Review: Tiamat's Wrath
Monday, Dec 2 2019 09:11
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networking, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Another fast-paced installment of the series (hard to believe that there is only one more left!!!). This one jumps a bit into the future with a slightly older crew, with different responsibilities. Some of our crew die, and some make miraculous comebacks! The bringing together of former crew members reminded me a bit of Star Trek
View Comments
Review: TNG/DS9: Divided We Fall
Sunday, Oct 27 2019 12:49
| audiobooks, Books, Comic Book, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
TNG/DS9: Divided We Fall by John J. OrdoverMy rating: 5 of 5 stars The art style is definitely of its period in comic books, but the story was rather enjoyable. It gives us a look within Trill society, and what happens when the unjoined Trill look upon the worm-trills as parasitic and controlling of a society (definitely some stargate overtones here). It would be interesting to get
Review: Star Trek Prometheus: In the Heart of Chaos
Saturday, Oct 26 2019 09:00
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek Prometheus: In the Heart of Chaos by Christian HumbergMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Overall, not a bad story. The crew is likable and they could easily be an on-screen crew if this story is adapted for television. I wish we saw more of the EMH in this story. My only critique is that the plot feels like something that was done in Prey. Not the same details, but the overall plot. This
Review: The Hall of Heroes
Friday, Oct 25 2019 02:30
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
The Hall of Heroes by John Jackson MillerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars The exciting conclusion to the trilogy. Too bad most of the unsung perished, but given the events of this story it's nice to see that the Klingon Empire is reconsidering its views on what it means to be discommendated. Now to go back and fill in the story with the reboot series...at some point :-) View all my reviews
Review: Star Trek Prometheus: The Root of All Rage
Thursday, Oct 24 2019 12:48
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek Prometheus: The Root of All Rage by Christian HumbergMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Well, the twist at the end of the book was not something I was expecting. Interesting! Looking forward to the third book. I still find the pronunciation in the audiobook version a bit silly. Trek names of places and things (like Khitomer, VGER, and Roktajino) are butchered. Overall a good read View
Review: Fighting Fire with Fire
Monday, Oct 21 2019 03:00
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Fighting Fire with Fire by Christian HumbergMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An enjoyable story featuring the voyages of the USS Prometheus (as seen on ST: Voyager). The story sounds a bit familiar (Prey, and Star Trek Online) in that some third party is working behind the scenes to attack the federation and the klingon empire, but just go with it. It was a good first novel. The only complaint is
Review: Mind Meld: Micro Collaboration Between E Learning Designers And Instructor Experts
Friday, Sep 6 2019 12:25
| Academia, academics, Books, collaboration, dissertation, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Work
| Permalink
Mind Meld: Micro Collaboration Between E Learning Designers And Instructor Experts by Jon D. AlecksonMy rating: 2 of 5 stars A bit conflicted about this book. On the one hand there are some elements of sage advice in here, but the book has a few failings for my liking:1. There is barely any cited evidence here (the references list is just 2 pages), and most 'evidence' seems to rely on anecdotes
Review: The Jackal's Trick
Thursday, Sep 5 2019 12:26
| Books, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networking, Social Networks, StarTrek, Titan, TNG
| Permalink
The Jackal's Trick by John Jackson MillerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Hey! The unsung had been played all along by external forces! Well, I guess this is what you get when a society discommendates several generations of their citizens for whatever reason. Also, Kahless is alive because...he's Kahless ;-) A fun read. Looking forward to the third part. View all my reviews
Review: Hell's Heart
Friday, Aug 30 2019 13:39
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Hell's Heart by John Jackson MillerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This book had me reacting out loud while I was listening to it. It was a rather interesting story of succession in the house of Krug (from Star Trek IV), and a rather interesting tale of discommendated, and what happens when the children of those who are no longer considered part of the community refuse to accept a system that is
Review: Defiance:The Essential Guide
Thursday, Aug 29 2019 13:37
| Books, Defiance, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, syfy, Television, video games, VideoGames
| Permalink
Defiance:The Essential Guide by SyfyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I was reminded of this ebook while rewatching Defiance this summer. This was a "getting to know the world of Defiance" sort of book. I think it mostly focused on the TV show, even though Defiance was originally envisioned as a transmedia type of franchise (with the eponymous MMO still running/limping along to this day). Too
Review: Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made
Sunday, Aug 25 2019 12:47
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, video games, VideoGames, Work
| Permalink
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason SchreierMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I rather enjoyed this book. The video game industry has been getting a lot of attention lately, and this book contributes to shedding some light into the working practices of this billion dollar industry. While I am not familiar with some of the game, from
Review: Λόγια της πλώρης
Sunday, Jul 28 2019 14:00
| Books, Entertainment, fiction, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Απόψεις, Βιβλία, Ελληνικά, Ψυχαγωγία, κοινωνικά δίκτυα, μυθιστρόρημα
| Permalink
Λόγια της πλώρης by Andreas KarkavitsasMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Μια συλλογή από μικρές ιστορίες που έχουν ως θέμα την θάλασσα, και την ζωή βγάζοντας το ψωμί σου από την θάλασσα. Αν και η γλώσσα είναι εντυπωσιακή και όμορφη, που μου θύμησε
Review: Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars
Monday, Jul 22 2019 04:00
| Books, Discovery, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek: Discovery: The Way to the Stars by Una McCormackMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Probably my favorite Discovery-era novel thus far.Some might say "oh, it's Just a Tilly story..." but I saw it as both a story about families, and a story about education. Tilly's mother basically wants to create a mini-me clone for herself, having Tilly follow her footsteps into the diplomatic core, without
Review: Desperate Hours
Saturday, Jun 15 2019 09:04
| Books, Discovery, Entertainment, goodreads, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Desperate Hours by David MackMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Interesting story set one year before the "vulcan hello" pilot for the series. It includes the Enterprise and Pike (and Spock). Having seen Anson Mount as Pike really helps visualize this story in my mind's eye. There are some inconsistencies with the series - e.g., Saru's planet referred to "Kelpia" instead of "Kaminar" and getting the
Review: Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many
Friday, Jun 14 2019 09:11
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, MMORPG, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek Online: The Needs of the Many by Michael A. MartinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This was an interesting read, and it definitely adds some more context to STO's Undine arc (which made the Undine Infiltration in the game make much more sense. The book is told from the lens of Jake Sisko who is interviewing many well-known (and not so well-known) characters in the Star Trek universe about
Review: Patterns of Interference
Friday, May 31 2019 04:30
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Patterns of Interference by Christopher L. BennettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars What bums me out the most about this book is that there is no "Star Trek Enterprise will continue..." at the end of the book. I wonder if this series will come back in the future.Anyway - even if it is the last book to come out (certainly hope not), this was a rather fun book to read. I was hoping that Trip would come
Review: Live by the Code
Thursday, May 30 2019 10:24
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Live by the Code by Christopher L. BennettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars A good conclusion to the "ware saga" (or so it seems). Of note in this book, we see Archer coming around to the Vulcan's "logic" of non-interference (aka, the "prime directive") based on the events that happened with the Saurians. We also see Trip seriously looking to take down Section 31 (which we know doesn't happen
Review: Uncertain Logic
Wednesday, May 29 2019 04:30
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Uncertain Logic by Christopher L. BennettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This novel continues with the parade of worlds that are joining the federation: in this book we see the Deltans, and we continue an exploration of those "Ware" space stations which we originally saw on screen in Enterprise. Meanwhile on Vulcan the Kirshara is stolen and people try to use it to overthrow the new Vulcan government.
