intersecre

if one day educators could say this to their IT department ……

[image: ian boyd]

It never ceases to amaze that in departments where the core business is education and highly skilled and capable teachers are employed to do just that, we continue to hand the decision making powers around educational technologies to IT people. What’s wrong with our senior Managers to allow this to occur!
Of course we have to balance needs and security – that’s a no-brainer. But instead of simply blocking doors let’s demand solutions – they exist, if the motivation is there to make them happen.

[image: twenty_questions]

and it goes on…

According to the vatican “The washing machine has had a greater liberating role for women than the pill”.

Yeah right …. so women can fit working fulltime, raising children, cooking meals, AND all the housework into 24 hours.

[image: guuleed]

Another International Womens’ Day has come and gone. I can’t help but feel cynicism about the bulk of local ‘celebrations’ that focus on ‘leadership’; I’ve been to them myself. You don’t have to change women to become leaders; its the systems that need to change. But in the meantime the Government can pat itself on the back and tick another ‘good deed’ off its list.

Meanwhile the Catholic church exudes its influence through the federal government hierarchy and Kevid Rudd has failed to do in a year what Obama did in a week – overturn the foreign aid abortion advice ban. The ban stops any foreign aid being used for abortion and family planning advice.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says “Australia has signed up to participate in helping reduce global poverty through the Millennium Development Goals and one of them is specifically about reducing maternal death numbers. We know that this would lead directly to doing that and they’re embarrassed it’s their policy to keep those bans in place.” (from Cassie White -ABC)

Commentary by  Dr Jane on the above post indicates that ‘ Somewhere between 10 and 15% of maternal deaths globally are due to unsafe abortions. This ban doesn’t just affect a doctor’s ability to perform safe abortions. It prevents discussion of what unsafe abortions are, or referral of patients to safe providers (even in cases of rape of minors, and even in countries where abortion is legal). ‘

…and Bruniaz points out that the ban also restricts ‘ giving people and organisations the ability to talk to young girls, women and mothers about their contraceptive options, sexual health, ensuring that families understand the link between chronic maternal health issues and the health of their children’

Meanwhile the Vatican has excommunicated a mother for authorising an abortion for her 9 yr old daughter carrying twins after being raped by the step-father in Brazil. (SMH) along with the doctors who carried it out for fear that the slim girl would not survive carrying the fetuses to term.

Apparently the 23-year-old stepfather who also allegedly sexually abused the girl’s physically handicapped 14-year-old sister was arrested a week ago and faces up to 15 years in prison. However HE won’t be expelled from the church. According tot he church “Although the man allegedly committed ‘a heinous crime … the abortion – the elimination of an innocent life – was more serious’.  RIGHT… OK

We’ve got a long way to go.

[image : TheAlieness GiselaGiardino]

I came across the following text accompanying the image above on FlickR. It’s from a Chris Widener’s post -What in the World Are You Doing? – excerpted from Jim Rohn’s Twelfth Pillar of Success: Legacy

It’s worth republishing to follow last night’s post of mine…

“This week I want to talk with you about leaving an impact legacy. “What is an impact legacy?” you may ask. It is how you impact people and the world around you. You see, many people glide through life and do not make much of an impact. That is unfortunate. Others though, those driven by a purpose and passion for living, are continually making the world a better place and making an impact wherever they go. That’s what I believe you want to do.

In order to help you reflect on this during this week, I want to ask you a question: What in the world are you doing?

Here is the typical life – typical, though not everybody does it this way. But for the most part, people’s lives generally go something like this:

You’re born
You eat and sleep
You play with toys
You go to school
You play little league
You go to school
You learn to drive
You go to school
You leave high school
You go to more school, but you pay for it now
You get a job
You get married
You buy a house
You have kids
You watch your kids eat, sleep, play and go to school
You work, work, and work
You retire
You die

That’s the basic life, isn’t it? I know there is more to it, but that is about it for most people.

Here is that question again: What in the world are you doing?

I mean, what are you doing besides the typical “enjoying yourself while you are waiting to die” scenario? What kind of impact are you making?

What I believe sets the successful apart is that they don’t just live the average life. They don’t just pass time. They make an impact. They have something compelling in their life that drives them – something that gives them an answer when they are asked that question: What in the world are you doing?

º I’m helping children.
º I’m creating a business that supports many families.
º I lead a church.
º I am defending our liberties.
º I am raising great children.
º I’m teaching others to improve their lives.
º I help people have fun.
º I create memories for people.

In other words, successful people always come down to this:

º I make an impact and help other people by (fill in your purpose here).

What in the world are you doing?

If you want to be successful, you need to be able to answer that by describing how you help others. Because if you aren’t helping others – if you aren’t making an impact – you are just taking up space, eating food and waiting to die.

Here’s the question for you to answer this week and what to do with your answer:

What in the world are you doing?

If you know, then you are good to go – live it and make an impact!

If you don’t know, then maybe you need to reflect on what you are doing, what your life is about, and how you can explode the mundane bubble you may be living in!

The world needs impact makers – so live to be one!

Change. It happens at a snails pace, on the backs of individuals with passion, commitment and foresight.

It happens where individuals transect multiple paradigms. To the front, their primary motivation; to the left, the systems they must influence to achieve this; to the right, the mavericks; behind, their own well-being. They filter, interpret, influence, negotiate and advocate, making new ways of thinking palatable. They’re patient and multilingual brokers, continually look lengthwise along their shoulders for windows of opportunity to enable change to occur. And slowly, slowly they move the juggernauts forward.

