Monday, December 26, 2005

Holidays = Family, Friends, and BABIES!!!!

So I've had a lovely time so far this holiday season, hanging out with friends, chatting and playing games with family, and most of all...playing with everyone's children!!! This must be the year of the baby...bc everyone I know is having one!

Below are just a few pics I'd like to share:

Everyone, meet Baxter - a bright-eyed, laughing and very intelligent baby. Father and mother are both good friends of mine. Baxter, meet internet friends!!


Next up, little Troy! He is very quiet, but very inquisitive. He likes long crawls on the blanket, with shiny Christmas ornaments.


And it wouldn't be a party without my nephew, Jaheim! Always ready to laugh, and play tricks, one must always have a discerning eye!


We have a little heartbreaker in the making in Kiana! She melts people with her stare!


Truely a fun Christmas and one that I will remember! I think it is times like these that really keep me motivated to help others in need, especially children who are less fortunate. I am not an expert on foreign trade, farm subsidies, global hunger, but the facts still remain. We, as humans, fight for resources that allow us a certain quality of life which usually means others might not have access to the same quality.

Let us fight for others to acheive the same qualities as us. Chip away at poverty and inequality by teaching, loving, and giving.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Am I leaving a legacy?

My Americorps*VISTA term as Technology Coordinator is coming to a close. I have a few months left.

I am both incredibly excited about what lies ahead and sad to let go.

About a month ago I would've told you that I will be a VISTA for another year because of my willingness and ambition to complete everything in my workplan, but I realize it is time to move on. Cultivating a career path is daunting, but necessary and I am definitely a step closer to knowing exactly what I want to do because of my experience in this program.

I have been blessed with so much lattitude and free space to create and deliver programs relating to systems analysis and design to computer literacy workshops, while also directing research efforts of an undergrad and leading a team of grad students in shaping the information architecture and future of data management for the office I work in....It is soo rewarding...and diverse! I also helped facilitate, plan, and coordinate a grant to dialogue about war and terrorism, work with professors on health disparities, and consult an organization on how to develop a board of directors and obtain 501c3 tax code status.

What is amazing to me is that I have had little training or knowledge going into doing all these really cool things, but have grown and dramatically increased my capacity to achieve and learn how to do them. I am better for that, a better person for the interaction. I am moved. Inspired. And changed to see a profound reality of hope to cause change.

So I am sad to leave this incubator. So I am humbled to appreciate what I have.

So what now?

Find a job, that's what! It is so exciting to look at everything available!

I really want to further my eduation to a point where I can more effectively cause more positive change, but the realities of debt and living in poverty leave me to seek employment first (a recent revelation).

I've begun to recieve the first round of rejection letters in the mail, but I will prevail...armed with hope, experience, and inspiration....

and knowing that I can 'get things done'

I will miss the people I've met...and I truely thank them for helping me along.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Podcastercon 2006!

Podcasting?...subscribable audio on a blog?

With the ever-increasing tools to create your own audio and put it online, content-creators and people that have something to say should come to this conference. What is great about it is that it is totally FREE!!!!

What is also so awesome about this conference is that there is not just for 'techies' or your typical 'geek'. You can attend this conference if you have no prior knowledge of podcasting, but are very interested in learning about it.

What is PodcasterCon?
PodcasterCon 2006 is a free one day conference open to all participants to discuss and learn about podcasting. This not for profit event is being organized by a group of volunteers from around the world. PodcasterCon is an Open Event.

The event will not have traditional speakers, commercial product pitches, or bags full of conference swag. The event will have free food and drink, pre-organized sessions, and will be conducted in an unconference style. Please goto this page on our blog to learn more about this style of event.


I am definitely going....and I hope you are too! Click Here to sign up and learn more about it!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

NPR: Talk of the Nation -- Marc Comments

This is an audiopost created by Marc.

He called into National Public Radio on Wednesday's Talk of the Nation with speakers

*Michael Rubin - former political advisor to Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, 2003-2004. Visits Iraq frequently; was there for two weeks in September; will visit again in December after Iraqi elections; now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.

and

*Sam Gardiner - retired Air Force colonel; has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War College and Naval War College

Marc sought more explanation of the US's role in exacerbating the conflict previous to the first Gulf War.

this is an audio post - click to play

Thursday, November 10, 2005

FACEBOOK -- the addictive phenomenon


So I've been using Facebook now for about a month and have found it very addictive and fun!

While fun, this social networking application is amazing and extremely addictive because you can look up friends from all over, some you haven't even seen in years (if you are more of an older person a few years removed from undergrad)

...and I have done just that (found friends from long ago)...and also have added friends I have met recently.

Facebook has many features that you probably would find in an online dating website like interests, looking for [insert gender]...or in a relationship....shows clubs and affiliations as well as hometown and age...

but Facebook goes a little further and provides more substance to your 'profile' like asking favorite books, movies, music, political and professional affiliation, and quotes. You can also list your website.

what I feel is really unique about Facebook is the networking aspects, like the ways in which you can search for friends via geographic region, school, or high school.

while facebook is an 'access only' website, meaning you have to have a university email domain, once you sign up, you can search for anyone and everyone and view people in your region or school. And if you know a person, it is very easy to add them as a friend (pending the 'friend's' approval) then view all of their info

Facebook makes it extremely easy to write messages to friends though a mailbox of sorts, but you also have a 'wall' which is a public view of comments people write on your wall. Facebook is a live/realtime application because after a party or before or any social event, people can write on your wall and tell you how much fun they had with you, etc. or they can tell you how much you missed out. So if you are friends with a friend, you can view their wall (pending they are viewable)...and see what their friends, including you, have written, which spurs more discussion.

This friend of a friend phenomenon can also explain the popularity of Facebook...by combining the intrinsic motivations to be accepted to know people or identify with people....you are constantly looking to see who are friends with your friends...and if they are your friend....and if you see those 'friends' in real live, many Facebookers want to 'collect' you on their friends list.

With just that aspect, Facebook could stand as a very popular application, but it also has a photo album feature. So if you have a photo with a friend in it, and you label that picture with your friend, it will show up on their profile for other people to view....as well as show up in your profile for anyone that knows you to view....it truely connects people!

You can also create events on facebook and people can join!...yet another way to learn about people.

when you strip the nervous tensions of meeting people face-to-face, Facebook undresses people's inhibitions on being themselves or saying what they want or just asking people to be your friend.

It is truely amazing what people will share on facebook as well. A PhD student named Fred Stutzman at UNC will also agree and has cool insight into what kinds of information you can retrieve from Facebook users (courtesy of Brian's blog)

check it out!!!

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Slater snags his 7th world title!!!!!

Kelly Slater, undeniably the best professional surfer of all time has won an unprecedented 7th world title according to the Association of Surfing Professionals (the Governing Body of Professional Surfing)

Kelly Slater, like Lance Armstrong embodies many of the characteristics I strive to assimilate in my own persona. Although I can't quite pin down, aside from his good outlook and purity in life and his raw ability, what makes me look up to him so much, I can say I respect his innovations in a sport where he was very influential in shaping the new image of surfers from being drugged-beach bums to legitimate athletes, while also changing the outlook on scoring a wave.

I think I was surfing Ala Moana, Hawaii at a spot called Magic Island one time in the late 1990's and I saw first hand how awesomely good he was!! there were a lot of people out there surfing, but I couldn't help but notice this guy flying through the air and fanning out water like an ice sculptor...I was starstruck...and didn't even surf, but sat on my board watching the show!

He is very civically minded and does a lot for a lot of people.

So thanks Kelly and congratulations!!!!

Turn up the heat!!??!!

So for the past few weeks I have been in agony!

It is freakin hot!!! I dont know if there is a furnace under my floor or an invisible wall keeping the heat in my room from the windows and doorway, but it sucks....and I have tried everything to expell the heat, from opening all the windows and door and blaring the fan from every possible permutational configuration, while also trying to get the housing staff to see what the problem is.

I usually don't complain; growing up in a house where my parents love 80 plus degree warmth...but, but, but....my room (no exaggeration) is probably upwards of 95 degrees F.

So I have this routine of stripping down once I enter my furnace and wake up every few hours to rehydrate so that I dont wake up in the morning with a profound headache and soaked sheets. I even ration the time I spend on the computer.

So this post is just a vent, literally, of my frustrations of living in a terribly hot environment....I just hopes it gets really cold soon outside, so the head subsides in my room...

Friday, November 04, 2005

The Dichotomy of the Web

dichotomy in anything is usually a cliche...but usually true.

I watched dateline tonight and they caught some really disturbing and scary people: Online Sexual Predators of children.

Why!! why does this exist in society?

