It’s Saturday and for the first time in a very long time I am home alone. Naturally I had planned to work today. With articles, chapters, interview analysis, student work, freelance work, reading and much more I really should work. But in the confusion of a Saturday I have not begun to do anything and in typical procrastination I have cleaned the apartment and done other “important” stuff.
Oh, what the hell, I am seriously considering taking my camera for a walk…
Reading is not only an acquired taste it is also a skill that requires a certain amount of care and support. As if this wasn’t enough it also requires an attitude and interest. For a long time I have been away from literature. Almost all of my reading has been focused on non-fiction and the more I read the less I enjoyed fiction.
Recently I came across and bought Lyrical and Critical Essays by Albert Camus. He is an old favorite who I have unfortunately ignored for all too long. The work of Camus is thoughtful but not unapproachable. The best of all is his language and imagery. In the introduction to The Wrong Side and The Right Side (1958), which is included in the volume I am reading he writes:
I never new what real misfortune was until I saw our chilling suburbs…anyone who has known these industrial slums feels forever soiled, it seems to me, and responsible for their existence.
It feels wonderful to return to fictional works, they manage to touch with a freedom playfulness which, for obvious reasons, cannot be found in non-fictional works.
The third Monday of January is Martin Luther King day. If you, like me, missed this then you can easily catch up by reading about him, or even better reading his work – my favorite is Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) and listening to his speeches. Ten audio files of his speeches have been collected here.
The best collection of everything above is here.
After reading the results of the Seven Random Things meme at both The Mummy’s Bracelet and The Little Professor I want to join in.
Naturally its easy to tag friends like TechnoLlama, Jonas, Hesa, Cyberlaw… But I would also like to tag some of the blogs I regularly read so Mothugg, Stephen, Joi & Jill consider yourselves tagged!
Copyright licenses seem like an area most people would prefer not to read about. It seems to have the same appeal as reading the fine print in home insurance papers. Despite this there is a great interest in the topic and it is nice to see that people are attempting to bridge the cognitive gap by producing information in an interesting and readable format.
Axel Roberts, Rebecca Rojer and Jon Phillips have created an illustrated primer called Sharing Creative Works. It is a nice little powerpoint based cartoon which explains how Creative Commons licensing works.
After spending the best part of a morning doing admin, in particular going through my inbox only to discover what I have missed, I realize (not for the first time) that I need to be more systematic about my work. In particular I need to divide my day in a more efficient manner.
For me the three main productivity and time thieves are:
Interruptions and short meetings – this is because I try to work before and after but interruptions and short meetings make me lose my chain of thought and send me off on a different tangent. A well placed interruption can create a chain of events that cause a whole day to be lost.
Travel time – Since I spend several hours a week on trains (mainly) I need to reconsider the way in which travel can be seen. This time must be used more efficiently. Computer work is possible but not desirable. Reading may be the optimal use of train travel.
Administration – By this I mean the whole process of ensuring that my research and teaching works. It is everything from maintaining email correspondence to filling out the reports. The actual time spent with administration concerns and annoyances is almost as high as the time spent actually carrying out the administrative tasks.
The plan: A proposal of a new work order for myself.
First of all I need to create a meetings and administration day. On this day the main point of going to work will be not to write or to research. It will be to efficiently resolve my administration tasks. This will also free up my mind from thinking about administration.
Second of all I need to create the opposite of an administration day and this is my Creativity day. The whole point of this day will be to think. Not to write but to think. A whole day to work out solutions to problems, lay plans and develop ideas. This day should not be spent writing. Of course I will make notes but maybe I will do this longhand with a paper and pen. This day should be as unplugged as possible. Little or no computer use.
Third I will create two research and writing days. This will include writing out the ideas from the creativity day, carrying out research, writing articles, chapters and books. Writing research proposals belongs to the administration day and should not be done here. These days should be relatively unplugged – keeping Internet use to a minimum.
Fourth and last will be the teaching day. During this day I will lecture and guide, have student meetings and seminars. Since I have a low teaching burden at present this should be more than enough and the time not spent in teaching should be used in preparing for teaching and teaching administration.
Naturally an idea like this cannot work without making sure that there are exceptions. Every now and then I am sure that the plan will implode but the idea is to strive for improvement.
When will you blog? The exception to the rule
However while the focus of these days is as mentioned I do believe that there is a need to apply oneself to work on a regular basis. Therefore in each day I will include one hour of academic writing (except on the two research and writing days since this is already included). One hour of other writing (mostly emails & this blog).
This is the basic plan and I am sure that it will require some fine tuning but I hope to be quite strict about its application. It’s not a new idea that the freedom embedded in academia requires a great deal of self discipline but what is new for me is the attempt to implement a strict organized regime instead of trying to solve things on a priority basis.
Marshal Macluhan, the coiner of misunderstood concepts such as “the medium is the message” and the “global village” apparently had an interesting way of deciding whether or not to buy, borrow, read or ignore a book he recommended people to turn to page 69 of any book and read it. If you like that page, buy the book. Cool idea.
Naturally even this idea has been abused and there is now a blog entitled The Page 69 Test which helps readers try to find books worth reading. Unfortunately my problem is that I have too many books which I want or need to read. But I will be trying the page 69 system.
