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Phil Jackson is a Fraud
I can’t think of another figure in American sport who has a persona based in such unreality as Phil Jackson. He’s nurtured an image of himself as some left-leaning progressive Zen guru all based on the...
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“You’ve Got to Be A Real Fat Man…”
Sometime last month Jeff Swain asked on Twitter “what makes something funny?” I replied with one of the foundational statements of my world view, from Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors: “If it...
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Once Again Back it’s the Incredible…
the blog animal, ZOE, blogfessor number one. For the second straight year, we’re awarding the Blogfessor of the Year Award to Zoe Sheehan Saldana, of Baruch’s Fine and Performing Arts Department. The...
View ArticleStep into the Sensory Box
Wowzers. I think this would fit within Gardner Campbell’s definition of “media fluency.” ENVISION : Step into the sensory box from SUPERBIEN on Vimeo. h/t Greg Zinman (Greg, if you read this, give me a...
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The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe has released her first full-length album — The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III of IV) — and she’s a syncretic force to be reckoned with. She’s got all the flair and outness of Lady Gaga,...
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ProfPacker
It’s the Spring conference season, and if your graduate school experience was anything like mine, nobody talked to you about how to pack for the semiannual excursions you’ll have to take to meet up...
View Article“Write the Future”
The 2010 World Cup is less than three weeks away, and Nike has released a dramatic three-minute movie directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu that features some of the game’s best players: Drogba,...
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The Scariest Story Ever; or, the Tyranny of Taxomony
It was night time. I was in bed. I was awakened by a bump. I got out of bed. I looked under my bed. YIKES! I saw a monster. He growled at me. I growled bake. He got agry. I ran away he did to. I ran in...
View ArticleThe Luck of Essien
We’re less than two weeks away from the World Cup, and football fans — Ghanaians in particular (sorry, Mo) — are cringing from the news that Michael Essien won’t recover from a January knee injury in...
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Guerrillas in the Midst
One of the secret missions behind my work with Mikhail Gershovich in developing an open source publishing platform at Baruch College is to gradually integrate into the school’s general education...
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Lakers vs. (yawn) Celtics
The Lakers will meet the Celtics in the NBA Finals starting Thursday. I come at the Lakers-Celtics rivalry from a deeply personal place. Earvin Johnson grew up about a mile from where I was raised, and...
View Article10 Days to the Cup
Below is every goal Brazil scored — and a few near misses — during their march to the 1970 World Cup title. This Brazil side is the consensus best national team that ever was, and the collection of...
View Article9 Days to the Cup
I used to really dislike the Argentinian national soccer team. Maradona, despite all his talent, displayed an arrogance that was off-putting, especially when compared with the joyful exuberance of the...
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Perfection and History
Frame grab from Fox Sports of Armando Galarraga’s near perfect game. For me, last night’s near-perfect game by Armando Galarraga and the Detroit Tigers is as memorable for the events in its aftermath...
View Article8 Days to the Cup
The Netherlands are the greatest footballing nation never to hoist the World Cup. They came close in 1974, when, led by the great Johan Cruyff, they got Beckenbaured by West Germany in the...
View Article7 Days to the Cup
The only side to underachieve in major international competition anywhere near as much as the Dutch is Spain. Coming off their rousing victory in the 2008 European Championship, the Spaniards are...
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4 Days to the Cup
I’m going to really, really hate England this week. I mean, this human aspect ratio buster features as a striker for that country? For real? Peter Crouch is a tool. More evidence:...
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2 Days to the Cup
On Friday I’ll get to begin enjoying my fourth World Cup since moving to New York City. When the World Cup was in the States in 1994, I attended two group stage games at the Pontiac Silverdome: USA v....
View Article1 Day to the Cup
As a certified lefty historian, I am well aware of the damage wrought by nationalism, and in almost all areas of my life I abhor the elevation of the group over the common bonds of humanity. But not...
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Viva los Vuvuzelas*
When I was a youth soccer player growing up in Lansing, Michigan we used to regularly play against Eaton Rapids, a farming town about 20 miles outside the urban center. These were always tough games,...
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Where the Control At?
photo credit: Eustaquio Santimano Right up there with the complaints about the vuvuzelas at the 2010 World Cup has been tsuris about the Adidas “Jabulani” ball, which was made specifically for this...
View ArticleI Love David Simon, But…
David Simon can’t seem to open his mouth without revealing what a prick he is, and how proud he is of his eminent prickitude. Let’s stipulate that he’s made brilliant television, and to a certain...
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What a Difference…
My little girl finished kindergarten today. Here she was on her first day: And here she is today: The difference in her face is striking to me; it’s like a year of school has swapped out her babyness...
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Slouching Towards BuddyPress
photo credit: waferboard I’m preparing to roll BuddyPress out on Blogs@Baruch later this month, and I’ve grown a little concerned about the implications of doing so. I thought I’d write up some of my...
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The Path to Blogs@Baruch
photo credit: Ian Sane™ Jim Groom and Brian Lamb recently asked me and some of my fellow CUNYs to reflect on how we’ve “designed or conceptualized” the publishing platforms we oversee, with a focus on...
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Blogs@Baruch, now with BuddyPress!