When the world is at your fingertips, why do people dive into pornography, hate, crime, drugs, and predation?

It is truely sad, both limiting the positive potential of what great things can be done online as well as making luddites in a generation of technology, information, and communication, not to mention the obvious emotional and physical damage to the children and families.

It is great to know that there are groups out there that are taking action, namely http://www.perverted-justice.com which is a group of people who guise as young teenagers and expose the online predators.

here is the dateline blog with the information about tonight's show:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9878187/#051103a

Ahhh...Smallville


When I rarely get a chance to watch regular television, most of my time is spent on the food channel...or now, more recently, Smallville on Thursdays...man I need some help! Smallville is soooo addictive!

I think I know now why I don't watch too much tv! I am very prone to become very involved in the shows. When I went home about a month ago, my father bought seasons 1-4....and catching the season finale of the 4th season....I couldn't stop there!!! So I end up watching the whole first season in one sitting, then moving on through the rest throughout the month of October.

Its a good show! Check it out!

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

¡traductor del google!!!!

So you're wondering if I can speak spanish now, eh?

Actually I can speak many languages:

Google の訳者用具は実際に素晴らしく, 私は完全にそ れに回転を与える!

L'outil de traducteur de google est vraiment intéressant et je lui donnerais certainement un mouvement giratoire!

Das googleübersetzerwerkzeug ist wirklich nett und ich würde ihm einen Whirl definitiv geben!

All kidding aside, I do not have a firm grasp on any foreign language, but now with this new google translator, you can decode or encode your language into french, german, italian, japanese, chinese, portugese, and, of course, spanish!

check the site out! http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Google now has an online aggregator!

I am on so many different computers at so many different times of the day, it's hard for me to download my own aggregator, so I have opted to use the online aggregators....Bloglines has been great to me.

I do use a lot of Google stuff though, like gmail, google groups, the search history, google earth, etc.....and the other day I found out that google had an aggregator.

To the right is a screenshot of it in action:

I do like the google reader for a few reasons.

1. There is a lot of the same functionality as gmail and google groups in that you can star your favorites and of course the searching capability. The labels from gmail are also utilized in here.

2. the interface is fairly easy to use (might be because I am already accustomed to gmail and google groups)

3. It is tied into my google account (which might be a little scary that google knows all about me, but hey, i dont have things to hide, right?)

4. Some sites have multiple feeds for multiple things, google reader lets you add them all with ease.

Things I didn't really like:

1. It is totally up to you to find the news feeds, albeit you can search in the top search bar for feeds, but still, Bloglines provides much more ease when concerning things you want to subscribe to.

2. The way to find feeds is a little basic, and I would like to have seen more ways to search for feeds.

3. Although the scrolling through recent feeds is nice, the fact that they are all lumped together on the home screen is a little confusing...although, to be fair, google reader does have the subscription view.

But all in all, I like the google reader and will use it for a little while and see if its as convincing as Bloglines.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

who'da thought

thought I would share a poem i just wrote....it has literally been a few years since i have written anything, but for some reason this evening I wrote this poem in a matter of a few minutes.

no name...just words:

Creative collect
gatherings of lustful hegemony
concatenate the growth of eternal fortitudes

retreat into regression
repeat introspection
repair the loaded chambers
reduce the inflammation of desire

design
deliver and;

comb over the prejudices of flattery
for the fad look of modesty to obtain
abstain
refrain

sustain the deliverance from solace
identify with the souls of change

manage to manage
life's cliché of amount

to mount, to ride
to experience
confide

on occasion while i sleep i hear i weep

i dance on the night with the blanket
doused in my own calamities
of viscous rendition

to enjoy my ambiguous condition

to liver is to bleed
being eaten with greed

i live liver live her
relegate; deliver
come between the scene
of crow-like macabre

to entice my world of infinite
drawing on the pragmatic enigmatic

one, two....or three
to count is to fail
as the days seem short
but my heart will prevail

overcome
be undone, overheard
and persist
beat, beat the odds

a little about this poem:
not really sure what it means...the words really just came out of my head to my fingers to this blog....
but seeing how lately i've been reflecting a lot on things in my life, mostly dealings in romance...i find it a relevant insight, but also right before i wrote the poem, i heard and really liked Frankie J's remake of "More Than Words" by Extreme, conjuring up lots of feelings in the past.

My friend Koji and I use to sing that song to his guitar in college to vent some of the pains of us having a long distance relationships....ahhh, not the most ideal type of relationship - lesson learned.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Hiatus is over!!!!

I absolutely cannot believe that I almost skipped October in my blogging!!!

Things have definitely been busy, that's for sure!

Work
The software development project (FASC-IS) has consumed a large portion of my time....but more in a re-tooling process.

Just started some computer literacy workshops in collaboration with National Student Partnerships and TOP CAT

Got a mini-grant to host a dialogue on the United Nations and the US working together via NC Campus Compact and the UN Foundation

Moved office locations and set-up all the computers with the lab.

Leading a student to do ethnographic research on volunteer impact of NCCU and the Durham community.

Beginning to write a grant with my Director utilizing technology.

Still trying to figure out the craziness called Microsoft Access!

Prepare and submit my quarterly report!

Helped organize a Service Learning workshop.

Took lots of pictures and enhanced them with photoshop for the website!

ahhh....lots more

Friends

Mark and Danyel had their baby boy, Calvin Baxter Warren
(Picture on Right)

Dane and Bobbi had their baby girl, Kelsy Onorio

Rory came back from Iraq for a brief period of time.

Leisure

Watched seasons 1-4 of smallville (quite a feat!)
Read "The Historian"
Read "Memoirs of a Geisha" again
Read "Leadership on the Line" again
Read lotsa computer books -- not that leisurely

-----

I guess thats a summary....

Today and yesterday I went to the SCALE Conference and was pleasantly suprised with all of the awesome programs in literacy education!

Some highlights:

"Poetry is not a Jukebox"
The presenter, Raina, was really great in her examples and her interactive approach.

She showed us really awesome ways to create poetry in almost a quiltlike way and also using newspaper articles and pulling words from columns to make your own poetry. THATS COOL!
We took a field trip to the art museum and wrote a little poem about a piece.

What I really like about this session was that she wasn't really trying to tell us how to do 'her' program/s, but just to have fun. It was really relaxed. She provided us working knowledge of ways to use poetry by allowing us to experience it!

"Theater of the Oppressed"

While very interactive, it wasn't forced on us to participate....more like slowly raising the temperature throughout, engaging us to 'want' to participate.

Dr. Mittman showed us through 'spect-acting', playing someone's personal unresolved issue with a small group of 4 or 5, but not talking.....posing each person to display a scene in that issue.

This example slowly progressed into each actor of the scene saying something from their scene....with everyone else trying to figure out what it was all about.

I can see far reaching application of these techniques and will see how I can infuse it somehow into my work...might be hard since I am focused on technology though.

"Volunteers as Public Advocates"

Both David Rosen and Daniella Cook provide a lot of insight and good suggestions on advocating policy, but what I really gained from this is Daniella's passionate explanation of 'Bush's' "No Child Left Behind".....which now, more than ever, pisses me off. I didn't really have a full understanding of all the players involved and the demands on the teachers....but after hearing Daniella talk, it all made sense.

"Engaging Adults in Literacy Education"

The main thing I gained from this session was "IGI" or "Individualized Group Instruction".....It is my hope that this methodology might be very useful in the newly established computer literacy workshops.

All in all this conference was wonderful.....seemed like everyone was from a different state, but collectively we were in this 'together'.

Next week I am attending NC Campus Compact's annual student conference and presenting some of my work in Academic Community Service Learning as well as providing some technology tools for students to use in organizing, reflection, and social action. I will post more when I attend next week! I hope its not too cold as I will be at Appalachian State University...in the mountains...

Shame on me for not posting in so long!

"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. "
Aristotle

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Define Terrorism


Marc delivers some interesting facts to consider when thinking about our government's involvement in the middle east previous to this war.

this is an audio post - click to play

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Decompression Session

Coming off a very inspirational day, I just wanted to document my thoughts and rattle out some ramblings.

Seeing thousands of people convene in one place was very empowering to me...knowing that there are people who really feel the urgency to create change and stop this war has given me more confidence in speaking out....and not worrying about how people percieve me.

People of every race, religion, class, and age....were in attendance, with kids chanting right along with with the drummers, hard-core activists, parents, former military, college students, and myself. It would have certainly took some effort to not be moved.

People are people are people are people!

Smiles, comraderie, and purpose fueled the energy for the day, culminating in a concert that channeled our emotions toward action.

North Carolina Represented well, and I truely have been honored to share this day with so many changemakers.

