Yes, I am still alive. Just not near a computer as often as I used to be.

It’s a little out of date now, but somebody asked about my birthday haul – here it is:

Some ugg boots, squishy goodness, earrings, and a ring (oh, and a clothing voucher and a flying lesson)

Modest, but awesome. Very chuffed with the squishy goodness – some wonderful people have excellent taste, the colours are wonderful. AND I have some Ravelry Red to play with. I wonder what I should make with it?!

I’ve been absent because I’ve been writing chapter three, longhand. It does less damage to my wrists that way, and I find I structure my arguments better on paper. (Has also done wonders for my handwriting). The handwriting is nearly finished, and the computer transcription is about to begin. You may see more of me now…

The knitting has been going solidly, but slowly. I turned the heel of one of the pairs of socks while helping out with the Hospice’s Tree of Remembrance, which was a quiet way to spend the morning. I’ve put the lace on hold to get this sock, and one more done before Christmas, and then I can spoil me. I should be able to do that, I hope.

Bells and I have been discussing the virtues of knitting nupps with Kid seta in the swallowtail shawls we’re both doing. I’ve made two without, and they look fine, but she <a href=”http://bellsknits.blogspot.com/2009/11/and-then-i-made-nupps.html”>dove in  the deep end </a>, and I may just to follow her. Don’t they look good? This has been my year of knitting adventures, so I may just have to add this to my list. Well done Bells!

But for now, I’m enjoying the rain, the Tuis and Blackbirds, the comfortable weather and the progress. I’d best get back to it, I want this section done this evening, then it’ll be one more to go and the chapter will be written (not edited).

See you around!

West End, Ohope Beach.

I have three months left before I have to turn in my PhD, which of course means that all I am doing at the moment is writing and working on my dissertation. Being in this state of mind has made me think about all the different metaphors one could use to describe what this last phase of the PhD process is like.

I think for me – at least at the moment – writing a PhD thesis is like completing a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes you have only four pieces and other times 4000 pieces to fit together.

Another, and not necessarily optimistic, metaphor could be viewing the process as a train ride. Normally it goes fast, sometimes there are delays – and you just hope it doesn’t crash!

What is the PhD process like for you? Can you come up with other eloquent metaphors?

Went to see An Education today, at the behest of a friend (cheers, Rali!).

It’s a proper great film, filled with that very special type of moralism and incentive to hard work that you get a lot of around here in Britain. The idea that we may not all be perfect, but that we can make it if we work hard enough, the explicit point that there are not shortcuts – and the encouragement that if we mess up, someone will be there to give us a hand.

Truly inspiring. Should be part of any PhD-student-worried-about-expectations’ curriculum.

I need to keep this pace up–five Philip K. Dick novels read and notes completed in one week. I didn’t reverse the image above since I just finished A Scanner Darkly.

A 25-minute documentary of the London Underground Diagrammatic Map creation (BBC Four)

Watch the video!

Due to technical difficulties on Wednesday, I decided to postpone our 2^nd in-world Didactic Design Discussion to Sunday.  My co-facilitator, Mew is in charge of the 3^rd discussion set for Monday, and since we’re both using the Zebra presenter and he has already set up our teaching and learning area for this, I decided to experiment with an alternative classroom setting up in the air over our sandbox.

Now, who would want to go to class RL or “in” a conventional web-conferencing system, when instead you can be in a beautiful place like this??

We’ll also experiment a bit with The Opinionater on Sunday, but I’ll wait with setting up that, since it does seem to steal the attention of the participants once it has been rezzed

Mew likes to build and script and he has set up an interesting display for his discussion combining a conventional presentation with … well, something else I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I’m looking forward to seeing it “in action” on Monday …

Mew also has some sort of a surprise in store for us up under the roof … very exciting!

More to come on this for sure …

/Mariis

Deciding to get a Masters was somewhat of a no-brainer for me. I’ve always been a huge proponent of higher education and I find being in a university environment incredibly stimulating (lots of very active brain waves floating around). The fact that I am getting my Masters in the UK, where the program is only a year and the fees are relatively comparable to a US Masters (even including the costs of London living!) is icing on the proverbial cake. Getting a PhD (or DrPH) though… well, that’s not quite as simple. As I look to the end of this year and try to figure out what I where I want to be after graduating, the picture in my head begins to get a bit fuzzy. Although I love development studies and the idea of working in the field, I don’t know that I can temper development work with family life. In fact, I am almost positive that the concept of normal life is the antithesis to that of international development (think: being stationed in Yemen for a two-year stint, followed by a few months in DC, followed by a 6 month consultation in Bolivia, etc.). That being said, I’m signing up to take the Foreign Service exam in the spring to hopefully open up some options (fortunately I don’t have to fly to the US to take the exam — American citizens can take it at the embassy). Plus, I have been looking at other institutions to move towards a PhD.

