Blogged with Flock
2007/07/31
2007/07/27
Anthropological Convenience
Hugh Laurie - Biography
On Cambridge: 'I went there to row. I'll be blunt with it. It's been ten years, and I think the admissions tutor can take it now...but that's really what I went for, and anthropology was the most convenient subject to read while spending eight hours a day on the river.'
2007/07/26
2007/07/15
Openness and Research
To avoid confusion related to "Open Source" in the memetic marketplace, Jean-Claude Bradley proposes "Open Notebook Science" to describe the process of making data available during experimental research (in Bradley's case, a chemistry laboratory's preliminary data).
Drexel CoAS E-Learning: Open Notebook Science
Interesting approach. As the fields in which I spend most of my time are often said not to be scientific in the strongest sense, I'd probably prefer "Open Notebook Research" to Bradley's "Open Notebook Science," but the "open notebook" idea seems to apply equally well to Wet Sciences, Soft Sciences, Hard Sciences, and Humanities.
Drexel CoAS E-Learning: Open Notebook Science
Interesting approach. As the fields in which I spend most of my time are often said not to be scientific in the strongest sense, I'd probably prefer "Open Notebook Research" to Bradley's "Open Notebook Science," but the "open notebook" idea seems to apply equally well to Wet Sciences, Soft Sciences, Hard Sciences, and Humanities.
Blogged with Flock
2007/07/14
Floque
Ça y est!
La version «sociale» du navigateur de Mozilla, Flock, supporte maintenant la vérification orthographique en continu.
Honnêtement, sans cette fonction d'apparence si simple, je n'avais pas vraiment l'intention d'utiliser Flock. L'idée, c'est que je passe pas mal de temps à écrire, quand je suis dans un navigateur. Que ce soit un billet de blogue (comme celui-ci) ou un message électronique dans Gmail, j'écris plus que je ne lis. Et j'ai vraiment besoin d'une vérification orthographique quand j'écris.
La version 0.9 de Flock, qui ajoute cette fonction, semble très différente de la version 0.7 que j'avais utilisée pendant un certain temps. J'ai pas encore fait le tour des nouveautés mais on dirait que les développeurs de ce logiciel ont beaucoup réfléchi avant de rendre cette version publique. D'ailleurs, je crois saveur que cette nouvelle version s'est fait attendre un certain temps puisqu'il me semble me rappeler qu'elle devait être mise à la disposition de tout un chacun il y a déjà plusieurs mois.
C'est en fait grâce à un commentaire d'un poditeur de la balado-diffusion Buzz Out Loud que j'ai appris la sortie de cette nouvelle version.
Guénial!
La version «sociale» du navigateur de Mozilla, Flock, supporte maintenant la vérification orthographique en continu.
Honnêtement, sans cette fonction d'apparence si simple, je n'avais pas vraiment l'intention d'utiliser Flock. L'idée, c'est que je passe pas mal de temps à écrire, quand je suis dans un navigateur. Que ce soit un billet de blogue (comme celui-ci) ou un message électronique dans Gmail, j'écris plus que je ne lis. Et j'ai vraiment besoin d'une vérification orthographique quand j'écris.
La version 0.9 de Flock, qui ajoute cette fonction, semble très différente de la version 0.7 que j'avais utilisée pendant un certain temps. J'ai pas encore fait le tour des nouveautés mais on dirait que les développeurs de ce logiciel ont beaucoup réfléchi avant de rendre cette version publique. D'ailleurs, je crois saveur que cette nouvelle version s'est fait attendre un certain temps puisqu'il me semble me rappeler qu'elle devait être mise à la disposition de tout un chacun il y a déjà plusieurs mois.
C'est en fait grâce à un commentaire d'un poditeur de la balado-diffusion Buzz Out Loud que j'ai appris la sortie de cette nouvelle version.
Guénial!
