They give you a handy box for the four hardcover books you get with attending the seminar.

I recently attended Presenting Data and Information, a day-long seminar by Edward Tufte.

I suppose, for starters, that I’m rather surprised at how few people know who Tufte is. Of course, the ones that do recognize the name know him for his recent White House appointment, his distaste for PowerPoint, and his invention of Sparklines.

A common question I get from people after attending the seminar is “Was it worth it?” At $380 a pop, it’s definitely not cheap (add another $170 in train tickets for me on a sleep-deprived Friday), and judging from the number of attendees (estimating 400 at the NYC seminar), I wouldn’t be surprised if the pulled in a cozy six figures after expenses.

Sugarcoating aside, it’s a scheme to sell books (You receive four of Tufte’s books). Thing is, they’re four excellent books, and Tufte utilizes them as high-resolution graphics for his presentation. As soon as you sit down, you’re given a reading assignment–several pages and a few chapters–prior to the presentation beginning.

During the presentation, I found myself often looking up, expecting slide show images to accompany the topics, but often found that wasn’t the case. The epiphany for me, however, was the reminder that people do learn differently, and that a handout prior to any presentation allows students to absorb the material in a variety of ways. Tufte’s comment that people can read faster than you can speak somehow reminded me of my grad school days studying neurolinguistics.

I can't say I've ever had a bookcover autographed before.

I also collected a few new favorite quotes– “No matter how beautiful your interface is, it’d be more beautiful if there were less of it” and “Design is a resource problem, not a creative act“.

So, was it worth it? I’d say yes, though I must admit that I attended based on reputation and never picked up any of his books before. Of course, all of the material is pretty much in the books, anyway, So buying the books by themselves offers a much cheaper alternative.

This past weekend I made it out to BarCamp Philly, and as you can see from the photo above, the turnout was 200-300 people–pretty good. Little did I know that WordCamp NYC was going on at the same time, but I think I made the right choice.

I’ve attended so many BarCamps now that I feel like an aficionado; you start to immediately recognize what works and what doesn’t at these events. Fortunately, Philly’s version of this unconference was well-sponsored and well-organized. They had a Website, pins, t-shirts, an online/mobile schedule, a photographer, and a great turnout. Here’s a hit list of what I liked and what I didn’t like:

Liked:

1. Open Source Cupcakes. ‘Nuff said.
2. Carl Leiby‘s online schedule. I’m against developing iPhone-centric sites, but this certainly came in handy.
3. The pamphlets (above). It included a handy grid for you to write out what you wanted to attend. Definitely a nice touch.
4. The diversity of attendees. There were attendees from education, medical, and insurance sectors–not just Web developers, which made it refreshing for conversations.

Disliked:

1. The venue layout (Nothing against UArts whatsoever). Hosting a BarCamp on multiple floors of a building proved a bit disorienting–and wasn’t conducive to camper interaction out of sessions. Of course, free space is what it is.
2. The logo. Bring back the Liberty Bell, or at least make the logo Philly-centric!
3. No breaks between sessions. This was a scheduling boo-boo, but I think the organizers caught onto it. They also didn’t schedule time for a closing session, but that was promptly remedied.
4. Name tag holders. They’re a personal pet peeve, I suppose. They’re a one-time use item, yet I have some odd sense of guilt that comes over me when I think about throwing them away.

This could reflect my session choices, but it seemed as if all of the sessions I attended were hosted by people interested in discussing a topic, but not necessarily qualified in leading it (by their own admissions). Granted, there’s nothing wrong with this approach, but I prefer that happy balance of workshop and discussion.

Overall, it was pretty cool. I’m starting to get the sense that BarCamps are essentially those great discussions you had in college that you don’t get post-academia. After all, once you’re out, how often do you place yourself in a room with a group of diverse and intelligent strangers to discuss a common topic?