Review: Tower of Babel
Thursday, May 16 2019 06:30
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Tower of Babel by Christopher L. BennettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a good continuation of the first book in the series. Here the federation is encouraging the aligned systems of Rigel to join the federation. I always thought that the Rigelians were a homogenous society, but apparently not. Also interesting that they were currently ruled by mobster families. Overall an interesting story,
Review: A Choice of Futures
Wednesday, May 15 2019 06:30
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
A Choice of Futures by Christopher L. BennettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This was a good start to the Rise of the Federation series. There is an interesting description of where the TOS uniform colors came from, an overview of what's happening to the fleet, the growing pains of getting different alien peoples to work together, and so on. On top of that, the federation is already being seen as
Review: The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm
Tuesday, May 14 2019 09:00
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm by Michael A. MartinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A satisfying end to the Earth-Romulan war. When all is said and done Trip is still out in the shadows, Archer is now a commodore, and the Vulcans, Telaraties, and Andorians finally came back to the table. Archer is hinted at becoming president of the Federation one day. There was also a nice little epilogue years
Review: Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology
Friday, May 3 2019 04:30
| Books, goodreads, PhD, research, review, School, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Handbook of Narrative Inquiry: Mapping a Methodology by D. Jean ClandininMy rating: 5 of 5 stars While I didn't read this book cover-to-cover I did find quite a few chapters quite useful in thinking about and designing my narrative inquiry project. View all my reviews
Review: The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing
Thursday, May 2 2019 04:00
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing by Michael A. MartinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This book continues on from the previous couple of novels and explores the first year of the Romulan war. Archer becomes a Commodore (interesting how they say it's an archaic title, but still used, perhaps foreshadowing the change of the rank name around TNG). Trip's alive (yay); there are heavy losses
Review: Kobayashi Maru
Tuesday, Apr 30 2019 04:30
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Kobayashi Maru by Michael A. MartinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I actually liked this book more than I thought I would. The description from Memory Alpha is "Captain Jonathan Archer's Enterprise and Captain Erika Hernandez' Columbia become embroiled in the shocking events that became the infamous Starfleet Academy no-win scenario." I always took the Kobayashi Maru to be a theoretical simulation
Review: The Good That Men Do
Sunday, Apr 28 2019 04:00
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, innovation, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
The Good That Men Do by Andy MangelsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Quite an enjoyable read. I would have loved to have seen this on-screen. Section 31, Romulan mystery, spycraft, and Trip is alive and spying on the Romulan Empire as a section 31 operative. The pacing of this novel was pretty good. I didn't feel lost, or bored, or wondering "what the heck is going on now?" Need an adaptation for
Review: Star Trek Phase II: The Making of the Lost Series
Wednesday, Apr 24 2019 04:30
| Books, coffeetable, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek Phase II: The Making of the Lost Series by Judith Reeves-Stevens My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not really "finished" with this book since it seems more like a reference book, but I did skim through it and found it interesting (as a library borrowing I didn't have a ton of time with it). This seems like one of those books to own for any trek fan ;-) View all
Review: Star Trek: Discovery: The Light of Kahless
Saturday, Mar 16 2019 03:00
| Books, Comic Book, comics, Entertainment, goodreads, MMORPG, online, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek: Discovery: The Light of Kahless by Kirsten BeyerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Not a bad comic, and one that brings forth a bit of prequel mythos into Star Trek Discovery. In this one we see the origins of the Sacrophagus ship, and T'Kuvma and Voq themselves, and other Klingons who are acting...dishonorably...to say the least. I am wondering if there will be any references to this
Review: Narrative Inquiry: A Dynamic Approach
Thursday, Mar 14 2019 03:30
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, PhD, research, review, Social Media
| Permalink
Narrative Inquiry: A Dynamic Approach by Colette DaiuteMy rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Not a bad book, and not bad in structuring a methodology for researching a narrative inquiry. The approach given, however, makes me a little perplexed as to what separates this type of narrative inquiry from something like Discourse Analysis. View all my reviews
Review: Artemis
Wednesday, Mar 13 2019 03:00
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media
| Permalink
Artemis by Andy WeirMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Since I liked the Martian, I decided to follow it up with Artemis. I wasn't sure if this was going to be a sequel, or something totally different. Basically: Moon smuggler, on a moon base, fitting the "young professional" category of employee tries something new. Royally messes up but survives. Walks away an entrepreneur.Fun novel.
