Public Education

This is a interesting video on public education by a Seth Godin interview. I did not know some of the history on how public education was started. I have come to believe that our kids need to be more creative and entrepreneurial to be successful today. That the traditional public school & college teach our kids to look for jobs vs creating jobs/companies. This is particularly difficult with kids on tribal reservations since distance & quality high speed internet access is a large factor in not being aware of their life possibilities.

– Dom

Modified iSkin revo case for iPhone 4

Ok, I’m waiting for a email from iSkin.com on when their new iPhone 4 silicone cases will be available, no email yet, it’s been a week since adding my name, and 2 weeks since the phone has been out. You can also see my iPhone 4 review here.

In the meantime, I took my iSkin revo case which I had for my original iPhone and modified it somewhat so I can use the 2 cameras on my new iPhone 4. The older cases are still being sold on the iSkin website for $20.

Here is what the new modified case looks like, I removed material on the left side of the earpiece opening so the front camera is not covered & increased the camera hole size in the back to show the full lens and the led light. The tools used, a paper hole puncher and small wire cutters.

These photos were taken using the iPhone 4 & uploaded to twitpic while waiting for a to-go order at the local Lotaburger (they have purple tables).

Additional photos below of the iPhone in the modified revo case below.

Now I can take pics and shoot video with the iPhone protected by a case.

– Dom

Dr George Blue Spruce Jr

Last night I attended the book signing of Dr George Blue Spruce Jr (Laguna Pueblo / Ohkay Owingeh) and was very delighted to meet him for the very first time. The room was full of family, friends, & most of all future medical students. Roughly about 100 people were in the room to hear Dr Blue Spruce Jr talk about his life story. A story he finally wrote down into a book titled “Searching For My Destiny”. I have a previous post on my blog here, which contain some of what I was able to find on the internet about him.

I particularly enjoyed his jokes and how he overcame adversity being the only American Indian among many groups growing up. What struck me most was how Dr Blue Spruce Jr had to develop the independence and sense of self worth to continue alone for many years away from his tribal home. His life dedication and thoughtfulness of others helped craft Indian health policy to benefit not only the tribes he was from but those of so many others as well.

I am proud to have met this man, and I sincerely hope to continue the conversation again.

Dr Blue Spruce Jr and the family allowed me to video the event and share it. Here is the full MP3 audio & download link from his talk (almost 43 minutes long, and 20MB in size), and a highlight video. Enjoy!

– Dom

Full Audio:

http://tribalgrowth.com/files/2010-06-26_DrGBSwIntro.mp3

Highlight Video:

The Secret Powers of Time

This video is another result of a twitter tangent I was sent on yesterday from a tweet on the Zeigarnik effect. I found the short video (below) from Professor Philip Zimbardo to be very interesting, especially the part on kids who have spent hours in the digital world (another 10,000 hour example). Kids become accustomed to controlling their environments through the games they play, and it’s this game playing frame-of-mind that is brought to the traditional classroom where there is no (or very little) player/student control. The lack of control then contributes to boredom and a sense of helplessness in the classroom. The video was worth 10 minutes of my time, I can apply the ideas to guiding my own kids.

– Dom

CVFNM Social Media Marketing

I attended this event tonight -> June 17: Social Media Marketing – A Web 2.0 Fairy Tale? held by the Coronado Ventures Forum at the Prarie Star resturant.

I primarily went to meet some new people since moving back home to the Albuquerque area in January this year. A good friend of mine Will Reichard (met through twitter) was one of the panel speakers for the evening. Another recent friend Mick Thompson was on the panel also. I wanted to hear what they both had to say on the subject. It was a real learning experience, for me, hearing what social media facts the NM investor community was interested in, and how they really support technology start ups.

Since I’m a real believer that people can learn anytime anywhere, I like to capture content whenever I can from whoever will let me. So I offered to record the event for those who could not attend.

Enjoy!

– Dom

*****

Here is the MP3 audio from the video recording (54 minutes, 25MB, link also included below):