2013 Infographic

These are the things that have driven my worklife these last few years.  I prefer Open Source technologies and tools because they allow anyone to customise them and use them for free (freedom in creativity and free from cost).  I was told last week during the Earth Science 30 curriculum writing, "you have more knowledge than money?".  Sadly, with the commodities crash, that is truer than ever.  Some of the Open Source tools I use include

• LibreOffice (office suite)
• Audacity (audio editing tool)
• VLC Player (media player)
• Ubuntu Linux
• Inkscape (vector drawing program)
• Python (programming language)
• PHP (programming language)
• MySQL Database
• Xibo digital signage

I've also been drawn to Creative Commons as a way to use and share knowledge freely (as with one of my best ideas from last year - analysing sound with Audacity).  Think Python, the textbook I use in CS30 is a Creative Commons resource.

Quite a few of the tools listed above involve computer programming and this skill has allowed me to be more efficient in my work and has saved others time as well.  The entry and collection of activity points data is not as onerous now as student numbers are not needed and PHP scripts can glean whatever data one desires from a MySQL database. I also use free tools like the visual languages Scratch and SNAP and these languages have allowed me to offer an alternate stream of CS20.  I still use a commercial language, Delphi, for Windows programming because I like Pascal and was never a C++ programmer.

The economy and politics are important interests of mine.  The consequences of the inverted demographic pyramid in developed countries is a concern practically and theoretically.  I do not subscribe to 'right wing' or 'left wing' because they are not useful ideas and just lead to divisions.  I found Niall Ferguson's Reith Lectures from 2012 to be quite illuminating.  The injustice of my homeland, Taiwan, being treated as a pariah nation and the largely forgotten San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951 which is the rule of law which governs Taiwan's status are causes which are close to my heart.

My mentor, Jerry Mitrovica, is respectful of ideas.  This comment from an online chat a few years back illustrates his wisdom:

12:48 Comment From duncan rutherford: When you and your colleagues hear about things like the iranian cleric who said that women dressing provocatively can cause earthquakes, do you find it funny, or is it frustrating?
12:54 Jerry Mitrovica: I do not think it is funny, nor do I feel frustrated. We live in a world informed by complex cultural issues, and the important thing is for scientists to push for their research results into the public domain. We have an important role in society - to provide information gained through rigorous scientific methods - that is part of the reason I agreed to do this online chat.

Finally, music is of paramount importance in my family. My two boys prefer the violin to piano, but their dad's favorite playlist is heavily slanted towards piano:

• Mozart Piano Concerto 25, KV 503 (espcially the last movement)
• Beethoven's last piano sonata, Opus 111
• Schumann's Fantasie, Opus 17
• Chopin's Barcorolle, Opus 60
• Brahms Intermezzo Opus 118, Nr 2
• Bruch Violin Concerto Nr 1

 These glories reenforce my belief in the divine, for how else could one explain Beethoven's last three piano sonatas? Some day, I hope to fully enjoy the hundreds of CDs I have and listen to some of my favorite artists live! We had just such an opportunity this past summer at Mont Tremblant and Stratford!  We got to listen to the Gryphon Trio and Jan Lisiecki during a couple of summer music festivals!.

Stratford Summer Music 2013

Festival Classique des Hautes-Laurentides