Review: The Martian
Tuesday, Mar 12 2019 03:30
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media
| Permalink
The Martian by Andy WeirMy rating: 5 of 5 stars After a lot of hype I decided to read this book. It was quite a fun book to read. MacGyver, on Mars, becomes a potato farmer to survive until he can get rescued. Snarky MacGyver on Mars - which makes it more fun. Now that I've read this I do want to see the movie version, just as a comparison.View all my reviews
Review: Rosetta
Monday, Mar 11 2019 04:00
| Books, ebooks, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, StarTrek
| Permalink
Rosetta by Dave SternMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Back to Star Trek novel reading. This was the last novel before the 'relaunch' of the enterprise series. Not a bad story - plus brownie points for some contemporary linguistics peppered in. That said, it felt a bit slow to begin (so much so that I lost the plot a bit while listening to it via TTS).View all my reviews
Review: Titan: Fortune of War
Monday, Feb 11 2019 05:00
| audiobooks, Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Titan: Fortune of War by David MackMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Pretty interesting adventure. I had completely forgotten about the Husnock and needed to look them up on Memory Alpha. In many respects it reminded me a lot of the hunt for Alteran, or even Goauld tech in Stargate once the Goauld had fallen. He who controls the powerful ancient tech controls the galaxy. I wonder what the next
Review: Engaging in Narrative Inquiry
Sunday, Feb 10 2019 05:00
| Books, goodreads, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Engaging in Narrative Inquiry by D. Jean ClandininMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Informative. Worthwhile reading if you're interested in Narrative Inquiry as a research method. I read this book after the book I posted about yesterday. This book seemed to go a little more in-depth as to the how-to of a narrative inquiry but it's still not a recipe. Time to read another book. One
Review: Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research
Saturday, Feb 9 2019 05:00
| Books, goodreads, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research by D. Jean ClandininMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This isn't a book where you are told how to do Narrative Inquiry in a step-by-step manner. That said, it's probably the best book to introduce you to Narrative Inquiry because it's about what Narrative Inquirers do, and the forms that takes. It really helped frame the research approach
Review: When Someone You Love Suffers from Posttraumatic Stress: What to Expect and What You Can Do
Friday, Feb 8 2019 17:00
| Books, goodreads, health, mentalHealth, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
When Someone You Love Suffers from Posttraumatic Stress: What to Expect and What You Can Do by Claudia ZayfertMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Quite an enlightening book. Definitely a worthwhile read.View all my reviews
GoodReads 2018 year-in-review
Saturday, Jan 12 2019 09:28
| Books, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, YearInReview
| Permalink
I had forgotten to have a look at the nice infographic that Goodreads prepares for its users at the end of each year. I read more than I intended to, even though quite a few are comics ;-)
Review: Persepolis Rising
Sunday, Jan 6 2019 11:37
| audiobooks, Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Persepolis Rising by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Woah! Will this universe ever know peace? Jump forward 20 years, Duarte is back, he is now emperor or some sh*t like that (I know, high council Duarte, just go with me). He is part protomolecule. He sends his protomolecule technology fleet to colonize the remaining human colonies. Just as Holden "retires" and sells the ship to
Review: Strange Dogs
Wednesday, Dec 26 2018 03:30
| Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Strange Dogs by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I wasn't sure what to make of this at the start of the novella, but it's an interesting point of view. Seeing the exploratory expedition on a ring world turn into a new home through the eyes of a child. This novella also points to certain protomolecule properties that I am not sure we've seen yet. I do wonder how these will play
Review: Babylon's Ashes
Tuesday, Dec 25 2018 03:00
| Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Well, Earth and Mars aren't doing so well. the "Free Navy" has taken over the Rocinante crew is back at it, saving this corner of the galaxy. Some quick thoughts:Anderson dying as a result of system shock during high burn. Plausible, but seems like a rather small way for the "butcher of Anderson station" to go.New alliance forming
Review: Chariots of The Gods
Chariots of The Gods by Erich von DänikenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I feel a bit weird giving it 4 stars given the subject matter, but the book was rather entertaining, and not as 'out there' as Ancient Aliens as I expected - the TV show has gotten even more out there over the years. "by why?" or "ancient astronaut theorists say 'yes'" beg for a drinking game. If you read this book
Review: The Vital Abyss
Friday, Dec 21 2018 09:01
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
The Vital Abyss by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars An interesting short story from the perspective of a protogen researcher. All throughout I was trying to figure out if this is someone who will be (or was) in one of the main novels, or if it's just world building and expansion (no pun intended). In the end (once I was done reading) I read through the summary on the wiki and I had
Review: Nemesis Games
Monday, Dec 17 2018 07:53
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Nemesis Games by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars And here I thought that this was going to be a 'simple' version of: crew goes on holiday while the ship is in dry dock so that they can take care of personal stuff (and of course learn some personal stuff from the past). Did that happen? Of course, but around half-way ... BAM! all hell breaks loose! The final line of the previous
Review: Cibola Burn
Sunday, Dec 16 2018 08:56
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Cibola Burn by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting continuation of the series. We've now moved onto a more colonial part of the adventure (new worlds to explore an colonize), and all the perils that come with it. I do wonder if we'll find out what happened to the old civilization that built the portal system and the protomolecule. Part of this book reminded me a lot of the
Review: Abaddon's Gate
Friday, Dec 14 2018 08:54
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Interesting story as it has unfolded. The thing I don't get is this: are these gates to other galaxies (think Stargate with the Ori supergates)? other parallel dimension (sort of like sliders)? or just other dimensions period? Seems like there is plenty of work for the crew of the Rocinante to go around after this book ;-) A
Review: Star Trek: Waypoint #6
Tuesday, Nov 20 2018 04:30
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek: Waypoint #6 by Gabriel HardmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Interesting collection of short stories from the Star Trek Universe. I think my two favorites were Naomi Wildman's comic, and the Phase II era stories. Reading the stories in this anthology made me wonder if we'll see any Phase II era stories pop up in the future. It might be an interesting look in an alternate era.View
Review: Airship Enterprise: The Infernal Machine
Monday, Nov 19 2018 05:00
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, kickstarter, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Airship Enterprise: The Infernal Machine by Brian DenhamMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This was something that had come across kickstarter a while back (before I really looked at kickstarter). It is an interesting take on Star Trek through a steampunk lens. I am not all that interested in steampunk as a genre but this wasn't a bad story. I think for Trek fans you'll find enough to keep you going,
Review: Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues #4
Sunday, Nov 18 2018 04:00
| Books, Comic Book, Galaxy Quest, goodreads, review, science, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues #4 by Erik BurnhamMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This comic book series wasn't that bad but it really felt sort of like a rehash of the movie in the setup. I wonder if this was meant to be a reboot, or kickstart, of a Galaxy Quest series of comics, and they just didn't get the response that they needed to continue to create new materials in this universe.
Review: Z Nation #6
Saturday, Nov 17 2018 04:30
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, zombies
| Permalink
Z Nation #6 by Craig EnglerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This was an interesting side story to the Z-Nation series. The writers somehow managed to make this universe more disturbing with zombie cows, zombie whales, and cruise director that takes over a cruise ship and enslaves the passengers. One of the things that isn't really addressed in most zombie shows and movies is whether or not the virus
Review: Thinking Collaboratively: Learning in a Community of Inquiry
Monday, Nov 12 2018 11:58
| Books, dissertation, goodreads, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Thinking Collaboratively: Learning in a Community of Inquiry by D. Randy GarrisonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book to read, especially the section on Leadership as it connects to the community of inquiry framework. When the CoI was recommended to me (for my dissertation), I didn't really think a ton about it because the only context that I had encountered it in was classroom communities.
