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Terrorphilia

By Вen Li

I don’t care that a drunk on some plane kicked down a cockpit door a week ago. Really. Giving "breaking news" coverage to every inconsequential airplane-related incident wastes not only my time, but that of everyone else who tuned in for real news that matters.The time has come to move beyond our collective obsession with… Continue reading Terrorphilia

Learning from the wiliest

By Вen Li

Rarely has a Political Science class ever received so much attention.On Fri., Jan. 18, Federal Con-servative Party leader Joe Clark addressed over 200 students and faculty who crowded into a POLI 225 classroom. Clark focused his 40 minute speech on the House of Commons and the accountability of its members in the wake of recent… Continue reading Learning from the wiliest

A million channels and nothing on

By Вen Li

Why do we need over 120 channels of mindless drivel on digital cable? With the exception of a few gems like the BBC, some movie channels and Discovery, most of the "specialty" channels are filled with low-quality crap that even the Vision network wouldn’t touch. The shows are better suited to fulfill CanCon requirements than… Continue reading A million channels and nothing on

A million channels and nothing on

By Вen Li

It isn’t difficult to make the label ‘mindless drivel’ stick to much television content, but mindless moments are vital to our survival and if we get 120 channels of it instead of three, we are better off. Decline-of-civilization alarmists blame television for dumbing down our culture, pointing to our herd-like fixation as evidence of our… Continue reading A million channels and nothing on

The beauty that lies in balance

By Вen Li

Last week, an esteemed colleague of mine invoked the names Richelieu and Tremblay while drawing an analogy to his current situation. I proclaimed rather condescendingly that "I’m a science major," implying that it was valid excuse for my ignorance, allowing my degree program speak for what I don’t know rather than what I do. Effectively,… Continue reading The beauty that lies in balance

Amelie

By Вen Li

While the movie Amélie deserves and has received accolades, Yann Tiersen’s soundtrack should not.Beginning as a mediocre sampling of Western-European sounds typical of the French composer’s work, the tracks quickly blend into four amorphous blobs of audio. Only three tracks, two of which were composed by others–distinguish themselves by having the variety lacking on the… Continue reading Amelie

We live, die and learn on the web

By Вen Li

by Вen Li 09.13.2001      Athabasca University was one of the pioneers of distance education in Canada. Today, AU is a leader in the online and distance education field. As such, they have a unique perspective on the development of online learning from distance education. Athabasca takes after the British Open University’s distance learning model established… Continue reading We live, die and learn on the web

Magical split decision

By Вen Li

Every day in the bowels of Old MacEwan Hall, teams of monsters, some human, some grotesque, and some bearing a resemblance to Rosie O’Donnell, battle to see who will live and who shall die. For those who are resurrected, the battles never truly end. That was the case with the University of Calgary’s own Butros… Continue reading Magical split decision

Linux at the University of Calgary

By Вen Li

To most people outside the computer world, the word “Linux” means little. Many think that Linux is a difficult-to-use, geeks-only operating system, perhaps with some connection to the Internet–but this isn’t entirely the case. Although 31 per cent of Internet servers used Linux in 2000, most Internet users are barely aware that it exists.