Archive for December 2007
Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:39 PM | Tagged as: Career, Meeeeeeee | Just 1 Comment
There are only about 12 hours left in the year, which seems about the right time to take stock of what’s happened to me in the past 12 months and what’s to come in the next 12.
Looking back, I can’t believe all that I accomplished in 2007. Some of the highlights include:
And that list doesn’t even include work accomplishments!
As I plan for 2008, I have a number of exciting challenges ahead: more writing, more speaking, more travel — but also serving as a committee chair for GHC08, running a BarCamp, writing a CS1 course curriculum based on Web development, and more! But best of all, I’m looking forward to moving home to Philadelphia — a slight change in plans, but a good one.
Into 2008, and into the Arena! (And if you don’t get the Duran Duran references, shame on you!)
Posted December 19, 2007 at 12:26 PM | Tagged as: Books, Web Standards, Work | Comments Off
Not having mentioned it here before, you may not be aware of the fact that I contributed a chapter to the new book Adapting to Web Standards. But I did, along with Rob Cherny, Meryl K. Evans, Kevin Lawver, and Mark Trammell — all coordinated and organized by lead author Christopher Schmitt.
My chapter (chapter 5) relates to the five years I’ve spent as a standards evangelist and standards consultant in the enterprise. I write about the Circle of Standards: the process I invented to make standards adoption and ongoing practice an easier task. There aren’t too many “professional” standards evangelists, so I hope this chapter encourages more people to step up to such a role. Of course, I hope that it helps all standards enthusiasts through the process of establishing standards in the work environment.
If you’re interested in checking out the book, you can try to win a copy in this contest! Of course, you can also buy a copy.
Posted December 8, 2007 at 10:21 AM | Tagged as: People I Admire | Comments Off
It’s been 27 years since John Lennon’s death. 27 years! It’s hard to believe, because I can recall hearing the news of his death like it happened yesterday; yet I’ve been to plenty of vigils in Central Park to prove that it’s true.
Each year it hits me hard… sometimes it’s when I’m at home in the shower getting ready for my day, sometimes it’s in the car… this year it’s been on my mind for the past few days. It’s been so long and yet our world is still so (and increasingly more) violent. For all that John did for the world, don’t we owe him? Can’t we realize his final wish?
And then there’s Yoko Ono Lennon, ever the tower of strength and spokesperson for a peaceful world. She’s posted a very moving letter to John over at IMAGINE PEACE (the focal point of an online peace demonstration that started back on October 9). Here’s the end of the letter:
Let’s not waste the lives of those we have lost. Let’s, together, make the world a place of love and joy and not a place of fear and anger. This day of John’s passing has become more and more important for so many people around the world as the day to remember his message of Peace and Love and to do what each of us can to work on healing this planet we cherish.
Let’s: Think Peace, Act Peace, and Spread Peace. John worked for it all his life.
He said, “there’s no problem, only solutions.” Remember, we are all together.
We can do it, we must. I love you!
Posted December 4, 2007 at 10:21 AM | Tagged as: Bryn Mawr, Quotations, WTF? | Comments Off
Delaware Senator Joe Biden was recently asked why he wears an American flag pin, by, as Biden put it, a “very attractive woman who looked like she just finished a sociology course at Bryn Mawr College, if you know what I mean.” According to the Washington Post, most of his audience clearly didn’t know what he meant.
Even David Karen, chair of sociology at Bryn Mawr, doesn’t know what he meant: “I don’t know what the senator means. But if Senator Biden is implying that sociology students at Bryn Mawr College are ‘very attractive’ and more liberal than he is, I wouldn’t spend any time trying to disabuse him of that notion.”
I’d guess that Biden was referencing the antiquated notion that Mawrters are so engrossed in their books and studies that they are unaware of what’s going on in the rest of the world. But hey, at least he understands that attractive women attend Bryn Mawr, so that’s progress, right?