I caught up with Brian Russell (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!) of Audio Activism and Ruby Sinreich of Lotus Media as well as THE Andrew Pearson of NC Peace & Justice coalition, lead organizer the big anti-war rally in Fayetteville, NC...among many other things.

Not to single out one person for the difference they are making, but I wanted to dedicate this post to Lanya Shapiro who tirelessly fights for change with everything she has, everything. It seems everyone surrounding her is infected with her passion and willingness to move forward. Progress. Change. And check out Traction http:/www.gettraction.org for more in store! Thank you Lanya for awakening in me that progress, that passion.

Also...I want to thank the many friends I made on the Traction Bus ride to and from DC!

So what now?...probably more posts for sure, but for now I must go to bed!

Great Day!


Below are some audioposts from my phone. The more I 'mobcast,' the more I feel the need to invest in more quality recording equipment....these posts are hard to hear, but at least may give you a small glimpse into my day at the Anti-War Rally in Washington, DC.


this is an audio post - click to play


this is an audio post - click to play

Free awesome live music!!!

Man, this is what I do late/early....when I don't have anything to do!

I was looking at http://www.archive.org and found some really cool resources. Now, I've used archive.org many times, but only for their wayback machine. To think that until now I have never taken the time to look at their live recordings!!!!

I love live music and bands I haven't heard of, but sheesh, its all free, all legal...and has some pretty mainstream bands as well....

Of A Revolution
Jack Johnson
Howie Day
Jason Mraz

and many others!

i am so psyched!....need more disc space....i can see a crash coming!

Excited about my DC Trip!!


Well, its pretty late here, but I had to work the bugs out...literally! I've been pretty busy with a lot of technology work and am excited to say that I actually get to shadow my father and see how they put together their IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and framework for the Java Applications they will be making. It's so cool when you can actually go home and visit with family while being productive and doing work.

Ahh...to be productive! Today I got put on a technology committee at The Volunteer Center of Durham, so I am pretty excited to learn from the other members as well as check out their IT situation....also, I am finding out, when making a website in a large institution, there is a lot of 'red tape'....meaning I've been waiting on Public Relations to approve the look, for the head webmaster to give me suggestions, for the web committee to look at the site, for my supervisor to plan the 'rollout' party, then to make the changes, and resubmit....it is insane and I don't know if it will ever grace a browser!...just need a vent

Also today, I met up with fellow VISTA, Tabitha McEachin of Communities in Schools, former at Durham Literacy Center to talk about Katrina relief. One really big thing I learned about today was the amount of people living in hotels in Durham from the different affected states. I really want to help NCCU's organizations focus more on helping the people here, but more with finding them resources, than just giving them food and clothes. There seems to be a lot of deep-seated issues relating to the relief efforts!..something needs to be done...in a more organized way.

Anyways, the whole title of this post was just to say that I am really excited about going to Washington, DC today, so much in fact, that I really can't sleep...hence the post. But I am also nervous as I've never done anything like this before, but feel it important for me to be exposed and possibly network with activists around the country.

It's pretty silly when I tell most of my friends that I am going for those purposes because I get really mixed reactions. Either they don't say anything and move the conversation along, or they give a little laugh or chuckle....or they just kind of stop talking. Why is it such a sensitive thing when you say you are going to speak out against this war? In private or in close groups it's okay to say things, but whenever you want to publicly display your opinions....a lot of people shy away....is it extreme? they don't want to rock the boat....people need to be pushed a little to react. The most effective activists and change makers in my mind have all been people who prod people to think....and make others uncomfortable.

the more I learn about our occupation in the gulf, the more visceral I feel....ahh...to go on

Friday, September 23, 2005

My Southpark Likeness!

Really cool site! Not totally looking like me, but cool nonetheless! here is the site to create your own! http://www.planearium2.de/

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Ophelia's East Coast Tour.

So now I am watching television and on the news they are standing where I was surfing this past weekend to comment on Ophelia. They are in Atlantic Beach, NC!

I truely hope no one gets hurt by this hurricane and that my family are safe!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Ophelia -- Surf is up!!

Hurricanes, obvious due to the recent tragedy of Katrina, do a lot of damage...physically, emotionally, and financially....but this weekend Ophelia has brought me good times with my friends and a more real sense of how 'real' our world is.

Not even knowing there was going to be waves this weekend, I returned home to Morehead City, NC....to find that a hurricane is developing right off the coast. I have grown up in this area my whole life and have seen many hurricanes...but I have always kept track....somehow things got really busy for me this past week and I totally did not realize! Now, growing up in this area and if you surf, you go surfing.

So first thing this morning I headed out to check things out and found a solid waist/chest high glassy rides...(above picture is a little bigger, but somewhat small compared to what grew through out the day)

As the day drew on and I kept surfing, with my friend Marc, things got bigger...the waves were breaking past the pier and becoming well overhead!

On the right is what it started to look like when I left today! I cannot really express how amazingly fun this sport is and how humbling going out in these conditions can be.

Surfing, to me, is very cleansing and gives me a real sense of who I am and where I want to be. Out there in the water, you get to reflect a lot on what matters to you...and thats exactly what I did today.

These conditions are not for the novice of heart, mind, and will, but have given me a generous dose of those very things today (things have been hard lately with my learning curve and the volumous nature of my work)....so I got to vent, got to shout...and got to finally drain some pent up energy by not sitting by a computer.

On a real positive note, I got to see some friends I haven't seen since high school. I was paddling into a really big wave and heard someone hooting at me (surfer behavior to say, 'right on, take it!')...and as I was getting up, I saw MJ Marsh...one of the local professional surfers who is just an amazing surfer and very humble. Also, I got to see my friend Matt Orbach, who I didn't realize till today is a full time volunteer in the peace corps...in the Ukraine...and also that his dad, how crazily coincidental is the director of Duke Marine Lab, Dr. Mike Orbach...who I also truely admire for his policy work and ability to mobilize people to save our oceans, wetlands, and beachs. I actually applied to work at the North Carolina Coastal Federation before moving to Charleston, SC to which he is very instrumental....

and of course I got to surf with Marc, a true friend who is soon going to be a daddy of Calvin Baxter Warren!!

I only hope tomorrow is as replenishing as today!

Peace

Friday, September 09, 2005

Introduction of Jessica of National Student Partnerships!

It is truely amazing the resources we have here in Durham, NC.

Jessica and I are collaborating on developing Computer Literacy Workshops for clients of NSP and students of NCCU. I am totally excited!

Below is a demonstration of Podcasting with a brief description of National Student Partnerships:

this is an audio post - click to play

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Emotional Overload

"And nothing about this is natural. War isn’t natural; and neither is poverty. That’s what people are dying of, not a hurricane. They are dying of war and poverty. They are consumed with rage because of war and poverty. They are paralyzed with helplessness because of war and poverty. They are twisted and driven crazy by war and poverty." -- Stan Goff on his blog, Feral Scholar regarding the US Government's response in New Orleans.

I highly suggest reading Stan Goff's post on, "The Butterfly Effect - Katrina and Occupation"

The more I read, the more I find it hard to contain my anger towards some of the inequalities and injustices in our country...I also recently read that the American Red Cross..yes, the American Red Cross was denied access to New Orleans for relief efforts...due to the US Forces evacuating the unsafe area. Understandably, precautions must be taken in a hazard zone, but, like Stan Goff so frankly elucidates, how can so many media crews and irrelevant groups visit this 'hazard area' and not one of the country's most practiced disaster relief organizations!

It also makes me wonder about gas and its rising value....the delay of response to New Orleans...leading to lack of Gulf gas...and the War in Iraq....support to establishing stable gas reserves overseas?

just some thoughts

Katrina People Finder

Per Deborah Elizabeth Finn's blog I found this link on wikipedia to help locate your loved ones affected by the devastation of Hurricane katrina.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Diversity...unexpected ingnorance

I like to believe that I have grown up in a very diverse upbringing, having a sister of same blood that also very much appears to look african american, my mother, primarily asian, but raised catholic, and a white father, whose baptist upbringing with a twist of a pentecostal black youth. My friends all have been of many races, black, hispanic, and white, but even now I still feel ignorant of the many cultures and norms.

To most, I am mongol, with an ambiguous look that can be interpreted in many ways. In Durham, I am often viewed as hispanic by both hispanics and not, usually with them attempting to speak spanish to me. I find this very compelling that people will go out of their way to communicate with me. On the beach, I am hawaiian, especially when seen with a surfboard. I usually get comments relating to some Samoan descent and how 'we' invented surfing. In Pembroke, NC, where I went to school, many locals thought I was related to someone's brother or father, claiming I was pure native american. With other asians, I am viewed as Fillipino, or Chinese which sometimes makes me wonder who I really am, or what sort of person I look like.

