wysereeser.com

ASTD is a well known & respected training and development organization that tries to serve as a hub of information for corporate trainers. A lot of their more interesting information is available only to people who are members (which I am not). However, I along with a few other co-workers, helped a writer with an article he wrote for the ASTD’s August issue of Training & Development magazine. The article focuses on some of the issues the place I work for, UW Learning Innovations, is dealing with related to SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model). SCORM is basically an ever evolving specification around creating online learning materials. Its something that I’ve spent a fair amount of time on over the past couple years.

The author asked each of us to provide a quote or two for the article, which I did. I’ve seen the article before, its just weird to see myself quoted in a national training magazine.

A year or so ago, a flower known as the Titan Arum or “Corpse Flower” bloomed in its 40 year life span at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison Botany Greenhouse. The plant attracts flies and other insects that desire rotting flesh for various reasons by producing a strong odor when it is in full bloom.

Angie and I went the first time the flower bloomed. We got there after it was reaching the end of its cycle. We got to see the bloom, and you could definitely notice the odor, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as what other people indicated that it was previously. In looking at some of the photos from last time you can see several people covering their nose & mouths that are standing in the room with the flower.

The seemingly crazy thing about it was the number of people that waited in line to see the plant. We probably waited 45 minutes or more, but I think it was worth it.

Exactly why I haven’t come across more education oriented weblogs is beyond me. I finally stumbled onto one of the rings that refer each other and am suddenly hit by information overload. Several sites I’ve seen before, but I hadn’t actually put them in the category of “Blogs in Education” until recently.

I don’t know about you, but inevitably I sometimes stumble across areas/topics where there just appears to be too much to try and absorb in one sitting. Thoughts of “How the heck can I contribute when there are so many other sources of information?” start popping up in my head. Several of the *edu* sites reference the same articles from the same resources.

One question that just occurred to me, “To what extent do we add to the bloat and waste of bandwidth when 1000 or more people incorporate the same RSS feed in their site?” I, like I’m sure most people, want to try and add to what’s is out there and not necessarily simply repeat what is already said by possibly hundreds of others.

hmmm…

One of these days I have GOT to take some time and build my own arcade machine. A co-worker of mine already has a similar set-up that he’s used to play the hundreds of games he’s downloaded. I’m thinking this would be a suitable addition to the basement….I may have found my winter project.

Curious about election $$ passed around for your representative? Opensecrets.org is a good place to start.

This is related to my day job….I came across this Learning Cost Calculator through way of elearning post.

Since I got back from vacation I’ve been spending some time going through a lot of *stuff* and trying to clean house while I figure out where I left off with the work I’ve been doing. As I was deleting things, I came across this excerpt from a book that I blatantly stole. I can’t remember for the life of me what the book was or who it was by. I think I got it out of a freebie chapter that was available online. Either way I thought it was interesting.

The Developer Bill of Rights

• You have the right to know what is needed, via clear requirements, with clear declarations of priority.
• You have the right to say how long each requirement will take you to implement, and to revise estimates given experience.
• You have the right to accept your responsibilities instead of having them assigned to you.
• You have the right to produce quality work at all times.
• You have the right to peace, fun, and productive and enjoyable work.

The Customer Bill of Rights

• You have the right to an overall plan, to know what can be accomplished, when, and at what cost.
• You have the right to see progress in a running system, proven to work by pass-ing repeatable tests that you specify.
• You have the right to change your mind, to substitute functionality, and to change priorities.
• You have the right to be informed of schedule changes, in time to choose how to reduce scope to restore the original date. You can even cancel at any time and be left with a useful working system reflecting investment to date.

I’m posting this a little late, but I wanted to put it out there. JIFFY LUBE SUCKS!! A quick round trip explanation….I’ve used Jiffy Lube for years for general car maintenance, paying someone $30 to change my oil is easier than getting all the stuff out to do it myself (which I can do). Its becoming increasingly frustrating however every time we go because they’re always trying to sell us more than what we came in there for. I always hate to say no to maintenance work because that’s one way you can avoid more serious problems later on.

This last time however was the last straw in my opinion. Long story made short, my wife forgot that we had a fuel filter replaced when we took the truck into get the water pump replaced from our last vehicle saga. When she took the truck into get the oil changed before our vacation, the mechanics at Jiffly Lube told her that the filter looked like it was “the original” (or something similar). So knowing we were going on a long trip she said okay to change it. However, the filter was replaced no more than 2 weeks prior!!

When I called back to complain, they said that they only have recorded what service they conduct at Jiffy Lube and don’t know what service work is done elsewhere (which I fully expect and understand). My problem is that IF that is the case, then why is someone telling my wife that the filter “looks bad”, and why do the guys working on my car bring the air filter into me every time to show me how dirty it is.

While they provide a valueable service and they are in the business of making the almighty dollar, its unfortunate that they have to play on people’s emotions and lack of automotive knowledge (myself included) to make it happen.

We did a lot of driving the past 2 weeks (close to 2,700 miles) so the oil needs to be changed again. I, for one, am considering going back to doing what I used to do, drive up on some blocks and change the oil myself.

So I’ve spent the last couple weeks with my lovely wife tooling around parts of the Midwest. This is the primary reason nothing has been posted in a while.

Part of the time was spent vacationing in the “Northwoods” of Wisconsin. Neither Angie nor I are natives to this state so we thought it might be fun to explore a little bit. Camping in state parks the whole way (which I recommend), I think we covered the territory pretty well. We ended up making an upside-down teardrop shaped pattern on the state’s highways. We made it as far north as Madeline Island located in Lake Superior, which was wonderful. I never imagined that one of the Great Lakes could be so clear.

Coming back down we stopped off in Chippewa Falls home of the Leinenkugel’s brewery. They were a respectively small brewery which was purchased by Miller. Either way we were in the neighborhood and the beer is okay so we stopped in for several free samples.

All in all during the first week we had a lot of fun and got to be outdoors. I’ll report more on the second week a little later.

I found out that my cyborg name is:

S.C.O.T.T.: Synthetic Construct Optimized for Terran Troubleshooting

You can find out what yours is too. After you post it, look for your acronym in the middle of the page.