MHCC Game Development AAS Degree Program Goes NOI

Dateline: Friday, October 1, 2010.

The Computer Game Development AAS degree went NOI. The Notice of Intent to Offer (NOI – get it?) was submitted on Friday. After 30 days, we will begin the paper work to get the degree approved by the state and we are on our way. Meanwhile, we are sending our class outlines to the MHCC Curriculum Committee for approval. That step will convert our OccSup (Occupational Supplemental) classes to CET (Career Educational Training). That will make the classes “transferrable”.

When the classes get through Curriculum, they will acquire their final names and course ids. At that time, I will post them along with their proposed schedule on http://www.obiWEBkenobi.com.

All things being equal, we will be in the catalog for fall 2011!

Consumer of Data

Consumer of Data

In our introductory object oriented programming class, we have a discuss about the Graphical User Interface (GUI). In that discuss, we work to differentiate the distinction of the perspectives of the user versus the perspective of the programmer within the context of the usage of the GUI. Specifically, we express the following:

“The GUI from the User’s perspective is a window through which one enters or
receives data. The GUI from the programmer’s perspective is a Form onto which
one adds controls.”

Controls, of course, are anything that is placed on the form (e.g. labels, textboxes, images, buttons, etc.).

More than a differentiation of the roles of the user and the programmer as it applies to the GUI, this distinction also differentiates the roles of the consumer of the data with that of the provider of the data.

It would be a mistake for a consumer to think that because they are touching a technology, and they are a user, then all who touch a technology are equally users. In reality, while there may be an enormous number of user/consumers, there still needs to be a group who are the providers of the technology.

Who are the providers in technology? They are analysts, the programmers, the technicians, and the help desk supporters. They are all those who by their labors make the data available and in a useable fashion so that others may profit.

What is Health Informatics? And What Can We Do About It?

There is an old joke, I forget how it goes, or what the punchline was; but, apparently there were these three blind fellows who were trying to describe and elephant based upon what they could feel in front of them. As elephants go, Health Informatics is just such an elephant and may be not only one of the biggest, but it's definition is still not complete even to itself.

In academia, it our duty -- our responsibility -- to produce the relevant training necessary for individuals to be effective in a particular working environment. Health Informatics is a perfect example of our proverbial elephant and it is surrounded by quite a number of blind fellows (myself included) who are groping for a border, an awareness, or a shape to provide us with an understanding of what the rest of that beast must look like.

As a community college instructor, I must seek to define the part of the elephant which is before me. A university instructor will do the same for his/her part. And, a graduate school instructor must likewise do the same for theirs. And like the fellows in the example, each will form their own version of what is the "truth" of the elephant. Each will of course be entirely correct from their perspective; and each will also be entirely wrong. What is different here, is that on our part of the elephant, what we perceive can be appropriate for that part. And while another would discover something completely different, it, too is completely appropriate for that part.

In our first encounter with the beast, we discovered that it indeed has a foot. Not surprising since other systems (beasts) we have encountered also have feet. Some feet are different than others, but they are still feet. And while an elephant's foot may be unique in the Animal Kingdom, it is still a foot. Is it reasonable that we can in our capacity define and describe the feet of the beast and still be talking about the beast? Or in opposite words: is it appropriate to say that because you cannot define the whole of the elephant, then you are not allowed to describe the elephant's feet as "elephant feet"? Of course not. Perhaps we do not have a solid grasp on the elephant's hide or head or snout (snout?); however, we do know what the feet are and they are definitely the feet of an elephant.

In the community college, our job, our goal, our duty is to create individuals job ready to work in a particular career. In fact, within the current grant, it is indeed also our mandate. And we are mandated to begin this training by the third week of September -- seven weeks from today. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has provided us with a fantastic start on a definition of HI; and, some of the strongest minds in America are providing input specifically to support us in producing quality training.

It is quite humbling.

And exciting. Consider, how often in a lifetime does one get the chance to encounter a new elephant?

Hellabytes? I Don't Like Where This Is Going.

In a previous post, we took a look at the zettabyte (ZB) as a legitimate concern for data creation, storage, and organization. And we described the size of the ZB with the example of a ridiculous number of hours of music one would have on a ZB iPod.

Not so ridiculous is the fact that the International System of Units (SI) puts a lot of thought into naming the different prefixes: mega (10E6), gigga (10E9), terra (10E12) up to yotta (10E24); and now a physics student is looking for a name for the next group of 10E27.

Check out this article posted on FoxNews on the issue.

The student is using the SocialNet (Facebook) to help create a new moniker. This can be something fun and admirable. Except...