In many ways, being 'ambiguous' has its rewards in that I can move easily in and out of many different cultures without the pains of being lablelled someone outside of thier acceptable circle as far as race. The tribal benefit of being included has afforded me much insight into how people view each others racially, but there are also drawbacks. Sometimes I feel I do not belong to any category and upon declaration of my ethnicity, I am sometimes feel marginalized or not totally accepted. I feel this normal, but do not see it as a hindrance to learning more about others, but is also why I like to let people make assumptions of my ethnicity to see their perspective on my behaviors and attitudes. I think it's amazing when you can make a connection with someone under their premise of who they view you as, then to shatter thier perception with compassion and understanding.

Last week I totally forgot the boundaries of religion and race when I was working with a student. As the technology coordinator, I usually give explanations and tutorials on how to use our department's website. Well, upon finishing this explanation, I went to shake that student's hand, only to be withdrawn and told they cannot and it's against their religion. It sort of blew me away in a wierd way because in my upbringing a handshake is commonplace and considered a respectable way to meet someone...so when I was denied something I thought to be a humble way to show respect, I felt a little hurt. I had to think on this because the conviction in that student's voice did not hint at being cruel or non-appreciative, but just a matter of fact.

The more I thought on this, the more I understood that I have not been exposed to culture not related to Christianity and in the Muslim world, touch by the other gender is not allowed unless married or kin. I see this more now and am interested to learn more. It seems I need to learn more of other cultures so that I won't be as suprised, but understand reasons behind certain norms.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Other Blog

I was just looking at my ancient blog of yesteryear...so much has happened since then; I think its really cool how you can look at your thoughts years ago...this blog is my first attempt at 'blogging'...and most of the writings are meant as a theraputic outlet.

I felt like linking that blog on here as a continuous flow...so here it is:

http://www.xanga.com/calweb

Thursday, September 01, 2005


Baby Talk = They are having a baby meeting about their next undertaking! New addition, baby Troy is the mastermind Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 29, 2005

Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Relevant recitation on 'Strange Liberators'

This Podcast is mainly a recitation by my friend, Marc, of the late Martin Luther King, Jr.regarding his opposition to the war in Vietnam.

Be expecting more of these from him ;)

this is an audio post - click to play

Making Music --- First ever live recording!!

A sunrise like this gets my creativity going; listen in to the music to hear what I mean!



Okay...I am having fun with this Audioblogger

In these recordings I am just playing around with some friends.

Nothing special...and very very incoherent!


this is an audio post - click to play

this is an audio post - click to play

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Iraq -- a soldier's view part 2

This post is a follow up with focus towards his view on the occupation in Iraq.

this is an audio post - click to play

Iraq -- a soldier's view part 1

This is what I hope to be a series of opinions on the occupation in Iraq.

The speaker of this post wishes to remain anonymous for certain policy issues regarding the recently discharged.

Being overseas for him was tough...and this post mainly is regarding his position on support for soldiers and their homecoming and NOT for Bush's decision to remain and the general undercurrents of the purpose of the war.

Please be mindful that this gentleman was a little nervous commenting as he has never done this before.
this is an audio post - click to play

Friday, August 26, 2005

Leadership

This is just a personal nod to a blog post on 'Fast Company's' website

I've been asked before what leadership means to me...and usually I always hear people shooting off a giant list of desirable traits, myself included...like what Fast Company says...

Visionary, strategic planning, charismatic..et cetera are prevalent and desireable qualities of leaders.

I think a leader is like an iceberg in that normal, day-to-day operations usually provide the mainstay of leadership practice and principle, giving major example, thread, and cohesion amongst colleagues, coworkers and the like, but when crisis, emergency, and desperation torrent the 'office'...the salinity of the environment rises, in which more of the leader's actions, good/bad, are exposed and more pronounced.

In Fast Company's short post they talk about defining the leader by the actions and behaviors of their followers....with great questions for personal growth!!

I feel in the context of IT professionals/managers being leaders, they are tasked with many behavioral changes in the people they serve and manage. I am finding that there is a great digital divide gap, even amongst academic communities...because some mentalities are that there will be someone to always do this or that. Also, many people feel that some innovations occur too rapid, or there is no point in vesting time when there are specialists, but I feel as we become more integrated...and with the people I meet and read about...its hard to believe we are not heading towards that end.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Demonstration of Audioblogging Technology.

Below is an Audioblogger test to demonstrate the mobility of and speed of posting a self-made audiofile online.

It's so awesome to share this technology with people, and it's amazing everytime someone see's the potential of it!

In this case, the speaker is Emilio Williams (who now has a blog :)) I think blogger provides a good springboard for more advanced implementations of a blog....and I cannot wait to see how my collaboration with Emilio develops!!

this is an audio post - click to play

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

My very first 'Podcast'....I'm totally stoked!

this is an audio post - click to play

This is great...to create your own podcasts on blogger visit: Audioblogger

Brian Russell's blog, Audio Activism, has a wonderfully concise tutorial on Podcasting

Monday, August 22, 2005

Nonprofit w/ database issues? Need Volunteers?

Okay....this is my last post for today, but I just wanted to put this out there for anyone working in Nonprofit world who has a database or wants one....and is near the Triangle, NC area.

I have had huge successes in getting responses from quality volunteers that want to help develop databases...the problem is...I am starting to overflow with talented and wonderful people that want to lend a hand.

These people have PhD's, MBA's, and extensive experience in Tomcat, Oracle, MySQL Java, J2EE, SAS, C#, C++.....pretty much you name it...and many are certified.

Please comment to this post if interested.

Note of warning: hosting volunteers is not a 'turn key' affair. In order for me to refer and connect you with these people, you must first provide to me your organization/EIN #, disparity/need, and your committment to ensuring their value and accomodation.

Patent Law & Syndication Standards

You know, I can't get enough!

I feel like I have to write about everything, if just to reflect on later...

Reading my new 'Bloglines' feeds, I am starting to get more info from many more sources...

In my previous job where the company's worth was primarily vested in its intelletual property in scientific techniques and patents on specific genes acquired through research, I found a recent article that I want to follow. HERE

Apparently Congress (Patent Reform Act of 2005, HR 2795) is going to do some major reform to patent law...which may have resounding effects in the future...and there is an interesting debate on funding the office beforehand...which makes sense to me because you need highly skilled patent examiners to ensure sound justification for a patent...(I've actually read some ridiculous claims...)...the article I read also seemed to point out that money the patent office recieved got redirected in totally unrelated places....which asks the question....where??!!??

on a side note: One thing I learned while being involved in the patent process is that in order to patent your stuff, you have to buy a patent in every country you want the patent in...with the rising economies in other countries with no sign of patent enforcement infrastructure...I wonder if this new patent overhaul might address those concerns? Albeit the USA cannot totally enforce things in other countries....well...oil..umm...democracy...umm...yeah.

To me, this is kinda scary....so I am definitely going to keep watch on that!

In other news recently read....I hear that the RSS syndication standard is now the momentous favorite of standard. Although I am somewhat illiterate on both Atom and RSS, why RSS?...(I will probably read some more on it)...but I also wonder what effects that might have on the open source community?...I mean the article is saying Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple are all behind this standard (RSS)...and Google with Atom...think Google is going to maintain favor for Atom?

Sustainability in IT!!!

I am totally stoked, enthralled at the fact that I got a very simple phone call this morning at work.

For the past 4 months I have been recruiting high tech volunteers, both being students and Industry professionals, to aid in the development in a new breed of web database for tracking volunteer hours, providing new ways of collaborating and communicating at North Carolina Central University and the Triangle, NC community...up to this point I have managed to distill a core group of highly motivated mix of student and IT professional (group of 6) in this project.

They are volunteers, great ones at that with a lot of talent and dedication. The only thing is they are what I call, "transient"...or here for a short time. Like it or not...they have lives and probably won't see this new database 3 years from now. Our project leader will be leaving us in January, and three others are actively seeking IT jobs, which may limit their involvement...and the students involved...will move on eventually.

So, even with best practices in mind...utilizing MVC model 2 architecture....with extensive documentation and UML practices....the institution of this database will not be fully realized in the future unless there are people at this university to see it through. In other words, SUSTAINABILITY, which remains key and the centric meaning of my job.

Well, that happened today to an extent with more momentum following....
The Graduate School of Library Science has decided to become involved a great deal....continuously and with vigor!!! I love it!!!

With a simple call she said,

Professor--"Hi, may I speak with Calvin Webster?"

me--"Sure, this is Calvin, how may I help you?"