Blogged with Flock
Flock as Blog Editor
Now that Flock has a "spell as you type" feature, I can give it a fair shake as a blog editor.
Flock 0.9 Beta Release Notes | Flock
Thing is, though, it seems to have a problem with my main blog's extremely long list of categories. When I tried posting a blog entry with my WordPress.com blog account listed among the others, Flock became unresponsive as it was trying to download all my categories (all 2,751 of them). Maybe I could have waited longer but after a number of minutes without being able to use my computer at all, I decided to let it go.
Still, it made me a bit cranky. So the rest of this post will sound like a rant. It's more like wishful thinking, though. I like wishful thinking.
I don't like the way Flock's blog editor handles link insertion. Sure, like any WYSIWYG editor out there, it has a button on which you can click to add an appropriate URL to text you've selected. But there's no clear shortcut for this button and it could be much more powerful than it currently is.
Qumana has a better way to handle links. For one thing, it automatically inserts the clipboard's content in the URL section of link insertion dialog box. And since it keeps published blog posts, it makes it easy to copy the "permalink" to another blog entry (for those bloggers, like me, who tend to be self-referential). Can't remember off the top of my head but I'm pretty sure ecto and Windows Live Writer have similar features.
Ok... Flock does have this drag and drop interface for "media streams" (basically, Flickr or PhotoBucket accounts) and for "Web snippets" (local content, including text and links). Good idea and I guess I could make my "bloggable content" available to me while blogging by adding lots of content to my Flock installation and Flickr account. Makes a lot of sense for those who mostly use blogs as placeholders. But it's still not the ideal method for blogs which rely on more extensive writing. Or for message writing.
What I want is pretty obvious but I haven't found it yet, even in dedicated blog editors. I want my blog editor to have access to all of my links (Web history, favourites, social bookmarks...) and make it easy to work with those links while I'm writing. Sure, a "Web Snippets" feature is useful. But it still requires a fair amount of mouse movement to simply insert a link. Call me lazy but I prefer limiting my mouse movement while I'm writing.
My dream editor would integrate all of my social bookmarks, Web histories, and address books in the same interface. I could use a keystroke and start typing to get access to those links and addresses that I use frequently. Why addresses? I want to use the same editor for writing blog posts and email messages. Why not? Messages and posts end up having very similar features anyway. As many sites label it, it's all about "sharing content."
(I'm not really into IM but, as logic would have it, the same features should work with IM as well.)
To me, the "killer feature" in modern browsers is that auto-complete in the URL bar. I want to go back to a site I've visited recently, I just start typing the URL in the URL bar and the browser shows all related URLs. Same thing in Gmail: start typing an address and Gmail auto-completes it. So simple that nobody ever talks about it. But this simple feature is yet completely absent from blog editors, AFAICT.
Oh, sure, Flock does auto-complete in the search field. In fact, it supports incremental searches, which is really nice. But I need auto-complete for links and addresses.
What makes auto-complete even nicer is that it's now possible to synchronise browsers through Google's Browser Sync extension for Firefox (it might work with Flock too). Google also saves a Web History. And Gmail users get easy access to their address books from Google applications like Google Docs. And Google has toolbars for most browsers. So I guess Google could easily implement my dream editor.
Thing with my wishful thinking is that it's often obvious enough that it becomes concrete very quickly after I say it. For all I know, this feature may exist somewhere and everybody else knows about it. But I've been missing it for a while now.
Ah, well.
Flock 0.9 Beta Release Notes | Flock
Thing is, though, it seems to have a problem with my main blog's extremely long list of categories. When I tried posting a blog entry with my WordPress.com blog account listed among the others, Flock became unresponsive as it was trying to download all my categories (all 2,751 of them). Maybe I could have waited longer but after a number of minutes without being able to use my computer at all, I decided to let it go.
Still, it made me a bit cranky. So the rest of this post will sound like a rant. It's more like wishful thinking, though. I like wishful thinking.