Now, here’s the thing with a PhD (this is partly me thinking via blog and partially wanting feedback from anyone who’s been in this position or has any brilliant insight): PhD’s are intense. In many ways, actually.

They’re time-intensive. Typically 3- 5 years; 2 years of coursework + 1 – 3 years of field work to put together a 75,000 – 100,000 word dissertation to submit and orally defend.

They’re expensive. I think that might go without saying, but expenses incurred through higher education are not for the faint of heart. Grad school is expensive. Fortunately, in the PhD world there are a number of schools that have really great financial aid packages for research students (full coverage of tuition + stipends, etc.) if you’re qualified. I have a friend working on a PhD who is teaching undergrad courses at the university in exchange for full tuition + a $26,000 stipend. Depending on your research proposal, some organizations will even step in to subsidize or cover educational expenses.

The application process is rigorous. I’m at the point where getting in isn’t the part that scares me (although that is scary, of course); the application alone is frightening. I don’t know if you have seen the process for applying for a doctoral program but it goes something like this: standard application packet (name + stats), CV including work experience, education and publications, three (3) letters of recommendations from professors that are familiar with your ability to be a quality researcher, a research proposal, wherein your dissertation topic is generally outlined including the research question and methodology and identification of an academic at the institution that would act as your tutor/advisor. Honestly, getting everything together to apply would probably take me a year! Plus, the part about publications? Can you say intimidating?!

PhD + Family? Not so likely. Not sure that you can actually work on a PhD and be a normal human being. And by that, I mean, I’m not sure that you can be 100% committed to your research work if you have a family, housework, normal real-life responsibilities looming. Dose of reality: Inevitably, one has to take precedence and if you’re paying loads of money and spending tons of time working on a doctorate, that will likely come first. If it doesn’t, your PhD will probably not get done in 4 -5 years. A book on my reading list? Mama, PhD, a piece about juggling motherhood with academia.

Long-term Relocation. PhD programmes don’t take many students, typically. Some schools take 2-4 for a given program, some take 15, but normally there aren’t a load of kids working on a doctoral degree in any given year since there is such a strong bond between advisor and advisee. This is very different from a taught Masters programme, where MSc candidates run wild. It would be ludicrous to think an advisor could work with 20 PhD students and help them in the way that they needed. That being said, for me to say that I wanted to get my doctorate in California and that I would only apply to California programs would be incredibly limiting. It is more advantageous to look across the nation (and the world, for that matter) and see what institutions have strong programs in the discipline and apply to programs where you feel a connection with the school, the potential advisor and the general campus and city life (since you’d be living there for a while!) If I got into a school in New York, I would probably go there, despite the fact that it’s not close to my family… makes for some interesting decisions when the discussion of being away from your family, relationships and friends involves talking about long-term versus one year.

Despite all the cons, I’ve always loved school (a fact to which my first-grade teachers can attest) and I can’t really see myself being done after this year. I will definitely need to take a break for a couple of years to put my Masters to work (to gain some more relevant/international experience) and to make sure that four more years of school is what I really want, but I definitely see a PhD (or DrPH) in my future.

Sending brainwaves your way,

This is the title of Dieter Rams’ exhibition at the Design Museum. Rams was in charged of the German consumer electronics manufacturer, Braun, for more than 40 years, developing a synthetic, rigorous and pure visual language for its products. In this exhibition can be appreciated how his principles of design were applied in and followed by his designs.
Below are explained the 10 design principles defined by Dieter Rams:

Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.

As a starting point of his designs, Rams applied a clear and well-defined structure (grid?) to organise the elements (information?) before moving on to the creation stage itself.

Design Museum. Dieter Rams' structure used in the creation of his designs to organise elements. (©Photos Sheila Pontis)

Rams’ objective was to create extremely functional objects where irrelevant information had no place. His designs are examples of simplicity and clarity. (see below). Rams also thought that sketching (analysing?) was an essential part of the design process. In addition, for Rams this stage of the process is independently of the media or technology, and cannot be done with computers. This stage is about taking the necessary time to carefully think about what to do, the characteristics and uses of the product/project.