Review: Gods of Risk
Saturday, Nov 10 2018 15:42
| audiobooks, Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Gods of Risk by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Another book I read over the summer but I didn't have a ton of time to write about. A nice, short, interlude between books where we see what life on Mars is (sort) of like, and how badass Bobbie Draper is ;-) I don't recall seeing this 'on-screen' on the TV show, but maybe this is something that's going to be shown before season 4.
Review: Caliban's War
Friday, Nov 9 2018 16:00
| audiobooks, Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Caliban's War by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars It's been a while since I read this, but I haven't had a ton of time to write about it! This was a good continuation to the first novel. I held off to read this until I thought the TV show had covered it, but I think I shouldn't have. This book pretty much corresponds to the second season of the expanse TV, which really amazes
Review: E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for Research and Practice
Tuesday, Jun 19 2018 16:50
| Books, collaboration, dissertation, goodreads, litreview, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for Research and Practice by D Randy GarrisonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars A nice, short, overview of the community of inquiry framework for those who are new to it. The book basically breaks down to 1/2 being about the CoI (discussing each part in details, and encompassing recent research), and 1/2 being application. It was an
Review: 24: Legacy - Rules of Engagement #5
Sunday, Jun 17 2018 10:18
| 24, Books, Comic Book, Entertainment, prequel, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Television
| Permalink
24: Legacy - Rules of Engagement #5 by Christopher FarnsworthMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An enjoyable prequel to the TV series 24: Legacy. I guess I should have read this before seeing the show :-) The five part series of comics (reviewing the last one, but it really covers all of them) is the story of the protagonist of the show, jumping back in time to two times in his life (one as a drug
Review: Learning Together Online: Research on Asynchronous Learning Networks
Friday, Jun 15 2018 11:57
| Academia, Books, dissertation, goodreads, litreview, onlineLearning, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Learning Together Online: Research on Asynchronous Learning Networks by Starr Roxanne HiltzMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Not very many people talk about ALNs (asynchronous learning networks) these days. Even the journal for ALNs has been renamed to "Online Learning". Still, this was an interesting historical dive which provided some interesting background on early online learning which still
Review: Star Trek: Captain's Log
Monday, Jun 11 2018 17:11
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek: Captain's Log by David TiptonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy reading stories about secondary captains (Jelico, Sulu, Hariman), i.e. those not seen on screen for very long - but these were actually quite good short stories. I wouldn't mind having more Hariman or Jelico stories come our way! It was also interesting to see the excelsior class go from brand
Review: Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research
Wednesday, Jun 6 2018 19:10
| Books, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research by John W. CreswellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A good primer on mixed methods research. I wish I had made this part of my original reading list last summer when I was conceiving of my (current version for my) dissertation proposal plan. Mixed methods fits well with one of the reasons I am using case study research as my approach.
Review: Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community
Sunday, May 27 2018 11:46
| Books, collaboration, dissertation, litreview, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community by Rena M. PalloffMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Interesting book. It's more geared toward practitioners than researchers. I'd recommend this as a a design "cookbook" companion. The thing that has really struck me with this book is that the authors use the term 'collaboration' to refer to anything that involves multiple people working together.
Review: Learning Together: Peer Tutoring in Higher Education
Friday, May 25 2018 08:23
| Books, dissertation, goodreads, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Teaching
| Permalink
Learning Together: Peer Tutoring in Higher Education by Nancy FalchikovMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Not a bad book. "Tutoring" in this book means anything between an the work that an "more knowledgeable other" (Vygotsky) does, to teaching assistants. There is quite a broad range to work with, and an interesting book to consult when thinking both about course design and program-level design.
Review: The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
Wednesday, May 23 2018 16:40
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, History, review, video games, VideoGames
| Permalink
The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon - The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World by Steven L. KentMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Not a bad book. I always expect something with the word "ultimate" in the title to be the one definitive source for all things for that topic, but that isn't always the case. Lots of good early history of companies (Coleco
Review: Star Trek Romulans Schism - 2009
Sunday, May 20 2018 13:26
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek Romulans Schism - 2009 by John ByrneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting short story with Koloth and Kor as some of the main cast (along with the original "#1") about the federation and a cloaking device, and a feud of a romulan with Kirk that leads to the dissolution (some might say "schism" ;-) ) between the romulan and klingon empires. Now...why do the Klingons have an emperor
Review: Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Learning
Saturday, May 12 2018 18:35
| Books, collaboration, dissertation, goodreads, instructionalDesign, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Teaching, Work
| Permalink
Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Learning by David W. JohnsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book looking at individual, competitive, and collaborative learning. The framing of the book is more K-12, but I can see applications to higher education. Definitely worth at least a quick look through both by instructors and instructional designers.
