The Jay-Blog

Pins for path wanderers

They call it art

I can't remember where this came from, but I like it. Can't tell if he's angry or loony or hungry. Verisimilitude.

Toon

Graven Image

Moving Image is a stunning portrait of W constructed from the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq. Click on a spot, see the soldier.

This mosaic taps into the spirit of the Viet-Nam Wall by focusing on individual soldiers rather than abstract armies. Without words, the portrait of Bush forces the viewer to link George W. Bush to the dead soldiers.

This portrait is so stirring and eloquent that it could have major impact on the course of the election. Take a look now and spread the word.

Naked lettering

Someone spent a lot of time cooking up this nude letter generator

The Blues

The Wave

The Asian Art Museum

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco inhabits the former Main Library opposite City Hall. I had 90 minutes between delivering a webinar in SF and meeting a friend to design the next meeting of the Emergent Learning Forum. The Asian is impressive.

I devoured a delicious lunch of baby octopus and seaweed salad in the charming Asia Café. This is quite a change from the old library days. (I remember going to the first-floor restroom in the old library, only to find half a dozen homeless guys doing their morning ablutions in the sinks.) The exhibits start on the third floor, where you are greeted by Ganesha, my favorite of all Indian deities.

Ganesha

I loved this guy. It's as if Ganesha had mated with Babar.

Babar

(continued)

Too many Buddhas and you lose the Buddha nature. The collection here is staggering. Ancient, wonderful statuary but too much of it for me, who can't appreciate the nuances.

Original painting of Commodore Perry's black ships breaking into Japan.

These are ancient Japanese figures, circa 300 AD. I've never seen anything like them before. They remind me of Native American art.

The tearoom and the room surrounding it are the only nod to contemporary Asian art. I wish there were more.

If you go, be sure to stop at the Museum Shop on the way out.

While entrance to the exhibits will set you back $10, you can go to the shop and café for free.

Walk to the Seminary

For the Spam collection

If you have a good Spam filter, just look at what you're missing:

Illusion

This 178K file will more than fill your screen but it will remind you that your mind plays tricks on you. The movement you see is all in your head.

Miscellany

Spenger's, Berkeley

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kansasko

A natural Rothko, shot on a flight from Paris to San Francisco.

Rothko

September saw the 100th birthday of Mark Rothko.

New stamps just out

Make your own at Stamp It Out

California, land of the fruits and the nuts

I just can't help myself. Mary Carey has thrown herself into the election for governor of California.

In this morning's New York Times, Maureen Dowd opined that, "The race is so wacky, there's less emphasis on the fact that the actor is running on pecs and running away from peccadilloes. Sure, he's smoked marijuana and his father was a Nazi, but look at the field: a porn star who wants to tax breast implants; a self-styled "smut peddler who cares"; a billboard Barbie in a pink Corvette; a former child actor; an ex-cop who wants to legalize ferrets; a comedian who wants to ban low-low-riding pants; a glam Greek columnist whose rich ex-husband endorsed Arnold."

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Separated at birth?

Gustave Caillebotte

Childe Hassam

A Day in Vienna

This morning over breakfast, I debated whether to go into Vienna (half an hour away) or walk along the Danube. It's my last day in Europe on this trip. Another factor: I have no cash. My ATM card expired last week; my wallet contained $10 and 6 euros. And Austria is not particularly credit-card friendly. I opted for Vienna, taking the 9:00 am train from Fischamend.

I walked over to St. Stephen's ("Steffi" to the locals). Dating back to 1147, the oldest remaining part is the Giant's Door, named for the mammoth's bone found there during renovations in the 1500s.

I had a great lunch at Do & Co., a fine restaurant on the eighth floor of a building across from Steffi. The tower and I got up close and personal. The bell inside was made from a hundred captured Turkish cannonballs. My gazpacho and loup de mer were yummy.

The center of Vienna is filled with walking streets. I walked for hours, gawking at the architecture and peering into shop windows. Shops can tell you a lot about a people.

New models and classics are available -- if you have $30+ to spend on a 4" car.

The Stepford Austrians in a doll shop.

I will never tire of toy model trains.

The Viennese will not let you forget that in the good old days, the Hapsburg Empire was supreme. I wandered around the Hofburg, the former Imperial Palace.