Design Museum. Wall diagram of Dieter Rams' object. (© Photo Sheila Pontis)

Less and More. The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. 18 November 2009 to 7 March 2010 – Design Museum London

Copenhagen is a beautiful city that I first had the chance to visit, and subsequently fell in love with, in Autumn 2008. The Danish spirit seems to be eminently sensible, open-minded and forward facing. My cousin married a Dane and is now happily living in Copenhagen, and I’m quite envious of their social situation as working parents of young children; the state makes their lives considerably easier than our equivalent in the UK.

And the gaze of the world’s media now focusses on Copenhagen with the UN Climate Summit less than 2 weeks away, my thoughts are drifting back towards social activism for the environment. I’ve just very recently been hearing about two very different cases, and in both thinking that digital storytelling would help spread the word. And I know that citizen journalism is not without problems, but what about the voices of the people who are affected in a very real way day to day by policy and decisions…

The first is the protests in 1993 of Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island when the British Columbia Government actioned the ‘Clayoquot Land Use Decision’ to permit mass logging of the temperate rainforest. The story I heard was from someone who was there; Aldo de Moor’s written notes and media collection offer that insight first hand. The Friends of Clayoquot Sound website shows one example of digital activism, and I guess facilitates making informed decisions on the part of the activists much easier. Sadly, the logging continues and battles are still being fought.

The other case I’ve been hearing about is a new, rural community development south of Copenhagen. The collaborative nature of the community and participatory design of a communal centre has been quite inspirational.

Digital storytelling can be such a powerful technique with the right mandate, and these types of project just inspire me to want to head off into the wider world and work. Back in the real world, I am starting to think about what I’d like to do after my PhD is over. Any work I do will undoubtedly remain in the realm of community informatics, but I wonder if environmental issues are going to play a more prominent part.

And now that Barak Obama is set to attend the UN Climate Summit, and both the USA and China are reviewing cuts in emissions, I feel perhaps the future of environmental campaigning might be slightly more positive.

UN Negotiator Dessima Williams reminds us why now is the time to act, and sums it up nicely when she says “We’re all on the road to Copenhagen” in this media clip.

Photo courtesy of Rob Warde, Flickr.com

I had my painting class tonight.  I really suck at it.  In fact I might be worse at painting than I am at salsa, and that is definitely bad.

Anyway, Boyfriend drove me to painting, and on the way he was asking about my plans.  He said that he wished I would go out with him more.  The way I see it, he chose to go away and my life carries on without him.  I don’t hold back from making plans because I’m not sure when he’s going to be here.  That means that sometimes – like now – he can be at home but I am too busy to hang out with him.

In a way I don’t really want to hang out with him.  We have very little in common these days, and things change so much while he’s away that I find it really hard to relate to him when he returns.

I know I keep writing about this, but I feel like I’m constantly being challenged about my relationship with him.  I know we don’t see much of each other, but I like having him around under the terms that I’ve got used to.

Boyfriend picked me up after painting.  He asked me if I still love him.  I replied before I had a chance to think of a good lie.  I said “sometimes”.  He told me that he still loved me and that was all that mattered.  If only that was true.  Sometimes love isn’t enough.  But when I was speaking to Head Doctor about it the other day we talked about the dance, and that you have to realise you’re out of sync before you can correct it.

So, I guess we just wait and see if we want to correct it when the times comes.  For now though, I’m going to stick to my guns and not worry about it.  My priorities are:

• my health – I’ve got a lot of self-inflicted abuse to make up for
• my future – I need to start my PhD, and come up with a back-up plan

I don’t think that anyone would criticise me for looking after myself for the first time in my 28 years of consciousness.  Or would they?

I need to find the happy medium so that I can respect myself but keep the respect of others.  That’s my main challenge.

So I went to the postgraduate open day yesterday at the School of Computer Science at Manchester just to check things out. Unfortunately for me, a lot of the talks was about masters courses, and only about 20 minutes dedicated to information about PhD courses. And there wasn’t a lot of information included that I already didn’t know.

So the course is 3 years, there are a lot of full-paid studentships offered by the school (which is the main reason I’d want to apply), and the minimum requirement is a 2.1 honours in a computer/engineering/physics/maths related degree. To apply, you need 2 written references, and also a proposal about your area of research. Failing the latter, you can also choose an area of research from the list already proposed by the school itself.

I do suppose though, however, there isn’t really much to learn about doing a PhD course, until you choose the area of research you want to expertise in. So it’s essentially, what you make of it.

I think for the time being, it’ll be just a thought, and it will probably stay that way until I reach my final year of my degree next September.

