Syndicated Blog Posts by Downes

Centred

by Downes
December 26, 2017

December 22, 2017. Day three of my miserable sore throat with no end in sight. Still puttering on the computer. This is the new pottery I bought at the craft show a few days ago. I did not place the sprig of broccoli in the centre, that’s where it ended…
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That’s a Wrap

by Downes
December 26, 2017

December 21, 2017. One last look at the office for 2017, where I finished up by completing timesheets and updating code. And also dealing with a nasty sore throat that felt like I had swallowed gravel when I woke up this morning. http://ift.tt/2DRCKgV…
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Screened

by Downes
December 26, 2017

December 22, 2017. Still struggling with a miserable sore throat. Strepsils and NeoCitran to the rescue. This is the view from my home office window. Snow. Cold. Bleah. Spent the day investigating Javascript frameworks. http://ift.tt/2pCY1Yr…
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False Sunset

by Downes
December 21, 2017

December 20, 2017. The sun set today at 4:20 pm. This is after that. It’s a ‘false sunset’ – an image of the sun that appears because of a refraction of the sun in ice crystals in the air. This tells me that tomorrow will be colder. It will also…
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False Sunset

by Downes
December 21, 2017

December 20, 2017. The sun set today at 4:20 pm. This is after that. It’s a ‘false sunset’ – an image of the sun that appears because of a refraction of the sun in ice crystals in the air. This tells me that tomorrow will be colder. It will also…
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Christmas Moose

by Downes
December 20, 2017

December 19, 2017. I was in Gatineau today to do a workshop with the people at CSPS where we talked about business intelligence, data analytics, KPIs, and such. On the way out I spotted what was probably intended to be a reindeer but to me looked much more like a…
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Pall

by Downes
December 20, 2017

December 18, 2017. This is the office as I left this evening (I work in the building on the left). Today I spent the day finishing my analysis of CSPS documentation, looking for entities and properties being used to describe their work and its outcomes. Yes, this is fun work…
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Pens

by Downes
December 20, 2017

December 17, 2017. I read a blog post today wondering about the role of pens in or digital world, and it inspired me to take this photo of the pens I collected at the recent Online Educa Berlin conference. Today was a working Sunday; I spent the day figuring out…
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Christmas Craft Fair

by Downes
December 16, 2017

December 16, 2017. We went in to the EY Centre for the Christmas Craft Fair (*might not be its official name). We got some catnip toys for the cats and some pottery for me (so I can go back to having soups for supper, which I stopped doing when my…
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Highway Snow

by Downes
December 12, 2017

December 12, 2017. We’re having a bit of a snow event, nothing major, but enough to slow the highways to a crawl and cause a dozen fender-benders. This is the scene on Anderson Road as I wait for traffic. http://ift.tt/2yifOTU…
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Lion

by Downes
December 12, 2017

December 11, 2017. After a series of eleven photographs Alex has decided he’s tired of posing. This is a yawn, not a roar. But it’s also indicative of the way a cat will feign boredom to disguise interest. Cats are very dishonest. Unlike dogs. http://ift.tt/2Aw4Gc5…
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Spotlight

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 8, 2017. This was the best of the sessions I saw at the conference (my own excepted of course ;) ). Wilfred Rubens chaired a panel with Marc Prensky and David White on innovation and learning outcomes.Lucid, engaging discussion. I spent all of Friday at the conference, worked the…
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Farewell Carthage

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 5, 2017. The day consisted mostly of a flight from Tunis-Carthage airport (where this photo was taken) to Berlin. I worked on my virtual box on the airplane. Then I went to the Christmas Market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin (where I go every…
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KaDeWe

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 7, 2017. Gave my Spotlight talk in the morning (I skipped the opening plenary so I’d be prepared), had lunch and then dashed out to KaDeWe to pick up something for Andrea (which turned out not to be in stock). I was feeling a bit under the weather after…
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Geraniums and Snow

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 10, 2017. I woke to snow on the ground, but the geraniums are thriving, which makes me happy. I spent a quiet day reading stuff online, catching up on some email, and playing No Man’s Sky. Another early night. I watched Titus’s Special Unit along with some Walking Dead.…
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Workshop