Review: Lower Ed: How For-Profit Colleges Deepen Inequality in America
Wednesday, May 9 2018 07:56
| audiobooks, Books, Business, Education, goodreads, higherEd, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Society
| Permalink
Lower Ed: How For-Profit Colleges Deepen Inequality in America by Tressie McMillan CottomMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book to read. While most of what was in this book wasn't really news for me, it was helpful to add some additional context to the "Lower Ed" field. I think this is a worthwhile read for high school students thinking about college, and for college graduates thinking
Review: Engaging Students Through Social Media: Evidence-Based Practices for Use in Student Affairs
Sunday, Apr 8 2018 13:46
| Books, Education, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, Work, workshop
| Permalink
Engaging Students Through Social Media: Evidence-Based Practices for Use in Student Affairs by Reynol JuncoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked this up when it first came out, and I have thumbed through specific sections over the years (as needed for work), but this is the first time I've read from cover-to-cover. While some technologies may be dead already (I'm looking at you, vine!) this
Review: The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek
Saturday, Mar 31 2018 11:01
| Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by Mark A. AltmanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting read for the history of TNG through the Kelvin-timeline movies. There was also a little bi in here about pop-culture influences of Star Trek, and a nod to fan films. For the first book
Review: Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: Best Practices and Principles for Instructors
Friday, Mar 23 2018 14:09
| Books, CSCL, Education, goodreads, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networking
| Permalink
Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: Best Practices and Principles for Instructors by Kara L. OrvisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An interesting book to read if you're interested in CSCL. It may be a tad bit dated at this point, but some core (or historical) materials are of value. For me specifically - and my EdD research, there were some interesting points to be made about CSCL. I don't
Review: Moocs: Design, Use and Business Models
Wednesday, Mar 21 2018 11:26
| Books, goodreads, MOOC, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Moocs: Design, Use and Business Models by Jean-Charles PomerolMy rating: 3 of 5 stars It was not a bad book, but some of the factual errors (or perhaps interpretations of what was reported in the book were not in accordance with my own readings on MOOCing). That said, the book focuses a lot on xMOOCs (not a big surprise, most books seem to be doing this), and the book is focused on higher
Review: Moocs, High Technology, and Higher Learning
Wednesday, Mar 7 2018 19:30
| Books, dissertation, goodreads, MOOC, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Moocs, High Technology, and Higher Learning by Robert A. RhoadsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars The book states that its aim was to provide a balance between both sides of the MOOC debate (both the overly positive, and the overly critical), and I think it has accomplished that. For anyone new to MOOCs, and interested in a brief history of MOOCs, it's a worthwhile read. For me it didn't provide a
Review: MOOCs
Tuesday, Feb 27 2018 18:32
| Books, conference, dissertation, DistanceEducation, Education, goodreads, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
MOOCs by Jonathan HaberMy rating: 4 of 5 stars While the book is a bit out of date (MOOCs have moved along since it was published) I still found it to be a good introduction to the phenomenon of the (albeit without really looking too in-depth at research done in MOOCs).I did have an opportunity to hear the author speak back in 2012 (?) at the Campus Technology conference in Boston. At the
Review: The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years
Sunday, Feb 25 2018 18:21
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years by Edward GrossMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An interesting look at the genesis of Star Trek, from before there was even Star Trek, through The Animated Series, through a few aborted concepts, to Star Trek VI. Told through the words of the people involved in the series, so there are multiple
Review: Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
Friday, Feb 2 2018 09:49
| Books, goodreads, politics, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael WolffMy rating: 4 of 5 stars By the grace of covfefe! I am done! Well...this was an interesting book to read. Yes, it probably lacks the regular fixin's of a biography, but it was quite enlightening to get an inside look at the cast of characters in the current presidency. If you are familiar with Star Trek's mirror universe...the way
Review: The Secret History of Star Wars
Wednesday, Jan 24 2018 10:40
| Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarWars
| Permalink
The Secret History of Star Wars by Michael KaminskiMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This was an interesting book to read. I am much more of a Star Trek person than a Star Wars person, but it was interesting to see how the sausage was made. The key question that came to mind as I was listening to all the revisionist history of this franchise is this: Who really owns (in an intellectual non-commercial
Review: To Mooc or Not to Mooc: How Can Online Learning Help to Build the Future of Higher Education?
Tuesday, Jan 23 2018 09:33
| Books, goodreads, MOOC, PhD, review, School, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
To Mooc or Not to Mooc: How Can Online Learning Help to Build the Future of Higher Education? by Sarah PorterMy rating: 2 of 5 stars I've gone back and forth deciding whether to give this book 2 stars or 1 star. The book wasn't awful, but it was really not all that great. It is a very high level view of MOOCs, written partly as use-cases, and the audience tends to be university administration
Review: Star Trek: TNG: Mirror Broken #5
Saturday, Jan 20 2018 09:30
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek: TNG: Mirror Broken #5 by Scott TiptonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars The six comic arc for this story was quite an interesting "pilot episode" for a Next Generation Mirror Universe crew. Picard starts from the Stargaze and...ummm...earns (?) his way onto commanding the I.S.S. Enterprise. This was an interesting glimpse into the Terran Empire at the time of the Next Generation, but it
what an odd recommendation...
Wednesday, Dec 27 2017 11:08
| algorithms, Books, Computing, goodreads, Humor, recommendation, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
I was on GoodReads the other day updating my reading progress when I saw this bizarre book recommendation. I wonder if this is society's commentary on MOOCs :p
Review: Invasion of the MOOCs: The Promise and Perils of Massive Open Online Courses
Sunday, Dec 17 2017 01:30
| Academia, Books, goodreads, MOOC, PhD, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Invasion of the MOOCs: The Promise and Perils of Massive Open Online Courses by Steven D. KrauseMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This was an interesting collection of essays by people (who I think) met through an xMOOC (EDCMOOC) and decided to put their experiences together. It was interesting to take a slice of MOOC history and read some initial reactions to this phenomenon. Although, calling EDCMOOC
Review: Prepare to Meet Thy Doom: And More True Gaming Stories
Saturday, Nov 18 2017 01:00
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks, video games, VideoGames
| Permalink
Prepare to Meet Thy Doom: And More True Gaming Stories by David KushnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This was an interesting collection of short stories on video games. It is by no means comprehensive, but it was interesting to read nevertheless. It's a good, short, read for people interested in video games and how they impact (and are impacted by) society. I think this book spent a little too
Review: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
Friday, Nov 10 2017 12:17
