After 3+ years of blogging I finally got around to updating my boring, blue theme. I looked at dozens, maybe hundreds of themes, but they all look pretty lame. So I finally decided to use the same theme that my friend is using on his blog. I hate to be a copycat, but as far as I can tell this is the only decent looking free WordPress theme. So I’ll call it reuse — that always makes copying stuff sound more legitimate. And besides, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Blog
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Why I like Amazon.com
I ordered a MacBook pro a few weeks ago. The best thing about the new models is that they made the price of the older models drop like a rock. So I took advantage of a great price on Amazon plus a $150 rebate, which made brought the total price to $1550. It’s a lot of money, but a really great laptop. Somehow I justified it.
When it arrived I noticed a small cosmetic defect that eventually bugged me enough that I finally decided to do something about it. I could have sent it in for repair, but since I just bought it on Amazon.com it was easier to exchange it for a new one. Amazon doesn’t do exchanges — they just tell you to you return the item and buy it again. So I ordered the second one, copied everything over from the defective one, and send it back. Easy as pie.
When the $150 rebate check arrived for the first laptop, I figured there would be trouble. The price on the laptop had dropped $100 by the time I bought the second one, so I figured they wouldn’t let me keep the rebate. I clicked the “Call me now” link and an Amazon rep called me 10 seconds later. I spoke to someone with a U.S. accent and asked what to do with the rebate check. She said I could cash it, and was also able to reimburse me for the cost of shipping and insurance when I sent the defective laptop back.
Try doing this with any other online retailer. I dare you. This is why I buy everything on Amazon.
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The Networked Student… now on dotSub.com
Do you know what I do with openly licensed YouTube videos when I think they are worthwhile? I copy the YouTube link and paste it over on dotSub.com. (DotSub can import directly from YouTube.) Why do I do this? Because YouTube isn’t very useful if you are deaf or don’t speak English. DotSub.com allows anyone to come along and add a transcription or a translation in another language. I don’t know why YouTube doesn’t support this. It’s so easy to do. C’mon Google, what’s the harm in allowing translations like dotSub? If you don’t have time to develop it, just get out your checkbook and buy dotSub. It’s the least you can do as a huge-but-not-evil tech company.
Here’s the The Networked Student on dotSub: http://dotsub.com/view/41f08de7-68dc-4365-af4c-5733f565b9e1 Subtitles are offered in English, Czech, Portuguese, and Spanish.
The Networked Student was inspired by CCK08, a Connectivism course offered by George Siemens and Stephen Downes during fall 2008. It depicts an actual project completed by Wendy Drexler’s high school students. The Networked Student concept map was inspired by Alec Couros’ Networked Teacher. I hope that teachers will use it to help their colleagues, parents, and students understand networked learning in the 21st century. Anyone is free to use this video for educational purposes. You may download, translate, or use as part of another presentation. Please share.
Edit: Rob points out in his comment that YouTube does support subtitles, but I see no attempt to allow others to contribute translations. I understand that this adds complexity and the possibility of malicious translations, but dotSub.com provides an easy translation interface and allows the owner of the video to control which users can translate.
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No apologies here…
I’ve always thought it strange when bloggers apologize for not blogging for a while. Like the whole world was reading just their blog and theirs alone. Sitting there, refreshing the page — hoping for a post. The way I see it, I’m not syndicated, so I don’t owe anyone anything. Besides, if I post a big “I’m back” article, think of the pressure that creates for me. What if I get busy right after that? So, yeah, it’s been a while. I may start blogging more. Or I may not. 🙂