Mobile Dad

It has been awhile since I posted anything of meaning on this blog and that started to bother me.  It was not like I stop tracking technology, I am doing that more so than ever before, yet I find that I am too busy to relay what I discovered on the web to this space.  Since the holidays, I have been kept busy with home projects, or moving my family from point A to point B, C and D.  Then it hit me.  My life revolves around my family.

I race home everyday to be an important part of my family’s life.  I surround myself with first and fourth grade homework.  I whisper encouragement to my son as he move from his back stance in karate.  I cover the hands of my kiddos as they practice their piano lessons.  When my lovely wife takes my daughter to her gymnastics practice while my son does his homework, I do what a man who survived this long without any meaningful cooking experience can do to help prepare a meal with some nutritional value.  And when it is all over, I fall into bed with my wife as we giggle and laugh about the craziness that just ended.

So where do technology fit in all of this?  Well for me it has to fit in my pants pocket or over my shoulder.  It has to able to update me quickly about what is going on beyond my vision and definitely light.  I guess that is why I love mobile tech more so than just technology in general.  This is where this blog will shift slightly.  The focus will still be on mobile tech but updates will revolve around my activities with my family.

What mobile tech do I have now?  Well the iPhone is a big player as well as my netbook.  I would love to incorporate a tablet, but that will depend on a vendor that can produce a device that is close to a paper notebook with web access!  Until then, I will use what I have to keep this blog alive.  What’s the plan for tomorrow?  Piano and updates on Apple’s plan on Wednesday announcement!  The kids are in bed as my wife and I watch in frustration as the Vikings give away a game they should have locked up against the Saints.  Good night blogsphere.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Human tragedies unite our species.  It does not matter what political camp you support, nor the color of your skin, nor the faith that you follow.  When children, women and men are hurt, we must all try to help.  Help may be something simple as texting ‘HAITI’ to 90999 on your cell phone to donate $10 to Red Cross.  If you want to do more, there is a website put together for those in our field to put our knowledge of technology to restore the human spirit.  Take a look at CrisisCommons.org. These fine folks are pooling the incredible talents of our fellow IT professionals in a concerted effort to provide assistance to those on the ground in HAITI.  Austin needs to be on there, maybe my fellow Door64 folks will help us establish a center here.  Regardless, any effort to restore humanity is a valor I respect and support.

I got a lot of requests to re-post my response of Avatar from my Facebook that I decided to paste it here:

For Michael’s request (a film study review) (SPOILER!!!): Avatar will not break any new ground in story telling. The plot was predictable and linear, a safe bet for a sci-fi movie trying to incorporate a new user experience. There were two philosophical points being made here (beside the obviously corporate/political non-green message).

Point one: Humanity’s lifeless existence and lost souls. When the main character was not in his avatar, Cameron’s human angles (shots) were flat, creating a sense of conformity. The scenery in the human aspect of the movie were devoid of color, monochromatic. A harsh reality that makes up day to day life. When in the avatar, the angles were sweeping from low to high or high to low. The world was rich of color and depth, not real but surreal (to dream). The only color in the human reality were the computer displays around them. Even when looking at Pandora (the avatar’s world) with human eyes (through glass on ships) the world was darken. It was Cameron’s attempt to describe our existence as blind without technology. We cannot see ‘color’ unless a computer tells us otherwise. Cameron tried to flip the dream state as where humanity must be rather than the drones we live awake.

Point two: Feminist strength and equality. Every female character in this movie is portrayed as strong, or stronger, to their male counterparts. The lead scientist played by Sigourney Weaver was headstrong and defiant of male authority while her male team was frightful of their surroundings. The female soldier played by Michelle Rodriguez broke rank when moral judgment conflicted with a soldier’s duty. The Na’vi woman (Neytiri) played by Zoe Saldana was a warrior and hunter (a role not held in many traditional tribal depictions). Even the final scene, the hero was the Na’vi woman saving her lover (typically that is reserved for a man).

Point One and Point Two comes together for the finale. As Sam Worthington’s character, Jake Sully, falls out of his avatar link unit and Neytiri reaches for him, colors become richer around him, fading away the human existence as technology fails. When Neytiri looked upon Jake’s human form, she is stronger, holding a fragile male in her arms (role reversal reflecting a strong feminist point). They both say ‘I can see you’, a portrayal of a vision that is now one.

So as you can see, the story was predictable yet enjoyable. For kids, it depends if you are ok with cursing and alien nudity (subtle). We found no offense with our children and had a great discussion afterward about what I discussed above. What was interesting was that my two little ones were engaged for the length of the movie that pushes to three hours. But they found meaning behind the joyride of the 3D experience.

As the tablet market started to gain new interest, the desire to own one captured my imagination as well.  I was in a pickle a few months back.  I was tasked to find ways to engage students and teach faculty methods of mobile engagement utilizing modern frameworks like the iPhone or Android.  As mobile app projects fail to capture practical use in classrooms (seriously, what can you do on a phone that cannot be done better on a laptop?), there seem to be a real disconnect between the mobile aspect of the student and the pedagogy of a classroom.  This is where I think tablets may succeed and why competition is desperately needed. continue reading…

Since my iPhone is always with me for obvious reasons, it is time to use it like I would my DSLRs.  I’ve started a gallery on my website to show off some of the photos I take with my iPhone.  It should be easier for me to maintain.  Take a look when you get a chance.