For most people, writing is hard work. Writing for a public forum on the internet is hard, scary work. Once you push the “submit” button, your words are out there for everyone to see and respond to, instantly searchable, and living in perpetuity in the Google cache or deep in the Internet Archive. Yet, tens…
Recent News
On Becoming a Faculty Blogger
I’ve been asked to be an “official faculty blogger” when William and Mary launches the new college web site in July. The re.web project has been one of the most thoughtfully managed projects that I’ve experienced at any university, and I’m honored to be asked to contribute to the final product in this way. Writing…
Twitter-Free for a Week
I’ve been more or less Twitter-free for the last seven days. I’m a little compulsive about my computer environment. I can–and have–gone months without washing my car, but when someone touches my screen with a greasy, oily finger, my response is fairly predictable. I immediately threaten to cut off their hands if they ever do…
The Importance of Responsible Computing
Like many academics, I think that many security policies and procedures are a tad draconian and based on superstition rather than evidence. One of my pets that I often rail about is the requirement that individuals change passwords on some fixed schedule; I’m still looking for any evidence that these requirements actually make our institutions…
Finding a Philosophical Base for Educational Technology
Parallel Universes | Learning In a Flat World I’ve been trying to find a way to sort out some of my impressions and thoughts about the University of Mary Washington Faculty Academy. Britt Watwood, an online learning specialist at VCU, may have provided the opening in this post where he compares his experiences at the…
Tying Up the Loose Ends of Your Digital Identity
re.web – The William & Mary Web Redesign Andy DeSoto, a junior psychology major at William and Mary, has written a guide for students (and faculty) on how to use the new Tribe Voices tool to manage their presence on the web. He argues that a small investment of time can yield big benefits in…
Software to Watch: Sophie
if:book: Sophie Released. For some time I’ve been watching the development of Sophie, software developed by the Institute for the Future of the Book “for writing and reading rich media documents in a networked environment.’ According to the developers, Sophie’s goal is “to encourage multimedia authoring and, in the process, to redefine the notion of…
Surely You Jest: HPC for the Humanities?
Humanities High Performance Computing: “” For the last three weeks I’ve been immersed in the world of HPC–High Performance Computing. HPC is that parallel universe where researchers run programs that take five days of processing, where tiny jobs only require 12-15 processors, where terabyte drives fill up in matters of hours and where shouting at…
Digital Repository Pilot Project
Over the last semester, we’ve been working with Wayne Graham at the Swem Library and some students and staff at the Charles Center to create a digital repository of honors theses. I just received my first email notification of a submission– an honors thesis by Sara Thomas entitled From Shadwell to Monticello: The Material Culture…
Hamilton College Alumni Review: Sitting in the Front Row Could Be Dangerous
Hamilton College – Alumni Review – Spring 2008 – Sitting in the Front Row Could Be Dangerous Hamilton College just ran a long article with reminiscences from alumni about their most inspirational professors. One was by Tom Reid, my freshman year roommate, about Edwin Barrett, professor of English, who was my advisor and inspiration as…
