Random Stuff
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 10/26/2007 - 10:15I’ve been on the road a lot over the past three days, so I’m behind on my emails and behind on the blogs. I did manage to get a few posts up while I was on the road.
As I read through my email today, I found a message pointing me to Assumptions? Do me a favour....
In it, Loz writes,
If you read this please leave a comment as to who and where you are and maybe if you feel like it why you visit here. If you are a blogger please visit the other bloggers who comment and maybe leave a comment on one of their posts saying Loz sent you ;)
I left my comment on Loz’s blog:
Who I am:
Hi. I'm Aldon, an old guard hardcore geek with interests in technology, politics, social media and networks.
I've been blogging for several years, including being credentialed to cover the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston and the Libby Trial in Washington DC.
I live in Woodbridge, CT, just north of New Haven.
My blog is Orient Lodge. Please, stop by and say hi.
I first found your blog through MyBlogLog.
I like to come back because there is a little more personality and reality to it than many of the political and technical blogs that I visit.
I've been on the road a bit over the past few days, so I'm way behind in my emails, blog reading and so on.
So, I will try to visit the blogs of other people posting here, but it I probably won't get to them all immediately.
My blog is using Drupal and requires registration and validation of an email address. Some people don’t want to give out their email address or go through the bother of registering on another site. If you are already using a site that supports OpenId, you can use that registration instead. However, a lot of people don’t know how to use OpenId yet either, so if this is too complicated for some of you, I can understand.
However, if you can leave a comment about who you are and why you stopped by, especially if you can via Loz’s post, it would be greatly appreciated.
Casting Call
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 10/25/2007 - 12:45Miranda has been urging me to do National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I always have writing ideas, sometimes even in the shape of a novel, but rarely do they present themselves to me the way this latest idea has. I don't want to spill the beans, especially since I have no idea if I'll actually carry it out or if it will turn out at all like I'm currently expecting, but in my current imaginings it will involved Second Life, finance and who knows what else.
As I sit on the train heading into New York, I let my mind wander. What is the story I want to tell? Who are the characters? What will happen and when? How will it turn out? My mind becomes flooded with possible characters all auditioning for a role in my story. I've already gotten about a dozen seeking their chance to have their part of the story told, and that doesn't even get to the part that the reader plays.
If I can get these twelve characters to cooperate and tell their stories in a collaborative way, if I can find time to write this, as well as deal with the rest of my life, this could be good. So, Miranda, I'm not committing to NaNoWritMo yet, but I'm getting closer.
Looking for Venus
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 10/25/2007 - 09:08It was a beautiful evening for convergence, all the planets seemed to be aligned just right. I was sitting in front of the TV with my laptop fired up. I was using the new OnRez client to explore Second Life as I watched CSI: NY. All of my old tools from the regular Second Life client were working fine. I was speaking with an old friend whom I've recently convinced to enter Second Life. He was stumbling through orientation and had added me as a friend. We were talking about capital markets in Second Life and I have him some seed money to get started.
I had my TwitterBox Heads Up Display (HUD), attached, so I could see the messages that my friends were posting on Twitter and I could post my own messages in reply. I watched the TV, the IM with my friend, the twitter messages and the discussions going on around me in Second Life.
I had teleported into the CSI area of Second Life. They had their own orientation to help people get started and guides were standing around making sure that people were finding their way around appropriately. Twice, while I was distracted by one of the other media streams coming at me, I was asked by the guides if I was having problems. This led to several great side discussions.
Over on Twitter, friends were talking about how bad CSI was. There were just too many things that were unrealistic. For the diehard Second Lifer, it lacked verisimilitude. People commented about how there were so many things that CSI showed in Second Life that you just couldn't do. Second Life just isn't that exciting people commented and they wondered why there was a need for that much embellishment.
Well, first life isn't always all that exciting either, and we've gotten used to television embellishing first life, so why not Second Life. I mean, after all, this is fiction. We are expected to come with some willingness to suspend disbelief. I must admit, I watch very little television. Before we moved, the TV was next to my computer, so I would watch a little of some of the prime time shows. But now, the TV is in a different room and I have to make an effort to watch TV, and rarely is it worth the effort.
Last night, I took my laptop into the living room and watched CSI. It is a show that I would normally be unlikely to watch even if the TV was still next to my computer. I just don't like the blood and gore. So, as I settled onto the couch, I didn't have very high expectations. How well will CSI portray Second Life and the people involved. They did a lot better than I expected.
They started off with the victim dressed up as her Second Life avatar. Cosplay, one of the characters described it as. People in Second Life will sometimes dress up as their avatar when they meet other people from Second Life. I know that my daughters' anime loving characters sometimes participate in Cosplay at anime conventions. I've met people from other virtual worlds at gatherings, and while one of them cross dressed for a New Year's eve party, I never saw any virtual world cosplay. But, I haven't been to any Second Life gatherings in real life, so I can't judge whether or not it was accurate. In my mind, it passed the verisimilitude test and added nicely to the story.
Then, there was the first suspect. A kid with advanced Multiple Sclerosis who could be a Don Juan in Second Life. He was supposed to meet the first victim where she was killed, but chickened out. He had bought a gun to kill himself when the disease progressed too far. This played on many stereotypes of Second Life characters. Those that can't make it in regular life, because they are losers, have some ailment, or some combination of the two. I don't like to promote stereotypes. While there are people like that in Second Life, there is also a wonderful diversity. Yet there is a reason for sterotypes. They can describe a subset of a population, and in this case, I've known too many people that fit the stereotype that CSI employed. Again, passing the verisimilitude test and adding nicely to the story.
