We had our OER focus group this morning and had a good turn out of 8 members of staff covering a wide range of disciplines including graphic design, sound art, printmaking, pedgagogy, cultural studies, fine art and photography and ranging from technicians, to teaching staff to management. Steve and Debbie took charge of the one hour session while myself and Mary eyed the pastries. The following notes are what I jotted down from the session, please feel free to add/edit and comment.

• External sites were used by some staff instead of Blackboard (VLE) for a number of reasons, one being that they were open and that if there were external partners then they could access the material, which is impossible if it is just within Blackboard
• Authorship/Ownership an issue. Mentioned that certain teachers have ‘rejected’ using material that has been made open, since it is from another institution.
• Students themselves get material from everywhere, they don’t wait to have it supplied by the institution. Example of CS4 Adobe Photoshop which isn’t supplied by UAL so students have gone elsewhere to get the software and the information on how to use it.
• It was felt that reluctance to use other peoples material is an academic issue rather than a student issue.
• IT was felt to be a barrier to OER at certain times. For example lots of open source software is around but you cannot load it onto your machine without specific admin rights. So students cannot use it on UAL machines but can get them onto their own machines.
• Disciplinary differences across UAL e.g. London College of Fashion is creating material that is very ‘hands on’ and staff need teaching about how to use online or digital tools to enhance their learning, where at London College of Communication they are already using advanced software tools to create material.
• Important to examine how you create OER materials e.g. how you make a video of a tutorial
• There are very specific processes within the arts that can be particular to UAL or just one college
• Important to embrace multiple processes, form there you can decide which suits you, plus in the arts there is no one way of doing things. Students need to see and experience a variety of techniques, the student becomes the arbitor.
• There can be a lot of concern about the ‘look’ of OER material and of online work within the arts. However the look/style of something can go out of date very quick. Yet the look of a site can be important e.g. graphic design
• Important then to make it simple and make it work!
• Interest in what people are creating as teaching and learning materials/OER for their students. One teacher felt that he wanted to/should be doing so but unsure what and how to do this.
• Time to produce OER is an issue, as is the expertise to make the documentation.
• On one hand felt that UAL should help to produce this material so that it can ‘brand’ it and then feel the benefit of having that material used in the wider world. On the other hand there are a lot of part time staff who create material either in their own time or also for use on other courses across the university so would not be happy if it was just branded as UAL
• The decision in using a resource comes from recommendation, either teachers recommending it to students or staff recommending it other staff

The hour wanged by but we got a lot of good information and made some very good contacts and we will make sure we follow all this up.

It’s been ages. Briefly, I fritzed two laptops in unrelated incidents which freakily coincided with the week my main research paper was due, making for a tricky start to the academic year in September. Our first group crit session of the new academic year was with the brilliant, straight-talking Anne Howeson, (RCA). Group tutorials are a definite strength of C’well’s MA Illustration programme – at least that’s my experience with last year’s full-time students and the strong group of part-timers I’m amongst. I also had a tutorial with Janet Woolley, my professor, so along with my regular SCBWI crit group meeting, it seems like I’ve received, (and given) a lot of criticism over the past weeks. Today we had a briefing for a mid-point assessment which is around the corner, and afterwards a couple of us chatted about the post-critique haze we sometimes find ourselves in.

It’s a lot different than receiving advice in a classroom setting. An immediate difference is the often physical break before getting back to that piece or series. I live a couple of hours a way from college, so for a start there’s a lengthy period of reflection. Absorption isn’t always immediate, and so, as a starter, working with what I ‘get’ from the session is the way I’ve edged forward. At this stage, however, it’s become apparent that I need to shift gears and make some gigantic leaps in places! The year is running out and by Easter 2010, it’s all over, meaning, there is precious little time for developing anything new before the grad show.

Right now I”m re-reading notes from all my critique sessions in an effort to push my drawing towards illustration. And making another coffee.

A United Airlines pilot about to start on a flight from London Heathrow to Chicago was arrested for being drunk, with a Blood Alcohol Level over the limit recommended for airline pilots.

He was about to fly a Boeing 767 with 124 passengers and 11 crew members aboard when he was arrested.

United has suspended the pilot in question pending an investigation.

Article sourced from Reuters

Reuters Article- United Pilot Arrested for Being Drunk

Two photographs from a group project where we were given a random piece of text which we then graphically represented with an installation.

Two pieces from a summer project before starting this course in 2008. The project was called ‘Me Map’ and the top collage represents a map of my future life and the bottom one shows a map of my life in the past.