I don't like the way Flock's blog editor handles link insertion. Sure, like any WYSIWYG editor out there, it has a button on which you can click to add an appropriate URL to text you've selected. But there's no clear shortcut for this button and it could be much more powerful than it currently is.
Qumana has a better way to handle links. For one thing, it automatically inserts the clipboard's content in the URL section of link insertion dialog box. And since it keeps published blog posts, it makes it easy to copy the "permalink" to another blog entry (for those bloggers, like me, who tend to be self-referential). Can't remember off the top of my head but I'm pretty sure ecto and Windows Live Writer have similar features.
Ok... Flock does have this drag and drop interface for "media streams" (basically, Flickr or PhotoBucket accounts) and for "Web snippets" (local content, including text and links). Good idea and I guess I could make my "bloggable content" available to me while blogging by adding lots of content to my Flock installation and Flickr account. Makes a lot of sense for those who mostly use blogs as placeholders. But it's still not the ideal method for blogs which rely on more extensive writing. Or for message writing.
What I want is pretty obvious but I haven't found it yet, even in dedicated blog editors. I want my blog editor to have access to all of my links (Web history, favourites, social bookmarks...) and make it easy to work with those links while I'm writing. Sure, a "Web Snippets" feature is useful. But it still requires a fair amount of mouse movement to simply insert a link. Call me lazy but I prefer limiting my mouse movement while I'm writing.
My dream editor would integrate all of my social bookmarks, Web histories, and address books in the same interface. I could use a keystroke and start typing to get access to those links and addresses that I use frequently. Why addresses? I want to use the same editor for writing blog posts and email messages. Why not? Messages and posts end up having very similar features anyway. As many sites label it, it's all about "sharing content."
(I'm not really into IM but, as logic would have it, the same features should work with IM as well.)
To me, the "killer feature" in modern browsers is that auto-complete in the URL bar. I want to go back to a site I've visited recently, I just start typing the URL in the URL bar and the browser shows all related URLs. Same thing in Gmail: start typing an address and Gmail auto-completes it. So simple that nobody ever talks about it. But this simple feature is yet completely absent from blog editors, AFAICT.
Oh, sure, Flock does auto-complete in the search field. In fact, it supports incremental searches, which is really nice. But I need auto-complete for links and addresses.
What makes auto-complete even nicer is that it's now possible to synchronise browsers through Google's Browser Sync extension for Firefox (it might work with Flock too). Google also saves a Web History. And Gmail users get easy access to their address books from Google applications like Google Docs. And Google has toolbars for most browsers. So I guess Google could easily implement my dream editor.
Thing with my wishful thinking is that it's often obvious enough that it becomes concrete very quickly after I say it. For all I know, this feature may exist somewhere and everybody else knows about it. But I've been missing it for a while now.
Ah, well.
Blogged with Flock
2007/07/01
2007/06/16
2007/06/02
Bread with Time, Food Processor
Used Lahey's no-knead technique before, been thinking about food processor kneading.
It all makes sense.
The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work - New York Times
It all makes sense.
The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work - New York Times
2007/05/22
Systèmes de parenté
Envoyé par la soeur de ma mère. Auteur inconnu. Qui veut faire le diagramme?
LIENS FAMILIAUX
LIENS FAMILIAUX
Il y a bien des années
Quand j'avais 23 ans,
J'ai marié une veuve aussi belle qu'on puisse l'imaginer.
Elle avait une grande fille aux cheveux roux
Et mon père en est tombé amoureux fou.
Peu de temps après, ils se sont mariés
Faisant ainsi de mon père, mon gendre,
Ce qui changea énormément ma vie.
Ma fille était alors ma mère
Puisqu'elle était la femme de mon père.
Pour compliquer les choses encore plus,
Malgré que cela me remplit de joie,
Je devins papa d'un beau petit garçon.
Mon petit bébé devint donc le beau-frère de mon père
Et, par le fait-même, mon oncle,
Et cela m'attristait beaucoup.