Professor-- "Well, my name is Dr. Swain...and I want to provide students in developing the database you are developing, possibly work with your office to make this a collaboration."

me--"Really!?!?..."

Professor--"Yes, we have our graduate students needing projects, and there are many professors here that are interested in this project; I am sure they want involvement."

me--"Wonderful! I will send you the information on our current status."

Professor--"Great, and I will relay this information to the professors."

AWESOME!!!

Of course there was a lot more to that conversation, but that is the gist of it...and it seems she isn't the only one! Last Friday my supervisor told me a professor stopped her and asked if she can be involved. I am so stoked!!

The power of networking is an amazing thing...and I thinkI am off to a good start with this project and its longevity.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Rank # 1, 3, 9, 10 on Forbes America Richest!

Not one to criticize formal education...(I believe college education is fundamental to society's advancement and progression)....but I could not help but notice something pretty interesting while 'surfing' the net today.

Somehow I wandered over to the Forbes 400 richest Americans...and noticed in the top 10, 4 of them are college drop-outs....of the top 10, 4 are technology related innovators.....
http://www.forbes.com/lists/forbes400/2004/09/22/rl04land.html?chan=b1usrichest05

here they are:
#1. Bill Gates (Microsoft coFounder)-- Harvard Drop-out
#3. Paul Allan (Microsoft coFounder)-- Washington State University Drop-out
#9. Michael Dell (Founder Dell Corp.)-- University of Texas at Austin Drop-out
#10. Lawrence Ellison (Founder Oracle)-- University of Illinois Drop-out

The rest of the list consists of #2 Warren Buffet --Investments and the Walmart family.

This leads me to ask a few questions:
Did they know they already had a lottery ticket?
Did they leave college to persue the businesses that made them rich?
Does formal education somehow limit entrepreneurship in technology?
Is this a coincidence?
And is this why when looking for a job in IT, certifications rather than degrees hold more weight?

I find this information quite silly and probably useless, but...I would be interested to see if this correlation applies to other technology entrepreneurs.

Cool way to use flickr!

It's a Sunday and I am just lounging around, playing with my blog and trying to dig deeper into blogworld.

Today I started using Bloglines to organize the blogs that I want to read on a regular basis. One of them was the 'Make' magazine blog, where I found a cool post about using your flickr photos to make magazine front page templates.

It's really fun and I've already made about 10 of them and sent them out to my friends! To the left is one I did for my friend Koji, who is just now starting grad school at Perdue getting his MBA. Go Koji!!!

I don't believe you just have to have a flickr account, but they are free and provide so much storage!!!

A little on bloglines: with all the agregators out there used to collect all your atom or rss feeds, bloglines provides an online means to do the same, accesible from anywhere you can connect to the internet. I really like it because it's super-easy to use and now I dont have to type all the links to check every single site I want to visit! As I dig deeper in blog world, I find it harder to keep up with all the interesting blogs and developments....

Enjoy!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

'Make:' - O'reilly's newest publication!

Just a quick nod to O'reilly's newest publication, MAKE. My father recently subscribed and over the weekend I got to get a nice read out of it!

Check out the site: http://www.makezine.com/

If you are into taking scrap computer parts and making things with them...like an old mouse becoming a robot...or some pretty digestable tutorials on things spanning from podcasting to hacking your PSP or iPod...then this is the magazine!

O'reilly, being a computing book publisher fav for me already....has a wonderful reputation for getting the information across while being entertaining! As a self-taught computing person....their books are great!

I love my hobbies!

I work hard, but I also play hard!

Usually during the week, you will find me in the office or on a computer somewhere...but on the weekends...I really get away.

I am always a sucker for obsessive balance...if there is such a thing...when I am into something, I am totally immersed, but I like to round myself out with a few hobbies on the premise of mind body and soul.

this past week I got some 'balance'....

Mind
I play a game called 'Magic: The Gathering" whenever I am with friends. Now..this game is pretty stigmatized with the likes of Dungeons & Dragons, and other role playing games, because of its fantasy nature and the active use of your imagination...and I guess there is a cultish following of fanatics that do nothing but collect these cards and play every single day! But D&D cannot boast a world professional tour and worldwide intergenerational appeal. Magic is more like chess but with another dimension, randomness. also the game was created out of the graduate work towards a PhD in combinatory mathematics at UPenn by Richard Garfield.

I like statistics and probability and the way the game works. In Magic, you have to make a deck that consists of at least 60 cards...from literally thousands of cards available. In that deck, you can only have 4 copies of any single card, except for the currency of the game(mana)...and most decks that are good have a strategy. There are five colors, each having certain strengths and weaknesses...and you can only play on 'mana' a turn.....and in order to play any other cards, you have to 'tap' or pay mana that you have on the board. Well, I just realized that I could write a book on explaining this game....so for brevity...here is a link to check out: http://www.wizards.com/magic/playmagic/

Ultimately, its just fun for hours of strategy and fun problem solving...and this past weekend I got to really play a lot with some friends. The cool thing is once you make a deck...you can play that same deck for hours, the cards are worth money(virtually no loss of value on the secondary market), and you can play a quick 5 minute game to a 3 hour one as well. There is even an open source online playing tool on sourceforge at http://sourceforge.net/projects/mindless (its called mindless automation)

Body & Soul
Surfing pretty much is my food for body and soul. Since the age of 13 I have surfed...from the beaches of Hawaii to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Lately I haven't been able to surf as much as I would like, but the love and passion remain.

This past weekend I got to surf after a long hiatus...and it was very replenishing. Not only does it keep you in shape with all the paddling, push-ups...and trunk-twisting carves, but in the downtime, you, or at least I, get to reflect on life, love, passion, meaning, and nature. I have brushed against dolphins, sharks, and turtles...and they all were nice. Well, there was one shark incident tht shook me up, but it was a great White and it was swimming towards me. Also, its so freakin humbling.

This past weekend the waves were a nice 3'-4' and fairly clean lines....with sun, friends, and food :D

I hope after all the hustle of college starting again, I can kick back and enjoy my hobbies!

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

CDT -- A VISTA experience.

Wonderful, wonderful VISTA!

How can a concentration of so many inspiring people not cause change?!?

This week I am in my mandatory CDT (Continuing Development Training) at the Clarion Hotel in downtown Raleigh. It's pretty nice and I have been stuff all day with catered food.

Now this development training is supposed to enhance our VISTA efforts by teaching us skills for stress management, sustainability, infrastructure, grant writing, etc....but what, at least so far, have gained from it is the networking and just meeting all of the people. As luck would have it, I am one of the first to meet our new Campus Compact VISTAs, JJ, Chris, Ben, Beth, Bethany, and Shannon who, I'd like to add, are all so talented and personable! Not only that though; I am reuniting with some North Carolina VISTAs I met at PSO (Pre Service Orientation)...Tabitha, Carrie, Ida, and Jocelyn. Not to go on too much about it, but I really enjoy these gatherings of mind, heart, and determination.

I am also excited to learn what our trainer has in store for us. He seems to be very knowledgable and experienced...and is good with groups (keeps conversation flowing, quenching too many personal examples)

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Technology and Playboy Enterprises


An interesting thing happened yesterday when downloading Tomcat to test locally.

There was a Playboy logo beside the mirror site....I thought, "How funny! I am downloading Tomcat from Playboy!"

Not sure of the legalities of posting this screenshot with the Playboy logo, but just want to share what I saw!

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Model - View - Controller ....A shift in development


This time last week I would not even know what you were talking about if you mentioned to me about, "Model-View-Controller (MVC) [which] is a software architecture that separates an application's data model, user interface, and control logic into three distinct components so that modifications to the view component can be made with minimal impact to the data model component." (www.wikipedia.org)

Renato, my new technology volunteer, has been really teaching me some cool stuff about design, development, testing, java, jsp, and overall project management. All this being accomplished in 2 meetings. I am really looking forward to learning more.

Today he changed my mind about the future implementation of the web database, formerly mysql with php scripting....now, mysql with jsp. This makes total sense to me because all of the technology volunteers involved in the database work have backgrounds in java and oracle, not mysql and php.

I initially chose mysql because of its ubiquity and support from university computing and php naturally followed because of the usual marriage between the two. Also, by choosing mysql and php, knowing they both follow the GNU GPL (General Public License) agreement, I wanted to be able to replicate or essentially package the work in making a data management system of tracking volunteers and operational tasks to give to nonprofits as a means to address their data management needs. Using .jsp pages can achieve this as well.

The deeper I am involved in learning about nonprofits and their lack of budget to maintain an efficient data management solution, the more I see the opportunities for service and possibly sustaining an internship program for college students for service learning.

