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Jacob Parker

Page history last edited by ˈdʒeɪ-kəb ˈpɑr-kər 14 years, 11 months ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobitism 

 

 

 

Blind Spot Experiment -(http://www.scientificpsychic.com/graphics/)

The retina is the part of the eye covered with receptors that respond to light. A small portion of the retina where the optic nerve connects to the brain has no receptors. An image that falls on this region will not be seen. Close your right eye. With your left eye, look at the L below. Slowly move your head closer or further away from the screen while looking at the L. The R will disappear when your head is approximately 50 cm (20 in) from the screen. You can repeat the experiment with your right eye by looking at the R.

Blind Spot Experiment

 

 

04.14.09

A new Senate bill enables the federal government to "shut down" the Internet in "times of emergency."

 

I compiled my research and writings on the topic of Scribus in to an easy to follow navigation format.

 

Scribus Documentation, Research, and Compilation of Information

 

Installing Scribus

Scribus Basics

Features and Highlights

FAQ

Support

 

This list can also be found on the Newsletter page.

 


 

03.12.09

 

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

 

He said,

 

          “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance,           self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,           humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,

 

          “Which wolf wins?”

 

The old Cherokee simply replied,

 

          “The one you feed.”

 


 

03.11.09

 

The Ultimate Google Killer?

 

03.08.09

 

Recursive Public

 

“A recursive public is a public that is constituted by a shared concern for maintaining the means of association through which they come together as a public.”

The Internet is “complex.”  It is a diverse highway of information constantly and simultaneously being updated and revised, made available to “geeks” to share their thoughts and express themselves to a “public” that may otherwise be unreachable.  It allows people to express their creativity in ways that would be suppressed if the space the Internet provides for these expressions to flourish were not in existence. The Internet not only provides a canvas for expression but also provides such a large canvas that smaller sub-canvases can be established as new ways to express ideas through the same medium.  The Internet is a medium of exponentially increasing size and depth.  Sean and Adrian, two of the author’s friends realize these notions and capitalize on the possibilities the Internet offers (which are infinite).  These two colleagues and friends are geeks; geeks in every sense of the word, but they also understand that the Internet is something so much bigger and more powerful than themselves.  They see not only wealth in technology, but also (and decidedly more importantly) the potential for improvement of the quality of life for those who inhabit this earth.  Technology is power, ideas are power, wealth is power, intelligence is power, and the Internet is a means that employs the use of and has the capability to manage all of these things and more.

 

 

03.04.09

 

Reflecting on the weeks activities and now on this morning's class, I can say two things.

 

1.  The newsletter is coming together quite well.  Scribus has proven itself a worthy application in many respects, and I am still learning new functions every time I use it.  Just a great overall design application, specifically for publishing (electronic and paper) because of its easy conversion to .pdf.  Scribus is still in its early version yet and changing constantly.  This means, yes, there are bugs and some significant ones.  However, as the popularity of the application grows and the community begins to mold the application to relate to an ever growing online community of users, simply said, open-source will do its thing and allow things to become.

 

2.  The grant writing collectives we have been participating in over the last couple of weeks is a very interesting way to allow clients to interface with their writers and throw ideas around in real-time thinking space.  I thought that, while it was a little chaotic at times, we helped these grants in major ways.

 

 

 02.16.09

 

Absolutely incredible article/essay I came across entitled: QUANTUM PHYSICS AND EVOLVING CONSCIOUSNESS

 

 

02.12.09

 

Jacob G. mentioned something about Trey wanting to learn the basics about how to load the Linux OS on to a Mactintosh.  I found the following information somewhat helpful:

 

"Hackers load Linux on to Intel Mac..."

 

After following a few links around, I have come to the understanding that in order to load Linux on to a Macintosh platform you must first have an Intel-based Mac.  After fullfilling that preliminary requirement, it is apparently not an easy task, but it can be done.  It appears that BootCamp is also a necessity.  I didn't necessarily dig too deep on this one so if someone needs to correct me, please do so.

 

 

The Scribus application is great.  I found that via the online community you have access to a variety of downloadable templates that can be interfaced with the application itself.  The best way to describe its capabilities is that its functions are quite simiar to those utilized in the Microsoft Publisher application.  Yes, that is it.  It is a more raw looking Publisher.  It may not have all the glamour and sugar-coated visual appeal many of the commercial applications do, but it gets the job done in practically the same way.  More on this to come...