The two pieces at the top are part of my research towards this Graphic Design Manifesto project and above is my own final manifesto.

Two of a series of six pieces from another summer project completed before starting my current course in 2008. I asked a number of people 6 questions about design and then responded to these graphically.

Above are images of my Fundamentals Journal, which was a reflection on a number of workshops that we completed at the beginning of the course.

Above are two collages I created when thinking of ideas and styles for the Fundamentals Journal. The top one is a retro style and the bottom an industrial style.

I took my Final Major Project out onto the streets of London to find out the publics opinion on ‘what they love about London’.

These two posters above are the responses from the public showing what they love about London.

As well as the work above we also had to create a Research Book for our Final Major Project. This was responding to a number of workshops we completed, developments from these workshops and our own work.

When I was booking a trip to New Jersey this morning, I realized since the beginning of August I have earned  over $30 toward my Health Savings Account through a program called My HSA Rewards, just booking my travel.  If you follow this blog, you know that I am an advocate of that program which helps me  put more money into my Health Savings Account by shopping for the normal things I purchase every day.  

Basically I log in to the My HSA Rewards website, go to the shopping tab, and in the case of my New Jersey trip, click on the link to Priceline and book my trip.  The folks at My HSA Rewards give me 2%  for Priceline purchases which goes into my My HSA Rewards account.  After I  earn $50 into my account I can then transfer it into my Health Savings Account.

But here’s why I am babbling on about this.  Just in the past few weeks, My HSA Rewards has  added a lot of new ways to earn more HSA deposits.  And today as I was booking my travel, I counted up the ways to earn in just the travel category, and it added up to 38 different ways.  They are affiliated with a lot of the online travel sites including Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz and others; airlines like Delta, United and Virgin; Hotels , rental cars and luggage, you name it.  So now there are even more ways for me to earn when I book my travel.  And that’s on top of the hundreds of other ways to shop and earn.  The amount of the awards vary by merchant with some %’s back even in the double digits 

Excluding whatever I earned today from my Priceline purchase and another purchase I made from Overstock.com, to date I have managed to earn over $70 which ultimately will land in my health savings account.   I like that.  That’s $70 that won’t pinch my pocket when I need to use it for my family’s health care.

Hola a todos,

Bienvenidos al blog de la asignatura Nuevas Tecnologías para la Información y la Comunicación (NTIC) de la Universidad de Almería. A continuación os mostramos algunos datos de interés:

Web de la asignatura: http://nticual.wordpress.com

Email de la asignatura: nticual@gmail.com

En la web de la asignatura iremos publicando las tareas que vamos a desarrollar. Es por ello conveniente que estés pendiente a las actualizaciones que iremos haciendo. Lo más sencillo es que te suscribas al feed RSS del blog. Si no sabes como  hacerlo, no te preocupes, te lo explicamos en el siguiente artículo.

Asistencia a clase:

La asistencia a clases no es obligatoria, ya que la totalidad del contenido que vamos a tratar durante la asignatura lo publicaremos en este blog. Es por ello que no necesitas venir a clase si no lo estimas oportuno. Ahora bien, si tienes dudas o quieres ayuda para realizar las prácticas lo mejor es que acudas al aula. El horario es:

Lunes y Martes, de 13:00 a 15:00 en el Aula 4 del CITE III (esta clase la imparte el profesor José Ramón Díaz Serrano)

Jueves, de 19:30 a 21:300 en el Aula 4 del CITE III (esta clase la imparte el profesor Manuel Martinez-Santaolalla)

Viernes, de 09:00 a 11:00 en el Aula 4 del CITE III.

Método de evaluación:

La asignatura se divide en parte teórica y parte práctica. No obstante, no hay una parte teórica como tal, sino que todo se basa en documentación que es necesaria para realizar las prácticas que iremos desarrollando. Por ello, para la evaluación de la asignatura tendremos 2 partes:

1) una parte teórica, que consistirá en un examen tipo test de preguntas relacionadas con los temas expuestos.

2) una parte práctica, que consistirá en la resolución de un caso de estudio, en la que tengáis que aportar soluciones a diversos problemas que surgen en el seno de una empresa, haciendo uso de las herramientas que iremos conociendo durante el curso.

En ambos casos, se puntuará de 1 a 10, y posteriormente se hará la nota media (cada parte supone el 50% de la nota). Es necesario tener un mínimo de 4 puntos en cada parte para poder hacer media. Se aprueba con un 5.

Tutorías:

Aunque podáis acudir a las horas de tutoría que cada profesor fije, siempre podréis a cualquier hora haced vuestras consultas a través de los comentarios de la web o mediante email.

