Technology Archives - Chris Friend

Stylized lettering adding visual distinctiveness to an outdoor wall

The Visual Literacies of Writing

04 Feb 2023Chris FriendTechnology, Text and Print, Writingformatting, typography0

Writing requires visual literacies, which too often go unacknowledged. Students need to learn about readability and effective document design.

What happens when a robot needs personal space? This one appears cold and isolated.

Personal(ized) Writing

01 Feb 2023Chris FriendTeaching, Technology, WritingAI, first-person writing0

Writing is a human invention that allows humans to connect and shape ideas. Removing the personal element (esp. with ChatGPT) ruins writing.

What agency does a dummy have? The ventriloquist has all the control, making the dummy's, uhh, life(?) simpler.

Agency: Personalized Privacy

20 Jan 2023Chris FriendTechnology, Writingagency, algorithms, control, platforms3

When we allow our platforms and devices to make decisions for us, we give up our agency and lose control of our lives. How can we resist?

Watch this EV charge. Or maybe read this post while you wait?

How Long Does it Take (and How Much Does it Cost) to Charge a Tesla?

27 Sep 2020Chris FriendTechnologyev, tesla0

People often worry that charging an EV is difficult or expensive. Neither is true. There are more ways to charge an EV than to fuel a gas car.

How fragile, how vital, are the spokes and chain on a bicycle

Teaching in Higher Ed: My Third Recommendation

24 Sep 2020Chris FriendTechnologyclassroom, hacks, tools0

In the era of complex LMS walled gardens and online productivity suites, using an .htaccess file simplifies access to resources. Here’s how.

paper figure of blond-haired white person in collared shirt and glasses waves at camera in front of "Hello world" echo statement written in PHP

Hello, Acronym-Filled World: Playing with PHP + APIs

10 Sep 2020Chris FriendHacks, Technologyapi, code, php, stats0

To improve my coding skills, I set myself a challenge: Get my website to present data gathered from external API calls. Here’s how I made it work.

It was a dark and story night… No, really. It was a dark and stormy night, and some photographer snapped a pic of it.

Ghost in the Ether: My Decision to (Sort of) Leave Facebook

08 Jun 2020Chris FriendTechnologyplatforms0

What made me do the unthinkable and empty out twelve years of content from my Facebook profile? Or maybe, why did I wait so long to purge? Here’s why.

Bad for Badging: Achievement in Writing Courses

17 Nov 2013Chris FriendTeaching, Technologybadges, grading, writing0

Think of a writing classroom. What can we badge there? Can writing earn badges? How can we determine whether writing goals are met?

Knitting needles and pink yarn. Looks like the start of something fun!

Teaching the Tech of…Typing?

11 Jul 2013Chris FriendTeaching, Technology0

Can we expect our students to use our tools, especially when they involve third parties, outside products, or accounts with questionable privacy practices?

On Notetaking, Part II: The Textual Digital Hub

10 Jul 2013Chris FriendGrad-School Posts, Technology0

Apple’s iCloud document management centers on applications and considers information to be of secondary importance. Dropbox offers greater flexibility.

1 2