Emperor Frederick III's motto was AEIOU: Alle Erde ist Oesterreichs Untertan (All the Earth is Austria's Subject).

Maybe it's imperial self-importance, but for some reason, the Hofburg is decorated with bearded Arnold Schwartzenegger-types battling serpents, proto-pit bulls, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Music is important here. I saw dozens of people dressed up in Mozart-era costume, trying to sell concert tickets. I walked by Mozart's house here; Haydn's, too.

Strauss.

Former imperial stables have been converted into an immense art complex. The Leopold Museum is an enormous white cube, one of six museums on the grounds. Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoshka, and at least fifty other Austrian artists I had never heard of, but whose works were quite moving, hang there. Richard Gerstl painted wonderful stuff, hung out with Arnold Schoenburg, carried on with Frau Schoenburg, and commited suicide when she left him. Kolo Moser not only turned out wonderful paintings but also designed furniture.

The parks tell me where Frederick Law Olmstead got his inspriation. I'm sure the shopkeeper with the stork has good luck. The shop featured a large painting of a stork as well.

Graz

Vienna to Graz

Back in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Yesterday I took a three-hour train ride from Vienna to Graz, passing through hills and valleys that reminded me of Southern Germany and Switzerland. Graz is having a heat wave. For the last hour of the trip, I pushed down the window to cool my face in the wind.

 

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Graz The five-hundred year old clocktower on the hill dominates the old city of Graz. Most of the old town seems to date to the same period. My restaurant one evening was built in 1538.

The baroque Landeshaus, now the site of free concerts. I listened to a piano concert on my way to dinner one evening.

Downtown is chock full of medieval buildings, inner courtyards, and narrow lanes.

Here is the oldest bakery in town.

The hill in the town center was circled with fortifications until Napoleon's troops blew them up. An arboretum replaced the ruined defences. These hornbeam trees are several centuries old.

Graz's most famous export is native son Arnold Schwartzenegger. The area is also known for its pumpkin oil and wines.

In the mid-1500s, the Ottoman Turks raped and pillaged parts of Styria. The locals invested heavily in weaponry to fend off the invaders. They still own this stuff -- armor, swords, pistols, halbards, pikes. The Tower of London has lots of this sort of thing, but no where near as much as the Zeughaus in Graz.

I was hot, tired, and exhausted when I saw a non-descript door with a sign noting the burg garten lay behind it. Bliss. I marvelled at the colors on the framework of my park bench.

In the last afternoon and evening, people spill out onto the sidewalks. Strolling musicians play, people eat and drink, and people-watching is the primary sport.

Graz is the European Community Culture Capital of Europe for 2003. Performances are conducted on this large boat floating in the river Mur. Odd art abounds.

Click to check it out.

My last night in town, I supped on plaice at a restaurant built in 1538.

Fischamend Sunday I took the train from Graz to Wien, and then a bus to the village of Fischamend, a speck on the Fischa River about four kms. upstream from where it joins the Danube. This town does have a thing for fish.

The fish tower (left) was built in 1051. Fishabend's city seal adorns City Hall.

I had a lovely lunch of St Petersfisch in white wine sauce with pink peppercorns in the garden behind the Gasthof Goldenes Kreuz. Great palacsintas (Hungarian crepes) for desert. Life is good.

After lunch I wandered through the village and along the banks of the river Fischa.

Art break

Today I needed a break from trivia and coding. Today was beautiful - plants bursting forth, flowers abloom in electric colors, clear blue skies, warm sun, and a slight breeze. I walked up the hill to our house after lunch, taking photos along the way.

The top splotch above is honeysuckle (wonderful scent memories of summer in the South, age 9) ; the lower blob is maidenhair fern. I chopped them into roughly Rothko proportions and ran them through several effects. Voila. A collaborative work by God, Mark Rothko, and me. Ah, the company I keep.

Paris

I seem to have brought Berkeley weather to Paris. Today I am walking around in shirtsleeves. The sun is pouring into the courtyard just outside my office here.

The Musee Jacquemart-Andre is a sumptuous 19th Century mansion on Blvd Haussmann not far from l'Arc de Triomphe that houses a wonderful collection of Botticelli, Titian, Bernini, and the like. Currently the Musee is also hosting Caillebotte to Picasso, a beautiful modern collection that includes several works by Henri Cross (not related to the famous blogger). I spent more than an hour wandering through the museum, often bending over backwards to admire the handpainted ceilings.

