I read a great tweet today, which prompted me to write about an idea I've had for a while: It was by Gary Bernhardt, and the fact that I feel the need to post a picture of it, in addition to linking, is a great segue into my thought. I've…

Dad, I don't think I want to learn this song for piano this week. How come? Well, it's scary.  Look at the picture.  Look at the words. Why don't you change it? I can do that?  I'm allowed? Get your pencil crayons out and change it So I can change…

1. eBook For my birthday my wife bought me a Kindle.  Since then I've had a chance to read a number of books using it, and I wanted to say something about my transformation from anti- to pro-eBook.  The first thing to say is that I received a Kindle vs.…

One of the great difficulties I have in teaching is in trying to help my students understand the importance of narrative and personal reflection in their work.  I routinely see people doing amazing things, but being unable or unaware of the significance of what is happening.  Because it is happening…

I refuse to assign text books for my courses, which is likely something I should discuss at some point--the cost, the unethical practices of the industry producing them, the issues of copyright, but most importantly, the fact that they can't possibly keep up with how fast and frequently I need…

This year one of the main focuses of the Mozilla Foundation is to enable web makers through the creation of software, tools, education, and community.  I'm helping lead the software teams that are building things like Popcorn, Popcorn Maker, Badges, Gladius, etc.  Mark's done some good writing and talking about…

I was in a series of meetings today, led by my colleague Dawn Mercer, and paused to reflect on how important she is to the work I do at Seneca's Centre for Development of Open Technology, and how big an influence she has had in the open source research we…

We made a game, the girls and me.  It happened like this.  On Saturday I saw that the Mojang gang were spending their weekend creating a new game and live streaming the event.  As I opened the video stream my oldest daughter walked into the room and asked what I…

Today, via Forbes, I read the following on the Nest thermostat: What Is It Like To Own A Nest Thermometer? ... "It’s pretty satisfying. The more basic functionality is actually the most appealing. Twisting to change the temperature is more compelling and lighter weight than the standard thermostats, so…

The other day, while reading William Gibson no less, I paused to consider the term 'Virtual Reality.' I've encountered this term on both sides of its existence, even though it has never existed, never could. During my undergraduate work, In one of my computer science classes, I had a…