Listening to Scottlo ‘casting on ds106 radio from the biggest earthquake in Japan’s history. Just like the broadcast of War of the Worlds, I start to think this is live action news, but I know it was recorded over two years ago, as the cogdog listened and published it on his blog. So goes the […]

I have signed up for a 4-week MOOC on the LMS system known as Moodle. I’ve been using Moodle (ineffectively) for a couple of years, and have been recently (just this week) appointed as an assistant LMS Manager on my campus. This MOOC is produced by WizIQ, so I would appreciate insights into that company. […]

For Design Assignment 1089, we are challenged to create a poster featuring a famous person with a book. I have chosen to use Cuban revolutionary themed books (image on flickr cc by Bert van der Lingen) paired with a classic poster image of Che Guevara (image on flickr cc by Doug Wheller). I know that […]

This is a personal wrap-up of this Memorial Day weekend. I share it with ds106 since ds106 was part of the weekend, and after all #ds106 is #4life. I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. My wife and I have been itching for the opportunity for a short trip out of town for a while […]

Andy Warhol was an innovator in the world of Pop Art, blurring the line between commercial art and fine art, between artist-as-creator and artist-as-appropriator. Claes Oldenburg is an innovator in the world of Pop Art, blurring the line between everyday objects as objects and everyday objects as art. In both cases, the implication of artistic […]

During the open online drop-in office hours that Professor Groom held on Google Hangouts, the topic of Twilight came up. Not The Twilight Zone, but Twilight the vampire and werewolf movies. This led to an interesting discussion of cultural references and generational differences. Usually, teachers are older than their students, often by decades. The cultural […]

This is my first and second animated GIF. It’s just a beginning… This gif is taken from a scene in The Twilight Zone “The Invaders” where Agnes Moorehead discovers someone or something coming down the ramp from the flying saucer on her roof. I wanted to bring out the anticipation and make a hook for […]

In pursuit of downloading the video of TZ “The Invaders”, I (and at least one other participant) ran into difficulties. Clicking on the download button of the player started a download, but would stop approximately half-way through. Multiple efforts resulted in varying results, but never the entire episode. What was downloaded could be viewed, and […]

Kudos to Jim Groom for his great ds106.tv intro to the course! ~reading the syllabus is often the worst part of any course…but for those taking the UMW course for credit, may I suggest you take it seriously? ~Note to self: concentrate on the story-telling, and not just the tools; concentrate on what you’re doing […]

SPOILER ALERT (if you haven’t yet viewed Twilight Zone episode “The Invaders” In the Twilight Zone episode “The Invaders”, actress Agnes Moorehead portrays a woman alone in an isolated farmhouse reacting to a miniature flying saucer that landed on her house. The inhabitants look like toy robots, small and wearing space suits. Moorehead is frightened, […]

As the summer session of the UMW ds106 starts, I have been pondering my participation as an open participant. I am grateful that the course is open, and I can play by my own plan. My plan is: continue to make Daily Creates, especially written or photographic; learn to use Gimp for image manipulation/editing/creation; learn […]

As the summer session of the UMW ds106 starts, I have been pondering my participation as an open participant. I am grateful that the course is open, and I can play by my own plan. My plan is: continue to make Daily Creates, especially written or photographic; learn to use Gimp for image manipulation/editing/creation; learn […]

I started working on ds106 a couple of weeks ago, and noticed that my Daily Create images did not show up on site or on Flicker.com. All the references said give it a few days. Cogdog himself said it’s unpredictable. Well, in my case I think it was the fact that I created my Flickr ...

Tell a story about an unusual aspect of urban life. Rome. Perhaps the ur-urban life! The city can be lived on many levels, figuratively and literally. This past summer I spent nine days in Rome, with my wife, two grown sons, and a grown daughter and her husband. Our hotel was a building at least ...

I just got back from attending the 18th Annual TCC Worldwide Online Conference. Now I am motivated to experiment with various media for teaching, and ds106 looks like a good place to learn.