Last night I had a marvellous coquillage at Chez Clement on Blvd. Capuccines. The Clement is part of a chain of bistros where the chandeliers, coat hooks, and statuary are made of bent spoons, brass faucets, and copper pots.

Here are the leftovers from my snack of 6 speciales petites oysters, 3 Spanish mussels, 3 tasty clams, heaps of cockles, whelks, grey shrimp, and pink shrimp. The tiny shrimp are truly great -- you eat the little devils whole, so they don't show up in the picture.

The Cotswolds

March 19-23, 2003

The Cotswolds, an idyllic spot in the center of England composed of yellow stone buildings, rolling farmland surrounded by stone fences, winding lanes, and medieval villages. Now so gentrified that half the barn walls conceal deluxe getaways for London millionaires, the Cotswolds have nonetheless preserved their rural, unspoiled feel. Walking along the country lanes, the smell of manure and the baying of sheep are constant companions.

My friends Jane and Philip live in this coach house.
I stayed in the room marked with the arrow.

The coach house served this manorhouse. The peaked roof between the trees on the left is the coach house from afar. The property includes a charming little private chapel.

Chipping Camden is a fetching medieval village. The market hall is a fixture from a bygone era..The locals have good taste in dogs.

Walking the countryside from Upper Swell to Lower
Swell.



Excursions with Philip to Stratford and Toddington.

Michael, the fellow next door, owns a 1936 Lagonda
that looks like it was built yesterday.

The previous day I'd visited a motorcar museum in
Bourton-on-the-Water. Highlights were a 1938 BMW that Jaguar copied almost directly for its
XK120 and XK140 models. The green car is a Morgan three-wheeler, with a JAP
motorcycle engine up front. The Michelin tire pump shows an earlier incarnation
of Bibendum, the Michelin Man.

Upper Swell.

The Google Blogger Party

Last night Google's acquisition of Blogger was feted at Kelly's Mission Rock. Chris Pirillo has posted embarrassing photos of the party, including one of me:

Click for full size.

Allow me to return the favor. Here's Chris:

Posted by Jay Cross at 10:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

It's worse than it appears.

ClearType

The characters on my LCD monitor just cleared up!

I'm using 1600x1200 LCDs and just turned ClearType back on and it made a big difference. It's under display-properties/appearance/effects. I didn't realize how much of a difference it made since I'd been using it so long but wasn't using large LCD displays when I started. When I got the displays the setting was just there so I didn't see how the system looked without ClearType. It's not the default so I suspect that few people even know about the setting on XP.

Thank you, Bob F.

Geez, I just realized this tip comes from Bob Frankston, the co-creator of VisiCalc. Remember that? Before Excel and Lotus 1-2-3, the spreadsheet that launched the business PC revolution was VisiCalc. Apple IIs began to appear in executive offices, often acquired with Purchase Orders for "executive furniture."

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Opera

No, not that kind of opera. I'm a real low-brow; the singing puts me to sleep.

I mean the Opera 7.01 browser. (Be careful! Version 7.0 has some security holes.)

Why Opera? It's faster than Internet Explorer. It's more flexible. It feels slicker. Most important to me, you can zoom in on images and text.

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Worse than the Blue Screen of Death

My PC froze. Totally. Ctrl-Alt-Delete did nothing. Cutting the power off and back on brought on the same condition. The screen looked like this:

Oh my God. I have not backed up in some time. My hard drive contains stories, research, databases, drawings, emails, business records, and other can't-live-without-it stuff. Lord, dear Lord, please make my hard drive reappear. I'll never forget to back up my work again. Promise.

I put the WinXP CD in the drive and rebooted. Entered a couple of commands. Re-entered the three-fingered salute. Everything's fine again. Didn't lose a byte. Of course, I haven't had time to back everything up quite yet. I'm an atheist. Promises to God don't mean that much to me.

All blog, all the time?

My life as a blog?

I'm weighing the pros and cons of managing InternetTime.com and jaycross.com as blogs. WIIFM? Easy to update. Syndicated/CMS. Most of important of all, the content would be fresh.

Now I could do that with static pages if I liked. Hmmm... I need to think this through a bit more.

How far would this go? Title pages only? What's index and what's in the repository?

