I have applied for a certificate in systems science.

I have applied for a certificate study program at the University of Ottawa in systems science. I will also apply to work as a teaching assistant in statistics at the University of Ottawa. This could mean I change schools next year.

I have been admitted to a diploma on Sonic Design.

I have been admitted to the study of Sonic Design. This is a program where one studies music making on computers. It is only a five credit program and I would study it concurrantly with my MA next year. I should hear about the MA admission in June.

Returning books to the library.

I returned the book on digital crime and digital terrorism. I read about a third or a half of this book. I also returned a book about statistical machine learning.

I have not been studying much the past few weeks.

I have been reading the past few weeks but I am not studying a course formally this spring term. The spring term started on Wednesday. My TA work will start this coming Wednesday.

I did some reading into the vulnerable worker.

I read a disccussion report from the Law Commisson of Canada on vulnerable workers. I got quite angry about my poverty after reading this report.

I am no longer studying environmental sciences but I did do some green party official unpaid labour in the last 24 hours.

I attended a green party meeting yesterday and today did some cyber organizing for this part of the green party which is the local part here. Don't mind my obtuse English; it effects no one; mind your own.

The mayoral candidate.

I have been bumping into the Mayoral candidate recently. I just sent him a web based comment. He said feels tax payers should not pay for disAbility benefits. He seems to be dividing the community while he says he is out to unite people. He seems to be a politician who claims he will handle diversity. He is gay so I think he should be a politician of difference(s). I think he speaks out of both sides of his month.

Criminology's Promise conference

I am attending a conference today at my school. It is called Criminology's Promise. One of the presenters is a former professor of mine in drug law. Some of the presenters are graduate course professors so this is a chance to get to know them a bit better.

Where I went on-line this morning concerning health statistics

I used the book from the university library on health statistics to search on-line journals, the WHO and US government health institute for information on health statistics. The US document was here http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/21st%20final%20report.pdf, concerning health statistics and health statistics models. I got lead astray at the WHO web site looking for this document on disease classifications http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/ which is on-line. I went to something on noise and ended up in Germany at a national occupational health and safety web site here at http://www.baua.de/ which is available in English. So another research adventure over night.

Of course disease classifications included stuff on schizophrenia, so I printed that out from the WHO classification. But to put it in popular language it means we are being put in little shoe boxes by doctors. In academic terms, classifications like the WHO's and the DSM are contested areas and suggest viewpoints that priviledge scientific knowledge above other forms of knowledge. When, in fact, experimental science can not study the whole of life. Even just feelings and emotional reality, or friendships and real human to human relationships, and the effect these have on mental health and mental illness recovery, will be unrecorded as experimental sciences can not record these factors. So these factors will be ignored and left out of a scientific and classifications world view. Thus we need narratives i.e stories from friends, family and professionals a bigger story.

Digging deep into an book introduction.

More and more these days I search out references in things I read. I just completed the first read of an introduction to this book:

Friedman, Daniel J. & Hunter, Edward L. & Parrish II, R. Gibson. Health Statistics: Shaping Policy and Practice to Improve the Population's Health (Oxford: Oxford University, 2005).

Tonight this inspires me about community. The model presented for identifying gaps in data shows the topic of social change as but one of about 40 topics. Social change and law is the theme of the graduate school I hope to enter this fall.

I am now going to look up the references at the end of this introductory chapter on the internet and using the internet at our school's library.

My proctoring duties are done.

I have completed my proctoring duties for the winter term. I have been hired for some extra proctoring duties though which I started last night for five hours.

My final exam in my course in statistical design of experiments is done now.

I finished another term by completing my take home exam in statistical design of experiments this past weekend.

My winter term TA work is done.

I marked a series of questions concerning cluster sampling as an appropriate choice for a sampling technique. This took two hours of marking. I am now done my TA duties for another term.

I have been doing mundane computer tasks today.

I have been backing up computers and testing my new used iBook today. I am also preparing a bibliography post for my meeting with a professor that may occur today. I am also surfing a little on the new used iBook. I am surfing a couple of conventions' web pages. One is the teaching assistant union's Ontario convention coming up in May and I am already registered as a delegate so this is just research that will help me participate in this event in Ottawa. This union represents more than just university workers and I attended a university worker's convention with this union a few weeks ago. The other convention is not until November and it is a convention of disAbled students and I am thinking of doing a presentation on working as a person/student with a disAbility. This convention is also in Ottawa. Speaking of conventions I was going to make a proposal to the Association of Internet Researchers to hold our 2007 convention in Ottawa and did get two Canada Research Chairs to say they would attend but the deadline for proposals approached too fast and I gave up.

Focus on experimental design for the next week of studies.