Plan on writing, or now that I think about it, probably compiling, a small instruction manual for how to get Scribus running on your OS. 

 


 

 

02.11.09 UPDATE...

 

I have successfully loaded Scribus on to my Macintosh OS.  The application seems to be extremely versatile and is supported by an online community that aims to provide templates and information to lend assistance to new and existing users.  Throughout the course of the next week I plan to assess the functionality of this particular application as well as a variety of others and will update the wiki regarding my progress.

 

Amanda and I were just discussing ideas for the newsletter and she suggested we make an electronic version of the newsletter available to those who would be inclined to receive it (via their email).  What is great about Scribus is that it allows you to save the finished files as .PDF's.  These PDF files would be perfect as attachments in emails going out to recipients of the finished newsletter(s).

 

02.11.09  (Open-source Applications to Pilot Our Purposes)

 

 

In the spirit of sharing and our specific interests in open-source software, I have been surfing the net searching for open-source software that allows for the creation of newsletters.  A website called Free Software Daily has pointed me in one direction:

 

"Scribus is a popular open source desktop publishing software that allows you to create publication like e-books, brochures, type setting and other print publications easily. Being a close competitor to Adobe Indesign and QuarkXpress, the advantage that Scribus has is that it is free and supports many features like CYMK color support and PDF creation. Moreover, Scribus is available for Linux, Windows and MacOSX, making it a much worthy alternative to those commercial products. In this article we shall discuss how to create a brochure with Scribus."

 

Another web site I came upon is called Osalt.com (Open-source as Alternative), presented me with a list of open-source software titles that correspond with commercial software titles.  They organize the navigation for their site in relation to what type of software you are looking for.  Upon clicking on a navigation title, you page is refreshed with a list of popular commercial software titles, and description of their capabilities.  Below that list is a list of free open-source software titles with similar descriptions as they relate to similar commerical titles. 

 

I think this website (and websites like it) will be beneficial for a variety of purposes.  As the children at Mount Zion begin to be better versed with their Ubuntu loaded machines, they will most likely branch off in different directions of interest.  In order to support their individual interests we will need software that allows them to develop and explore their interests.  Why pay for commercial titles when there are a multitude of ever-evolving open-source titles that have almost if not the same capacities as their expensive bretheren?  There is no reasonable answer.  If we're preaching open-source, let's keep the whole thing open-source.

 

More on this as my research progresses...

 

THE UTILIZATION OF OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE TITLES WILL MOST DEFINITELY ALLOW FOR A CURIOUS FORM OF SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS WITH MOUNT ZION.

 


 

 

02.09.09

 

While I am confident in our individual capacities as they relate to our personal and collective endeavors in cooperation with Mount Zion Human Services, I am compelled to express my concern for the outcomes of our many proposed projects and ideas. After visiting the Mount Zion campus on Wednesday, and attending our communal seminar with Pat Fried in their boardroom, I began to sense how disordered our separate thoughts, expectations, and interpretations are proving themselves to be in the course of their evolutionary paths. Pat seemed to be quite interested in our eagerness to lend Mount Zion our minds and effort, however as we began to discuss our separate interests, her overall attention seemed not to detract from her need for well-equipped grant writers (i.e. it seemed as though this was where the majority of her concern seemed to lie). Throughout the course of the semester, I have learned that Mount Zion, though partially supported by work of volunteers, is almost entirely dependent upon outside funding—hence the need for the development of their brand to appeal to the aid offered by various grants. In light of this, I feel as though—while any and all positive efforts on our class’ end will be appreciated—that in order to create the outcomes necessary to define Mount Zion as a successful organization (through the eyes of those willing to grant funds), and to substantiate our progress in the short time we have as a class this semester, we need to synergize our energies toward a more centralized goal. I am speaking directly from my observations of Pat’s reactions and impressions of our ideas. It seems her true interest lies in our abilities to craft documents that speak to the technical writing field. The idea, I believe, is that we as students are exposed to first hand experience in the field of technical writing, while simultaneously lending our developing abilities to a community organization in need of the services we as students are learning how to provide. It is wonderful to co-exist as free thinkers in the ambivalent realm of thinking, but there must come a point where we come back down and allow our ideas to conform to some sort of tangible and sensible medium of expression. That point, for our class’ purpose(s), has most definitely come.