| audiobooks, Books, goodreads, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David KushnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book about the people and the company that brought you Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. As a kid I was introduced to these through shareware disks bought at the local Staples office store. It's interesting to hear what happened both before and after my introduction to
Review: MOOCs and Educational Challenges around Asia and Europe
Saturday, Nov 4 2017 11:47
| Books, goodreads, MOOC, PhD, research, review, Social Networking, Social Networks
| Permalink
MOOCs and Educational Challenges around Asia and Europe by Bowon KimMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This was an interesting overview of MOOC (and some about OER) initiatives in selected Asian countries. It's interesting to see the role that MOOCs and OER take on in different contexts. I did find some issues with some chapters (naming things MOOCs which aren't really MOOCs), but I guess this was
Review: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Saturday, Oct 28 2017 12:15
| Books, ebooks, goodreads, review, Social Networking, Social Networks, Work
| Permalink
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal NewportMy rating: 3 of 5 stars I've gone back and forth with this book. While listening to it some parts were just 2-stars and others were 4-stars. Perhaps the 4-star part was confirmation bias on my part. That said, some things in this book are just causes to roll your eyes, and other parts make a ton of sense. Over the
Review: The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building
Friday, Oct 20 2017 09:19
| audiobooks, Books, conlang, Defiance, goodreads, linguistics, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building by David J. PetersonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars While I don't see myself conlanging any time soon, this was quite a fun read (and a pretty good book if you are interested in linguistics but don't know where to start!) There were quite a few examples from Game of Thrones (which I guess is the most
Review: Networked Communities: Strategies for Digital Collaboration
Wednesday, Oct 11 2017 01:30
| Books, dissertation, goodreads, management, networked learning, networks, PhD, research, review, Social Networking, Social Networks
| Permalink
Networked Communities: Strategies for Digital Collaboration by Sylvie AlbertMy rating: 2 of 5 stars It was an OK book. Definitely focuses more on the organizational and managerial aspects of networked communities (which aren't of much use to me at the moment). There were some interesting nuggets of information buried throughout the book if you looked carefully enough. I am kind
Review: Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge
Tuesday, Oct 10 2017 01:30
| Books, dissertation, goodreads, PhD, research, review, Social Networking, Social Networks
| Permalink
Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge by Gerry StahlMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Enlightening but I thought it was a bit imbalanced. The theoretical pieces of the book were very interesting (and dense). I tried getting through these chapters in a manner of days and I don't think I got everything (or at least things seem a little fuzzy at the moment). That
Review: E-Research Collaboration
Tuesday, Oct 3 2017 10:57
| Books, collaboration, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
E-Research Collaboration by Murugan AnandarajanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An interesting collection of works on collaboration (if my highlights are anything to go by). There were a few elements in this book that deserve attention in my literature review. The case studies that are presented don't help a ton in my contexts as they tend to be not related to the topic of collaboration as
Review: Collaboration Uncovered: The Forgotten, the Assumed, and the Unexamined in Collaborative Education
Saturday, Sep 30 2017 10:36
| Books, goodreads, PhD, review, School, Social Networking, Social Networks
| Permalink
Collaboration Uncovered: The Forgotten, the Assumed, and the Unexamined in Collaborative Education by Merle RichardsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Quite an interesting collection of perspectives (and stories) about person-to-person collaboration in higher education. I think that you are looking for a book that deals with collaboration at the lower levels (i.e. not institution-to-institution) this
Review: Collaboration and Networking in Education
Monday, Sep 25 2017 01:30
| Books, dissertation, PhD, research, review, Social Media, Social Networking
| Permalink
Collaboration and Networking in Education by Daniel MuijsMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Interesting book on collaboration in education. I was expecting it to focus more on the specific of collaboration, and less on the inter-organizational aspects. As such I found it to be a bit high level for my purposes. Still, this was an interesting book to read, even if I did end up skimming through sections
Review: The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary
Monday, Sep 18 2017 02:00
| Books, goodreads, hacking, Linux, Openness, openSource, PhD, research, review, School, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary by Eric S. RaymondMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Quite an interesting collection of essays on open source programming and culture. GoodReads tells me I've read this before, but I wonder if I just read the essay with the same name rather than the whole book (I didn't remember it, or perhaps I see it
Review: Legacies: Book #3: Purgatory's Key
Friday, Sep 15 2017 11:11
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Legacies: Book #3: Purgatory's Key by Dayton WardMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This was the third in the "legacies" trilogy that I started reading this past summer. Fun book. I wouldn't say that the TOS crew is "my" crew (was introduced to Star Trek with TNG), but it was a fun novel to listen to (audiobook format), and it does give a bit more background into "number 1" (Majel Barrett's character
Review: Collaboration 2.0: Technology and Best Practices for Successful Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World
Monday, Sep 11 2017 01:30
| Books, collaboration, goodreads, PhD, review, School, Social Media, Social Networks
| Permalink
Collaboration 2.0: Technology and Best Practices for Successful Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World by David ColemanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Not a bad read. The technology bit is a little outdated by this point. I think there is some good stuff here, if you ignore the technology. For a book that says that technology and process need to go hand-in-hand, it sure does focus on technology a
Review: Best Defense
Friday, Sep 8 2017 01:00
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, goodreads, novel, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Best Defense by David MackMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting continuation of Captain-to-Captain. I was unaware McCoy had any kids. Fascinating - as Spock would say. I find this alternate universe quite interesting. No hunger, no pain, no being tired...is it all in their minds? I know that Star Trek has explored the mirror universe (well, they just scratched the surface), but it would
Review: 42 Rules for Successful Collaboration (2nd Edition): A Practical Approach to Working with People, Processes and Technology
42 Rules for Successful Collaboration (2nd Edition): A Practical Approach to Working with People, Processes and Technology by David ColemanMy rating: 2 of 5 stars I guess I forgot to check off this book as read a few days ago. The book was OK, and it was a fairly fast book to read, not weighed down by disciplinary jargon. That said, some of the rules are quite helpful, whereas others
Review: Collaboration in Distance Education: International Case Studies
Wednesday, Aug 16 2017 01:30
| Books, dissertation, DistanceEducation, goodreads, PhD, review, School, Social Networking, Work
| Permalink
Collaboration in Distance Education: International Case Studies by Louise MoranMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Even though it's a little dated at this point, it was an interesting view into cross-organizational collaborations in distance education. I started reading this thinking that it was more about person-to-person collaboration, not necessarily institution-to-institution initiatives.
