like all choices it gets tiring. The convenience of processed foods takes over. Hot dogs, chips. Even

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-72366395316770908002013-11-29T00:01:00.000-05:002013-11-29T00:34:31.124-05:00

Most of the learning technology world is a buzz with Tin Can or Experience API. It's been very prominent at all learning conferences I've seen. However within the broader community of instructional designers and content developers it's still quite fuzzy. So here's my attempt at Tin Can in a nutshell. A little context: The issue I and many other learning practitioners have with the modern day LMS

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-61217653069879892772013-10-02T00:34:00.000-04:002018-11-03T23:47:24.544-04:00

LinkedIN is doing an interesting series within their Influencers news section with How I Hire. A bunch of executives tell tales of how they unearth top performers, weed through the BS, and throw people off script to get beneath the surface. Recent LI superstar Sallie Krawchuk recently wrote a piece on how she hires You can't build a team with all Point Guards. As a basketball fan I was

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-77221343061602633262013-09-17T17:30:00.000-04:002013-11-14T16:04:35.965-05:00

Maybe the internet isn't forever after all. New services are popping up to enable you to privately share messages with a select few, and to even have them self-destruct at a given time/interval. Some high-profile people with a penchant for sending pics (looking at you Carlos Danger) should Love this. In the era of domestic surveillance and the realization that most tech companies are complicit is

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-43801722752850333442013-09-15T21:32:00.001-04:002013-09-15T21:32:59.401-04:00

One month ago we cut cable - so far so good.  I took this as a personal challenge to make this process as smooth and positive as possible. It still is a change, but with a little prep work it has gone really well so far. Recap: We (a family of 5) cut our Cable TV provider, upped our ISP package and replaced our homephone line with a free VOIP alternative. We also employ a DIY antenna. For a full

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-61666866218722729912013-09-08T20:00:00.000-04:002013-09-09T23:47:58.144-04:00

Droning on and on about cutting the cord some friends who are also feeling squeezed by robellus asked me for details. Maybe it was just to shut me up but i'm going to spell it out anyhow. Basically I swapped my ISP, switched to a no monthly fee VOIP service, cut my cable TV subscribed to netflix and installed an OTA antenna. My main goals were cost savings, and to move off traditional media

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-26174969426890196782013-04-25T22:23:00.000-04:002013-09-09T23:49:14.723-04:00

As Wind, Mobilicity and Public look for exit strategies, the Canadian public will be left with fewer choices and really have no one to blame but themselves. Rogers, Telus and Bell did their job by aggressively retaining customers matching prices - for now. Knowing full well that if they are able to reduce the customers going to the new providers in the short-term once they bleed their initial

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-20735490067178255532013-03-12T20:31:00.000-04:002013-03-12T20:31:06.620-04:00

There was a great article in Macleans last week on how medical sensors are close to being sold to consumers. I have a few hypochondriac friends who will be all over this. Beyond that this could have huge implications for our current healthcare system. So much time and cost is put into minor diagnoses with people clogging up clinics and emergency rooms, convinced they have ebola. This could make a

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-27064883943589529242012-12-11T16:18:00.000-05:002012-12-14T17:54:44.235-05:00

When was the last time you gave someone an email address and they said "Sorry I don't email." Some folks from a simpler time might not email people. Perhaps they have communications people or assistants for that. However that group is quickly diminishing. There are very few roles that don't benefit from the instant and accessible benefits of electronic mail.Similar there is internet usage,

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-66704834195227859222012-12-06T22:30:00.000-05:002012-12-12T14:14:04.703-05:00

A great post by Andrew McAfee on the technological obsolescence of car gadgets. In a time where keeping a cell phone for more than 2 years feels painfully long, a touchscreen interface in your car can be asking for trouble. Car companies are trying to use consumer electronic integration as a differentiator. My car has the nav/dvd/jukebox and I love it. However  I plan on  keeping this car for

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-42371493019186524922012-10-23T22:37:00.000-04:002012-10-23T22:37:00.627-04:00

Technology on its own doesn't necessarily facilitate change. It can have massive effects but it isn't inevitable or automatic. The noble idea behind One Laptop Per Child OLPC was meant to represent an enormous change. Making computer literacy cheap and affordable would transform 3rd world countries. Giving students access to computers would allow them to access the infinite and free internet.