Another apparent focus of our USF / Mount Zion partnership is to build and/or enact programs, curricula, media, etc, that have lasting and perpetual results (outcomes), while retaining the capacity to be sustainable (be it self-sustainability, or sustainability through human means). I think many of us, myself included, may be downplaying that aspect of our efforts. We have fabulous ideas, but I believe we have not fully assessed the sustainability or practicality of their actual implementation. Maybe this will come as we progress.


Personally, I have opted to focus my energies toward the creation of a monthly newsletter for Mount Zion. Jacob Grimes and I have worked on a similar project last semester with another community church and I am confident in our collective abilities. I am also very open and willing to lend my energy toward tutoring and/or mentoring the children at Mount Zion. I suppose this will tie with the services offered in cooperation with the Creative Studio Amanda has spent so much of her free time constructing. I personally have no desire to write grants. I believe myself to be fully capable of completing such a task, but would simply rather focus my energy elsewhere.

 

 

01.23.09

 

"We are walking billboards." - Jacob Grimes

 

 

This is my favorite quote from the entire discussion concerning the purpose of branding and its potential impact on our Mount Zion efforts.

 


 

 

01.21.09

 

I created a page that focuses on visualization techniques. Check it out.

 

Also found a variety of grants that focus on literacy and small library development for non-profit organizations.

 


 

Commenting peer links - Amanda Anseeuw

 

01.15.09

 

The Right Write Rite

 

Interesting indeed for anyone who likes to write. (That should be most of us, yeah?)

 

 

!

Secret Worlds: The Universe Within

!

"View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons."

 

 

Student Invents Solar-Powered Fridge...

 

"... the refridgerator requires no electricity and can be made from commonly available materials like cardboard, sand, and recycled metal."

 

 

Download old versions of popular computer applications...

 


 

 

01.14.09(2)

 

A more specific definition of branding as it relates to our efforts...

 

"Funders don't want to give money to an organization because they 'want to to good', the give money to agencies that can 'prove they do good'. They want to know what is unique about Mt. Zion and they want to have confidence that their money will actually make a difference. In other words - branding." --Pat Fried.

 

 

Based on this definition, I have come to understand that branding is essential to this organization in the sense that it is proof (real evidence) of progress, it is proof of success or proof that the organization is at least heading in that direction. Branding denotes real and tangible results.

 

 

(The following is a response to my post concerning "branding" as it relates to Mount Zion. I would like to thank Pat Fried for taking time out of her busy schedule to propose an answer to my question.)

 

 

When I first started in the non-for-profit world over 23 years ago, I had no desire to think of my work as a business - I was there to work with kids. At that time it was delinquent boys in a maximum security facility. Fortunately, in my first 15 years with my previous organization, we didn't really have to talk about business as we had an extremely generous and kind benefactor, Jack Eckerd. He established a 40 million dollar endowment that was supposed to be used for program development and new ventures, but in reality, helped subsidize shortfalls in operating expenses (at times close to 5 million dollars). In my last 7 years at Eckerd Youth Alternatives (EYA), I had been promoted to the Senior Management Team. Jack Eckerd had a stroke and was no longer the saving grace when the company ran into shortfalls. The Board of Directors, then chaired by Mr. Eckerd's stepson had directed that the endowment could no longer be used for operating funds. In other words, operate as a business. I learned a great deal in my years at Eckerd. Not only in how to effectively work with kids in trouble, but how run a business.

When I was offered the job of Executive Director at Mt. Zion Human Services (MZHS), it was because I knew that to survive in the not-for-profit arena, it is necessary to operate as an effective and efficient business. The church which found MZHS no longer wanted to support the organization with church funds, the Pastor and the Board of Directors wanted MZHS to be a self-sustaining entity.

"Branding" I truly can identify with Jason's perception of that word. But if I want to continue to help kids and the community, I have to be able to "sell" what we do. I have to prove to potential funders and donors that what we do at Mt. Zion is effective. Funders don't want to give money to an organization because they "want to to good", the give money to agencies that can "prove they do good". They want to know what is unique about Mt. Zion and they want to have confidence that their money will actually make a difference. In other words - branding.

In my last couple of years at Eckerd, I spent a great deal of time "branding" Eckerd Youth Alternatives by taking the lead in a collaborative effort to articulate and evaluate the Eckerd Model for working with at-risk youth. Because we no longer had our generous benefactor, we had to define what we did and prove that what we did was effective.

