Canned Goods

Okay. I’ve always been a Sci-Fi geek (fantasy, too)—-everything Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Asimov—-and I easily getted hooked on just about any Sci-Fi TV: B5, Star Trek, Firefly, Robotech (very geeky), and Stargate SG-1, the most recent being Battlestar Galactica (where do I find time to study?). Of course, I watched the original series, as well as Buck Rogers. But I have to say that as time passes, (good) Sci-Fi shows seem to be getting more sophisticated, not just the special effects but rather the cinematography (see Firefly, and BSG has adopted what I’ll call Firefly’s switch-focus technique) and characterization. I can’t say the same thing for storylines. For example, with all the Star Trek incarnations, each time you watched an episode from one series, you could cite a VERY similar one from the other series. And BSG is no different. But I’ve enjoyed BSG more than other series (maybe it’s just that it’s on at the moment and fresh in my thoughts). So, as I begin watching season 2.5+, I wish I had cable so that I could see season 3, but if you’re finished with all of season 2, try the webisodes titled the Resistance.

I haven’t watched these yet because I think they take place after season 2 and before season 3, although I haven’t found any description of them on SCIFI.com. They’re just there. Enjoy, if you didn’t know they existed before.

As I was building my Fall 201 course this summer, I thought back to my reading of “Infrastructure and Composing: The When of New-Media Writing.” CCC 57.1 (2005): 14-44 last Spring. After a couple years of teaching at NMU, with its amazing tech services and support, and then coming to UW-Madison, I quickly learned to deal with constraints when trying to teach with technology.

From a complete lack of access to even a LCD projector in the dungeon-like (In)Humanities bldg to the English Department’s “media cart” which cannot fit into most of the classrooms unless dismantled first (this changed last year, when we got a portable projector) & the inital inability of TAs to checkout technology with the new onlinereservation service, I had to do a lot of legwork to get what I wanted for my students during my first 2 years of teaching here. Getting assigned to teach in one of the residence halls granted me access to their portable projector, in-classroom tv/vcr/dvd cabinet, and a computer lab I could reserve in the nearby ARCH.

This year became a bigger challenge. Not only was a teaching a new course that isn’t taught in the reshalls—-EN 201 is taught exclusively in English Department—-but also I was planning to have my student writing with new media: Photoshop, Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver. The success of my class depended upon the “infrastructural frameworks” of the university.

Knowing the department couldn’t help me, I knew on one place that could: a nearby library had a computer classroom, with two lcd projectors (and 2 screens), all the software I needed, and 14 computers (5 less than I needed, but a lab of dozens of computers is just outside the door). I was incredibly excited to have this space for most of the semester. It was the best space I knew of, although the Writing Center had received a grant just before the semester began, and it was rumored to be getting Studio 8 and Photoshop CS2. However, when I got to the library classroom, I was told that only one projector worked, meaning that one-half the class couldn’t see the second screen clearly. But that didn’t really matter because the second projector’s image was so washed out, the students who could see that image couldn’t see that image. To the classroom staff’s credit they do have a $40,000 grant in the works for need projectors, but it’s essential that my students see what I’m doing on the screen.

Luckily the WC lab did get Studio 8 and PCS2 as a part of their upgrade, and I was able to reserve the lab for all but a few days this semester.

I knew going in that without an adequate infrastructural framework for this new media writing course, the class would fail, and so those of us interested in teaching with technology need to be aware of the constraints on our individual institutions.

After quite a long break (in part, voluntary) it feels good to be bloggin’ again. The hiatus began as I started a couple weeks of work on my English 201 course for the fall—-a new syllabus and a new website meant lots of reading for possible course texts, drafting of assignments, playing with CSS, then going back to tables in Fireworks and Dreamweaver (Oh! The pain!) because I know how to do it that way. After a couple weeks I felt satisfied with the rough cut of the course and planned to get back to blogging, but disaster struck in the form of a rapidly dying motherboard. The second in as many years! Apparently, I’m not the only with Alienware problems: href=”http://www.badsoftware.com/alienwaresucks/”>Alienware Sucks!.

Coincidentally, I was just beginning to move—-a month long odyssey across the isthmus of Madison—-and had purchased a several hundred dollar, 3-year warranty. I didn’t mind waiting for the laptop to be prepared. The only problem was that getting the laptop back after a couple weeks I only had time for checking email and the weather. However light that computer use may seem, it was enough to cause my power supply to die after a few days. No worries though, Alienware said I could purchase a new one from them for $90. I told them I had purchased a 3 year warranty, and they replied that power supplies were only covered for a year. Sure, I was p.o.’d, but I need my computer. It doesn’t end there.

At first the I was told they didn’t have any in stock and that it would take 2 weeks to get a new one. This was a little frustrating with only 3 weeks before classes. But it gets worst. Eventually, I was told that there were no power supplies available thru Alienware. With a 3 yr old computer, they had discontinued carrying the part. Everyone buys a new PCevery three years, right? Well, maybe Bill Gates and Michael Dell do.

So after many, many hours on the phone with the wonderful staff at Alienware, I luckily found one on Ebay for $55. So I had my computer back a couple weeks before classes began and spent that time getting 201 completed and the CompRhet website updated and a little Madden 2005 played (it was $2.99 at EB Games) because I new I could enjoy some technical diffiuclty-free fun on the Xbox . Yeah, right!

Anyway, I look forward to getting back to the blogs I read regularly and my prelims.