June 2011 – Page 4 – Silence and Voice

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2011-06-17

Off to the dentist for 2 fillings. #
@PatParslow Wonder if there's an app for that? 😉 #
@lizith Are you taking anything for it? Still sounds like you are working on studies, however! #
@subcide Most excellent! #
Enough Twitter catch-up; need to prepare for work. #
@skirrid Hope it goes well; #HighWire at Lancaster University looks like a great PhD program #phdchat #
@Lemness Yes, I go through those unsubscribe moments every dew weeks. I really do want to read those I follow; this means alignment as well. #
@Lemness I cannot figure out why to use a Twitter list, at least why I would want to use in addition to TweetDeck. #
@lizith Feeling any better today? A colleague of mine has the flu right now; not fun. #
@PapersGenius @lizith Seems supervisors can benefit from the literature on mentoring and coaching? #phdchat #
@ai1sa Welcome back. How have the waters shifter for your phd? #phdchat #
@lizith How did the transcription go? #
@SueFolley @aephd Very good to hear. I try to read some of the Tweets later in the day, but ran out of energy early last night. #
@freddymini I followed the link, and received a "Reserved Page" message. Good to hear #Netvibes is alive and well @marksmithers #
@subcide Great to hear; will happily test if you need beta folks. #
@aephd @SueFolley I had to leave #phdchat about half way in, so hope it got a bit busier. Will check. #
@lizgloyn @daciatakesnote @savasavasava I can make Monday as the final farewell. Sorry we will not all be able to attend. #
@lizgloyn If you add the same PDF or record into #Mendeley it does not alert you. This is problematic if you have several partial records. #

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2011-06-16

@hautenegro Thank you! #phdchat #
@SueFolley #Scrivener is Mac native, though they have a Windows version (beta perhaps?) #phdchat #
Struggling to understand the #phdchat topic today; cannot locate it in the Tweet stream. Can anybody share it? #
@SueFolley That is what I find so useful about writing with #Scrivener as that helps me jump around as I think #phdchat #
Trying to join a bit of #phdchat though do not really see it happening; think I may have missed something. #
Annoyed with all the user and functional changes in the new release of #WebEx that occurred without any communication from the vendor. #
Colleague told me about an error replying to "Travel Bag Face-Off for Conference Travel" http://t.co/V9jmgD2 Fixed #phdchat #RedOxx #TomBihn #
In our Queens office this morning to administer some research instruments. #

Travel Bag Face-Off for Conference Travel

I love to attend academic conferences, though there are few things I hate more than having to check my bag along the way. I tend to carry very little with me, doing laundry along the way so I can avoid the lines, costs, concern over lost luggage, and hassles associated with checking luggage while flying. The conferences and peers I work with along the trip often take all my energy to manage, and the last thing I want is to encounter airline or train or bus hassles with my stuff. After my last trip to the UK and Ireland in April, when I was asked to check my carry-on luggage (that seemed to bulge at the seams), I vowed to never do so again.

Why didn’t I notice that my proposed carry-on luggage was overpacked? Wheels. Yes, I used wheeled luggage that should have fit into the overhead bins, and never considered that the airlines might ask to weigh it; I thought if it fit in and could zip, that was that. How wrong I was.

Thus began my quest for the perfect bag, one that was designed and tailored for people like me, those who seek to travel light and only with a single bag that will be unchallenged at the airport as being within the Maximum Legal Carry-on (MLC). Aided in my search by some other travellers fanatically interested in the same goal, I turned to sites such as One Bag and One Bag One World for reviews, advice, and suggestions for packing smarter, lighter, and better. Yes, the wheeled ones that lose 1/3 of their capacity carrying the handles and wheels while also doubling their weight will have to go.

With all this said, and considering my own specific needs and concerns, I have narrowed the world of realistic bags down to two, both of which come from small American firms that specialize in travel products for consumers looking for just the right bag that is light, lasts forever, and expresses a certain individuality–no mass-produced pieces here!