London offered me an interview session for direct admission last Sunday. I said alright but decided against it in the end. I don’t know if I did the right thing but I’ll stick with Birmingham, for now.

Maybe I’ll go in year 2013. (:

Since 9/11, I have been a vocal critic of the sorry state of airport security, as I fly on a (somewhat) regular basis. From the sadistic screening process at the TSA checkpoint to the policy of no non-flyers in the terminal to the general closedness which pales in comparison to the “friendly skies” of the 90s, the air has lost its magic.

I remember the trip to Miami that I took way back in 1999. I was only five at the time, but I still remember what went on. We arrived at O’Hare in our car and went into the terminal. After checking our bags and going to checkpoint, we went through the terminal, the concourse, and at the gate, I got to go into the cockpit. I got the little pilot wings too. The flight was four hours on a 757, not those cheap-o RJs American uses today. After two days on the trip, my Uncle from Ohio decided to fly from Cleveland-Hopkins down to Miami International so he could hang out with us. After a day at the pool and the beach, we got into our rental car and drove to Miami International. We went through the car loop, into the terminal, past checkpoint into the concourse, and got to wait at the gate for him to come out.

But following 9/11, none of this could happen anymore. Complicated and inefficient screening by incompetent TSA flunkies. Restriction past the checkpoint. And this trend of unfriendliness in the Friendly Skies has gone to the companies as well. $10 for a panini at the Corner Bakery. $7 for a roll at Cinnabon. Paying for snacks at the Admirals’ Club. Paying for snacks on the plane. $15 first bag fee. $25 second bag fee. $150 cancellation fee. Can’t we just give it a rest?

Not to sound like an obnoxious retard with no plan to rectify this, I’d like to propose a plan. This plan goes as follows.

• Rid us of the TSA goons.

How many times have you been stuck at an airport like O’Hate (no typo) or LaGuardia just to wait in a 40-minute-long screening line by people that don’t even care if you go through the detector positive? Cut this crap; it’s inefficient and it plain doesn’t work. I refer to an article in 2007 published by USAToday saying that while TSA-mandated screeners at Chicago and Los Angeles missed up to 80% of fake bombs run through by auditors, airports with private companies’ screeners, like San Francisco, missed only 20%. And if you’re like me, there’s always some crap on your clothes that gets you wanded and patted down, which makes it slower for everyone.

I have a solution to this. It’s just like the Open Toll system being implemented in Illinois. Use an open system. Get some facial recognition software and an open X-ray beam across a 25-foot wide hall, and 100 feet down the hallway, have 5 to 7 screeners handle suspect people in 6 foot wide lanes. This way, we have an easy way of stopping people suspect of bringing in contraband while still keeping everyone else’s dignities intact.

• Let non-flyers into the concourse.

Why is this so hard? We managed it before 9/11. All you had to do was come in with the flyer and you were set. Just revert it to the pre-9/11 standard. You can screen them through the method above, so it’s not that much of a problem. Really, people.

• Airlines, get your acts together.

I find it incredibly hard to believe that after the string of high-profile bankruptcies in the early 2000s, the major airlines are still saddled with debt. I remember some of these bankruptcies. UAL (United) went under in 2001 and emerged in 2006. AMR (American) went under in 2002 and came up in 2005. Yet to this day, AMR has lost $3.79 for every share of stock that trades (approximately 280 million at $5.25 a piece). This means that over the last twelve months, AMR has lost $1.06 billion. This, however, pales in comparison to UAL’s troubles. Trailing back twelve months, UAL has lost $18.48 for each share of stock (almost 145 million at $4.13 each). Do the math, and this is an obligation of $2.67 billion. This connotes massive financial mismanagement that can only be matched by disastrous meltdowns of companies like Enron or Crazy Eddie.

I think these losses come from three major causes. First off is the pandering in first class. On a 747 transpacific flight, there are 450-500 seats on a plane. 15 of them are first class, but I have heard tales of blissful spending and extravagant luxury, like $400 boxes of chocolate coming complimentary. This is wholly unacceptable.

Second off is the fee-mania. If your debt is that substantial, raising fees on a flight to cover expenses is going to turn off more prospective customers. If it’s really that bad, just declare bankruptcy again and pull a GM. Sell off your assets to a shell company and let the old company become a liquidation center. Then, you have near none of the prior debt, and you can start fresh without obligations forcing fees. Simple as that.

Third off is the pressure and general dislike of flying by the populace. This is caused by points one, two, and the above statements about the airport. It explains itself.