As I write this I am watching the second episode of Dollhouse (I watched the first earlier). Seems good so far (some guy just started hunting her!) but I haven’t really seen enough to form an educated opinion. Every time the guy from Journeyman shows up I expect him to angrily talk about his brother.

At the moment (though not right at this moment, of course), I am in the middle of going through PSYC3311 readings to work out what to replace for 3310 next semester. Somehow I haven’t actually read some of these myself (and I suspect they are mostly the same readings as when I did the unit(s) two years ago), so doubly productive!

While I was reading about graphical representations (more specifically how the things we consider “better” – 3D over 2D, animated over static – are not necessarily so) I had some ideas for an adventure game that has been in the works for a few years (one of them anyway). It has been in very early production stages since forever, but I had some ideas yesterday that changed the nature of it slightly and inspired a few puzzle and plot ideas.

Also, I finished World of Goo demo. Not sure at this stage if I want to buy it.

NaNoWriMo fail! I must be ~18 000 words behind by now. I updated my Ravelry page with photos for everything.

We keep getting Yellow Pages delivered (I swear this is the third time this year) and instead of just letting them sit there this time, I stuck them under my monitor to raise it up to a better height. I noticed yesterday that some were delivered to the Sanders Building (is that supposed to happen?) and I thought about taking them to stick under the monitor in my office, which is lower than this one was and won’t even tilt up very high. Maybe they’ll still be there tomorrow…

“Dear Hilmi – just to let you know that you received an overall H1 for English Phonetics and Phonology – 83% so congratulations! Best wishes – Janet”

Thanks Janet. I know I couldn’t have done it without your support. The real challenge has just begun!

Deadline: 25th January 2010

Source: www.city.ac. uk/jobs
Research Studentships at City University, UK – Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism

City University London’s success in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed a major step-change in our research profile. World-class activity was recognised in many areas, leading to an increase of over 50% in our quality research funding. Based on that success, we have recently concluded a major review of research and knowledge transfer, which has allowed us to redefine our research as an all-inclusive set of activities comprising basic and applied research, policy- and practice-focused research, knowledge and technology transfer, entrepreneurship and consultancy. As we prepare for the future, our attention is focused on demonstrating the societal value of our research and the impact it makes on business, industry, government policies and the professions.

Our research and enterprise activities are more exciting and diverse than ever, with subjects ranging across business, social sciences, engineering and mathematics, informatics, law, music, journalism, cultural policy and a wide range of areas in the health-related domains.

The Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism is the first major interdisciplinary centre in the UK to develop a broad yet focused interface between law, justice and journalism in society. The Centre is offering 5 three-year, full-time doctoral studentships, available to both home and overseas fee-paying students.

Applications are invited to undertake interdisciplinary doctoral research in a topic relevant to the five main themes of the Centre:

• Legal Restraints on the Media
• Transformations in Media Policy
• Journalism and Human Rights
• Media, Security and Justice
• Communicating Forensic Evidence

For entry in October 2010 or earlier if possible, the studentships will attract a bursary of £12,000 per annum in addition to payment of the tuition fees. Successful candidates will usually be expected to undertake some teaching support activity in their second and third years, by agreement with the School concerned.

Informal enquiries can be made to the co-directors of the Centre:

Professor Howard Tumber, Graduate School of Journalism – School of Arts (h.tumber@city. ac.uk)

Professor Lorna Woods, City Law School (lorna.woods. 1@city.ac. uk)

Professor Eugene McLaughlin, Criminology – School of Social Sciences (e.mclaughlin@ city.ac.uk)

Closing date for applications: Monday 25 January 2010

Please visit www.city.ac. uk/jobs ref: ‘University Research Studentships’ to view other studentship opportunities being offered.

City University London,

Northampton Square,

London,

EC1V 0HB

While I don’t really go into depth about the study of Criminology, which I’m doing my honors BA in, I have to say that it’s been a real eye-opener into what human beings are capable of. My highest marks are in a course entitled Multiple Murder, which is taught by a globally renowned expert on the subject, who I’ve gotten to know quite well.

I’m also involved in research with a professor who has interviewed the notorious Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo personally. I can only imagine being in such a situation with such a mentally ill person.

While completing my manuscript, I’ve found myself looking into the proverbial “abyss” that a famous quote refers to, and I’m analyzing people more than ever now. This is indeed uncharted territory for me, though I certainly find it fascinating, I do admit.

