SkivinatorLight a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.

A Commentary on StealingFiled Under: Life

Thanks xkcd.com.

Tags: future, mp3, music, Pirate, stealing

SIDPWWO (Sometimes I Don’t Play Well With Others)Filed Under: Life

I’m taking an online class from UVU this summer. It’s an INFO course. Computers. I thought I would share with you all an email back and forth between my Professor and I. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Background: Basic Audio Recording assignment due. I go over the top and send the Professor a full fledged recording of my band. I figure that insted of sending him 15 minutes of work I send him 3 days.

From: Professor
Subject: Sound 8 assignment not correct
Date Sent: July 31, 2008 8:32 AM
To: Stephen

Stephen,

Very nice tunes from your band, but you didn’t do the assignment. I need a .zip file from you that contains three sound files: one recorded at telephone quality, one at CD quality, and one at radio quality. See the audio_assignment.pdf file for detailed instructions.

Professor

I decide to push a little, and throw in two more assignments that I failed to turn in on time. Also, the assignments are improperly formatted.

Professor,

I can appreciate that you would like me to go through the motions required by the assignment. However, I pose this question: At what point is the illustration that I understand the concept supersede the requirements asked by it?

If there is anywhere in which principles should be demonstrated in “real world” application rather than the minimum required application to get a grade, it should be in college.

I am not looking for an A. A passing grade will do.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pztw2TK0_5Q
I am in the blue shirt on stage right. (your left)

Website:
http://steveandmccall.com/steve
Feel free to comment on anything of interest.

Stephe

The Professor responds.

From: Professor
Subject: RE: Sound 8 assignment not correct
Date Sent: August 8, 2008 9:29 AM
To: Stephen

Stephen,

OK, I will respond. I am not a philosophy teacher and so I do not feel qualified to respond in a philosophical way. I believe computers are used to accomplish work. At least part of the purpose for [Computer Class] is to train students to acquire/demonstrate minimum computer competencies so they can accomplish work for themselves or for an employer.
When doing work for others in the arena of CS/IS/IT, there are program specifications. This is a way of saying that the work you deliver should be based on what they asked for, the way they asked for it, and by the deadline. Meeting the program specifications is required in order to get the reward. The reward might be money, a grade, accomplishment, etc. The reward isn’t based on your interpretation of the program specifications.
When grading, I try to grade fairly. This means I have to be objective. I have to ask: “Did the student do what was asked and by the deadline?” The grading standard is applied the same to all students.
Providing a URL for Assignments 9 and 10 is not what you were asked to do. All work was due August 2nd.
Providing a single .mp3 file for Assignment 8 when you were asked to provide 3 different files of different quality is not doing what you were asked to do. Follow the program specifications and you get the reward.

Professor

I throw in a childish remark.

Professor,

I can respect how you feel about the subject, and one day I hope we can all do what we are told.

Stephe

I’m a little kid. What can I say? I just wanted to push his buttons.

Tags: childish, computers, School

Problems With Living In A Condo CommunityFiled Under: Life, Rant

I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.
- Clarence Darrow

Tags: sarcasm, trash

Come and See!Filed Under: Life

PerspectiveFiled Under: Life, Rant

It continually amazes me that after a moment of insight what was once so mundane and typical is transformed to odd and Jamais vu*.

Picture from www.illustratorworld.com

*(French: “never seen” opposite of Deja vu)

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” -Marie Curie

My most recent insights have been from an educational film from a Professor at the University of Massachusetts named Sut Jhally . I watched a graphic but extremely enlightening interpretation of how the media (particularly the Music/Music Video Industry) and our culture are intertwined and interact. The film is called Dreamworlds 3.

The film discusses how music videos have moved from a cultural fringe to the mainstream, and how this change has effected our society in the form of cultural stories and cultural acceptability. The film shows footage of riots and group molestations caught on film and the startling, almost exact, similarities in some music videos.

The most moving and, and to be honest, the most disgusting part of the film discusses how the objectification of women in the media (in the makers opinion) is changing the inner understanding of how young girls view themselves and the world.

I would suggest it to any adult.

This film deals with subjects and content that is not for children or adolescents.

The film brings a type of accountably and rational that I have sensed lacking from our “mainstream” media. We should be holding makers and broadcasters of this content accountable for what they are encouraging.

This is you Viacom (in the form of MTV and BET), Sony BMG, Warner, and Universal.

Watch at your own risk, anything you watch.

Thank you Mr. Sut Jhally. I appreciate your thoughts.