The first bag I am considering is the Sky Train from Red Oxx, a small firm that hand produces all their bags in Montana. They are known for their quality and attention to detail in an array of bags that come with a lifetime guarantee and are known for their rugged characteristics:

The other bag I am considering is the Aeronaut from Tom Bihn, a firm that also hand-makes their bags, though this time in Seattle. Their bags are also known for their quality, along with a design sense unmatched in the industry:

I read nearly every review online about these two bags, and after making a list of the strengths and weaknesses (for my needs, as neither have any inherent weaknesses), I was at a complete draw. They both have backpack and shoulder straps, as well as a variety of handles. However, as these bags are only sold online and in their own stores (they both have exactly one store, just near their factories), I could not see, touch, or compare them in person. Not knowing what else to do, I purchased them both, and will try them out with my travel clothes and items in my apartment to see which will work best for my needs and stuff.

Let the best bag win! More to come once I try them out . . .

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2011-06-15

@savasavasava But you are healthy, yes? #
@marksmithers I did not know Netvibes was still around. What a blast from the past. #
@stealthpooch @ianrobsons I liked EndNote, though it made a horrible mess with the fields when collaborating with others. Horrible #phdchat #
@hummingbird604 @stealthpooch @ianrobsons I feel the same about #Papers2 which plays nice with #Scrivener I now work smarter. #phdchat #
@aeratcliffe Enjoy the conference #phdchat #
@lizgloyn I love #Mendeley but had to stop using it due to the duplication problem. Will use it again once that gets fixed #phdchat #
@klbz Hope the commitments work smoothly, and we look forward to your return @savasavasava @daciatakesnote @lizgloyn #
@daciatakesnote @lizgloyn @savasavasava @klbz Alas, I am away this weekend, and at this point Monday the 20th is my only possibility 🙁 #
@NSRiazat That is the irony; you need enough literature to formulate the questions, but the questions lead back to the literature #phdchat #
@KeethInk I am using an app on my Mac, Apimac http://bit.ly/lMhbEj #
Using a timer to help me manage online and email time with studies and research. 6 minutes and 19 seconds remain until back to research. #
@savasavasava @lizgloyn @daciatakesnote @klbz So, we have not heard back from everybody yet, though I hope we can plan for Monday the 20th. #
@BronSt Excellent!! What is the event that brings you here? #NYC #
@Lemness I really like that metaphor: a literature is like digging for treasure. #phdchat #
@NSRiazat Yes, a challenge (benefit?) of a literature review is finding new connections and directions #phdchat #
@eloise_z I find that when I reach #inboxzero it becomes a daily struggle to rebuild the status quo #phdchat #
@amcunningham @sarahstewart @witty_knitter @erikapearson As educational research is so interdisciplinary, diverse ideas help #phdchat #
@kiwicito Excellent! What else can I say, but keep your chin up and onward + upward! #phdchat #
@SarahStewart @witty_knitter @erikapearson @amcunningham #phdchat is good for its breadth and diversity; becoming a lot to wade through. #
@kiwicito Good luck with it. Interviewing online or in person? #phdchat #
Have been working on my literature review; been knee-deep tonight in the Sage databases #phdchat #

Research Ethics Update

I want to share some (initial) good news–my first-round of ethics review for my proposed doctoral thesis (dissertation), Navigating Liminality in Distance Education:The Experiences of Research and Professional Doctorate Learners, has now made it through the research ethics officer.

It came back to me last week with a request to provide more detail in 3 specific areas, and not wanting to sit on what was essentially minor re-wording, I turned it around and resubmitted the following day. I learned this morning that my proposal has now made its way to the Chair of UREC (University’s Research Ethics Committee) for consideration.

Let us hope the Chair is comfortable and enjoying the wonders of spring’s transition into summer and smiles kindly upon my work. In layman’s language — if this person gives me ethical approval, I can engage in my study. I don’t want to consider alternate responses . . .