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Yesterday's Neighborhood Walk in Pictures (Click 'em)

Closed captions for the imagery-impaired:
Yesterday's Neighborhood Walk in Pictures (Click 'em)

Neighbor's artichokes, Golden Gate from Cragmont Park, Berkeley chalet, top of Oaks theatre, flag, grass, life among the redwoods, Rothko grass, movie ("The Recruit" -- don't bother), Berkeley marquee, , San Francisco Bay, and a jet (one day after the Challenger tragedy).

Washington, DC

These folks are my parents. They are trying to fathom the gift they just received. Uta, Austin, and I spent last week in Northern Virginia, touring the sites and visiting my folks. The plan was to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Only after buying tickets did I discover that their 60th was last year. So we celebrated their 61st.

Snow fell several times, just enough to make things pretty. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Entering the Washington Monument these days is similar to getting on an airplane -- guards, metal detector, searches. The views from the top are spectacular.


Most of the Tidal Basin and half the surface of the Potomac were frozen.

Our son Austin is a sophmore at SF State University.

Fog City

One of my New Year's visualizations is to become a better photographer. I snapped this view of San Francisco (that's the towers of the Bay Bridge on the left) from Grizzly Peak Boulevard in Berkeley on my afternoon walk.

'Screen Language': The New Currency

'Screen Language': The New Currency for Learning
John Seely Brown

"I was a dinosaur," says Brown.

According to Seely Brown, there is a new kind of digital divide now and it is the divide between faculty and students. Faculty, stuck in yesterday's analog world, are confronted with students who arrive nicely fluent in digital technology and the virtues of hyperspeed. Students already have a handle on how to convey their emotional states electronically. It's up to adults to learn that vernacular, he said. Educators who create programs for adult learning and distance learning need to apply the vernacular and deepen and strengthen these new means of communication.

TextArc, an alternative way to

TextArc, an alternative way to view text.

You must experience TextArc to appreciate its beauty and potential. Just do it.

The n_Gen Design Machine

The n_Gen Design Machine is a rapid prototyping graphic design engine that generates savable graphic files from the user's own text content filtered through n_Gen's Design Modules. The latest release of n_Gen (v 0.98d) and Design Modules (PINK SERIES) are now available for download.

The Guggenheim has a stunning

The Guggenheim has a stunning site. I loved the motorcycle show and the on-line version is very good. The main entry page presents tiny thumbnails of every bike in the show. Click to see pictures, stories, specs, different views. Lots of information is close at hand.

The collection of French art from Russian collections is breathtaking. You simply have to see it. Music is matched to the individual painter. History is well-told, an audio narrative to set the context and written historical info on each canvas. It's easy to figure out. You can zoom in on the pictures. And the art is definitive. Perfecto.

People signing at UVA

People signing at UVA

The Mind of the Market:

The Mind of the Market: Extending the Frontiers of Marketing Thought

The ZMET method is modeled after some basic theories of the human mind. The list of these theories is long, but includes the following ideas:

• Conscious thoughts occur as images.

• Most thought, emotion and learning occur without awareness.
  
• Emotion and reason are equally important.
  
• Cognition is embodied.
  
• Memory is story-based and readily distorted.
  Posted by Jay Cross at 09:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Reference list for Envisioning Learning

Reference list for Envisioning Learning

Organigraphs: Drawing How Companies Really Work, HBR Sept-Oct 1999. cheatsheet.

Vision, a great graphic of eye+brain on the website of high school teacher Kevin C. Hartzog

Envisioning Learning, a new paper

Envisioning Learning, a new paper by yours truly

With that behind me, I'm reading David Sibbet's classic I See What You Mean! It's a workbook for learning to do group graphics. I intend to incorporate visuals in my consulting engagements from now on.

Globally Accelerating Performance and

Globally Accelerating Performance and Change

Michael Doyl, Founder, MemeWorks

Leonard Shlain, (415) 389-9686, 40

Leonard Shlain, (415) 389-9686, 40 Century Dr, Mill Valley, CA 94941

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess

"Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse." Sophocles

In this groundbreaking book, Leonard Shlain, author of the bestselling Art & Physics, proposes that the process of learning alphabetic literacy rewired the human brain, with profound consequences for culture. Making remarkable connections across a wide range of subjects including brain function, anthropology, history, and religion, Shlain argues that literacy reinforced the brain's linear, abstract, predominantly masculine left hemisphere at the expense of the holistic, iconic feminine right one. This shift upset the balance between men and women initiating the disappearance of goddesses, the abhorrence of images, and, in literacy's early stages, the decline of women's political status. Patriarchy and misogyny followed.