Later, they introduced the concept a griefer, someone that causes grief to other people in Second Life. If they were teaching a social sciences course on the nature of characters in Second Life, they would have gotten a poor grade on this. Yet that's not what they were doing. They were providing entertainment and their dealing with the griefer was passable. The same applied to the virus that the detective picked up in Second Life, shutting down all his computers. They embellished that part much further than can really happen with the technology, but as a story telling device it worked fairly well.
The show was predictable. It was inaccurate about Second Life, and friends who are concerned about this are likely to hate what CSI did. Yet from my perspective, it was entertaining, which was its primary goal. The predictability and inaccuracies were less than I expected and so it exceeded my expectations and was enjoyable. I'm currently planning to watch the next episode.
The San Diego Fires
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 19:49As I continue to dig through the messages in my inbox, another theme I’m finding is one about how we respond to disasters. The fires in San Diego bring an immediacy to these issues, but the issues are much greater.
One group that is doing important work on looking at how we deal with disasters is the Disaster Accountability Project (DAP). It was founded by Ben Smilowitz, a UConn Law student who volunteered with the Red Cross and a managed a client service center in Gulfport, MS, during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Around a week ago DAP sent out a press release critical of the timing of the TOPOFF4 exercise,
because an updated National Response Plan is not yet in place. Originally, the Exercise was planned to follow the close of the comment period for the newly proposed and highly controversial National Response Framework (NRF). In a large-scale emergency, it would be critical for plans at all levels of government to be aligned with the national coordinating plan. But, state and local officials have not had time to align their plans with the NRF because it has not been finalized.
They also point out
that the Department of Homeland Security made a similar error in April 2005, when it held TOPOFF3 before the deadline by which state, local and other federal agencies were to have revised their own plans to reflect the National Response Plan (NRP) issued in December 2004 with little input from state officials.
While the timing of the exercises might not have been optimal in terms of making the exercises as effective as they should have been, they do illustrate what seems to be a key aspect of dealing with disasters. Disasters often come unexpectedly or at inopportune times.
Today, DAP issued a press release about the comments they are submitting on the NRF. They note that "The description of the FEMA Director and DHS Secretary's responsibilities conflicts with requirements of the Post Katrina Reform Act…Federal exercises frequently ignore recovery or give it lip service if addressed at all… Not all 'lessons learned' are publicly reported or followed up with changes to plans… the TOPOFF III after-action report still has not been issued."
Only seven and a half hours later, they had their next press release out about San Diego.
Noting that ‘Gaps In Disaster Services [are] More Likely To Get Fixed If Made Public’,
The Disaster Accountability Project's toll-free hotline (866-9-TIP-DAP) is ready for CA wildfire-related calls. California residents, firefighters, and relief volunteers can report problems or whistle-blow gaps in disaster relief services in the wildfire response and relief effort. Individuals should use the toll-free hotline (866-9-TIP-DAP) to report the specific location and nature of the disaster relief/response gaps.
Soon afterwards, I received an email from a good friend of mine who is a therapist in San Diego. She notes that two of her friends have lost their homes and were evacuated this morning. Her family is still safe, but they have been close before. She notes a huge dislocation of people, currently over 250,000 evacuated. She urges people to send money to the Red Cross and to help out in other ways because, she notes “this is not going to be over soon as so much housing and business has been destroyed.” She also notes that the therapy community is mobilized and helping, which I believe is too often overlooked in the aftermath of a disaster.
So, for the people of San Diego, I offer my prayers. If you know people struggling with the disaster in California, make sure they know about DAP’s toll-free hotline. It might not help with the current disaster, but it will help as we all learn to deal better with disasters in the future.
(Technorati tag San Diego Fire)
Teach your parents well
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 16:44Sunday, I received an email pointing to an article in the Hartford Courant, Moms, Dads Urged To Be Stronger Advocates. The article spoke about a meeting organized by CT Parent Power, “a statewide parent action network with a history of strengthening the voices of parents on the many decisions that affect our children and families.”
They advocate subversive activities like encouraging “members to register to vote” and “to go to their children's schools”. It was interesting to see the responses. For some reason a bunch of people don’t think parents should be involved and one went so far as to claim, “Parent Advocacy is NOT linked to better student performance”. Those looking for real information are encouraged to check out the research summary of the National Middle School Association.
Today, I received an email pointing me to another article in the Hartford Courant, I Am...Running for Mayor about Raul De Jesus’ campaign to become Mayor of Hartford. It is feel good sort of article and I wondered what is behind Raul’s campaign. The issues page of his campaign website leads off with Education, and his first point is about Parental Participation.
Educating our kids is a task that not only lies in the hands of leadership in our community but also lies in the hands of the parents. Many are single household parents and have more than one job. I acknowledge the effort that many put into our school system. Sometimes due to fact that they are multi-tasking, it’s easy for them to forget to allocate the time for their kids’ education.
He goes on to talk about "Parents Report Cards". He then tackles Outside Suspensions noting that in 2005-2006 there were 13,159 suspensions which he considers to be schools avoiding the real issues. He suggest he “would replace outside suspension with inside suspension and supervised community service.” He goes on to talk about public safety and taxes, and of course, he has a Register to Vote link on his webpage.
Soon after I got the email about Raul, I received an email about New York State’s Parenting Education Graduation Requirement. I don’t know of this requirements talk about the importance of parental participation in schools, but I sure hope that is does.
Raul is right to note the difficulties some parents have in finding time to be involved in their children’s schools. However, it is worth noting that this involvement doesn’t have to be an onerous task. This weekend, Kim is helping with the Halloween Hoot organized by the Beecher Road School Parent Teacher Organization and I am sure that everyone will have a good time.
I hope and expect that the majority of my readers are already very involved in their children’s schools. Good for you. I hope that some of these stories will re-enforce your commitment to be involved and provide useful thoughts for when you talk with others about the importance of parental involvement.