I recently completed a significant upgrade to Blogs@Baruch, and I thought I’d blog my hacks and some of the thinking behind them for teh Google to index. The goal of the upgrade was to get BuddyPress...
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On EdTech and the Digital Humanities
photo credit: myoldpostcards Last Wednesday Matt Gold and Charlie Edwards invited me and a few of my favorite CUNYs to come speak to the CUNY Digital Humanities Initiative, a new group at the...
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Pressible
WordCamp gatherings consistently deliver the latest, mindblowing innovations happening with WordPress, and I’m still processing much of what I learned when we hosted WordCampNYC this past weekend. One...
View Article“Table marked as crashed”
I encountered a pretty scary error on the WordPress Multisite network I manage yesterday, which turned out to be something relatively minor. I thought I’d blog it in case someone else found themselves...
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The Challenges of Turning Inwards
photo credit: Sarah G… Over the past few years I’ve approached the digital humanities with a touch of skepticism. Much of this has had to do with my own career path and anxieties: I did digital...
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Uncomfortable Truths
The best, most vibrant comedy mines the depth of uncomfortable truths. I first discovered Louis CK’s standup a few years ago, and the bit that got me was about what an asshole his four year-old...
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Where are the students?
photo credit: ShuttrKing|KT Boone’s post about Blackboard as an impetus behind his turn to open source software development got a lot of attention on Monday, and for good reason. He struck a fine...
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Twenty Years of The Low End Theory
Twenty years ago today A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory came out, and it’s been my favorite hip-hop album since. I remember when I bought the tape. I was on my way to watch a high-school...
View ArticleMy Grandfather Sold a Fake Book to President Truman
My grandfather, who passed well before I was born, owned a music store on 48th Street called Banner Music. One day, two well dressed men walked into the store. I’ll let Murray Sunshine tell the rest of...
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Migrating
photo: DSCF-Photographer Today I migrated Blogs@Baruch, the 10k user WordPress installation I manage, to a new server. Our previous server was unable to handle the system’s activity. We had been in a...
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CUNYd Pie
CUNYPie returned today after a too-long hiatus with its first trip to Staten Island, where we visited Denino’s. This was a two campus affair, as me and my homeboys from Baruch joined our sisters from...
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Zombies Rebels & Federals: #UMWFA12
I spent the better part of the week before last in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the University of Mary Washington’s “Faculty Academy.” This is a small event, spread over two days, and oriented primarily...
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Integrating with Active Directory; or, Why it Ain’t All Bad Being Official
This guy’s official. cc licensed http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkscully/5038201085/ I just completed a major overhaul of the authentication process by which users log in to Blogs@Baruch. Previously,...
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FRO12: Now Much Artier
This summer Mikhail Gershovich and I re-wrote the three blog prompts required of all Baruch College students taking Freshman Seminar. The previous prompts, which we wrote a few years ago, were way too...
View ArticleCollaboratin’
By far the best component of my current career path is that I get to spend a significant amount of time collaborating with really cool and smart people. These collaborations have been particularly...
View ArticlePosts and Comments Together, Oh My!
A few days ago, Captain Primate asked: anyone know of a WP plugin that will display a user’s posts and comment in one place? — Ethan Watrall (@captain_primate) October 14, 2012 WordPress doesn’t have...
View ArticleAssessing Coursera, the LMS
Coursera announced last week that it will be partnering with ten state university systems to “explore MOOC-based learning and collaboration on campus.” The news revealed what many of us who have been...
View ArticleAudio of “Teaching With Blogs” Presentation
This past Spring I was pleased to moderate a panel at the Baruch Teaching with Technology Conference featuring three of Baruch’s most accomplished blogfessors: Mikhail Gershovich, whose Fear, Anxiety,...
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FRO12: Now Much Artier
This summer Mikhail Gershovich and I re-wrote the three blog prompts required of all Baruch College students taking Freshman Seminar. The previous prompts, which we wrote a few years ago, were way too...
View ArticlePastor McRemus’ Sermon on Academics, ctd.
At the request of the author, we have unpublished “Pastor McRemus’ Sermon on Academics.” All of the comments were unpublished with the post. The author writes: It was only speech. It caused no actual...
View ArticleBaruch Status, Post-Sandy
Hi All: As you may have noticed, the Baruch College website and all web services, including Blogs@Baruch and VOCAT, are not available. Baruch is without power, and though backup power kept things...
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Reflections on Ken’s Big Bash
This weekend James Madison College at Michigan State sponsored a celebration of my father’s retirement after 43 years of teaching, research, and service at the university. It was a remarkable event,...
View ArticleOn Congressman Leonard Lance’s Town Hall, February 22, 2017
Last night I attended my congressional representative Leonard Lance’s town hall at Raritan Valley Community College You can read coverage of the event in the Washington Post, Politico, and NJ.com. The...
View ArticleMarch 14, 2018
After weeks of deliberation, meetings with students, and public hearings over what strategies the Springfield Public Schools would take on March 14th as students prepare for the National School...
View ArticleTo The Graduates…
Yesterday, I addressed this year’s graduates from the American Culture program (where I did my undergraduate work) at the University of Michigan and their families. My remarks are below. University of...
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