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Shlain goes on to describe the colossal shift he calls the Iconic Revolution, that began in the 19th century. The invention of photography and the discovery of electromagnetism combined to bring us film, television, computers, and graphic advertising; all of which are based on images. Shlain foresees that increasing reliance on right brain pattern recognition instead of left brain linear sequence will move culture toward equilibrium between the two hemispheres, between masculine and feminine, between word and image. A provocative, disturbing, yet inspiring read, this book is filled with startling historical anecdotes and compelling ideas. It is a paradigm shattering work that will transform your view of history and mind.

from The Alphabet vs The

from The Alphabet vs The Goddess

3,000,000 - 2,900,000 years ago

Hominids differentiate away from other primates by becoming meat-eaters instead of vegetarians.
Extended childhood¼s of hominid babies require prolonged attention from hominid mothers.
Males of the species predominately engage in hunting and killing.
Females primarily engage in nurturing and gathering.
Hominids become the first species of social predators in which the females do not participate in hunting and killing.
200,000 - 90,000 years ago
Language develops.
Homo Sapiens differentiate away from hominids.
Language requires complete rewiring of human brains.
Over 90% of language modules placed in the left hemisphere of right handed humans who comprise 92% of the population.
Split Brain phenomenon becomes highly exaggerated only in humans.
Most hunting and killing strategies placed in left hemisphere.
Most nurturing and gathering strategies placed in the right side.
40,000 - 10,000 years ago
Homosapiens organize into highly effective hunter/gatherer societies.
Division of labor between sexes diverges more than in any other species.
Males hunt and females nurture.
Each sex develops predominate modes of perception and survival strategies to deal with the exigencies of life.
Left hemispheric specialization leads to an increased appreciation of time.
Humans become first animals to realize they will personally die.
Awareness of death leads to formation of supernatural beliefs.
Societies in which hunting is a more reliable source of protein than gathering elevate hunting gods over vegetative goddesses.
Societies in which gathering is a more reliable source of protein than hunting elevate vegetative goddesses over hunting gods.
In general, hunter/gatherer tribes worship a mixture of both spirits.
10,000 - 5,000 years ago
Agriculture discovered/ Domestication of animals discovered.
Crops need to be tended / flocks need to be nurtured.
Female survival strategy of gathering and nurturing supersedes male hunting killing one.
All early agrarian peoples begin to pray to an Earth Goddess responsible for the bountifulness of the land and fertility of the herds.
She awakens the land in springtime and metaphorically resurrects Her weaker, smaller dead son/lover.
5,000 - 3,000 years ago
Writing invented.
Left hemispheric modes of perception, the hunting/killing side, reinforced.
Literacy depends on linear, sequential, abstract and reductionist ways of thinking - the same as hunting and killing.
Early forms of cuneiform and hieroglyphics difficult to master.
Less than 2% literate.
Scribes become priests and new religions emerge in which the god begins to supercede the goddess.
45,000 - 3,000 years ago
Alphabet invented.
Extremely easy to use.
Near universal literacy possible.
Semites - Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Israelites - become first peoples to become substantially literate.
First alphabetic book is the Hebrew bible.
Goddess harshly rejected from Israelite belief system.
God loses His image.
To know Him, a worshipper must read what He wrote.
Images of any kind proscribed in first culture to worship written words.
3,000 - 2,500 years ago
Greeks become the second literate culture.
While not rejecting images, they suppress women's rights.
Athens and Sparta were two societies that shared the same language, gods, and culture and were in close proximity.
Women had few rights in Athens: Women wielded considerable power in Sparta.
Athenians glorified the written word: Spartan cared little about literacy.
Socrates disdained writing and wrote nothing down. He held egalitarian views.
Plato wrote extensively of what Socrates said. Not as generous toward women as Socrates.
Aristotle represents Greek passage from an oral society to a literate one. He taught that women were an inferior subspecies of man.
2,500 years ago
Buddha becomes enlightened in India.
Buddha, though literate, writes nothing down.
Teaches love, equality, kindness, and compassion.
His words are canonized in an alphabetic book 500 years later.
Book purports to show the Buddha had negative opinions about women, sexuality, and birth.
Taoism and Confucianism arise in China.
Taoism embodies feminine values: no attempt to control others, promotes Mother Nature as a guide.
Confucianism touts masculine values: structures patriarchal society, touts Father Culture.
Two systems of belief coexist in relative equilibrium until the Chinese invent the printing press in 923 AD Literacy rates soar.
Soon after, Taoism declines and Confucianism becomes China's dominant belief system.
Women's foot binding begins in 970 AD and becomes a common practice.
Taoism transmutes into a hierarchy with sacred texts and temple priests.
Taoist priests expected to be celibate Women's rights plummet.
In nearby Asian cultures that do not embrace literacy, women's rights remain high.
2,000 - 1,500 years ago
Roman Empire achieves near universal alphabetic literacy rates due to the stability of Pax Romana, tutors from Greece, papyrus from Egypt and an easy to use Greek and Latin alphabet.
