I’m taking some classes at Simon Fraser University (SFU) this summer. It has been interesting seeing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same since I last took university classes (circa 2004).

One big difference is that each class has a website. That used to be rare. The information in a class website varies, but it usually includes the syllabus, some links, maybe some class notes, old tests, maybe even your grades (which only you can see). Some classes use a “Learning Management System” (LMS) for their website.

It seems that the main LMS used by SFU is WebCT, which is awful. It requires Java, and not just any Java, but an old version of Java. You must allow Java applets to run in your web browser. You must use an old, out-of-date web browser. You must allow pop-ups. SFU has pages of instructions on how to turn off your Java updater and your browser updater. SFU may as well post a big banner on their homepage that says, “Hello crackers and black-hat hackers! Our students’ home machines should be easy to crack. Just use any recent Java exploit.”

(I disregarded SFU’s instructions for WebCT: I use a modern browser and the latest version of Java. WebCT complains. I say: whatever, if it seems to be working, then that’s good enough for me. I worry about the students who follow all of SFU’s instructions.)

Fortunately, SFU is transitioning to Canvas, which is a modern LMS built using Ruby on Rails. They have some classes beta testing Canvas this summer, and the full transition will happen in the fall. I guess I showed up one term too early.

More notes to follow.

The photo of the reflection pool at SFU is by Jiang Long on Flickr and it’s licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

The interviewer sat behind her desk and continued, “What is your greatest weakness?”

I thought for a moment, sighed, then said, “My greatest weakness, alas, is that I’m only human. I need to sleep about eight hours a day, I have to eat regularly, and I’m mortal. Some day, I will die.”

“Okay… But what about your greatest weakness that relates to this job?”

“Some day, I will die, and will no longer be able to do this job.”

(I originally wrote this in a private forum, but I thought it might be worth sharing here.)

I was usually a “well-behaved” student in elementary school (for a kid). But there was this one day…

My grade 1 teacher was Mrs. Holtvolgt (and I may be misspelling her name). She was watching over us as we clustered around a few short, wide, round wooden tables. The tables were covered with big bowls of crayons, coloured paper, white glue, and safety scissors.

The glue bottles would run empty, so Mrs. Holtvolgt had some giant glue refill bottles in the corner of the classroom.

I don’t remember what I was thinking. Maybe I was curious. Maybe I wanted to get some attention…

Well, I did something goofy. More on that in a bit. Mrs. Holtvolgt was not happy.

Normally I’d go home on the school bus, but that night my Mom picked me up after school. I don’t remember why. Maybe I had a doctor appointment or piano lessons. There was Mrs. Holtvolgt, waiting for her with me. I still remember what she said to my Mom.

“Mrs. McConaghy, I have a bone to pick with you.”

Earlier in the day, during the art class (or whatever she called it), I’d waited until Mrs. Holtvolgt was distracted by some other students, I’d gone over to the giant glue refill bottles, and I’d poured one, slowly, deliciously, enchantingly… into one of the big bowls of crayons!

Photo Credits: The photo, titled “Crayons” is by Jenn Durfey on Flickr and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

P.S. It took me several months worth of allowance to replace the glue and crayons.

There once was a guy from Vancouver
who was somewhat a self-improver
He hung out at bars
and in dining cars
to practice the Heimlich Maneuver

I shared an earlier version of this limerick with some friends a few weeks ago. This one is an improvement.

Photo credit: The photo, titled “Mickey’s Diner” was taken by chief_huddleston on Flickr and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

Today there are devices and apps that can record what you eat, what you weigh, how many steps you take, how well you sleep, how far you walk, how much time you spend on Wikipedia, your heart rate, your LDL cholesterol level, and more. It has been called self-tracking, lifelogging, quantified self, behavior monitoring, and probably other things too.

(Some people think it’s new, but it’s not. It’s just easier and cheaper now, so more people are doing it.)

Unfortunately, self-tracking data often gets stored in different places. For example, I use RunKeeper to track my walking and jogging and the data gets stored on RunKeeper’s servers. I also played with RescueTime, which recorded how much time I spent using various software and visiting various websites. That data got stored on RescueTime’s servers.

If I want to see if there’s any relationship between how far I jog and how much time I spend reading news websites, I have to bring the data from RunKeeper and RescueTime into one place (or app).

Some of the devices and apps let you get your data in common file formats, such as CSV files (spreadsheets). Sometimes you have to pay for the “premium” or “pro” account before you can get the data that way. Also, many of the services let other apps access your data using a web API (Application Programmer’s Interface). (You usually have to give those other apps permission to access your data.)

I looked for apps (i.e. software) to aggregate my self-tracking data. As it happens, there are several options. Some open source ones are:

• The Locker Project – Being developed by a company named Singly, which offers a hosted version called Singly DataFabric, currently aimed at developers, not consumers. Written in JavaScript on node.js. BSD license.
• ThinkUp – Currently, it only gets your data from the larger social networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), but they keep adding more sources. They will offer a hosted version soon. Written in PHP. GPL license.
• Manybots – Written in Ruby, using the Ruby on Rails framework. MIT license.
• Fluxtream / BodyTrack – A project that came out of Carnegie Mellon and a company named Fluxtream. They seem to be regrouping at the moment, but their code is available on GitHub (here: Fluxtream, BodyTrack). Written in Java.

You could install one of those on your desktop computer, but there’s no easy desktop installer to download and run. They’re really meant to be run on web servers, along with other required software (e.g. database and web server software).

Proprietary quantified self data aggregator services include:

• Tictrac – also makes nice charts and graphs.
• MySocial Export – exports all your data as files (e.g. CSV, JSON). They use Singly (mentioned above).
• Open.Sen.se
• RunKeeper and HealthGraph – RunKeeper started as an app to track runs, but it has grown into a software-development platform (HealthGraph). The platform can store and compute with data from many apps (once permission has been given by the user).
• Endomondo
• EveryMove – gives you points for doing stuff; you can then get real-world rewards with the points
• Microsoft HealthVault
• A service from Qualcomm Life and WebMD, announced in March 2013. It’s built on top of Qualcomm Life’s 2net Platform and WebMD’s Health Cloud platform.

If I missed one, let me know.

Photo Credit: The photo, titled “Umm…” is by Clearly Ambiguous on Flickr and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

Netflix has a one-month free trial, so I figured I’d give it a try. It costs $8.00 per month and you can watch as much as you like. iTunes movie rentals typically cost $4.00 or $5.00 each, so Netflix seems like a much better deal.

I signed up for the Netflix free trial and logged in. It didn’t work. Why? I had to enable Microsoft Silverlight. How bizarre! Silverlight is Microsoft’s competitor to Flash, and it’s used so little that I manage to use the web fine while having it disabled. I disable Silverlight because it can be a security issue, similar to Java and Flash. Anyway… I wanted to try Netflix, so I enabled Silverlight.

I browsed through the selection and found some interesting movies and TV shows. I’d never seen the “Firefly” TV series (14 episodes), but had heard good things about it. Netflix has all the episodes. They also have some movies that I’d missed, like the latest X-Men movie, the recent Tintin movie, and well, that’s about it. Netflix does have a lot more, but the rest of their selection didn’t interest me. Their catalog is much smaller than iTunes’.

I watched everything that interested me and cancelled my “subscription.” I guess I should thank Netflix for saving me some money. (Renting Firefly alone would have cost me at least $30.)

Thanks Netflix!

The photo, titled “conclusion: netflix envelopes=tasty!” is by _tar0_ on Flickr and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.