S'il était mon oncle, il était aussi le frère de la grande fille
De la veuve qui, bien sur, était ma belle-mère.
La femme de mon père eut un garçon
Et celui-ci devint alors mon petit-fils
Puisqu'il était le garçon de ma fille.
Ma femme est maintenant la mère de ma mère
Et cela me rend dingue.
Parce que même si elle est ma femme,
Elle est aussi ma grand-mère.
Si ma femme est ma grand-mère,
Je suis alors son petit-fils.
Et à chaque fois que j'y pense
Ça me faiti monter sur mes grands chevaux.
Parce que maintenant, je suis devenu
Un des cas les plus étranges :
En tant que mari de ma grand-mère,
Je suis mon propre grand-père.
2007/05/10
St-Viateur en fête
Grâce à la firme de jeux vidéo Ubisoft.
Ubisoft Montréal a 10 ans et présente St-Viateur Festival de rue!
Ubisoft Montréal a 10 ans et présente St-Viateur Festival de rue!
2007/04/26
2007/04/19
Learning Styles
Just filled in a questionnaire about learning styles after reading about it on a secondary school forum which mentioned on a Moodle forum.
Though there are some issues with the way learning styles are theorised, I find quite appealing the notion that flexibility/diversity in teaching methods relates to flexibility/diversity in learning styles.
One problem with such questionnaires has to do with introspection which, as many cognitive scientists would argue, is unreliable as a way to learn about thinking. Of course, reliability and accuracy might not be the only features of the answers we get. But since such questionnaires are used to reveal patterns, the unreliability of introspection can be an important issue to discuss.
Filled in the questionnaire twice. The first time, I was probably trying to get a specific result, even without noticing. The second time, I tried to be as much of a realist as I could be and I think it worked. (Although, I may have tried even harder to get a different result.)
My results (on the second pass):
What hides behind such numbers is context. Though "learning by doing" isn't my forte, there are many situations in which it's my main learning mode. In fact, I really enjoy the playfulness of this "kinesthetic" mode of learning. Though I'm almost not visual at all, my visual memory really isn't that bad and I do rely on visual memory in several contexts. Websites and presentations with a lot of audio tend to annoy me. Part of the reason the read/write mode is almost as important for me as the aural mode is that most academic activities are associated with reading and writing.
Not that any of those issues are contradicting the model. Those who use the VARK (visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic) model clearly take context into account (especially since multimodality is the most common pattern). My own emphasis on context is certainly linked to my ethnographic approach. And habits of connected learning.
Though the sensory model is appealing and widespread (even outside learning institutions), there are other approaches to the diversity of learning habits. For instance, I got much inspiration from a model described by Olivia Rovinescu, director of Concordia's Centre for Teaching and Learning Services. From what I remember of that model, critical thinking is conceived in connection with stages in cognitive development. As far as I can tell, Rovinescu's model relates to a reevaluation of W.B. Perry's work (which, itself, was based on Piaget's work). As an informal learner of such pedagogical theories, I'm quite taken by several approaches to learning described by the models themselves. For one thing, these models help me describe my own learning habits and strategies.
Should I now take MBTI tests? ;-)
Though there are some issues with the way learning styles are theorised, I find quite appealing the notion that flexibility/diversity in teaching methods relates to flexibility/diversity in learning styles.
One problem with such questionnaires has to do with introspection which, as many cognitive scientists would argue, is unreliable as a way to learn about thinking. Of course, reliability and accuracy might not be the only features of the answers we get. But since such questionnaires are used to reveal patterns, the unreliability of introspection can be an important issue to discuss.
Filled in the questionnaire twice. The first time, I was probably trying to get a specific result, even without noticing. The second time, I tried to be as much of a realist as I could be and I think it worked. (Although, I may have tried even harder to get a different result.)