New religion emerges based on the sayings of a gentle prophet named Jesus.
His oral teachings embody feminine values of Free Will, love, compassion, non-violence, and equality.
Jesus writes nothing down.
Women play prominent role in new religion.
Paul commits to writing what he interprets to be the meaning of the Christ event.
Subsequent Gospel writers detail Christ's crucifixion, death and resurrection.
Creed that evolves increasingly emphasizes masculine values of obedience, suffering, pain, death, and hierarchy.
Alphabetic text becomes canonized in 367 AD Women banned from baptizing or conducting sacraments.
Ordered to back of the church and ejected from the choir.
Christians destroy Roman images.
1,500 - 1,000 years ago
Rome falls to barbarian invasions.
Literacy lost in secular society.
Dark Ages begin.
When stage of history re-illuminated in the 10th century, women enjoy high status.
Age suffused with love of Mary.
People know her through her image not her written words.
Women mystics revered.
Women Cathars and Waldensians baptize.
Abbesses lead major monasteries.
Chivalric code instructs men to honor and protect women.
Courtly love becomes all the fashion.
Cathedrals dedicated to Notre Dame.
Religious art flourishes.
Few outside the Church can read and write.
1000 - 1453
High Middle Ages characterized by a renewed interest in literacy.
Commerce demands literate clerks. Literacy rates climb.
Masculine values begin to reassert dominance over feminine ones.
Renaissance begins. Cult of the individual encourages male artists, male thinkers, and macho themes in art.
1454 -1820
Gutenberg's printing press makes available alphabet literacy to the masses.
Books become affordable.
Literacy rates soar in those countries affected by the printing press.
Tremendous surge in science, art, philosophy, logic, and imperialism.
Women's rights suffer decline.
Women mystics now called witches.
1517 - 1820
Protestant Reformation breaks out fueled by many who can now read scripture.
Protestants demand the repudiation of the veneration of Mary, the destruction of images.
Protestant movement becomes very patriarchal.
Ferocious religious wars break out fought over minor doctrinal disputes.
Torture and burning at the stake become commonplace.
Hunter/killer values in steep ascendance only in those countries impacted by rapidly rising alphabetic literacy rates.
1465 - 1820
After the Bible, the next best selling book is the Witch's Hammer; a how-to book for the rooting out, torture, and burning of witches.
Witch craze breaks out only in those countries impacted by the printing press.
Germany, Switzerland, France, and England have severe witch-hunts. All boast steadily rising literacy rates.
Russia, Norway, Iceland, and the Islamic countries bordering Europe do not experience witch-hunts. The printing press has a negligible impact on these societies.
Estimates range that between 100,000 women to the millions were murdered during the witch-hunts.
There is no parallel in any other culture in the world in which the men of the culture suffered a psychosis so extreme that they believed that their wise women were so dangerous that they had to be eliminated.
1820 - 1900
Invention of photography and the discovery of the electromagnetic field combine to bring about the return of the image.
Photography does for images what the printing press had accomplished for written words: it made reproduction of images inexpensive, easy, and ubiquitous.
Right hemisphere called upon to decipher images more than the left.
Egalitarianism becomes a motif in philosophy.
Protestantism softens its stance toward women.
Mary declared born of Immaculate Conception by the Church elevating her status.
Nietzsche declares "god is dead."
Suffragette movement coalesces in 1848.
1900 - 1950
Photography and electromagnetism combine to introduce many new technologies of information transfer.
Telegraph, radio, film, and telephone reconfigure the world.
Communists demand redistribution of wealth.
Capitalists demand less government interference.
Natives restless, servants surly; everywhere paternalism is in retreat.
Women receive the vote in 1920 in the U.S. and 1936 in England.
Russia, an oral society recently becomes literate in the 19th century.
Great burst of male creativity.
Outbreak of religious intolerance against the Jews.
Russian Communism repeats all the madness of Europe's first brush with alphabet literacy.
Hitler, armed with a microphone and radio, hypnotizes Germany, one of the most literate countries of the world.
Mother Russia, an oral society, is bedeviled by literacy.
Germany, the Fatherland, becomes susceptible to madness by oral technology.
1950 - 2000
Popularity of television explodes after the end of WWII.
Television requires different mode of perception than television.
Iconic information begins to supersede text information.
Image of the atomic bomb blast and earth beamed back from space change the consciousness of the world more than any written books.
Society begins to elevate feminine values of childcare, welfare, healthcare, and concern for the environment.
Feminist movement of the 60s occurs in the first television generation.
World wars abate among the literate countries affected by television image.
Invention of personal computer greatly changes the way people interact. Graphic icons increasingly replace text commands.
Internet and WorldWideWeb based on feminine images of nets and webs. Iconic Revolution begins.
Everywhere alphabets come into usage religions based on sacred alphabetic books come into being.
These all share certain characteristics.
Women banned from conducting religious ceremonies.
Goddesses declared abominations.
Representative art in the form of images declared "idolatry."

