Tom Caswell

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  • Happy New Year from the Caswells!

    I didn’t get around to writing a real year end letter for 2009, but I wanted to at least share a couple pictures. The first one is of my family as most people see us. The second one is more honest. Happy New Year!

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  • At this time of giving and leaving…

    In response to Marion’s tradition of posting his favorite Christmas song during this time of giving, I am sharing two of my all time favorite French songs. Well, the second one is at least “French-esque.” I would like to dedicate these musical gems to all my friends who have moved (or are moving) from Logan. May you find happiness in greener pastures, and may I follow you soon. Now sit back and enjoy… (more…)

  • Things you can do once you root your G1 or DROID phone

    Several people have asked me which Android phone I would buy if I were to buy one right now. Until yesterday that was an easy choice. I would buy the G1. They are cheap and easy to root. But now that the DROID has been successfully rooted, the decision is harder. I guess it depends on your carrier. Why do I only care about rooted Android devices? Here is a short list of the things you can do once you root your Android device (there are many more):

    1. Performance enhancements: Rooted G1s can run at the full 512MHz (Stock G1s are underclocked at 384MHz because of battery life, and possibly to market the myTouch as “faster.” They actually have the same CPU inside.)

    2. Wireless tethering: Your G1 can basically act like a wireless router, allowing you and anyone you approve to connect to the Internet via your phone’s unlimited data plan. (This works best with 3G connections). Here is the free app you need (only works on rooted phones): http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/

    3. Google Maps Navigation on G1 (no more DROID envy!): http://lifehacker.com/5402207/get-google-maps-navigation-on-your-g1 (easiest method here: http://digs.by/lxn)

    More reasons to root your Android device: http://lifehacker.com/5342237/five-great-reasons-to-root-your-android-phone
    The Best ROM currently available: CyanogenMod. Instructions for rooting: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php/Main_Page

  • UNESCO Conference on Open Social Learning

    IMG_5600, originally uploaded by caswell_tom.

    I really enjoyed being part of the UNESCO Chair in E-Learning conference on Open Social Learning last week with my friend and colleague, Marion Jensen. We presented TwHistory, a project that Marion started and I have been involved with during 2009, and it involves reenacting historical events using Twitter. Jeff Young posted a nice summary of the TwHistory project on the Wired Campus Blog of The Chronicle of Higher Education, although he gave me more credit than I deserve. TwHistory was Marion’s idea from the beginning; I was fortunate enough to have gotten involved early on in the development of that idea.

    For more about the UNECSO Chair in E-Learning conference I will refer you to José Mota’s excellent conference summary. This was my fourth time visiting Barcelona over the past 18 months, and I feel very lucky to have had all those opportunities. Barcelona has quickly become one of my favorite cities in the world, and the wonderful people at UOC are big part of why I feel that way. Thank you to Emma, Julia, and all the organizers at UOC for an excellent conference. You have given me a lot to think about, and I look forward to future opportunities to share and discuss the future of Open Social Learning.

  • You can’t steal it. I’m giving it to you.

    I share all my flickr photos freely under a Creative Commons attribution-only license. If you don’t know what this means I’ll sum it up for you: You can’t steal my photos because I am already willing to share them with you. Do what you want with them. All I ask is that you give me credit if you use them. I guess I’ll never know if you don’t comply, but why not play nice? The terms are really simple. Just mention my Flickr username, caswell_tom. Give credit where credit is due.

    I have a Google Alert set up to alert me anytime the words “caswell_tom” and “flickr” appear on the web together. You may need to adjust this to fit your own situation. I added the word “flickr” to my username to filter out all the unrelated alerts I was getting. I had to add the work When I get a Google Alert email letting me know one of my photos has been reused, I add a link to the place it got used in the comment section of that picture. I also add the “reused” tag to that photo in Flickr. It’s an easy way to keep track of my reused photo collection.

    It’s fun to see how my amateur snapshots get reused. I feel like a proud parent, seeing my photos accomplish new and interesting things. I guess you could say I collect reuse. Of course, you have to tag your photo with useful keywords so other can find them. That’s the trick behind the magic of reuse.

    You might wonder why I share my photos, blog posts, and other creative works so freely. Well, why not? The worst that can happen is nothing (which is exactly what would happen anyway if I kept them to myself). The best case scenario is that someone else gets to do something interesting with my photo and I get credit for the original photo. Who knows?