My results (on the second pass):
- Visual: 3
- Aural: 13
- Read/Write: 12
- Kinesthetic: 7
What hides behind such numbers is context. Though "learning by doing" isn't my forte, there are many situations in which it's my main learning mode. In fact, I really enjoy the playfulness of this "kinesthetic" mode of learning. Though I'm almost not visual at all, my visual memory really isn't that bad and I do rely on visual memory in several contexts. Websites and presentations with a lot of audio tend to annoy me. Part of the reason the read/write mode is almost as important for me as the aural mode is that most academic activities are associated with reading and writing.
Not that any of those issues are contradicting the model. Those who use the VARK (visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic) model clearly take context into account (especially since multimodality is the most common pattern). My own emphasis on context is certainly linked to my ethnographic approach. And habits of connected learning.
Though the sensory model is appealing and widespread (even outside learning institutions), there are other approaches to the diversity of learning habits. For instance, I got much inspiration from a model described by Olivia Rovinescu, director of Concordia's Centre for Teaching and Learning Services. From what I remember of that model, critical thinking is conceived in connection with stages in cognitive development. As far as I can tell, Rovinescu's model relates to a reevaluation of W.B. Perry's work (which, itself, was based on Piaget's work). As an informal learner of such pedagogical theories, I'm quite taken by several approaches to learning described by the models themselves. For one thing, these models help me describe my own learning habits and strategies.
Should I now take MBTI tests? ;-)
2007/04/16
2007/04/15
Consoled from Life
They can hurt me, jail my bodyLiving Colour - Solace of You Lyrics
I'll still be free
I've got the solace of you
Luminous.
2007/04/10
Learning Materials (was: PowerPoint and Teaching Effectiveness?)
Thinking about teaching, yet again...
From a post on a Moodle forum.
From a post on a Moodle forum.
This thread almost had the effect of an intervention, on me. Maybe my use of bullet points on slides is not as appropriate as it should be. As a victim of Steve Jobs's RDF, I would prefer doing Jobs-style (or Lessig-style) presentations, instead of following bullet points on slides.
My main excuse to use slides is that I'm really absent-minded and I tend to go on tangents. Slides help me improvise my lectures as they: remind me of what I want to discuss, are easy to time, are easy to read while lecturing, and are clearly structured.
Some of my most honest students have told me (in course evaluations) that I should dispense with slides. The reason I still use slides is pretty much because other students react strongly if I go too far on a tangent and they don't know where I'm going. With a slide, they can at least tell where I'm at.
But lecturing is just one part of the story.
I just gave my last lecture of the semester. Only lectured for a short period of time as the rest of the course meeting was devoted to preparing students for the exam. The highlight today was that I was able to build up exam questions with a relatively large number of students. Those questions will be on the final exam and I'm convinced that the process helped students way beyond the scope of the exam.
Anyhoo...
Slides, lecture notes, textbooks, presentations, lessons, podcasts, wikis, blogs, links, webpages... All of these are pretty much what I would call "learning materials." Been thinking quite a lot about learning materials recently and will be holding a session on learning materials at the Spirit of Inquiry conference organised by McGraw-Hill/Ryerson and Concordia. My main ideas with those learning materials are that they can be free (as in speech and/or as in beer), open (access, -ended), and flexible (customizable). I'd like participants at the conference to have fun with these ideas on learning matetrials. Mashing up on mashups and mash-ups, Lessig's Free Culture and Creative Commons, Wesch's "Web 2.0" video ethnography, Baraniuk's free coursework materials, MIT's OpenCourseWare, Wired Magazine's Radical Transparency, and the Cluetrain legacy.
There are technical issues and Moodle can help. For instance, with editing and repurposing content.
I still don't have the perfect workflow which would allow me to use outlines to produce both slides and lecture notes at the same time, post everything on Moodle, link everything with podcasts, collaboratively edit content, etc.