I am learning that java is a nice solution to develop web applications for a web database, while also allowing growth for php if the need arises. To this extent, I am excited about what can be accomplished! Regardless of implementation, I am increasingly confident that ANYTHING is better than Microsoft's Access, which has been a major thorn in my daily tasks.

Monday, August 01, 2005

The perfect Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Okay, I am not one to really watch television too often, but tonight I just wanted to wind down and watch some shows and fall asleep. Been pushing hard lately.

All of my favorite things were showcased on Jay Leno tonight -- Computing, supermodel, surfing, and music.

Now I had no idea that Al Gore was seriously involved in technology, but his new Television network, Current, seems really promising. I don't want to count my chickens, but user-submitted content, web interaction, and many shorts covering a broad array of content...almost in the continuous computer, social-connecting way all seem to be what this new network is trying to exhibit. Bravo!...citizen journalism (thanks Brian) creativity and flexibility really have a lot of potential in this new venue. I wish I was more savvy so that I could send my content.

Really interesting, that Al Gore, but the show got even better!

Gisele came on and started talking about surfing!!! What is hotter than a supermodel surfing?...hmm...I dont think it gets much better than that.

To top the show, one of my favorite bands, Incubus, performed! From Pardon Me to Wish you were here to Megalomaniac....they really rock...fuse many styles, artfully blend cacophonic missed timing with curvy-jazzy improv with slow melodic sweet tones. Great show tonight; thought I would share :D

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Technology Volunteers Rock!

Okay, I have to just unload some excitement in this blog because I am totally excited and stoked about the prospects and the future of the work that will be accomplished in the coming months.

Today I met with 2 volunteers on very different sides of the spectrum in experience and background, while also totally impressing and blowing me away with thier motivation and sincerity.

The first volunteer has knowledge in html and little database using MS Access. His name is Derek. He is 11 years old and in 6th grade. On his own volition, he sought this volunteer opportunity as a Technology Page and upon meeting him, I was mezmerized with his insight and his dedication to making the world a better place. So young!!! so young, yet so excited!

The second volunteer is also very inspiring. His name is Renato. What is truely amazing about this guy is that he and his wife just moved from Brazil, basically do not know anyone and he wants to commit hours of his time helping lead the project team on our new mysql database. To top it off he is very knowledgable both in database modeling and analysis in Oracle and many other platforms as well as software engineering. He almost singlehandedly built databases for major financial institutions in Brazil and engineered software to comply to best standards with thorough documentation.

This is why I am here. This is why I work so hard. This is why I am where I am; people like this truely inspire me to reach, learn, and deliver my very best every single day.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Babies, BABIES everywhere!!!



This past weekend I went home to visit some good friends and attend a baby shower! It was great! We got to play games and play with a bunch of kids. Being my first baby shower proved not to phase me since I wasn't the only guy there and I kept busy meeting a lot of Marc and Danyel's friends that I've never met before. It was fun, hot, and full of food. I made my sidedish staple, Lumpia, which is basically an eggroll filled with ground beef with spices and everybody loved it.

What was really crazy about the baby shower, and I don't know if I was just keen on babies since thats sort of the theme, but there were literally babies everywhere!!!! Cute cuddly, chummy, googly, BABIES! I'm a pretty baby friendly person so I fit right in playing with them.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Surfing....with impending hurricane season.

The time of year is again here! As an avid surfer for 13 years, hurricane season always brings excitement, danger, and anticipation for those sweet nice rides. However, living the furthest away from a beach than ever, I find myself missing it more than ever. The only way I can quench my desire to skip out on work and just sit at the beach and surf all day is to check out the latest contests in pro surfing via ASP World Tour and the local surf scene found where I grew up in the Central North Carolina District. Talking to non-surfers, and agreeably so, whenever the mention of hurricanes comes to topic, a shudder of danger and loathing soon follows. I completely understand, but with an almost macabre delight. Not to say that I want people hurt by a hurricane, but its the only time of year that a sustainable amount of good waves comes rolling through the outer banks, for weeks on some stints. This season proves to be more promising than ever, with all the hurricanes already formed this early...could this be a record?

Hurricanes aside, the CNC Eastern Surfing Association District continues to churn out some of the best Surfers on the East Coast, Kelly Nicely, for example attends NCSU and is currently ranked one of the best in the nation and is even on the International US surf Team. In an alternate world, I wish I could dedicate all my time to getting better at surfing and learning how to surf. I'm just lonely for waves....

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

2 cents on technology's role in social change

Realizing my role and upon my first days as a VISTA at NCCU, technology has permeated the very fabric of my purpose, both in my personal and professional aspirations/endeavors to engage citizens in communication, understanding, and change..

From the second day at 'work,' attending the "Raise Your Voice: Get a Job or Get a Life, or Both" to plucking away at the keyboard programming a webpage, communication remains the underlying dogma to which my motivations lie for exchanging knowledge, ideas, and culture. More than ever, technology is connecting people on very profound levels, finding common grounds to move towards a better world understanding. One of my charges as a VISTA is to combat poverty...through closing the digital divide gap, which still remains a major barrier to access with competitive job markets, functional literacy in communicating ideals, and actualizing dreams (i.e. business ownership, social justice) where distance, realtime information, and organizing find profound relevance and technology a weapon to combat inequality.

Dissolving those barriers to access via communication (digital divide) begets class mobility, confidence, and preserving one of our most valuable resources, time. This is my role, my purpose and the 'education' to which I am offering citizens of the 'Greater Durham Area' through my workings in creating a quicker, more easily usable web-database, teaching people web/graphic design, assessing CBO technology needs, and empowering volunteers both within the NCCU campus community and beyond with a sense of vision, hope, and opportunity for growth.

With communication increased and made more efficient, civic responsibility is strengthened and engagement is enhanced.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

inspiration via Continuous Computing

Being a VISTA really has its perks, let me tell ya! Not only is Poverty your theme through living under 10K a year salary, crazy workloads charged with creating hope, opportunity, and change, but also it has to all be packaged with sustainability! Combine that with the label of volunteer which sometimes undermines your leverage in 'getting things done' and the fact that these 'real life' issues we fight daily through our work are so integrated, encompassing, and unrelenting that you try to understand how you can make a mark...a change, a dent in the world you live in.

My answer to that is you can make a mark, but only if you embrace the very things you instill in others. But also, and I feel more important, is to recharge your batteries by being with the ones you love, reading the books you enjoy, and to constantly revisit the reasons for your committment. Live through your actions, practice integrity, and by all means have a few beers with some friends!

While 'recharging my battery' on the July 4th holiday, I was reading one of my favorite magazines, "MIT's Technology Review," which has a lot of cool articles relating to cutting edge...also dispersed with neat links and places to wander in cyberworld. One article in the recent issue really stuck out to me and kicked me back into inspiration mode. The article is titled, "Social Machines" by Wade Roush.

In the article, they talk mainly about continuous computing, which is basically a term used to describe the ubiquity and continuity of computers and how they are 'always on', meaning in a train, park, bedroom, bathroom, classroom, meeting, etc.

The article really frames it in a social context(Social Machines, duh) by explaining how continuous computing enables people to constantly communicate, relate, and exchange experience, culture, and ideas and how it will 'continue' to progress and become more integrated in our interactions with one another.

The article really had an impact on me and reaffirmed my motivations for doing what I do in the technology arena. Connecting people and stripping communication down to the core meanings by providing more personal interactions and realtime 'feelings', I believe, is the core of causing change and what drives the engine of understanding....if you can get past the many words in this blog post, of course.

batteries recharged!

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Bush--Fort Bragg Speech 06/28/05

Last minute, last night I went with a friend to Fayetteville, NC to join others in a Vigil against the war in Iraq.

My attendance shovelled up memories of days past and shook my core. While Bush was doing damage control on the war and the 'liberation' of Iraqis, I was seeing children holding up signs saying, "Toddlers for Peace"...one even said to me that he was, "..waiting for daddy to come." Now he was just talking about his dad filming the president's speech down the road, but it totally threw my heart at the wall.

Waiting for my father to call, write, and come home was probably one of the toughest times in my life while he served in Desert Shield and Storm. Sure, it was cool when he came in my 5th grade class in full chemical warfare gear showing my classmates some of the things they wore, but whenever we had to hang out in the hanger and watch him get on that monsterous plane with all the other families, I would cry for days. I guess I was a little more mature when I was younger, realizing he could die any moment. He never sugar coated things.

Coming home after Desert Shield and then almost immediately leaving again for Desert Storm left a permanent scar and resentment for war...why did he leave? will he come back? how will my little sisters and mom survive?