So I’ve got not much else to say. I’m sure a lot of people like flying, but don’t like it for the same reasons I don’t. If these are rectified, it will benefit everyone. Let it sit on your mind for a while.

The Camberwell College of Art MA Summer Shows went off really well last week, though it’s sad to see a lot of great people leaving from Illustration and leaving a few of us part-timers kicking around the place! The work from Illustration was exciting, and as predicted, very diverse with editorial illos, children’s books, graphic novels, animation and more – something I really appreciate in this course. Group crit sessions and regular meetings meant that we all had an inkling of who was doing what, but most went an extra mile towards the end and a few suprises lay in store.

500 people came through the door in the first 15 minutes, and around 2600 through the evening. See some of my photos here and get more on ‘09 MA Illustration grads here (thanks Tom). The crowds made it a bit tricky to get photos so above are a few Illustrators except for the guy with the toast – a printmaker – who gave out an edition of ‘toast prints’ at the door.

Is customer service becoming more important every day? Or does it just seem that way, now that consumers have so much social media power at their disposal? (See Bad Day At The Beach.)

The video above, “United Breaks Guitars,” chronicles how the gentleman’s guitar suffered at the hands of United baggage handlers (see Guardian.co.uk article). To United’s dismay, the video became a runaway YouTube hit.  Apparently, United doesn’t understand that it’s easier to make your existing customers happy than to find new customers. 

The song illustrates a customer service problem that seems to pervade the organization. United  just don’t seem to value their customers.

Case in point: Within the last few years, United Airlines rolled out “Economy Plus” with great fanfare. They presented it as a great opportunity for the flying public. But it only takes one brush with reality to see the truth: United is trying to squeeze every last cent from its customers — with punishingly uncomfortable seats if you don’t pony up extra cash for each flight segment.

My wife and I flew United on a cross-country trip last month. Every Economy seat was filled, while only a few of the Economy Plus seats were taken. (I believe they wanted about $40 extra per seat, for the privilege of being able to breathe in comfort.) The cabin was separated into two parts: The six or seven special ones in the front half, and the 100 or so peasants stuffed into the back of the bus.

Those of us in seats too tight even to open our computers did not see Economy Plus as an opportunity from the formerly great airline. From our cramped vantage point, it looked more like a scam.

The attendants wouldn’t even let the peasants sit in empty emergency-row seats.

We decided right then that United was our least favorite airline. Only our situation wasn’t as YouTube-able as Dave Carroll’s “United Breaks Guitars.”

When companies demonstrate that they don’t care about their customers, in the end, there’s not much the marketing people can do. But as Dave Carroll demonstrates, there’s a lot customers can do.

On board a recent United Airlines flight, I was nformed by a flight attendant that the airline supplies one bottle of the named wine in first class and once it is gone the crew refills the bottle with the horsepiss served at $6/187ml in steerage. I have 800k miles on this airline and am seriously considering moving my allegiance to some other “honest” carrier. If United can prove this is not true, I may reconsider, but their concern for the customer/passenger has gone down faster than the Titanic.

Central Saint Martin’s foundation degree show kicked off yesterday, so many impressing pieces I wanted to take photographs of them all but here are some of the ones i did.
Runs on until Saturday 13th June, All other degree show times at the University of Arts are availible on the website

Pues si, resulta que estaba con algunos alumnos en la puerta del CITE-IV (Edificio de aulas de la Universidad de Almería) cuando de repente apareció una enorme nube negra de humo. Negro intenso, tanto que la gente casi no especulaba con el origen del fuego, casi todos sabiamos que venía del CIESOL (edificio donde se investiga en temas relacionados con la energía solar). Este edificio posee unos paneles solares muy potentes en su azotea y previsiblemente la falta de refrigeración o el fallo en alguno de los acumuladores de energía podrían haber dado lugar al incidente. Por suerte no hubo damnificados. Todos conocemos a alguien que trabaja en el CIESOL y tras comprobar que estan bien, la calma volvió al Campus, que se queman placas, que se quemen; se reponen y listo. Lo grave hubiera sido que alguien resultara herido y afortunadamente no pasó.

by Vasiliki Dermitzi

The “Disability week” organised by the University of the Arts in London lured me to doubt the possibilities an artist with disabilities has in our perfectly civilised society.

The artist Alison Lapper, whose statue added in Trafalgar square another aspect of maternity, describes the difficulties she faced before she was accepted as an artist.

When asked if art is inclusive she stresses that it isn’t and it shouldn’t be at all. She feels the need to be judged as an artist not according to her condition.

