Simon just sent me a fascinating article about a boot-camp started in South Korea to wean youth of their "pathelogical computer use".

For the record if anyone is thinking of starting something like this here in Canada please please please consider me for the position as " ARTS and CRAFTS counsellor" I rock arts and crafts, and I *heart* young internet addicts.

Actually come to think of it.

Who's in for a week-ends worth of bad art and beer somewhere up north when I get back from latest pan-continental travesty? I can boot camp alls y'alls away from your 'pooters in less time then it takes to say macaroni picture frames and marshmallow s'mores.

Well, see there's some new work coming down the pipes (maybe) so I thought the ol' site needed some snazzing up.

Also I was getting sick of my overgrown vine on the left side there. In fact, speaking of vines, I have a s++tload of houseplants that are growing like gangbusters over here, and if anyone would like a cactus or an aloe plant to take home and love please let me know.

What else?

I was working on my thesis proposal or as I refer to it lately, "the albatross" at a cafe yesterday and a guy next to me started clipping his nails. In the cafe. I don't think I am overly picky about things like neatness and decorum, but listening to someone's nails falling onto a table surface in a public venue. Not to mention that the noise of nail cutting is in itself, disgusting. I had to leave.

The CBC just revamped their site so it's more user focused. Right on down to the big old british airways banner ad right where the brand should be.

Thats what i like to see in a public broadcaster, a for-profit look and feel. Yes they also made it plus ou moins web2.0 curvy, some luminous gradients, chunky buttons with small text inside.

Oh Jen just yelled at me from outside gotta run,

I just realized I am a communications student and I don't have the category communications in my blog how embarrassing...

It's quite late and my eyes feel gummy. Just before turning in I was noodling around on Facebook and found my classmate Dallas's blog. I hadn't read it before so I spent a little time catching up on what the MA media studies 2008 - 2009 cohort is doing without me this semester. Apparently it's naked candy porno parties and skating trips.

I love finding the blogs of people who I know in life. It's like walking into someone else's closet; "You hang your clothes like that? really so much plaid." It's polite and intimate all at the same time. Permissible snooping.

So this is a treat;

Usability specialist, tech writer and "female", Kathy Sierra had to withdraw from being a workshop chair at ETech when people started trolling her blog, uttering death threats and in fact started a whole new set of "meanblogs" just dedicated to posting hateful, humiliating or offensive material about notable people in the blogosphere.

Kathy was one of their targets and subject not just to rude material, but shockingly vulgar and violent material. What surprises me is the sophomoric hatred leveled at this woman, who is clearly only threatening to people because she is intelligent, successful and powerful.

Facebook = the new crack.

Sorry Lword it's true, ditch the MySpace and join Facebook you won't regret it.

I can't stop watching my friends come running in to join the party, i've never had such a delightful encounter with social software I am not even joking.

Which perhaps is sad, but it's all part of the research right?

Shirky describes this generational shift in terms of pidgin versus Creole. “Do you know that distinction? Pidgin is what gets spoken when people patch things together from different languages, so it serves well enough to communicate. But Creole is what the children speak, the children of pidgin speakers. They impose rules and structure, which makes the Creole language completely coherent and expressive, on par with any language. What we are witnessing is the Creolization of media.”

Article is craze-amazing and it's available here;

Say Everything: As younger people reveal their private lives on the Internet, the older generation looks on with alarm and misapprehension not seen since the early days of rock and roll. The future belongs to the uninhibited.

Okay well.. maybe not the whole 10 days. BUT STILL it's pretty exciting.

What am I doing in New York? Well I gots some big plans, but those are secret plans.

The not-so-secret plans include;

A visit to The Centre For Urban Pedagogy to talk about youth arts and civic engagement.

...and attending this mega incredible and exciting conference on Grassroots Media Activism at the New School University. The NYC Grassroots Media Conference. Holy smokes cats...

#1/ I owe my soul to Munira for finding me this conference and sending me the link.

I got you with that classy title didn't I.

So I am such a whiz kid at the MySpace.. I got a friend request from a magazine called "Jewish Mayhem" - thinking that the phrase more or less describes my life and my approach to spirituality/ethics I said; "righto Jewish Mayhem you are my friend!". Then today I decided to go check out Jewish Mayhems page.

Guess what:

JewishMayhem.Com (JM) is a free, adults-only (18+), sexy and proud to be Jewish, nationalistic, arts, culture, and lifestyles e-zine.

On JewishMayhem.Com are exclusive interviews with very cool, celebrity Jews, exclusive movie trailer/teaser releases, features on Jews in music and up and coming Jewish musicians, Jewish comedians, funny videos, violent videos, Kinky Jews, Kinky Friedman and much more, as long as it is legal.