Whether the term focus comes from photography and optics or revolution and guerilla warfare I need to apply it to studies. Too many times the confused academic advisor is devalued by me in a form of elitism where I see their lack of understanding of me as evidence of their lesser intelligence. I need to learn from this because I am now becoming the academic and employment advisor for other students. As a teaching assistant my role of advisor is optional but it can make be a better teacher if I do it right. Also I need to focus on experimental design for the next week of studies.

Reading critiques of Wired magazine.

The first critique I read of Wired magazine was

Pauline Borsook's, Cyberselfish (New York: Public Affairs, 2000).

This book enlightened me to the dangers of Wired magazine and clarified some of my own thoughts as a Wired reader.

This past few months I have been reading

Stewart Millar, Melanie. Cracking the Gender Code: Who Rules The Wired World (Toronto, Ont.: Second Story, 1998).

This book builds on the sexist reality of Wired magazine. I have not read the whole book yet but am rereading parts of it with interest.

Preparing to meet Sheryl Hamilton.

I am following my dad's advice to meet with professors of the law department to help my application along. To do this I have a meeting being scheduled with Sheryl Hamilton a department of law professor. I have read some of her M.A. on cyber feminism. I have also gathered all the reading for her course in communications law. I read some of this material. She feels that a productive meeting will help my application. Here I am going to list the gender books I am reading at present. I will also list the gender books I am borrowing or own but am not actively reading. I will also list books I have read in the past about gender and computing.

These are two books that look specifically at Wired Magazine

Pauline Borsook's, Cyberselfish (New York: Public Affairs, 2000).

This book enlightened me to the dangers of Wired magazine and clarified some of my own thoughts as a Wired reader.

This past few months I have been reading

Stewart Millar, Melanie. Cracking the Gender Code: Who Rules The Wired World (Toronto, Ont.: Second Story, 1998).

This book builds on the sexist reality of Wired magazine. I have not read the whole book yet but am rereading parts of it with interest.

These are the other gender and technology books I am either reading now or have read in the past year or two:

Consalvo, Mia, & Passonen, Susanna. Women & Everyday Uses of the Internet: Agency & Identity (New York: Peter Lang, 2002).

Mostly the articles I read in this book concern web sites that are designed for women or marketted to women. I read about three articles. One article, concerned women as web masters, and pointed out that women tend to be graphic designers of web sites, rather than programers and are paid less in a rather involved case of discrimination in employment.

Cooper, Joel, & Weaver, Kimberlee D. Gender and Computers: Understanding the Digital Divide (London: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2003).

I am about half way through this empirical study of girl's and boy's uses of computers in schools. The big idea I learned from this is that educational software is designed or has been designed in the past to appeal to boys rather than girls. But the thesis around the digital divide, that high tech jobs are a good thing is questionable these days.

Haraway, Donna. A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s in Haraway, Donna. The Haraway Reader (New York: Routledge, 2004)

This inspired me to create my www.cybercitizen.org web site

Wajcman, Judy. Techno Feminism (Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2004).

I have read this book which was basically a critical view of other feminist writers of technology including Haraway.

These are the general women's studies books I am reading at present:

Marking this morning.

I am up early this morning marking. I had meant to get this marking done today but it is taking longer. I am marking the largest Q right now and when this is done the rest will be a breeze. So this is the last major part of the work this term. Then I can focus on my own exam. I am also being employed to proctor exams again. This is fairly easy work proctoring but this time I have some days with two exams per day.

Reading more Donna Haraway and doing end of term marking.

I am reading more of the Haraway reader. I am also just doing my end of term marking. My radical union is preparing to attend the Montreal Anarchist book fair later this spring.

School work is becoming focused on statistics.

I also sorted books out this morning and I plan to study for my exam for two hours a day until the exam. That is for the next six days then two days break then five days then get my exam. I will spend three days writing my exam. I borrowed books on the so called advanced topics in the experimental design course. These are fractional factorials and response surfaces. I also borrowed a book on simulations. I am applying to attend a systems science graduate school next year. At the moment I do not know how I will afford all my professional dues that are late at this point. But I am realising that the professional statistican qualification might be put off for awhile. I can instead pay the late dues and pay for the application to systems science. In systems science I could study simulations. I would really like to do this. But perhaps I will not be admitted. Oh well it costs 75 dollars to try. I am almost at this point in the morning finished my alotted time for studying experimental design. I have another hour and a half but I am going to do some job searching and looking at my systems science application in this time. I am keen to look for work even full time work now because I could end my education here at this point. I am also basically working full time hours now so I am sure I can put up with the stress levels of full time job at this point. But I am keen at this moment because the job statistics that came out yesterday tell a story of full time job hiring. I am going to try to capitalise on this moment in the economy.