I’m just getting to this now, but a few weeks back I made it out to the James A. Michener Art Museum to see Jim Henson’s Fantastic World, a traveling exhibit that will be in Doylestown until November 29, 2009.

It’s not a large exhibit, though I found the video worth watching–a rarity when it comes to me in museums. Yes, they have Bert, Ernie, and Rolf encased in glass. No, sadly, they don’t have Jennifer Connelly or David Bowie present (though I’ve been meaning to rent Labyrinth). Despite the “timed entry system” stated on the museum Website, they were pretty laid back.

I was most surprised by the fact that Jim Henson worked extensively in graphic design and advertising. Sadly, the YouTube video is gone, but I never knew that Cookie Monster got his start in a 1971 IBM training video (BoingBoing has a photo).

Field trip for Twitterers, anyone?

Following the feedback I’ve received from people I’ve spoken with at Twitter meetups in Harrisburg, I’m proposing an open invite to see the “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World” traveling exhibit at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa on Saturday, September 19, 2009.

It takes roughly 2 hours to get to Doylestown from Harrisburg, plus the exhibit will be timed entry due to anticipated popularity, so here’s what I’m proposing:

1. Buy Tickets for Saturday, 9/19 at 1:00 pm. If 1:00 pm becomes unavailable, go for the 1:30 pm.
2. Comment on this post with your @twitter name saying you’re in (or e-mail me/ reply me @mandalatv if you’re sheepish)
3. Meet at the Starbucks in Union Deposit (3901 Union Deposit Road Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17109) at 11 am.

Based on the number of people coming, we’ll determine the car pool situation from there (hey, I can fit 4 ).

This past weekend I traveled down to University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia (via NYC in a roundabout way) to attend HigherEdCamp Philly. My interest in attending was to see how others were using the Internet in their classrooms (I can’t imagine taking speech class with an assignment to record myself and post it on YouTube!).

I caught a session on Oscelot‘s push to promote Open Source tools in education, Flat World Knowledge‘s drive to provide textbooks online for free, and a pretty interesting study by MIT comparing the results between online classes and in-class presentations.

In being a good camper, I’m posting the slides from my presentation. It’s by no means all-inclusive, as I assembled it during breakfast.

Overall, I found this unconference to be rather refreshing, as attendees weren’t all tech-oriented (as they are at most BarCamps I attend), but were instead a mix of students, instructors, and administrators. Hopefully, the organizers will host another one next year.

Yankee Stadium III next to Yankee Stadium II.

Last week I took my friend Alison to what has become the annual NYC/Yankees trip. When I purchased our tickets from a season ticket-holding friend, I asked what his thoughts were on the new $1.5 billion complex. “Meh” was his response. After attending my first game there, I totally understood his reaction–and began to appreciate just how much I miss the dirty, antiquated–yet original “House that Ruth Built”.

Next to the food, of all the things I miss about big city life would be the convenience of the ballpark only a few subway stops away. I  ended up going to 10-15 games a season for the past few years, so it not only became a part of city living to me, but it rekindled my interest in baseball. This time around I traded the subway for a car ride up, but the experience felt weird for reasons other than transportation.

The stadium interior

Perhaps it was the game I attended, but there was no Marlboro Man. There was no horse jockey racing his imaginary horse. I fear the Bleacher Creatures have been diluted thanks to the openness of the bleacher area, and even Freddie, who has had his problems getting in,  was nowhere to be found. The grandstand felt further from the action, and the outfield display board felt distracting in all of its HD quality.

That’s not to say there weren’t things I didn’t like. For starters, I loved the return of the frieze and how the flags atop of it were ordered according to the current division standings. The seats were easily more comfortable, and the exterior limestone restored the gates to their original beauty. The Yankee Museum was a nice touch, and nearly every type of food was available (I joked at Alison about finding healthy food–only to discover a mini farmer’s market inside of Gate 4). I was also shocked–SHOCKED that they let my friend in with two bags.

The frieze returns.