Last night Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Read her Nobel lecture online, it was delivered on Friday 7 December at the Swedish Academy by Nicholas Pearson, Doris Lessing’s publisher in the UK. In her speech she points to the importance of books and reading for the creation of literature and she also takes a swipe at the banality of the Internet compared with the depth of literature. But the part I enjoyed the best came towards the end…
The storyteller is deep inside everyone of us. The story-maker is always with us. Let us suppose our world is attacked by war, by the horrors that we all of us easily imagine. Let us suppose floods wash through our cities, the seas rise … but the storyteller will be there, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, create us – for good and for ill. It is our stories, the storyteller, that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed. It is the storyteller, the dream-maker, the myth-maker, that is our phoenix, what we are at our best, when we are our most creative.
For those of you who, like myself, live in a state of denial it’s time to face reality. It is soon the end of 2007! No way! We all want more time! I have not finished all of the 1001 things I planned to do before the year ends.
Some of the stuff which is hanging on a thread right now:
Actually this list was supposed to be a way of organising my thoughts but the more things I write the more things I discover and the more stressed I get. Suffice to say that I’m late
photo: J. McPherson
The FSCONS conference was really good. I managed to speak to many interesting people and my presentation turned into a very good interactive discussion with the audience. The only thing that is wrong is that I am unable to attend the second day which is today. The reason for this is that my grandmother is 90. This is a birthday that cannot be missed so I am on the train to Stockholm.
As part of the FSCONS the Free Software Foundation Europe created and handed out the first Free Software Scandinavian Award. Since I was on the award committee I know first hand how interesting reviewing and discussing Free Software projects and initiatives can be. Here is the press release about the award which went to the excellent Norwegian project Skolelinux:
Free Software Foundation Europe is proud to announce that the Norwegian project Skolelinux is the winner of the first Free Software Scandinavian Award handed out at during the Free Software Conference Scandinavia 2007 in Göteborg friday 2007-12-07.
Skolelinux has under a long period of time worked hard to promote the use of Free Software as well as the use of free and open standards and file formats. By using low cost or spare hardware, schools and other public institutions can find a free and cheap IT solution made to meet their needs.
Skolelinux captures a big part of the free software spirit; sharing and reusing. By focusing on schools, Skolelinux makes sure students, tomorrow’s computer users, and decision makers, can grow up in a spirit of sharing, reusing and learning from family, friends and neighbours.
The goals of Skolelinux are to:
* Provide a complete software solution using free software tailored for the needs and use-cases in educational scenarios.
* Pre-configured for easy installation (standalone, as well as network-wide roll out).
* Easy to use, maintain, and administer.
* Supporting your native language.
* Classify and package all free software related to education.
* Write documentation to describe how to use the various software (in an educational context).
* International availability, currently being translated into more than 50 languages.
Skolelinux has combined important, and dedicated work contributions with technical knowledge and political skills.
The adoption of Skolelinux in so many countries around the globe shows that the use of Free Software and open standards has really been spreading in a very positiv way.
The next milestone is that we are now seeing the merge of different school systems based on Free Software. The largest example is the merge between Skolelinux and the very successful Spanish GNU/LinEx project which has at the moment more than 250.000 users and 80.000 work stations in use in schools in Extremadura. The one laptop for every two pupils project.
Both Skolelinux and the GNU/LinEx buildts on Debian GNU/Linux and can enjoy the many synergy effects.
By focusing on schools the Skolelinux project shows by example how Free Software can be used. The jury finds this strategy important for the continued use of free and open standards.
Short about Skolelinux:
GNU/Linux in Schools
Skolelinux is free, stable, future secured, sustainable, and is upgraded frequently
– no license problems
– easy and time saving administration
– security updates are made quickly available
– simple system updating
– good administration of the software packets
– older PC ‘s can be used as thin clients
– no dependence on commercial interests/vendor lock inAbout the leadership:
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The Skolelinux project has “doer democracy” which means that the active persons decide! The merit lies in your contributions not in your title.The free, open source code in the project is very valuable because the source code is available making it is easy to change and
customize. This is illustrated by the many languages that are being supported. In a digitalized world it is important for the survival of the cultures that even small national languages are being actively supported.The collaboration platform:
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The Skolelinux version 3.0r1 is now available. There has been a valuable collaboration between the following countries: Germany, Spain , France, Greece and Norway. Lately also with a Canadian School project.For some years now there have been regular meetings between different free software school systems and projects. The reason being to share cool applications and avoid double work. A win-win situation for all.
Congratulations again to Skolelinux. We wish you continued growths and success.
The Scandinavian Free Software Award
————————————The Scandinavian Free Software Award has been designed for Nordic citizens, projects or organizations that make an outstanding contribution to the Free Software movement. Free Software projects, efforts, achievements of all kinds – including work done by Nordic citizens which has had a large effect in other parts of the world are eligible to be nominated. It is the aim of FSCONS 2007 that this award becomes an annual event.
Jury 2007:
The jury is compiled by Nordic citizens only. This year the members are:
– Anne Østergaard (Gnome Foundation, Denmark)
– Henrik Sandklef (FSFE, Sweden)
– Jonas Öberg (FSFE, Sweden)
– Marcus Rejås (FSFE, Sweden)
– Mathias Klang (FSFE, Sweden)
– Petter Reinholdtsen (NUUG, Norway)
Here is the complete list of nominated projects.