Another case of "The book

Another case of "The book was more fun than the movie because the color was better" --

April 6, 2002

Realism May Be Taking the Fun Out of Games

By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN

n games, reality can seem beside the point. Carved boards, decorated cards, dotted cubes and colored pebbles become instruments of war. The fate of a bouncing spheroid determines one's fortunes. The more artificial an object is, the more arbitrary the restrictions are on its movements, the simpler the rules governing the play, the more powerful a game seems to become. A game establishes its own world.

Yet over the last two decades, the evolution of video games has involved a quest for the opposite. One of the major goals of video game systems has been to simulate the real, to create images so lifelike, and movements so natural that there is no sense of artifice. There really is a haunted house being explored, a football team arrayed on a field, a car racing at 150 miles an hour through a city street. In the early years of arcade games, invaders from space were squiggly white doodles arranged in rows, threatening a player with oblivion. Now they can speak, gush green blood and wield advanced weaponry.

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These are the two poles of the video game, still evident in the latest systems. But however different in character, the games share important preoccupations. The classic board game or card game begins with the rules; then comes the play. In video games the play begins and only gradually do the rules emerge. Finding the rules is part of the game.

What powers do they provide and what do they forbid? Can those rules be violated at all? And is everything revealed or can something be found by testing those limits? The spirit of violation is built into the video game; so is a demand for submission.

In this struggle, technology is an emblem of both the game's limits and its promises; it helps determine what can and cannot be done. And game designers ? like game players ? keep exploring those boundaries. But through every gaming generation, no matter what the technology, the player is still the classic adolescent: at once uncertain and arrogant, proud and disgusted, resenting the demands being made and, finally, cherishing the ability to master them.

USGS Mapping Archive

USGS Mapping Archive

Doing a Google search on

Doing a Google search on "learning visually" yields beaucoup hits on "learning disabilities" and "visual learning disabilities" and "visually impaired." I'm beginning to think that this is like old-time psychology, where the first cases were all deranged. Psychologists still seem to know more about mental illness than mental health.

Another area that pops up on a search is "learning styles." Now that's an interesting concept, but most of us use all of the styles. It's not either/or so mucha as a matter of degree. I'm drawn to visuals like a moth to the flame, but that doesn't mean I don't read and write.

ScienceMaster Learning Galleries has awesome

ScienceMaster Learning Galleries has awesome photos of nature for use by teachers.

I'm getting ready for the

I'm getting ready for the eLearning Forum session on Learning Visually in April, so this blog is becoming my dumping ground for potential material.

From Inspiration's site, here's a piece on Visual Learning: