What's on Marshall McLuhan's iPod?

I sure am glad that I found my posting bookmark. Last week I couldn't figure out how to post. Yeah, it's like that lately. When I got sick and inadvertantly got some rest, I realized that I'm really kind of on the edge of exhaustion. And no good can come of that. If I don't want to collapse, I'm going to have to pay more attention to that. I've gotta let some stuff go sometimes, I can't just stay awake until it's all done anymore. (She said at 2 am.) I can take use vacation time at work sometimes, as long as I'm there when everybody wants me. Yeah, it's like that lately.

I'm getting a better sense of where the project's going. I'm really warming to the idea of podcasts and not just because it's the latest techno-fad. I'm seeing the educational application that apple presented at an "iTunesU" event this summer. I'm petty sure that they're coming to my campus to do what they call a "kitchen". It's a hands-on workshop where they want people to make a podcast. I find this technology pretty exciting because the it's actually less complex. In my first experience with an enhanced podcast, I was searching for some current information that had been exchanged at educational conferences and found a video of a panel discussion and another of a powerpoint with an audio track. I had less than no interest in downloading and watching a video, though my bandwidth was no issue. I've heard some instructors toying with onlining their courses and wanting to videotape themselves lecturing. I've tried to explain that, Aaaaack! you don't want to do that. The way that you may connect with students in the classroom is lost in the videotaping. The slide presentation and audio really demands the appropriate level of attention. What most of us don't realize is that pretty much everyone under 30 has an iPod and a completely different opportunity for media delivery exists. And, sure, you can still get it on a computer if you don't have a video iPod; but don't underestimate the existing market and media infrastructure.

I've also begun toying with the idea of another platform to deliver the Flash skill modules on. I remember when I was learning Flash last semester that there was mention of developing for phones. Is it that accessible? I have a Palm phone and I know that there is an extra program to install to run Flash on it. That is a high-level PDA kind of function, but I think that is to run a .swf file. Maybe it can be compiled differently? When I studied for the CCNA test this last time, I could kindof run the flashcards on the Treo. This could be a real feature, if it's within a reasonable grasp. The challenge is going to be to be able to manifest the Flash and web functionality that I can envision. And to envision designs that are appealing as well as functional. I realized that I need to be looking at lots of visuals to stimulate this less dominant side of myself as a designer.

With that in mind, I spent most of the evening searching through images. I began an ILP website from scratch for cst430 a year ago. I'm all for the minimalist thing and I might be okay with it as it is. If I get some better graphics. I'll probably want to redo the ILP site, but I don't have the time right now. I like this graphic, but both the visual and the conceptual connection are tenuous at best. I think it's got something to do with nuclear waste, but it's visually very appealing to me.