Interestingly, and perhaps short-sightedly, the prefix "hella" is gaining some traction. It is short-sited because "hell" is a rather terminal concept. Mostly because using hell, as in "a hell of a lot of", would reflect a number as high as you can get. Eventually (and perhaps soon) you are going to need a name for 10E30. So what concept would be a magnitude one thousand times greater than hell? The idea is cute, but that's about it. At the risk of putting too fine a point on it: once you get to hella, there's nowhere else to go.

As a designer, one thing we need to keep in mind when naming things is that name will reflect on us forever either good or bad (think Apple iPad or Chevy Nova).

In this instance, rather than going for the gag, it would be better to think about the the value's place in the numbering schema -- that of, the set prior to 10E30 because it has 10 commas. Since "Yotta" is based on the Greek "octo" (see also Lamar for more detail), perhaps a name based on the Greek "nine" is in order.

One last link. Take a look at this Wikipedia post on naming long numbers. Consider the vastness of data groupings and then ask youself this: "Don't I have anything better to do?"

Job Hunting with the Social Web in a Down Economy

There is no question in my mind that one big key to finding work especially in a down economy is by networking. While the adage “it’s not what you know but who you know” is almost accurate, there seems to be a significant advantage to using the social web to find work. Google the phrase “using the social web to find work” and you will be provide a plethora of books, hints, and advice.

It makes sense as well. If you are in a particular social group, say computer programmers or web designers, and a position becomes available within the network, it will be the “friends of” who will hear about it first. That early knowledge could make a difference.

There is a downside to the social web, and a caveat is the subject of this blog. Take care in what you say. Be mindful who your friends are.

Be clear that when you submit a job application, you are often allowing the prospective employer to do a background check on you. Typically, if there are a large number of applications, the employer will not do a check on every single app. It would only be appropriate to “vet” the top x-number of candidates, or those who make it past the first or second screening. When you do make it to top, the checking begins.

In my experience, background checks such as credit checks, identification, citizenship, etc. are only done by HR and are never revealed to the hiring committee. This is and should be written policy.

However, there is nothing that would prevent a screener – who may already be on Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn – from doing a casual (or even explicit) search for your page. In fact, it has been revealed to me by some both inside academia and in the private sector that that is exactly what some screeners do.

Think of it like this: your resume is you in your “Sunday Best”; and it should be: formal, proper, clean.

Your Facebook page is you in your shorts, warts and all. And perhaps there is an appropriateness to that sort of social release as well.

The bottom line: you Facebook page will have as much influence as your interview answers – should you get the interview at all. Why?

What You Say?

A friend of mine is looking for a job and is having a tough time of it. He told me that he wrote on his MySpace that the economy “s----d” and that he was getting discouraged. Now, what do you think that a prospective employer could do with that information? It would not be difficult for that employer to think they could offer a lower starting wage, or perhaps a lesser position. Or worse “If no one else is hiring this guy, why should I?”

Your words, your jokes, your pictures, your tastes are all made available to the world. If you have any racial, political, sexist, or whatever, comments, jokes, postings, venting, you name it, on your page, those will be highlighted and used against you. On that you can depend.

Birds of a Feather

Let’s get back to the “it’s not what you know but who you know” conversation. Who you have on your friends list and who you allow to post on your page says a lot about you.

Now I get free speech and it’s not my words and all that. But, if you are looking to land a position, and a “friend” has a posting with risqué images, foul language, or that picture of you drunk at your birthday party, what do you think the screeners will think?

On my own site I have “friends” who are relatives, or friends-of-friends, or whatever and I do not have control over what they do or post or say. But, I do have control over what they place on my site. And if they get out of hand: Boom, they are gone.

Suppose that I have a “friend” who lives on the other side of the country. Suppose further that they have a friend who I may or may not know but have accepted their friend request for whatever reason. Follow on to the next dot and Facebook will tell me that friend 1 and friend 2 have a mutual friend 3. I do not know Friend 3. I have never met Friend 3. But, because of the association with friends 1 and 2, I accept the friend request for Messier 3.

Then Friend 3 posts something truly horrible.

Here’s the bad news: it was his posting and not yours, but he is your friend. The hiring screeners will not stop to wonder if Mr. 3 is a true friend or only an internet “friend”. It does not matter anyway. It’s too late. Like the saying goes “don’t get none on you”; well, Mr. 3 “got some on you”.

The bottom line is that if you are using the social web as a part of your work search, get your pages clean and get them clean now.

There is an old saying that goes “I cannot stop the birds from flying over my head, but I can stop them from building a nest in my hair”.