A friend has been using ProfCast with great success. Another friend recently showed me a neat script that he hacked together which allows for seamless integration of wiki-like markup and slide structure. Previously, I've used OmniOutliner with LaTeX, HTML, Keynote, and other file formats (including PPT). I tried Hans Hagen's ConTeXt with little success. I've even started to think that OneNote 2007 might provide a solution. Zoho Notebook looks promising, especially if it can integrate with Zoho Show.
Many of us do a lot of things with our "learning materials." From producing self-paced slideshows to collaboratively editing textbooks. The content itself can be fairly simple. File formats abound to make it easy for anybody to work with this type of material. Maybe Moodle can help people understand that it's not just a question of coding in some HTML, Flash, or SCORM.
Free Show: Dakan at Balattou (April 11)
The main band in which I play, Madou Diarra and Dakan, is playing tomorrow night, April 11, at Club Balattou on Saint-Laurent. Haitian singer Dre-D will play first, at 8:30 p.m. and Dakan will be the second act.
Free as in "free beer": no cover charge.
Festival International Nuits d'Afrique de Montréal - World music Musique du monde
Free as in "free beer": no cover charge.
Festival International Nuits d'Afrique de Montréal - World music Musique du monde
2007/04/06
Did Google Lose Its Touch?
Well, ok, the changes in the APIs might be worth it. But Google's personalised maps feature (MyMaps) don't impress me much. Maybe there's something I didn't get but apart from Google Earth/KML integration, this new feature seems to add relatively little to what other services and mashups have been doing with Google Maps and other map-based online services (Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest, Microsoft's Live Local, Mappy, etc.).
One thing I expected in creating a new map is that distances would be automatically calculated. Sure, you can get directions with distances. But those directions are based on car driving and you pretty much need to have addresses. Besides, it takes a lot more time to input the data necessary than just drawing a line.
Actually, I'm still convinced that functionality exist (getting distances by drawing lines) but I haven't seen it yet. Microsoft's Live Local does it.
In fact, it could be fun to be able to set a distance (that you want to walk, say) and draw around a path which would be equivalent to that distance.
Someone told me about a Mappy, European map/direction system which takes into account toll roads, gives you an estimated gas consumption and generates maps for pedestrians or for express routes. It also includes public transportation for Paris. I hope that we'll eventually get the same in North America, especially for those of us who aren't so car-centric.
So, despite its hype for its new map-making feature, is Google losing its touch with creating new tools?
Official Google Blog: Map-making: So easy a caveman could do it
One thing I expected in creating a new map is that distances would be automatically calculated. Sure, you can get directions with distances. But those directions are based on car driving and you pretty much need to have addresses. Besides, it takes a lot more time to input the data necessary than just drawing a line.
Actually, I'm still convinced that functionality exist (getting distances by drawing lines) but I haven't seen it yet. Microsoft's Live Local does it.
In fact, it could be fun to be able to set a distance (that you want to walk, say) and draw around a path which would be equivalent to that distance.
Someone told me about a Mappy, European map/direction system which takes into account toll roads, gives you an estimated gas consumption and generates maps for pedestrians or for express routes. It also includes public transportation for Paris. I hope that we'll eventually get the same in North America, especially for those of us who aren't so car-centric.
So, despite its hype for its new map-making feature, is Google losing its touch with creating new tools?
Official Google Blog: Map-making: So easy a caveman could do it
2007/04/05
2007/03/20
Scouts 19è de la Vérendrye
Quand on parle de petit monde...
Jean-Sébastien Thibault, qui se faisait appeler «Sébastien» à l'époque, vient de m'envoyer ces photos de la troupe de scouts dont nous faisions partie, la 19è de la Vérendrye.
Vous savez me reconnaître?
Jean-Sébastien Thibault, qui se faisait appeler «Sébastien» à l'époque, vient de m'envoyer ces photos de la troupe de scouts dont nous faisions partie, la 19è de la Vérendrye.
Vous savez me reconnaître?
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