Tomorrow, I’ll be going over the autopsy reports of a serial killer who killed over 10 children/young people in Canada many years ago, and I’m sure the specifics will scar my psyche to a degree…For this is how it is – no one gets out unscathed from such endeavors. Morbid curiosity can indeed drive one mad if they aren’t careful to put everything into proper perspective. The crime scene photos I’ve witnessed are enough to make you sick to your stomach, and then some. They are enraging to say the least.

I thought I’d add this, since through all the stress and ambitions I’m in the midst of, I’m appreciative of the life I have, and those around me. Many people aren’t here today due to violent acts, and victims rarely ever get the media coverage that the “glorified” killers do, which is ludacris.

- Jeff Emmerson

Great! Where can I pick it up?

Today I’ve set myself the task of writing a 3,000 word essay. All the research is pretty much done already and I have a clear idea of what I’m going to write, so it’s not that terrible. Plus it’s on ways public libraries can improve access for disabled people, so it’s something I’m interested in and can rattle through pretty easily. There are loads of sources for it, from the DDA to CILIP’s guidelines, MLA toolkits and SCONUL’s paper. It’s all very interesting and has a nice political/sociological slant for me, so I hope I can make it something vaguely useful, for myself or someone else. I dunno.

However, I’m procrastinating. Of course. Because just sitting down and writing is nigh on impossible for me. I’ve been gazing out of windows and thinking about yesterday’s lecture, which started off with a talk from a careers advisor, who reminded me of the niggling idea at the back of my mind that I’d like to do a PhD with something to do with public libraries. I have a vague idea of how this would work, because there’s no way I’d be self-funding so would need to apply for a scholarship thing. Where or how, I don’t know. I also don’t know how this fits in with my short- and long-term plans. C and I want to get married as soon as we can, and want kids a few years down the line. Ideally I’d like to do the whole baby thing in my mid-late twenties, say, 25-29, which is a bit off, but not that far. In order to get married I need some cold, hard, cashmonies, so I need a job for at least a year after I graduate from my MA, which places me at 25. So if I went back and did my PhD straight after that, I’d be 28 by the time I’d done it, which doesn’t leave me with much time for impregnation and gestation…If anybody has any advice for me, like what I should do or what they did, please do let me know.

Saving the world by fixing public libraries vs. saving the world with my amazing offspring. I don’t know. I will endeavour to do both. By the time I’ve finished this course I’m sure my time management will be second to none,  so I shouldn’t have a problem!

I’m only a matter of hours from Thanksgiving break, which honestly isn’t much of a break in the global perspective, but I’ll take it. We’re two weeks out from the end of the semester and I’m incredibly grateful for the ability to have 5 whole days to just crank out some end of semester projects, grading, and hopefully some cleaning. (Fingers crossed).

As we are getting down to the crunch time here, I am more and more often reminded that a PhD is a degree of persistence. To some extent being here is about how “smart” you are and how well you can produce evidence of your knowledge. However, what I’m learning is that the level of intelligence you have really just plays into how low it takes you to get the work done. It’s a persistence game.  If you’re intelligent enough to be here, you’re intelligent enough to finish. So I’m focusing on finishing (or at this point just really starting).

So, I’m working on just persevering through to the end of the semester. 3 major papers/projects, 1 exam, and alot of reading and grading to go. Here’s to hoping the turkey doesn’t kill my academic inertia.

MIL alumni, Carsten Storgaard, recently pointed my attention to Screenr – a nice little tool for creating screencasts. So yesterday, when I was preparing to talk about immersion vs. augmentation in SL as part of the next Didactic Design Discussion in the MIL course, I decided to try it.

One of the best examples of in-world immersion to me was the Tunnel of Light build by Spiral Walcher, but unfortunately that place does no longer exist. Instead I had a look at Spiral’s pics and found myself ending up at his Vision Store where I did my first attempt at in-world sceencasting:

Obviously I have a lot to learn about camera angles, movement etc. and I’m not convinced that Screenr is the best tool for in-world productions.

Nonetheless, I do recommend that you explore this beautiful place first hand – also have a look at Spiral’s Glow Show at Ball State University ll – it’s absolutely breathtaking!

Incidentally, I will be participating in a workshop on Machinima tomorrow at Roskilde University, so look out .. I may just be returning with more machinima-wanna-be-attempts in the future

/Mariis

I used Mary-Claire van Leunen’s A Handbook for Scholars as my style-guide for my PhD.  It is a riveting book, well… I found it riveting.  But I have misplaced, and re-searched that title a sufficient number of times that I am writing this note.  However, for those looking at questions like whether it’s “et. al”, “et al.”, or “et al“, that book is precious.

(By the way, it’s “et al.”)