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 6, 2017. Today I was completely occupied with my workshop. I’m a bit disappointed that only 9 people came to it, but it was experimental and very tech-oriented, so I’m not overly surprised. My project top install gRSShopper on a Vagrant box and share it with participants was successful,…
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The Red Baron

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 9, 2017. Spotted in Berlin’s Tegel Airport as I waited for my early morning flight. I looked it up and the Red Baron was shot down in early 1918, so this is close to the 100 year anniversary. I flew Eurowings to Brussels and thence on Air Canada to…
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Geraniums and Snow

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 10, 2017. I woke to snow on the ground, but the geraniums are thriving, which makes me happy. I spent a quiet day reading stuff online, catching up on some email, and playing No Man’s Sky. Another early night. I watched Titus’s Special Unit along with some Walking Dead.…
Read more...
Spotlight

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 8, 2017. This was the best of the sessions I saw at the conference (my own excepted of course ;) ). Wilfred Rubens chaired a panel with Marc Prensky and David White on innovation and learning outcomes.Lucid, engaging discussion. I spent all of Friday at the conference, worked the…
Read more...
The Red Baron

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 9, 2017. Spotted in Berlin’s Tegel Airport as I waited for my early morning flight. I looked it up and the Red Baron was shot down in early 1918, so this is close to the 100 year anniversary. I flew Eurowings to Brussels and thence on Air Canada to…
Read more...
Workshop

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 6, 2017. Today I was completely occupied with my workshop. I’m a bit disappointed that only 9 people came to it, but it was experimental and very tech-oriented, so I’m not overly surprised. My project top install gRSShopper on a Vagrant box and share it with participants was successful,…
Read more...
KaDeWe

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 7, 2017. Gave my Spotlight talk in the morning (I skipped the opening plenary so I’d be prepared), had lunch and then dashed out to KaDeWe to pick up something for Andrea (which turned out not to be in stock). I was feeling a bit under the weather after…
Read more...
Farewell Carthage

by Downes
December 11, 2017

December 5, 2017. The day consisted mostly of a flight from Tunis-Carthage airport (where this photo was taken) to Berlin. I worked on my virtual box on the airplane. Then I went to the Christmas Market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin (where I go every…
Read more...
Work Day

by Downes
December 4, 2017

December 4, 2017. I spent the day working on gRSShopper in a box. This was my view of Tunis outside my window this morning, which was all I saw of the city. In the end, though, I made my code work – it felt so good at the end. http://ift.tt/2BHGNLF…
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Tunis

by Downes
December 4, 2017

December 3, 2017. Arrived in Tunis this afternoon, took a short walk around, and settled in to watch the last of the new Star Trek episodes. http://ift.tt/2kkaUo1…
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Arm Wrestling

by Downes
December 3, 2017

November 2, 2017. Final day of the conference in Hammamet, Tunisia. Attended the conference in the morning, then was witness to this arm wrestling match at lunch. With the conference closed, I spent the afternoon sleeping. Caught up on some Star Trek episodes in the evening. Then more sleep. The…
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Arm Wrestling

by Downes
December 3, 2017

November 2, 2017. Final day of the conference in Hammamet, Tunisia. Attended the conference in the morning, then was witness to this arm wrestling match at lunch. With the conference closed, I spent the afternoon sleeping. Caught up on some Star Trek episodes in the evening. Then more sleep. The…
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Papa

by Downes
December 1, 2017

November 30, 2017. Conference day today all day in Hammamet. I attended talks in the morning, including this one by Papa Youga Dieng, from Senegal, from the OIF, who I’ve known for a number of years now. He was the motivator behind our MOOC in French on open educational resources…
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Papa

by Downes
December 1, 2017

November 30, 2017. Conference day today all day in Hammamet. I attended talks in the morning, including this one by Papa Youga Dieng, from Senegal, from the OIF, who I’ve known for a number of years now. He was the motivator behind our MOOC in French on open educational resources…
Read more...
Sunrise Over the Mediterranean

by Downes
November 29, 2017

November 29, 2017. I got a lot of sleep and woke up around 3:30 a.m., which sets me up nicely for “jet lag day” for today and the conference starting tomorrow. My room faces east toward the sea so I was able to watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean…
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