Review: Teaching Crowds: Learning and Social Media
Teaching Crowds: Learning and Social Media by John DronMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I've had both a physical and a digital copy of this book for ages, but only really gone through select passages since I've had it. This time around I read through it cover to cover. It's interesting to read about sets, nets, groups, and collectives, and how they are instantiated using various technologies. I
Review: Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach: 41
Wednesday, Aug 2 2017 10:31
| Books, dissertation, goodreads, PhD, research, review, School
| Permalink
Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach: 41 by Joseph A. MaxwellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This was quite a short book (in comparison to other methods books I've read) but it was quite good. It's definitely packed with good insight and things to make you think about what you want to consider when it comes to writing your research proposal. At the end of each chapter there are memoing
Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Gorn Crisis
Monday, Jul 31 2017 10:27
| Books, Comic Book, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Gorn Crisis by Kevin J. AndersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars This was an OK graphic novel. The watercolor inspired art direction didn't really do much for me. It wasn't bad, it just was not something that I was drawn to as compared to other comics I've read. The story was also mediocre. I was expecting more in-depth Gorn lore, and it seemed like a very throw-away
Review: Internet Inquiry: Conversations about Method
Monday, Jul 17 2017 02:30
| Books, goodreads, PhD, research, review, School, Social Networks
| Permalink
Internet Inquiry: Conversations about Method by Annette N. MarkhamMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An interesting collection of researched essays on doing qualitative research on the internet. The book is setup in a Question prompt-response-responses to the response manner. In a sense it's a bit like a dialogue, or a panel discussion, but in written form. It definitely gives you some food
Review: Legacies: Book 1: Captain to Captain
Wednesday, Jun 28 2017 19:25
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, StarTrek
| Permalink
Legacies: Book 1: Captain to Captain by Greg CoxMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Quite an interesting kick off to the 50th anniversary novel special (if you'd call it that). This story deals with characters that were seen in the original pilot (the one that was never picked up), with Number One (Majel Barrett's character) coming to Kirk's enterprise to take a piece of tech that allow s for interdimentional
Review: The Art of Case Study Research
The Art of Case Study Research by Robert E. (Earl) StakeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This book reads well, and its nice narrative (for the most part) style of writing really gives the reader a good overview of the Case Study method and how to research and write using this approach. It was fairly easy to read through, and it would be good to read this again as you embark on your case study. That
Review: Advances in Research on Networked Learning
Advances in Research on Networked Learning by Peter GoodyearMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An interesting exploration of Networked Learning - despite it being a little dated (from a technology point of view) the chapters are still relevant today in my opinion 😃. I actually came across a few good nuggets of information that I need to track down for my own dissertation work - serendipity strikes
Review: Armada
Tuesday, May 23 2017 12:55
| Books, fiction, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networking, Social Networks
| Permalink
Armada by Ernest ClineMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I was looking forward to reading this book as soon as I discovered that it existed. I really liked "Ready Player One" and this book did not disappoint. The book has a ton of references to (mostly) 80s pop-culture and it indulges the conspiracy theorists that say that the government is preparing us for the imminent arrival of our alien foes.
Review: Place-Based Spaces for Networked Learning
Wednesday, May 17 2017 01:30
| academics, Books, goodreads, mLearning, networked learning, PhD, review, Social Networks
| Permalink
Place-Based Spaces for Networked Learning by Lucia CarvalhoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Interesting book of cases in Networked Learning. It's fun to see some familiar researcher names pop-up where you don't expect them. This book seems like it has a well-rounded selection of case studies where Networked Learning and Space intersect. Good read, even though not all of the chapters really pertained
Review: The Butcher of Anderson Station
Saturday, May 13 2017 01:00
| Books, Entertainment, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Media, space, TheExpanse
| Permalink
The Butcher of Anderson Station by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Quite an interesting background story for Fred. I don't remember if I saw this on the TV show, I guess I need to rewatch. Sets up an interesting juxtaposition between Earth/Mars and the Belters, and provides some history for the Belters. View all my reviews
Review: Drive
Wednesday, May 10 2017 02:30
| Books, goodreads, review, Sci-Fi, Social Networks, TheExpanse
| Permalink
Drive by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Interesting short novella about the person who developed the propulsion systems used in this universe (and who is mentioned in passing in the first novel). Pretty good for a world-building - I hope there is more later on talking about the history of this verse and how the belt became the belt. View all my reviews
Review of The Architecture of Productive Learning Networks
Monday, May 8 2017 01:00
| academics, Books, goodreads, networked learning, PhD, School, Social Networks
| Permalink
The Architecture of Productive Learning Networks by Lucila CarvalhoMy rating: 3 of 5 starsI'd give it 3.5 stars if GoodReads would allow it. This is an interesting book on case studies (essentially) on how people have implemented Networked Learning in their various environments. Some examples might resonate with you, and others might be too alien. Overall I think it's a good idea book. Some chapters
Review: Leviathan Wakes
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I started reading this series because I am a fan of the show. I am amazed at how faithful the TV show is to the book. Having seen Season 1 of the show I was not really surprised at the story, but I have to say that the book adds depth to the television series (some things don't translate). Looking forward to reading more of this
Babar married his cousin?!
Wednesday, Apr 19 2017 10:41
| Books, Entertainment, Humor, JohnOliver, news, politics
| Permalink
This past weekend's last week tonight (on the topic of the upcoming french elections) was pretty awesome. Love the film noir ending ;-). I didn't remember that Babar married his cousin...
Review: Analysing Networked Learning Practices In Higher Education And Continuing Professional Development
Analysing Networked Learning Practices In Higher Education And Continuing Professional Development by Lone Dirckinck-HolmfeldMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Learned a lot on infrastructure and affordances in relation to Networked Learning. This was an interesting read, and my fourth book into this topic. I still have a few more on my to-read list, but I am looking forward to them. I
Review: Exploring the Theory, Pedagogy and Practice of Networked Learning
Wednesday, Apr 5 2017 01:30
| Academia, Books, goodreads, PhD, review, School, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Networks
| Permalink
Exploring the Theory, Pedagogy and Practice of Networked Learning by Lone Dirckinck-HolmfeldMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I liked this particular book on Networked Learning. It provided a nice balance between theory and actual practice. I think I am addicted to this Networked Learning thing. I have a three more books on my to-read list on GoodReads, and I bookmarked the proceedings for
Review: The Design, Experience and Practice of Networked Learning
Monday, Mar 20 2017 02:00
| Academia, academics, Books, dissertation, goodreads, review, Social Networks
| Permalink
The Design, Experience and Practice of Networked Learning by Vivien HodgsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Continuing my reading into the presentation I want to do this April, and working on my readings for my dissertation proposal, here is this book. This was quite interesting to read, and it definitely went by faster compared to another Networked Learning book I read recently. The edited
Review: How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences
How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences by David R. KrathwohlMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Finished this - maybe a little later than I expected (the semester ended a month ago :p) but it's done. Overall not a bad book. It's easy to read and it provides a lot of food for thought in terms of what you should have in your
Goodreads year-end-review
Tuesday, Dec 27 2016 02:30
| Books, Comic Book, comics, goodreads, reading, review, School, Social Networking, Social Networks, StarTrek
| Permalink
Couldn't escape the GoodRead year-end-review!I am generally very conservative when I set my reading goals each year because I tend to think of books as thick things that take a long time to get through. However, as this year has proven again I've read more books than I expected. If you notice, you'll see that it's a lot of comic books and star trek novels (audiobook or text-to-speech ebooks
Star Trek Discovery: 10 years before Kirk
Wednesday, Aug 17 2016 02:00
| Books, Entertainment, novel, online, rumor, Sci-Fi, StarTrek, Television
| Permalink
This past week the rumor, or leak, is that the new Star Trek series (Discovery) will take place 100 years after Enterprise, and 10 years before the original series. I've seen a lot of "bah! humbug"-ing in the various facebook Trek groups I follow (mostly because of fan films). It seems that most people would prefer something set in the post-Voyager and post-Nemesis era, which
Year end review of books
Saturday, Dec 19 2015 06:00
| audiobooks, Books, Education, Entertainment, Games, GearsOfWar, SciFi, Social Networks, StarTrek, video games, VideoGames, XBOX
| Permalink
While we still have a few more weeks left in 2015, and I probably will finish one more book (the one I have in progress and listening to during my commutes these days), this is a mostly accurate view of my 2015 reading list. One year I made my goal to read 30 books in a year - failed it. Since then I've decided to keep it simple and focus on reading a book a month. If I go over that
woah! What a season finale for continuum!