The best part of my job now is getting out of my office and going over to the Children's Center and getting my hugs from kids. These kids were praying for me when I was taken by ambulance to the hospital last week. When I called to check on Mt. Zion, I heard from over twenty four year olds that "we miss you Ms. Pat and we love you". That is why I do what I do. At times I have thought that it would be nice to make a lot of money and have briefly considered going back to what I went to school for - practicing law, but I have been reminded by friends, that I gave that up years ago for a reason. Jason, it is about the kids, it is about the passion, but unfortunately, it also about running a business and to survive, "branding" is a reality. I hope to have more dialogue with you and the class about branding and the not so exciting reality about the business of doing business.

I was thrilled to attend class today and literally see students processing about moving forward. I'm excited about our collaboration and grateful for help and support.

By the way, I'm a novice with Wiki, so I hope I did this right!! Talk to you soon - Pat

 


 

01.14.09(1)

 

After failing to appear in class this morning, I woke up hesitantly and found myself immediately consumed by the updates to the class wiki. As I read over the material I was instantly attracted to the comment on the January14 class calendar that spoke of "branding Mt. Zion." I am not sure why, but this word branding stuck out to me like the over-used reference to a "sore thumb." So I did a bit of digging. Not completely unaware of what the term "branding" implies, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the information on the internet regarding branding for businesses. It seems the main idea when it comes to branding is essentially to make more money for a company. This is, I hope, not the intention(s) of Mount Zion. So instead, I did a google search for branding as it relates to non-profit organizations. These are the sources I came about:

 

Branding of Non-Profit Organizations

 

Non-Profit Branding: Unveiling the Essentials

 

About dot com

 

"Every successful nonprofit is a brand. Just think of the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or the March of Dimes. These great iconic nonprofits are so well branded that when you think of each of them, the very name calls up a host of associations, memories, positive feelings, and the satisfaction that you know them."

The article provided by about.com, a highly rerferenced and high-traffic internet go-to for all sorts of information, began their talk of branding with the above quote. What irked me a bit was the very next line: "...Branding is about selling everything associated with your organization."

 

What? Really? Is this what our goal is? Is this a business venture of some kind? Is it really all about money? It isn't for me. And it most likely should not be the message we send to the kids who need our support and our energy. These kids need to understand the powerlessness of money and the power they possess within themselves through their educative endeavors and quests for knowledge. They need to know the power of their creative abilities and the endlessness and vastness associated with them. I understand that money is a necessity, I think we all do, but is it the only thing? No, not even close. (And I want to make it clear that I am in no way implying that this classes efforts or the efforts of the individuals associated with the class are making this claim. I am simply stating my thoughts as they relate to my understanding of the word branding and everything it implies.) I am also aware that even "non-profit organizations," who are, by the way, (in most cases) completely profitable in one way or another, require money. This is not where I want to focus my energy. I am not a student exploit for the furthering of somebody's bank account. I want to enrich these childrens' lives by teaching them exactly what I have stated above.

 

As I made clear before, I did not attend class today, so I am not entirely aware of what is going. I hope that no one is. We need confusion, we need questions asked, we need arguements, we need anger and frustration. How else would we come to understand anything? I do, however, want to know the purpose and intent of branding as a major factor in our dealings with Mount Zion Human Services, "...a community based nonprofit 501(C) tax exempt corporation."

 

 

Great thoughts Jacob. Take a look at my "Brand" idea Kristie dated 1/14/09. Have Fun!!

 


 

01.13.09

 

Our universe is so exceptionally elegant; we have yet to encounter the capacity to even begin to understand its wonderous sophistication.

 

 

See The Theory of Everything.

 


 

01.12.09

 

Open Source--

 

The term open source has apparently been around for a lot longer than many of us would initially assume; perhaps even before the popular use of the internet as we know it today. Wikipedia describes its original meaning, basing it on the account of Bruce Perens, "a computer programmer and advocate in the open source community."

 

"Under Perens' definition, open source describes a broad general type of software-license that makes source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-existent copyright restrictions."

So originally, open source identified with the idea that source code, or "a collection of statements or declarations written in some human-readable computer programming language," should be not only readily available to the public, but readily editable and transfigurable, free from any restrictions placed on its use by copyright laws or things of the like.

 

Open source has grown from its infancy to include popular open source products, such as "the Apache HTTP Server, the internet address system Internet Protocol, and the internet browser Mozilla Firefox. One of the most successful open source products is the Linux operating system, an open source Unix-like operating system."