At the Quaker house in Fayetteville there were names of all the dead US soldiers in this 'war on terror'...I read some of those names, trying my best to pronounce and say them as if their families were right in front of me. I started to feel like that 5th grader again. I have a few friends in Iraq right now and started to think about what they were doing and if one of the names would come up on the list I was reading.

At the demonstration, I met a man named Stan Goff, who's writings I am just now noticing. His insight and experience truely give me hope that there are more people who have 'awakened' from the dogmatic 'loyalty' I've seen in some soldiers, my father included. My dad is a great man, but it seems he still follows Bush...and sometimes this pulls the carpet from my feet.

Here is an excerpt from Stan's speech:

Yet, tonight the President of the United States is going to come here to Fort Bragg and tell everyone in the country that this war is making people safer. In fact, since the Bush administration opportunistically used the terrible shock of 9-11 to advance what we now know to have been a pre-determined agenda, the number of terror attacks in the world has dramatically increased.
Let me say this very clearly, because the empirical evidence is very clear. Bush’s war has not made anyone safer. It has, however, destroyed the lives of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and according to international polls, the United States is now held in lower public esteem in the world than China.
The United States is already suffering higher casualties than we were at the same stage of the Vietnam War. So, okay, Iraq is NOT Vietnam. It could, in fact, get
worse. Rumsfeld is now telling us that the war could last for 12 more years.

This trip was an experience and I am very glad I went.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Rock'n roll, tigers, and drag queens!

What a great week!

Not only did I come face to face with tigers leopards and panthers, see a good live free concert, and see drag queens perform, but I got to share it with great people!!!!!

Thursday night I went to the annual 'Live after Five' concert in Raleigh..leading to Friday spending all day at Carrboro's 'Carnivore Preservation Trust', then heading off to 'Drag Bingo'!

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Release or Re-leash

Monday, Monday....MONDAY!

Coming off yet another great weekend, Mondays are like a brick wall, especially posed with what needs to be done for the rest of the week. But after fishing with my nephew, basking at the beach and enjoying the water, catching up with old friends, and appreciating my father, this week will be amazing.

I still cannot believe how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing! It's just hard, taxing, and incredibly thought draining, but man, if I can at least accomplish some of my duties, I think I can contribute a great deal.

So, coming off a wonderful weekend and facing a week of challenges, do I feel release or like I am re-leashed? I feel both!!! Refreshed, relaxed, but strapped in and ready to go!!!

I'm not really sure the purpose of this post, but I guess I am just a little overwhelmed...not to be taken by challenges, but to take them on.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!!

Monday, June 13, 2005

Disturbing News about blogging censorship in China!

I feel like spreading this news because, if you are new to blogging or don't realize how much freedom you have in posting, its very shocking to know that in China they are making everyone with a blog register with the government!!!!

'Big Brother is watching'!!!

[Net-Gold] China orders bloggers to register with governmentChina orders bloggers to register with government
Associated Press
Tuesday June 7, 2005
The Chinese authorities have ordered all weblogs andwebsites in the country to register with thegovernment or face closure in Beijing's latest attempt to control online dissent. Commercial publishers and advertisers could be finedup to 1m yuan (へ6,000) for failing to register, according to documents on the Chinese information industry ministry's website. Private bloggers or websites must register the complete identity of the person responsible for the site, and the ministry - which has set a June 30 deadline for compliance - said 74% of all sites had already registered.

More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1501184,00.html

Friday, June 10, 2005

Phil Shapiro's explanation of 'Wink' w/example

as quoted by Phil Shapiro on the Digital Divide Listserve:

"hi everyone -
last month i mentioned to you about the neat free software named Wink for creating screencasts on Windows and GNU/Linux computers.

a screencast is a narrated explanatory movie with accompanying mouse movements on the screen. although Wink doesn't have audio capabilities yet, that shouldn't stop folks from creating compelling screencasts with a separate mp3 audio file. such audio files can be played concurrently in a separate tab within firefox or safari.

check out this short screencast i created explaining about the freeInkscape vector drawingprogram. http://www.writersforliteracy.org/canyoumakethis.htm

the accompanying audio for this is athttp://www.writersforliteracy.org/inkscapeaudio1.mp3

note -- the appropriate time to start the audio playing is when my mouse chooses the rectangular drawing tool -- about 20 seconds into the screencast. (i'm still learning how to do this kind of stuff.)

Wink is available at http://www.debugmode.com/wink/if you'd like to give it a try.

use shift-pause to start and stop your screen capture. onwindows computers you'll see a small animated box with 4 squaresin it in your system tray (bottom right of screen) when you arerecording your screen capture. right click on that box to finishyour screen capture.

you could fit several hours of home-made computer tutorials on acd-rom in this way.although created on Windows computers, these tutorials are in Flash format, and play fine on Mac and GNU/Linux computers. (there is also aversion of Wink for creating tutorials on GNU/Linux computers.)

surprise us with what you make. there's a lot of stuff out therethat needs explaining.

- philbtw, if you'd like to download all the files associated with the abovescreencast, i've zipped them into an archive athttp://www.writersforliteracy.org/inkscapetutorial.zip the 3 fileswithin this archive are: a very small html file, a shockwave format file showing the screen activity and an mp3 audio file containing thenarration.

click on the html file to start the shockwave file playing.the mp3 audio file can play in any of several different programs alreadyon your computer -- itunes, quicktime, and other mp3 playing software.thanks for telling others you know about Wink."

Using 'Wink' to create screencasts!!

Hello everyone,

I found some really cool new software via Phil Shapiro on the Digital Divide listserve!

It's called Wink, and you can download it free at http://www.debugmode.com/wink/

I played a little bit with it as well HERE

The potential for this software is unlimited! And Free! Personally, I have a lot of training that I do in my job, so this will be awesome to do a bunch of tutorials and burn them on a disc, but this technology is so portable because it is a shockwave file and most browsers support it!! If you can't play it, you can download the plug-in from Macromedia's website!!

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Alcohol!

This is just a random rant.

I still subscribe to a listserve of plant geneticists and found this particular thread pretty funny.

As qtd by Dr. Arditti, " some orchids seemed to like a little alcohol... hmmm? Maybe Arrack is their preference. I'f I'm not mistaken, even people seem to multiply at a greater rate when
alcohol is present ;)"

It may not be funny without some background, but the bane of many plant geneticists' work lies in their ability to grow plants after they have inserted genes in them, thus propagating a clone for cultivation. Alcohol in small amounts seems to do this...although, like humans, overdosing or an excess can lead to death.

Humans = ethanol = propagation
Plants = ethanol = propagation

Humans = ethanol[unbounded] = death
Plants = ethanol [unbounded] = death

Dude! Killer bee!

This is just a silly realization about my phobia of bugs!

The other day I was getting into my truck and a bumble bee flew in. Not knowing what to do, I tried my hardest to get him from trying to go through the back window, which has no opening, but he kept buzzing and trying to dig through the sealing...so i used some mail to try and pry him away and let him fly away. Just a little background on me and bugs; I never have liked them...to look at hear or know are around...i get really really scared when a bug is near me...so you can imagine how scared I was. After trying to get him away several times, he fell between the seat and the back of the truck....so I popped the seat to see if i could help him further...but after about an hour of trying, he was just sitting in one place....i thought he died....so i didnt want to mess with him. This morning I forgot about him, but after I did a little grocery shopping, he flew right by my face out of my truck. I didnt believe it was him, so i popped the seat again, and he was gone!!!!

Silly bees....then as I was driving away, I realized that there was a lady bug on my driver-side window...not wanting to roll it alll the way down, i put it partially down with hope that my driving will blow him off. That little sucker stayed on until i arrived at my destination. How wierd!

Bugs....

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Exploration bears fruit!

Well, this weekend rapidly is reaching an end, but at least I have a free Monday! Yesterday I went out on an adventure, today my mind went on an adventure...all fun!

Yesterday I was driving back from playing with Macho and Gumbo and right next to my dorm room, where I usually park, was a guy and his son. Usually I slow down and move totally out of the way, but as I got closer, I saw one of those recogizable faces that brings admiration and total respect. It was Abdul Ghaffar, my college mentor who ignited the fire that leads me here today. You see, Abdul is student activities director at UNC Pembroke and also advisor for Student Government, where I was fully involved. Through his leadership, I was inspired to start a service program called, Campaign for Compassion and do many other things that lead me here today! So you can imagine my excitement when I saw him with his son, Walter. It turns out that he was there for a track meet that his daughter was competing in. That's a whole different story, but his daughter is on an olympic laureate trek. She already broke a national AAU record for high jump at 10, but anyways, I went down and hung out with him and we just caught up, of course he bragged about his daughter, talked with his wife and we boomeranged effective practices in service learning and leadership! It was great, and when I thought it couldn't get any better, I met him and his wife's family friend, Tracey Williams who was so nice. Now I would be lying if I said I knew who she was at first, but didnt really know until I came back to my computer to see who she was. Such a nice lady and what a wonderful job to have, giving opportunities to women in basketball! I also met her fiance, who is also very nice and funny!