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-69970309491961378492012-09-11T00:07:00.003-04:002013-10-01T00:39:04.051-04:00

In the neverending mission to reduce costs, I'm actively researching ways to work solely through the internet. The main ways i'm looking at it are through increasing my ISP package  using a voip phone service installing an HD antenna setup a media server Subscribing to netflix, hulu plus buying NBA League Pass getting a newsgroup subscription (gasp)  The last point definitely presents more of

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-543859600300442412012-05-19T00:18:00.000-04:002012-05-19T00:18:54.284-04:00

As a fully employed father of two, free-time is definitely at a premium. Being an avid basketball definitely fan doesn't help. Being health-conscious and liking sleep makes personal projects damn near impossible. Yet hear I am with constantly more projects than I care to admit. In an interesting piece in Macleans on the growing trend of out-sourcing so much of our lives in the constant pursuit

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-57912575100213224462012-03-19T22:51:00.000-04:002012-03-19T22:51:01.036-04:00

Who doesn't love a good infographic right? But not all infographics are good. To democratize Data visualization is great in theory but making presentations more accessible seemed like a great idea too. Instead we end up with word documents and cue cards with animation masquerading  as a presentation. What makes a good infographic is how it makes the data accessible. Visualization makes it

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-9896917858742224342012-03-19T19:38:00.000-04:002012-03-19T19:38:00.284-04:00

With Greece, global recessions and the possibility of yet another war, it's nice to find some hope for the future. Amidst global belt-tightening the government funded-education is being called upon to do more with less. Programs like full-day kindergarten which have a significant amount of research documenting the benefits are being questioned. Teachers as a union worker are the root of all that

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-75756442513653580872011-10-11T19:22:00.002-04:002011-10-11T19:22:00.221-04:00

This mocking of Occupy Wall Street using picture below is a bit dishonest. The idea that people protesting corporate greed are hypocritical by using products created by corporations is ridiculous. This would leave only leave some luddites who make their own clothes - which would then draw the reclusive nutjob remarks. Claiming that OWS activists use of technology is hypocritical would be akin

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-23564449282803205812011-08-17T21:34:00.000-04:002011-08-17T21:34:38.511-04:00

I was startled when I read Warren Buffet's Op-Ed piece in the NYT.. He basically burned down the GOP/Fox News "Job-creators can't be taxed" house of cards narrative. Buffet definitely has the cred to state how investors and businesses have been operating over the years. Investment during times with higher taxes like the 80s and 90s led to a Lot of people getting rich, people created jobs and grew

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-14138810782759358522011-07-22T00:00:00.000-04:002011-07-22T00:00:58.111-04:00

This month's Learning Circuits Big Question should be near and dear to all instructional designers. Teaching face-to-face or  always requires engagement first. Engagement leads to better attention, and retention. Fun is a major way to engage. So... How do you make e-learning fun? Thanks to folks like Clark Quinn games are receiving more mainstream acceptance and adoption in eLearning circles

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-34048810112914014552011-07-07T18:33:00.005-04:002011-07-07T18:33:00.948-04:00

As an owner of a Flip camera, I was disappointed to hear that Cisco has decided to sunset it's Flip camera operations.At the same time I see the same writing on the wall that motivated this move.  The handheld video market has been sandwiched in two directions. First from smartphones and their increasingly better cameras in a highly portable multi-purpose device, and second from Digital SLRs

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-7947195197942606112011-04-09T10:46:00.000-04:002011-04-09T10:46:53.088-04:00

What is becoming a common theme amongst every traditional business that is affected by the internet. Middlemen are replaced by the open and accessible framework of the internet. The press and the business of journalism are being transformed (just watch CNN anchors read tweets on-air). A recent paper by economist Joel Waldfogel shows the results of his study around the music industry. The claims

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-42174329862215975942011-03-10T22:52:00.000-05:002011-03-10T22:52:10.440-05:00

The Toronto District school board is looking to expand their TV screens in schools pilot project. School news and student-generated content is broadcasted to screens in the halls. Now the company which put the TVs in place would like to take it to the next level and show ads for 30% of the time. Approximately 2hrs a day. Naturally the school would receive some ad-revenue. There is a large divide

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-48095405944574161982011-03-10T22:33:00.000-05:002011-03-10T22:33:58.273-05:00

Apple TV just updated with MLB TV and NBA League Pass. This is big news! This means big trouble for cable companies right? Not so fast. NBA League Pass is designed to compliment your cable subscription. Any games that  are broadcast nationally are not available on league pass. So if you're a fan of your local team, you're likely out of luck. So long as the NBA employs this policy home team

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-17149211854154322402010-10-11T01:00:00.000-04:002010-10-11T01:00:57.231-04:00

At this time of year, it's natural that our sense of charity is heightened. The weather is turning colder, we spend time thinking about how fortunate we are. Many often respond to this by volunteering. It's a great way to give back, pay our good fortunes forward and generally feel good about contributing to society. The problem is that with volunteering, your options can be limited. While

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214508258444849610.post-55788143461292753222010-09-23T00:13:00.000-04:002010-09-23T00:13:22.551-04:00

No matter what a charity a does, who leads, where it serves, nine times out of ten when it seeks assistance the question posed is: "What's your efficiency?" People often expect charities and nonprofits to to have 0 administrative costs which is impossible. This isn't a sustainable practice for any charity looking to make a large impact. There needs to be people dedicated full-time to a worthy

Shaunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13293609103425820146noreply@blogger.com0