She says: “If people feel distanced from my artistic work, it is somehow unacceptable and I struggle with it.

“Some said ‘I wouldn’t buy her work as it would really make me feel guilty every time I look at it’. But it’s just art, not me!”

Years in college

When Alison tried to enter a college, she was surprised to see that apart from her artistic skills, she would be judged and finally rejected because colleges didn’t provide facilities for disabled students.

“I had a good portfolio but I couldn’t get in good London schools, because I couldn’t access. I felt excluded. I was rejected because of the disability.

“I can remember my interview in Brighton. They didn’t know what to do with me. Bill B said: ‘We’ll give you 3 months and if we feel that you don’t really cope, you’ll have to leave.’

“I asked if he did that to all students and his answer was: ‘Not really, no.’”

She then goes back at her early years in college and remembers that she couldn’t follow the schedule not because she wasn’t talented enough, but because the problematic facilities limited her.

“At Art College as I was walking I would get stuck between fire doors and I missed lectures because I couldn’t access. I needed lot of physical help to put together as an artist what I wanted to do. There were no finances and I had to face it all alone.”

With a great sense of humour, she also colourfully describes that men felt uncomfortable with her:

“I had male tutors who wouldn’t ever speak to me because I was a disabled student. One of them finally said: ‘You have amazing tits’ and this was the first time I was treated as a female.”

Aside from her physical disability Alison is also heavily dyslectic. Schools and universities didn’t exam students orally at this time.

For Alison this was the most difficult part during her studies: “Trying to do essays was more difficult than the physical difficulty. They thought I was a retard.”

For Alison the opportunities offered nowadays to disabled students are more and she counts  on the educational system: “Things have changed now. I do believe though that Universities can remove all barriers.”

Modern world against disabilities

Although Alison feels that world’s attitude before a disabled person has changed, she uses an example to make clear that disabilities are still excluded from various aspects of our society.

“When I go to buy clothes I am bombarded by the images of 6ft 3 stones stick insects. We’re all doing really great only if we’re 6ft insects.

“Our liberty was taken away. That’s a shame. I don’t reject fashion, but there’s nothing out there that would suit me and my body. Why not?

“I would happily walk down the catwalk stark naked and say: ‘Yeah, this is me. I’m not going to change.’”

Moving her point further, she adds: “We make money and we spend money. We are as important as everybody else.”

“We still have a long way to go before we can claim that people with disabilities are treated equally.”

I’m sure that a nod comes out from Alison’s last phrase, but is it what we actually think? Are we philanthropists or do we pretend?

Back to my personal site

]]> http://247wallst.com/2009/04/14/amrs-serious-labor-troubles/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:27:38 +0000 247wallst http://247wallst.com/2009/04/14/amrs-serious-labor-troubles/

AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR) and unions representing pilots, flight attendants and maintenance workers at its American Airlines subsidiary are locked in labor negotiations that are growing increasingly contentious.  Shareholders should be extremely worried.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, the company avoided bankruptcy in 2003 by getting $1.8 billion in payroll cuts, which is smaller than the concessions won by rivals including US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE:LCC), Delta Air lines  Inc. (NYSE: DAL) and UAL Corp.’s (NYSE:UAUA) United Airlines who filed for Chapter 11 protection.

The chickens are now coming home to roost for the  Fort Worth, Texas-based airline.

“American’s labor cost, at 3.69 cents per available seat mile as of last September, was the highest in a list of 13 biggest airlines compiled by the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics,” the paper said. “Also, employee benefits, which were cut sharply at other airlines, have remained largely intact at American. Nevertheless, American’s pilots are demanding a 50% pay increase.”

The Allied Pilots Association has rented billboards denouncing the $300 million in bonuses paid to the company’s top 1,000 executives over the past three years and pointing out a government safety investigation.  The pilot’s union spokesman even called the 2003 concessions a “loan” which should be paid back.

Obviously, he does not read the papers or the company’s balance sheet.  Analysts expect AMR to report about a $400 million loss tomorrow. Revenue is expected to be about $4.72 billion. The airline said last month expected to end the quarter with a cash and short-term investment balance of approximately $3.1 billion, down from $3.6 billion at the end of December.  Last month,  Fitch Ratings slashed the company’s debt ratings further into junk status.

Other unions are waging similar battles with the company.  AMR’s management is taking a tough line saying “If we don’t exist, they don’t exist.” Good point.

If the rhetoric does not cool down soon, things will get ugly fast.

Jonathan Berr