To think my weekend was going well, was an understatement...today I woke up to dogs licking me caught back up with a childhood friend and read a really good book called "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.

Jay, my childhood friend, was my first best friend. When I first moved to North Carolina he was the first to say hi, come over and play and to share my first childhood romance with the neighboorhood girl. It's pretty amazing, but thanks to google's search engine I found his email, emailed him this morning, then he called me mid-day! We caught up and a reunion is in the works. He lives in Oklahoma City, OK so it might a little bit, but to finally reconnect with a friend I haven't seen or heard of in a while means a lot to me. He was also the first friend to move away, and through some of the rough times when my dad fought in the first gulf war, "Desert Shield/Storm" he provided me friendship and support! But as custom with military families, he moved to Missouri and I visited once, but then he moved to Alaska, explaining why it was harder to keep in touch!

The book, "Life of Pi" is fascinating and really provides me some entertainment as well as deep thought on religion and where I stand beliefwise. It's a tale about a boy who is lucky at surviving a shipwreck, only to be stranded on a lifeboat with an orangutan, zebra, hyena, and tiger(Richard Parker)....its about survival, love, and just life. Hearfully punctuated with insight and how to live, it proves to be very worth the read!

Then my father called me, always a pleasure and the best dad anyone could ask for! He is buying me a much needed fridge for my pseudo-apartment...so now i can actually go grocery shopping!

so my weekend is not over yet! I do not know if anymore events could top these past couple of days though, but I will keep you all posted!

Calvin

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Google Jobs!

Now, I am pretty happy with my job, but in another universe, my dream job would be...

some of the listed jobs at Google!!!

I keept track of their initial public offering and it was fun to see how exploited it became with all the pundits scrambling to insert their predictions! I am sure the job opportunities are a product of the successful IPO.

I don't know why I am thinking of this, but lately I've been reading some cool magazines.

There are a few magazines for the savvy that I'd like to recommend: Fast Company and MIT's Technology Review

These two magazines always seem to have something interesting to read and I usually learn a lot of emerging ideas/issues regarding business and innovation.

So its a nice day, been hanging out with Gumbo and Macho...I think they had a fight or something yesterday because they growl at each other, at least when I am around. Gumbo is definitely a 'male' dog with his little antics. He always tries to plop in my lap and he is a fairly large dog! Macho is more reserved, sophisticated almost, but very loving!

Its a beautiful day and I really miss the beach. I know there are some cool things to do around here, but I just havent tapped into them yet...Maybe a lake will ease my beach longing.

Anyways, I'm going out to explore...Have a great day!!!

Photoshop fun II


After Retouching Posted by Hello

My photoshop fun!


Before retouching Posted by Hello

Friday, May 27, 2005

Ahhh....Weekend!

Just a quick post because I felt like writing some!

Last evening I heard in Durham, where I live, that there were 3 cross burnings! Its hard for me to stay collected when news like that comes to my attention. Why is it that people still 'hate' so much? People are people, period! To orchestrate 3 cross burnings in three different areas of Durham on the same night is quite disturbing, meaning they are organized, are pretty good at delivering messages and must have somewhat of a network. From reading a local news outlet, I found that the Mayor had no warnings to such doings...not that he would be forewarned, but that I guess when there is a sect, uprising, group doing activities, he probably is informed, especially when it could be a detriment to the livelyhood of his city. So this is even more disturbing...that no one really knew there was a group operating in this area. What to do? Where is compassion to them?

In techie news, today our office recieved the computers that I ordered and I am quite excited except that the one I ordered for web/database development was failed to be put on the purchase order...so everyone gets a new computer except me. The IRONY!!! I think its kinda funny in that that computer, the one for development, was explicitly requested! Challenges at every corner, so I just have to make what I have work I suppose! At least the office now has computers that are all current and have the software/hardware to function. I went with Dell because they seem to have good deals and are super easy to put together and open up. I know in the future, when my VISTA term ends, someone will have to work on them. So I will be playing with them here shortly! Yippee, fun!!

Also a friend of mine, Lanya Shapiro, is doing some organizing in El Salvador so I am watching her doggies, Macho and Gumbo! I am looking forward to it because I'm a pretty big animal lover and I havent really had contact with any animals lately so the company will be fun! Just the other day, in Black Mountain, I was walking around and saw a chipmunk. Those little guys are soooo cool. Its like when they spread out, they become little squares....and not to imply cruelty,but they would look cool as little carpets....they are the kind of animal you could hug....with their cuteness!

Anyways, on to playing with these computers!
Calvin

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Self Deprication and the Power of Humility...an introspection

Well, this is going to be a pretty visceral entry of self reflection...

These past couple of weeks have zipped by with conferences, meetings, and just hard planning/work...I am happy with myself for the work I have been doing lately...but this past Monday was a really big wake up call for me and why I am here.

You see, I have many meetings, pretty much almost weekly, and they always have content, meaning and I listen, offer my thoughts, write down things, and feel really good that things are rolling and being accomplished. This entry is dedicated solely to an epiphany that occurred at a meeting where I simply had no idea the depth and importance of helping others. All it took was a guy whom I didnt know to get angry at me and basically shatter my ego into an oblivion.

His name is Gerald Taylor, an Industrial Areas Foundation leader and southeast supervisor of affiliates, namely Durham CAN (Congregations, Assemblies, and Neighborhoods).

To hopefully give some background, I was coming in on a trip from home, a three hour drive (Monday morning) to work because we had to leave for the community service/service learning directors conference, but Mrs Anderson had a meeting....at 11am...to which I had no knowledge...because I thought we were supposed to be leaving at 1030 to arrive on time...so while I was getting ready I got called into the meeting. With Durham CAN organizer, Chirs Bishop, and Gerald Taylor concerning a strategic planning of student leadership/skills training via ACSLP, well, not being sure my role, I intently listened, was asked my credentials by Gerald Taylor, then listened more. Not knowingly trying to belittle what Mr. Taylor was saying, I offered up some thoughts, as I usually do, regarding a different approach. Instead of critical thinking skills, which is what he wanted to dissolve into the training, I offered a new and really interesting leadership management type theory on 'opportunity thinking'...or otherwise intellectual optimism...basically an approach that focuses positivity instead of examining on 'problems'...on intellectual optimism you would search for benefits of a situation like what went right when you had a problem and you try to strengthen that; whereas in critical thinking you focus on what went wrong.

That was the wrong thing to say, at least I thought at the time, but in retrospect, I am glad I did because of my growth.

Gerald Taylor did not like what I said...and went on to say (paraphrase) that he was not teaching little games, these are real issues that are happening in our communities, people are dying....and pointed out to me that what I was saying was pretty silly and not appropriate....

Well, at the time, I felt smaller than an up-quark, muon, gluon, boson....you name it! Because I merely was trying to offer up my thoughts in a 'brain-storming' type of way, but it came off like I was criticizing what he was saying. The fact that I was playing games, jovially discussing this training as a means to test out a theory of leadership thinking.....really hit me hard....which led me to questions..

Do I just read theories and think I can just randomly push them through to people?
Am I looking for prestige by 'knowing' something obscure?
Do I really think I 'know-it-all'?
Who am I to think that I can offere up a better solution that this man, Gerald Taylor, who is a national leader for social justice and change?
Where do I fall in the 'making-a-difference-meter"?
Why do I care where I 'rank' in the making a difference meter?
Do I always talk and not 'act'?
Why did it hurt my feelings so bad?

I still have a knot in my stomach because of that encounter. I know I realize that people die everyday, bad things happen, and that i am strongly moved to do something about it, but why did I feel so inadequate in that moment when he responded to my suggestion? I have been criticized before, for good reason, and my suggestion was not ego-driven, but sincerely given for aid and contribution as I thought this particular suggestion about intellectual optimism.

I guess I am still reaching for that reality of understanding, but his comment has jolted me back into examining the reasons for me being where I am today.....I WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.....because...many things, my life experiences mostly though.

My summations lead me to the importance of constant humility...otherwise you start getting clouded and do start to sympathize instead of empathize. You lose feeling, but just see. People become object instead of subject.

I also just want to ask if you read this post, have you ever been in this 'knotted' place before? If so, how did it affect you? What keeps you grounded?

To anyone who reads this, thanks for listening...writing it out has helped me think about it.

Calvin