Category: Read

Read IndieFollow by Matthias PfefferleMatthias Pfefferle (notizBlog)
Letzte Woche war WordCamp Europe. Mit weit über 8000 Teilnehmern war es das bisher größte online WordCamp! Bei der Größe ist es klar, dass man auch eine ganze Menge neuer und interessanter Leute trifft. Also schnell auf Twitter und allen folgen! Ich war auf dem größten online Event, von dem w...
I’ve commented before that I really don’t understand why WordCamps don’t provide badges with spaces for one’s website as their primary identity. Twitter can be good for quick follows and conference chatter, but now that we have some tools for doing a lot of this within WordPress, why not use it and prefer it over other methods?

Matthias has some great thoughts here about following and highlights a great follow page he’s built for his own website.

Read Shinigami Eyes (shinigami-eyes.github.io)
Shinigami Eyes is a browser extension that highlights known trans-friendly and anti-trans pages/users on social networks with different colors.
I can immediately see a handful of people I’m going to unfollow with this lovely tool. It seems to be the inverse of an abhorrent tool that added ((())) around people’s names, so I’ll have to think about some of the potential implications of potential harm that such tools could have, particularly if they’re miss used, gamed, or even hacked.

ThreadReaderApp announces support for Micropub

Bookmarked We have new features on our site for authors who love writing Twitter threads! by ThreadReaderAppThreadReaderApp (threadreaderapp.com)
1) Get PDF archives of all your own threads
2) Publish your threads to blog using Micropub

We are providing these for free to help authors spread their work!
Replied to How much ‘work’ should my online course be for me and my students? by dave dave (davecormier.com)
How much work is too much (or too little) work for my students? How much work is too much work for my TAs or for me? How do I design an online course? A post where i propose ‘Total Work Hours‘ as a replacement for the Course/Credit Hour. As we leave behind the emergency teaching processes that h...
I really appreciate this re-framing here.

Restructuring coursework takes a lot of time and effort. Looking out for part-timers and adjuncts who are already often thrown into the deep end without much support is also key.

Another question we may ask is how can students be better brought into the ideas behind the pedagogy to help themselves as well as their colleagues and potential future versions of a particular course?

Replied to Pasadena Unified Board: Torres Not Running for Re-Election by News Desk (ColoradoBoulevard.net)
Lawrence Torres, Pasadena Unified School District Board member representing District 6, has decided not to run for reelection.
Sad to see just a press release here. Was there a separate underlying reason he’s leaving. Was there communication between him and the other contender? Is the seat  being “handed” to a successor and his announcement is timed when it’s too late for others to enter the race? It would be nice to see some additional reporting here.
Read Juneteenth Has New Meaning in Pasadena by Jason Hardin (ColoradoBoulevard.net)
As thousands of local residents of all ethnicities continue to participate in peaceful protests against the culture of racial bias, profiling, and misuse of force in police departments across our nation, “Juneteenth” is sure to have taken on a new meaning this year.
Read Here’s What the Rose Bowl is Doing on July 4 (Pasadena Now)

Although the Rose Bowl will not put on the traditional July 4 event with a big crowd viewing fireworks, there will be a celebration of the nation’s birthday.

At the last meeting of the Rose Bowl Operating Company, the group agreed to hold an online event.

Replied to Council Approves Balanced 2021 Budget (Pasadena Now)
In the midst of an extraordinary year which has seen unprecedented damage to the City’s revenue stream due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council Monday unanimously approved a balanced 2021 Fiscal Year budget.
Presumably the budget is a public document. The reporting here would be better if there were some analysis of its breakdown as well as a link to a copy of the budget itself. What percentage of the budget goes to the police versus the percentages that go to the other services mentioned?
Read Guest Opinion | Ryan Bell: It’s Time to End Policing As We Know It (Pasadena Now)
But what really surprised me at Monday’s city council meeting were the comments from council members in response to public comments. To a one, they swore they were opposed to defunding the police. This tells me that they either don’t understand what defunding the police means or they’re being deliberately obtuse. Legislators defund things all the time. Public education has been undergoing massive defunding for decades nationwide. Same with housing. But suddenly everyone is gobsmacked by the idea of reducing the funding to a city department and reallocating those resources to provide essential services in a safer, more effective way. Several councilmembers, including Mayor Tornek, said that to defund the PPD would be irresponsible and then went on to say that it’s very important that we examine the budget allocations for all departments, including the police, and make adjustments that are responsive to the community. Yes, exactly! That’s exactly what community leaders are talking about.
Read Sweet smells of success emanate from the Gourmet Cobbler Factory and Clifton’s BBQ by Frier McCollister (Pasadena Weekly)
When we hear about how the pandemic and ensuing lockdown has affected local “industry” we might not have been thinking of the Gourmet Cobbler Factory. Gourmet cobbler? Factory? Yes, another little known facet of our local dining scene is that apparently Pasadena has been the epicenter of artisanal fruit cobbler production for several decades. Just around the corner from the Academy Theater, the current iteration of the Gourmet Cobbler Factory dates to 2002, when Clifton and Gloria Powell brought their recipes for “Southern” fruit cobbler to replace those at the original cobbler operation, which had been producing cobbler in the same location since 1978.
Need an idea for take out on Juneteenth or for Father’s Day?

I just went for BBQ and cobbler on Wednesday night and can confirm this place is pretty solid. I wish I had gotten twice the amount of cobbler, but I guess I can go again soon. Like all good BBQ joints, one should call their order in ahead for best availability of meat. 😉