[image of a David Reekie sculpture 'A Captive Audience? by Ayres no graces]

Others croak from their lilypads to their pond of adoring fans, calling for revolution, uniting the fold. Without the support of those on the intersections their sphere of influence is narrow. The intersects are points of refraction.

Critics are spurned and outcast – right-wing, gutless, do-gooders – although in many cases they’re the causes greatest advocates. Energy is wasted with non-productive time spent forcing people to take sides.

This was the case when the ripples of influence stopped at the edge of the edupunk pond . While the ideal -  DIY, anti-authority, share and share alike – remains the goal for many on the intersections, the metaphor simply did not resonate. It may have acted well as a kick up the bum for the pond dwellers who were becoming complacent, but there was potential to undo years of progress. There’s plenty written on the topic; I’m not going to replicate that here.

‘Edupunk is dead’ says Alex Hayes. Thank goodness.
Let’s stop the rhetoric and get things happening.

In an International Herald Tribune article – Eating dirt can be good for you – just ask babies – Jane Brody quotes Dr. Joel Weinstock saying that “Children should be allowed to go barefoot in the dirt, play in the dirt, and not have to wash their hands when they come in to eat”.

[image: robynejay]

I once knew a child who was not allowed to eat solids until 12 months of age. By 5 he was allergic to everything on the earth, or so it seemed.

I’m looking back on my boy’s childhood on the eve of Nic’s quarter century. It was a childhood of freedom, security, exploration, and good old fashioned grovelling around in the dirt. The food my kids ate was fresh and home cooked, the clothes they wore were of natural fabrics and usually home sewn. They were happy and healthy and loved.

It pains me to see children in the city coddled in $1000 strollers, swaddled in designer garb and as far from the ground as a city will allow.

Time to get back to basics.

[image: Aunt Owwee]

Yep I LOVE FLICKR

The joy and benefits FlickR brings to me as an image sharing site far outweigh the meager $50 odd a year it costs me for a pro account. I love being able to share my life and visual captures of the world around me with those who are prepared to engage. For a small time outlay I can unwind and produce mosaics. For a small cost outlay I can share images with te world.

But one thing that REALLY pisses me off is that the default licence for FlickR is “All Rights Reserved”.

Now I don’t expect people to have any but the vaguest interest in photos of aunts or precious long weekends. But if I take a photo of some gorgeous wildlife that might be useful for someone I’m happy for them to use it, and the acknowledgment is great. I wouldn’t be happy if they profited from it or claimed it as their own. For these reasons I choose to assign my photos a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons licence.

My Street Art mosaic has been viewed 4597 times. It’s constructed from 36 images of others in FlickR prepared to make their images available via CC licence. The whole valued greater than the parts.

I’m quite sure that most FlickR users would feel the same but in their ignorance they cruise along accepting the default settings and without considering and setting an alternative.

If YOU are a FlickR user its time to check YOUR licence. It’s about give and take. It’s about a culture of collaboration.

Remember playing tag chasey in the playground as a kid?
The one that’s “it” chases the rest of a group and ‘tags’ another individual by touching them who then becomes “it”. It was a good way of getting some aerobic exercise and keeping our BMI down. And it was fun if you were a voluntary participant.

[image: Steve Wampler]

Unfortunately for our BMI the game of tag chasey has moved online.

Messages are now received that indicate that I have been ‘memed’. Now, it’s stretching the point a bit to label these memes.

meme  …. “a unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices; such units or elements transmit from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena. The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word mimema for mimic.” (Wikipedia)

At best they’re a chain mail game requiring me to answer questions (be careful what content you are asking people to reveal online oh memers) or take a photo of myself that very instant for online exposure. The only gratification being that I can (supposedly) gain 5 times the pleasure in return by passing on this fulfilling activity to 5 “friends”.

Now, I don’t mind engaging in online games if I have time and yes, the prospect of something creative enticed me into the 1st handwriting ‘meme’ I received.
And I’m patient with my contacts who I have watched for 54 days religiously placing a daily image on FlickR (only 311 days to go guys and then you can enjoy your photography again), but I’ve got to tell you that I don’t DO chain letters. Somehow I’ve managed to survive years of deleted emails despite threats of life threatening consequences and I’m happy enough without the promised angels on my shoulder.

So now, despite the prospect of a public flogging for not participating, I’m simply opting out. At least 5 of my friends might appreciate it.

Yesterday I cam across an interesting post on the Pruned blog about the desert gardeners of the Tarim Desert Highway in China.

The highway crosses the Taklamakan desert from north to south with a ‘total length of the highway is 552km; approximately 446km of the highway cross uninhabited areas covered by shifting sand dunes, making it the longest such highway in the world.’ ( Wikipedia)

[Taklamakan desert from space: Farinda]

While on the surface the venture appears driven by China’s desire for oil and gas, the post also suggests an even more sinister motive; ‘the important tactical infrastructure of pacification through which state control, in the guise of “economic development,” can easier be meted throughout the mainly Muslim and violence-prone region.’

For along the entire length of the highway Chinese keep the shifting desert sands at bay by planting and tending what would have to be one of the longest “green belts” in the world. The post describes them as essentially living solitary lives, “an eccentric group of monastic botanists in a mystical struggle to arrest this ephemeral landscape in time and space.”

[image: MC Masterchef]

Unfortunately I can’t embed the National Geo image capturing the gardening and dwellings here but make sure you check it out on the Pruned blog.

There’s a lot we can learn from their practices.

However, I can’t really get over the absurdity of humankind thinking it can ever hold back the forces of nature, be they shifting desert sands or the tides.