Category: Social Stream

Reflections on WordCamp Santa Clarita Valley 2019

I really had a grand time at WordCamp Santa Clarita Valley yesterday. I’d like to thank the visionary Joe Simpson, Jr. and his entire group of fantastic organizers and kind volunteers for putting the entire thing together. I couldn’t imagine a better launch for a brand new camp.

College of the Canyons was a fantastic location for the camp and even had some excellent outdoor patio and dining space for lunch.

I do wish I’d been able to make my schedule work out to have been able to attend on Friday. I’m particularly bummed that I didn’t get to see Glenn Zucman’s presentation as he’s always doing some of the most interesting and creative things with WordPress. I’ll wait patiently for WordPress.tv to deliver it for me.

Some of my favorite highlights:

  • David Nuon wearing a blonde Richard Dean Anderson wig during his talk MacGyver plays with blocks: Using the Gutenberg editor in new and surprising ways
  • Chatting with Kat Christofer of Woo Commerce about how she and the Woo team create better documentation for their product. I think there’s some things we can learn for documenting pieces of the IndieWeb experience with WordPress. She also mentioned the beginning of a new short Mustang road trip.
  • Joseph Dickson going old school on Upgrading Kubrick for Gutenberg. His highlighting the fact that the editor is able to better mirror the ultimate output as a time saver is an intriguing idea.
  • Not that they aren’t always in general, and I didn’t think about it until reflecting on it today, but I also want to mention the spectacular diversity of speakers and attendees at the camp. It really made for a better and more well-rounded experience. I’ll give all the credit to Joe and his team who I suspect are directly responsible for designing it to be that way from the very beginning.

On a more personal level, my two favorite parts included:  Seeing the viceral reactions of a handful of people as the proverbial light switch was turned on when they realized the power and flexibility of the posting interfaces provided by micropub clients during my talk. There was also a palpable rush at the end while using a few minutes of extra time demoing some examples of my website and and the power of Micropub, Webmention, and backfeed along with some other IndieWeb goodness. I’ve already had a number of people following up with additional questions, conversations, and emails.

For those who may have missed them, here is a link to my slides from the Micropub and WordPress talk and a link to some of the bigger pieces I’ve wrtitten about with respect to WordPress and IndieWeb technologies in the past. Naturally, these are only a supplement to the hundreds of others who are working in and documenting the space. 

I’ll also give a special thanks to Joseph Dickson for the photo/tweet of me just before the talk:

The metal and glass edifice framed by the blue sky of the Santa Clarita Valley
Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center on the campus of College of the Canyons
Tables and chairs in foreground with campers chatting in middle ground and the impressive glass wall of the center in the background
Inside the Hook University Center where WordCamp Santa Clarita Valley 2019 was held
Clear signage directs pedestrians to WordCamp Santa Clarita at Hook University Center
Clear signage directs pedestrians to WordCamp Santa Clarita at Hook University Center
My name tag as a speaker at WordCamp Santa Clarita Valley
The front entrance of Brewery Draconum
The afterparty for WordCamp Santa Clarita was held at Draconum in Newhall
Long picnic tables and red umbrellas provided some great ambience with the sun shining brightly in the late afternoon
WordCampers from Santa Clarita gathering on the outdoor patio at Draconum

A selfie by Chris Aldrich with other campers in the background
Hanging out with old friends and new after WordCamp on the patio at Draconum.
Joseph Dixon, Erik Blair

❤️ joe4ska tweeted @jessigurr West coast – class of ‘96 represents at WordCamp Santa Clarita! #wcscv with @ecotechie https://t.co/GebIJWXQgn

Liked a tweet by Joseph DicksonJoseph Dickson (Twitter)

👓 Pet Sematary Ruined a Generation’s Ability to Spell Cemetery | Slate

Read Pet Sematary Ruined a Generation’s Ability to Spell Cemetery (Slate Magazine)
It started with Stephen King’s book. With the new movie, the curse is poised to go international.

🎧 Salvador Dalí Meets The Marx Brothers In ‘Giraffes On Horseback Salad’ | NPR

Listened to Salvador Dalí Meets The Marx Brothers In 'Giraffes On Horseback Salad' by Peter BreslowPeter Breslow from NPR

This is a story about something that didn't happen. A movie that was never made. It was supposed to be a collaboration between the Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and the Marx Brothers.