Sunday, Oct 18 2015 08:52
| adieu, Books, continuum, DrWho, Entertainment, fiction, finale, SciFi, StarTrek, Television
| Permalink
Last week I was catching up with Continuum, a Canadian science fiction show about a future cop that finds her way to present-day Vancouver.What I didn't realize is that this was the final season, and I was actually watching the final episode, which for once was refreshing to not know what was coming. (yes, spoilers ahead). Stop reading, and go see this series. It's worth watching.With the TV
Back to the future!
Wednesday, May 23 2012 10:30
| audiobooks, Books, Entertainment, Games, motivation, VideoGames
| Permalink
Or...maybe back to the past? Going Retro? Hmmm... Perhaps going retro is a more appropriate title.In any case, having played Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST and Halo Reach and liked the, I decided to read to 4 Halo Books. I read (or rather listened to) Halo Evolutions I, and the first trio of Halo Books (Fall of Reach, The Flood and First Strike) in audiobook format (thank you library!). I enjoyed
CIA: Operation Ajax - interesting comic book!
Friday, Dec 16 2011 16:02
| Books, Comic Book, iOS, iPad, Technology
| Permalink
This is a pretty interesting comic book (based on real events). This is so nicely done that others need to pay attention to it! It really showcases what you can do when you really utilize the medium you have to work with and break out of existing constraints (that are not necessarily your current medium's constraint)CIA : Operation Ajax for the iPad from Cognito Comics on Vimeo.
Hypertext novels?
HyperCard - one of the tools used for creating HyperText fictionI came across this article on Slate the other day on the topic of HyperText books. I have to say that the idea intrigued me since for the "early life" of HyperText stories I was in Greece and I didn't have a computer, and for the latter part of their life (in the 90s anyway), I wasn't really interested in reading novels, much less so on
Books to read...but you already know the content?
Thursday, Aug 18 2011 17:53
| Academia, Books, Entertainment, linguistics
| Permalink
This past summer I borrowed quite a lot of books from my school's library. Since I am a staff member the loan period is quite generous, so I could take out a box full of books and have them due back in October. Pretty sweet. So I decided to look at my GoodReads list and get as many books as I could find at my school which has the generous loan period. After reading quite a few books from
Starship Troopers - the book
Over the weekend I took the opportunity of having nice weather to sit out in the sun and finish off the remainder sixty or so pages in Starship Troopers that I had started reading a few weeks ago. I had watched the movie adaptation when it came out quite some time ago (1998?) as well as the two sequels to the movie: Starship Troopers Hero of the Federation and Starship Troopers Marauder. The
Giving up on Atlas Shrugged
Having played a number of games that make reference to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, I decided that it would be a good idea to actually read the book that has served as some sort of inspiration for those games. This book is also seems to be a book that has won critical acclaim, so it seemed like a good idea to read it. Thus I put this book on my Overdrive account (public library audiobooks) and
Half-Made World, some thoughts.
Monday, Apr 11 2011 17:39
| Books, Entertainment, review
| Permalink
Last fall I won a pre-release copy of the book Half-Made World by Felix Gilman - this was through GoodReads.com. Sadly with all the homework and school reading I didn't really get to read the book right away. Well, with school over I was able to finally pick up the book and read it. I thought that since I do not read a lot of fiction it would be a good change of pace for my reading habits.The
Mixed thoughts on the 4-hour workweek
A long while ago I got a promotional copy of the 4-hour work week by Tim Ferriss on Audible. Now that I have the audible app on my iPhone I had rediscovered that I had purchased (for nothing) this book and I thought I would give it a try. My first encounter with this book was through a classmate's wall on Facebook - he had written a rave review of the book. Personally, back then,
Overdrive FAIL
The other day I was curious to see if Overdrive had an iOS app that I could load on my iPod Touch or iPhone so I can take advantage of the service offerings of my local public library. I often go to the library to get videos or books (and on occasion books on CD), but lately I haven't had much of an opportunity to browse the stacks - and quite honestly my academic library keeps me busy with academic
Free: the future of a radical price
Thursday, Aug 12 2010 17:38
| Books, Business, Education, interesting, marketing, MBA, review
| Permalink
A while back I downloaded Free: The future of a radical price (by Chris Anderson) from Audible. I'm pretty sure that it's probably still free (the eBook version was free for a while but probably not anymore). In any case, with the audible app, I've rediscovered by free purchase (which is probably in some backup disk somewhere), downloaded it and started reading it.I have to say that I really
Audible iOS app is good!
Wednesday, Jul 28 2010 17:14
| Applications, audiobooks, Books, iOS
| Permalink
A week or so ago I heard on one of the TWiT Podcasts that audible had an audible application for the iPhone out. Now over the years I've bought many Free audible books. They go on sale, or there is a special promotion going on and the books are free. These are automatically downloaded and added to my iTunes library. I don't have them automatically synced however because I don't plan on listening
I hate people!
Thursday, Sep 17 2009 08:34
| Books, Humor, management
| Permalink
Well, actually I don't but that is the title of a book that I read recently that was quite a page turner. I first saw this book (I hate people) advertised somewhere online, I can't remember where, but the graphic did catch my eye. It shows a stick figure kicking over a water cooler. The saying does that you should not judge a book by its cover, but in this case the cover was a good indication of
Why business people speak like idiots
Thursday, Jul 24 2008 08:36
| Books, Entertainment
| Permalink
I recently finished listening to Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide during my commutes from home to work and vice versa. I was never really a fan of business speak, crazy work such as paradigm shift, or leveraging my assets to build up a best of breed solution. While in business school I tried to avoid such BS, but I do have to admit that I have in a number of occasions (when