One thing I do miss is the walkway  circumambulating the grandstand seats. Now, one must go underneath the grandstand to walk around, and while there’s a nice balcony mid-grandstand, one wonders why they should bothering sitting in their seats when there’s a closer view at the balcony.

A comparison of old versus new hallways (old left, new on right) makes me wonder about architecture's impact on crowds.

The bottom line: this new ballpark exemplifies New York in a different manner than its predecessor, as it trades the gritty, crowded, and tradition-laden landmark with one that features excess, accessibility, and financial exclusivity. I’m sure the place will settle into my mind more after a few more games, but it’ll definitely take some getting used to.

During last month’s Central PA Tweetup I ran into a few friends that I hadn’t really seen since we were part of a group visiting Rome in 2002. The encounter reminded me of a Website of my Rome pictures I’d built shortly after the trip.

I posted the site to share the photos with friends (pre-Flickr, mind you), and I remember being scolded by people that were offended of a bunch of Penn State students hitting foreign bars so close to 9/11.

Apparently I’d taken the site down years ago, but I decided to restore it in its table layout, 800×600-supporting glory (you can check it out here).

The way I built the site and formatted the photos reminds me more of my age than any old picture of me ever would (Ugh, I’m getting old!).

Apparently, I failed to mention to a few people that I was in Colorado Springs for a week and a half. I was out there to assist on The Big Game class at Colorado College (think alternate reality game, not hunting elephants). Yes, it was cool.

I must say that I didn’t anticipate missing the Mrs. and the boy as much as I did, although I did have fun out there once I got over a temporary stomach bug. I took a brief trip to Denver to visit an old high school friend, and took a detour from the airport to spend roughly a half hour at Garden of the Gods (above). I wish I’d have had more time, as well as my tripod. Sigh.

It’s still surreal to me that we won’t be living up here in a few days . . . I’m just anticipating a lot of car and train trips.  The closure of Midtown’s Steelers bar Scruffy Duffy’s and Yankee Stadium are a consolation to me in some weird way.

In the meanwhile, I’ve been trying to get a few of the touristy things I’ve wanted to do off my list. This includes Ulysses Grant’s Tomb on the Upper West Side and visiting Tom’s Restaurant.

Grant’s Tomb, the largest mausoleum in the U.S., reminded me of Napoleon’s Tomb, which it was based upon.

I only managed to start appreciating Seinfeld through reruns . . .

Visiting Tom’s reminded me of the Bull and Finch Pub in Boston. The insides just never look like they do on TV.

It’s been 10 years since I’ve visited North Carolina, and the last time involved a rather scary night club, a 150-mile ride in a AAA tow truck to VA Beach, the sale of my first car for less than the in-dash CD player, and the long ride home with my friend’s parents.

This past week I went to the Outer Banks with my wife’s side of the family and fortunately the car made it back with us (Naturally, as a true workaholic, my laptop made the trip as well). Unlike some of my brother and sister-in-laws, I’m not 100% beach bum, so I took a day trip to Hatteras Lighthouse, Roanoke Island, and the Wright Brothers Memorial.

The beaches were nice (though not Philippines nice) but I still don’t understand the fanaticism behind the OBX license plates or bumper stickers–maybe I just prefer a faster pace of lifestyle. Duck Donuts, however, did impress me, and I’m wondering when they’ll start franchising north.

Here’s the original location of the Hatteras Lighthouse in contrast to its current spot. I was a little disappointed with how there was no real on-site documentation regarding the engineering involved in moving the entire lighthouse.

I saw about a million of these in the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke.

Looking over the pictures from my trip, I realized I just don’t take/share a lot of pictures of people. The sharing part has to do with my skepticism of cloud computing (I’m too cheap to go pro with Flickr, considering I pay for so much hosting space to begin with and I don’t want to rely too much on Google’s Picasa). I guess I’ll leave it to my sister-in-law, whose pictures can be found here, here, and here.