🎧 A Math Teacher’s Life Summed Up By The Gifted Students He Mentored | NPR

Listened to A Math Teacher's Life Summed Up By The Gifted Students He Mentored by Joe PalcaJoe Palca from NPR.org

A biologist at Harvard was chatting with a colleague about a mentor who pushed him to do harder math problems. It turns out the colleague had the same mentor — and so did many others.

George Berzsenyi is a retired math professor living in Milwaukee County. Most people have never heard of him.

But Berzsenyi has had a remarkable impact on American science and mathematics. He has mentored thousands of high school students, including some who became among the best mathematicians and scientists in the country.

What a great little story…

I also find myself thinking, yet again, what was it about the early 1900’s in Hungary that they turned out, not even so many great scientists, but so many fantastic mathematicians? What were they doing right that we seem to be missing now? Can it be replicated? Was it cultural? Was it a certain type of teaching method? Simple expectations?

👓 Attorneys General Sue Trump Administration Over School Nutrition Rollbacks | The Salt | NPR

Read Attorneys General Sue Trump Administration Over School Nutrition Rollbacks by Allison AubreyAllison Aubrey (The Salt | NPR )

A coalition of state attorneys general is suing the Trump administration for weakening the federal nutrition standards for school meals that are fed to about 30 million children across the country.

"Over a million children in New York — especially those in low-income communities and communities of color — depend on the meals served daily by their schools to be healthy, nutritious, and prepare them for learning," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. Joining James in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont.

👓 2 Students Allegedly Cheated Apple Out Of Nearly $900,000 In Fake iPhone Scheme | NPR

Read 2 Students Allegedly Cheated Apple Out Of Nearly $900,000 In Fake iPhone Scheme (NPR.org)
Prosecutors say it was an elaborate deception that involved roping in friends and family, while using nonsensical pseudonyms and a slew of mailing addresses. The plot seems to have come from China.

🎧 Chef’s Memoir Tackles What It’s Like To Be Young, Gifted And Black In Fine Dining | NPR

Listened to Chef's Memoir Tackles What It's Like To Be Young, Gifted And Black In Fine Dining by Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Maria Godoy from NPR

It was the morning after the election of America's first black president, and Kwame Onwuachi was hungover. He'd been partying all night. He was dealing drugs to survive after he dropped out of college. He was, he says, lost.

But when he saw President Obama, something clicked. "I thought, I can do anything. And I immediately flushed everything that I had down the toilet and was like, I need to find myself," Onwuachi recalls.

He went to the grocery store and bought ingredients to cook a chicken curry. "I didn't know that I wanted to cook, but it was like, here's something that I'm familiar with," he says. "Here's something that brings back these fond memories. And here's something that grounds me. And I want to explore this a little bit more."

We do need more variety in our general cuisines and even in our fine dining cuisine.

I’ve even noticed that Christopher Kimball is doing a lot more international and less-focused on food in his Milk Street television show. Sadly it only seems to be filling a massive hole left by Anthony Bourdain’s coverage. I’ve noticed that Martha Stewart has a show with some international cuisine like this, but it seems to be heavily influenced by a massive funder for PR purposes and she’s often watering down the authenticity of the dishes a bit excessively.

❤️ joe4ska tweeted Micropub Rocks! With @ChrisAldrich @wordcampscv #WCSCV

Liked a tweet by Joseph DicksonJoseph Dickson (Twitter)

❤️ vuildco tweeted @zeldman @thebigwebshow @t #indieweb is excellent & the solution we’ve needed for ages. @t & @zeldman great podcast.

Liked Vuild on Twitter (Twitter)
It was a great little podcast episode.

🎧 Economic Ripples: Hospital Closure Hurts A Town’s Ability To Attract Retirees | NPR

Listened to Economic Ripples: Hospital Closure Hurts A Town's Ability To Attract Retirees by Blake Farmer from NPR | Nashville Public Radio

When a rural community loses its hospital, health care becomes harder to come by in an instant. But a hospital closure also shocks a small town's economy. It shuts down one of its largest employers. It scares off heavy industry that needs an emergency room nearby. And in one Tennessee town, a lost hospital means lost hope of attracting more retirees.

Here’s a great example of why pure capitalist competition doesn’t work in areas like health care and education in large swathes of America. Small communities like this one often have only one option of a hospital to go to, and often they don’t even have that. And many health care issues don’t allow for direct competition and choice because they are emergent and one can only go to the closest provider with their fingers crossed.