 

It has even grown to produce its own culture. "Open source culture is the creative practice of appropriation and free sharing of found and created content. Examples include collage, found footage film, music, and appropriation art."

"The **Open Source Initiative ****is an organization dedicated to promoting open-source software."**

 


 

 

01.10.09

 

Photobucket

Priming My Piece of the Wiki

 

"Who are you...?"

 

I think the first thing anyone should know about me is that I am. I am and will continue to be. My interests are quite varied, though I feel it would be wise to first give a brief background of where I come from. I was born in Trenton, N.J. and lived in the surrounding area(s) for the majority of my life. It was not until about four and a half years ago that my family--my entire family--decided to migrate to Florida in search of warmer climate and perhaps a warmer social environment. I was, at the time, pursuing my high school studies at The Pennington School, a private Methodist-based preparatory institution that allowed much room for personal growth through an artistically driven and progressive curriculum. At the time I hadn't the slightest clue how crucial these years would be to the shaping of my mind and personality. It was not until my first day of public high school in Lithia, FL did I realize how terrible the next two years of my life would most likely be. Reflecting on those preliminary thoughts, I really feel like I wasn’t too far off. My junior year was a complete and utter repeat of my sophomore year at The Pennington School. The following year, I felt like I was so far behind my peers I had left in New Jersey that high school just was not worth my energy. The classes were dull, the curriculum boring, and the instructors (for the most part) lacked any real sense of purpose or direction. I did the work, received the grades, but took little if nothing away from the lessons. Upon my entrance in to the college world, I started to realize why people continue their education after high school. And so here I am: going to school, working two part-time jobs and finding as much time as possible in between to follow my curious nature to creative ends.

 

I am interested in the art of writing, primarily. My life revolves almost entirely around music. I do not understand people whose lives do not orbit music like the earth orbits the sun. Music is power and it is real. Music defines my life and my personality, and siphons creativity and demands expression from every crevice of my being. Music is responsible for most if not all of my intrigue and motivation. It is a very distinct medium through which humans express themselves, and it speaks equally to all culture and language. Music is universal. Music is omnipresent.

When someone asks me if I believe in god, I respond by asking, “do you believe in yourself?”

I am interested in creativity and expression of the self. I am interested in people who are not afraid of expressing themselves or their thoughts, opinions, beliefs, etc. through any medium they feel fit. I believe that every living human consciousness and/or perceptive entity is an artist; life provides us with diverse outlets (mediums) from which to we can choose to express our art. I believe in myself and the goodness I possess; the goodness that possesses me. I love sharing my thoughts with others. I believe in the importance of education and intellect. I believe in the power and potential of the sciences. I believe that we are all made up of energy and that the same energy that creates and defines our individual selves unites our collective selves in to one unified all-encompassing self that is independent of all time and space. I believe in the influence of thought and the power of the human mind.

 


 

01.07.09

 

Tabbed browsing brings rhythm and harmony to technology much like music brings sounds, notes, tracks, etc. together to create a similar synchronization.

 

 

Blog

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log

Example: Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

 

Pedagogy

ped⋅a⋅go⋅gy

/ˈpɛdəˌgoʊdʒi, -ˌgɒdʒi/ Show Spelled Pronunciation ped-uh-goh-jee, -goj-ee Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun, plural -gies.

1. the function or work of a teacher; teaching.

2. the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods.

 

Teaching as an art. Expression through the emphasis and implementation of new and contemporary--perhaps even questionable--methods of education.

 

 

Creative Commons License

USF ENC4260 by Jacob M. Parker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

 

Comments (1)

David said

at 12:16 am on Jan 11, 2009

Unfortunately, you're not alone in the dismay you feel towards the public/governement education system. Ivan Illich, Bakunin, and the more recent John Taylor Gatto argue some of the strongest points against an institutionalized teaching mechanism. Schools today don't promote intellect, creativity, or individualism- rather they are a breeding ground for cogs in a global economic and materialistic machine. "Dumbing us Down" is a good place to start if you want to read about the abuses and failures of education.
I'm glad to see someone else who's life almost depends on music. The psychologist/anthropologist Oliver Sachs wrote a great book called "Musicophilia" which you might enjoy. It describes music and those who have been influenced by it as well as those who never enjoyed it, plus some other bizarre stories, one involving a man who is struck by lightning and becomes a great piano musician.
As for life's energy, look up David Icke, it sounds like you might enjoy some of the things he has to say.

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