Lumio - review (pt. 1)

Every now and then, I see a Kickstarter project that I can't resist. Usually, they're more along the lines of online comics that I already enjoy for free so I don't mind giving out a few dollars - for example, I backed the SCIENCE: Ruining Everything Since 1543 (an SMBC Collection). I also backed the Ryan North's To Be or Not To Be: That is the Adventure, because really, a CYOA of Hamlet with many of my favourite artists and in a format I've experimented with?

Lumio, however, was different. For one thing, to back it and get the actual object comes to about $115, and for a student, that's not chump change. I also came across it in one of the weekly emails, and usually I don't give things a second glance unless they're created or recommended by someone I'm familiar with.

But with Lumio, however, the idea grabbed me right off the bat. A book whose pages emitted light?

Want.

I won't post too much about the specs, as you can check them out on the Kickstarter. However, I would like to point out the three main aspects that drew me in enough to spend more than I have on any other piece of furniture beyond my mattress.

1. Practicality. I generally need the stuff I buy to be useful in order for me to justify it, and Lumio fits that bill at least a little. It gives out a fair amount of light, and can last 8 hours on a full charge. Even nicer, it's small, portable, and magnetic, making it pretty flexible for how, when, and wherever I would want to use it.
2. Good design. Man, I am a sucker for good design. In addition to the advantages above, I love that the amount of light is controlled by the degree the book is opened. Terribly ingenious and terribly intuitive, especially considering that it is taking advantage of how we actually interact and understand the form of the book.
3. Aesthetics. Obviously, it's a gorgeous piece, particularly when lit up and in a dark space. It looks like a sculpture or installation piece in an art gallery. I think there's also something to be said for the more metaphysical aspects of the piece. Books and knowledge have often been associated with the concept of light; think of all the times in movies, cartoons, or literature that books emit light when opened. Lumio takes the relationship of words and light and gives them a physical shape, so to speak. It's something I'd like to think about more.

I'm always intrigued by the idea of "the book" and the relationship between form and content, particularly considering my Book as Object course. Conceptually, I love the idea enough to drop some cash on it; hopefully, it'll live up to my expectations. You can expect part two of the review, with the real thing, in September when the second batch are shipped out.

Applications and Waiting

I've expressed this sentiment before: grad school is just a series of applications.

First, in the autumn of the final year of undergrad, start working on my MA SSHRC grant.
Then, apply to get into my MA program.

And then, the fun really beings. Applications breed as though they have a little brothel under my desk. This conference, that conference, this series of workshops. And, of course, the two most stressful aspects of my grad career thus far: PhD SSHRC and applying to PhD programs.

You get a little breathing room early in September. Then PhD SSHRC can easily take over your waking (and sleeping) life. (Yes, I have had a nightmare about a bunch of scholars looking over my SSHRC.) Then, it's out of your hands and you are into final papers and submitting PhD applications in December and January.

The waiting after those were done? Blissful. I didn't have to fill out any more forms or make the choices that the forms brought back; I could just read comics for my course and think about literature in the 18th century.

That lasted for about a month, and then schools started getting back to me. This period, my friends, is the trickiest.

You have a decision looming, and not all the cards have been dealt. Some of them might not be dealt until you've removed yourself from the game. I feel like there's a poker metaphor in here somewhere, but I don't really understand many card games beyond whist and rummy, so forgive me for the crudeness of my figurative language.

I've been accepted to two schools. I haven't heard back from the other four. According to GradCafe, some have heard back from school that I applied to but haven't heard from. And now I'm on tenterhooks, because sometimes it's better to know than to be in a state of angst and I really just want to know if I got in and, to quote GOB Bluth, come on!

What I keep having to stop myself from doing now is worrying about making the wrong choice. If I go to A, will it be better than B? What will happen to me at B if I don't choose A? Of course, I can't really know (maybe virtual reality will be done by the time I'm done my PhD and I'll be off in a world with Digimon), and there are more practical factors like living expenses and funding, but that doesn't stop me from getting distracted from my coursework.

Speaking of getting distracted from coursework, I better go work on my proposal for the upcoming CSECS conference. It's due this Friday, 18thC friends, don't forget! I would really love to go again; it was a great time, both academically and socially, last year.

Sask Gov't and foreign languages

Apparently, the Saskatchewan government thinks knowing foreign languages is a good thing.

In an article published in the Leader-Post and StarPhoenix today, it was revealed that "The government is developing an international education strategy, a big part of which aims to better connect Saskatchewan students with international trade and business markets."

A large part of that, of course, means being able to communicate in languages other than English. The program will, according to David Boehm, assistant deputy minister of the advanced education, "put an emphasis on the development of international languages so they can interact with those markets and those opportunities in a more effective manner."

A business professor at the University of Regina is quoted praising having "a working level of a second language" in order to "appreciate what is going on in other parts of the world," and, of course, be able to improve business relations.

 I very nearly laughed when I read this. The University of Saskatchewan has been slowly strangling languages and linguistics programs and classes for even my short duration at the University. Getting a degree in French? If you don't plan your classes out perfectly, you could be looking at six years to get your degree because a course is only taught every second year. For me, as an English major trying to get enough languages to fill my language requirements for grad school, it was quite tricky to plan out my schedule when I had to choose based around the only two French courses I could take.

Even worse, due to budget cuts, first-year language classes are now taught in jumbo sessions of 100+ students. Luckily, I made it through when classes were limited to twenty people, and there were still opportunities to interact with the professor, engage in broken dialogue with other students, and participate in the other class dynamics that learning languages needs but jumbo classes just can't offer. The weekly smaller tutorial sessions? They can't make up for that much jumbo class time.

There's a smattering of German, Russian, and Ukrainian classes every year, and Spanish is generally popular. There's even a few Cree classes, which I think is awesome.

However, I can't help but think of the town halls held a few years back when administration was addressing student and faculty concerns of cuts in the humanities and fine arts. They began talking about teaching Chinese and other languages that there were a "demand" for. You could sense the disbelief in the crowd, and finally a student stood up and asked something along the lines of "How are you going to bring in new language programs when you hardly support the ones you have now?"

Currently, of course, the University of Saskatchewan is going through some (projected) financial troubles and is planning to make some massive cuts to the tune of $44.5 million, based on the "quality" of the program. The humanities and fine arts (or HumFA as we are now known, bleh) are understandably wary, and I'm not sure whether this new strategy bodes well or ill for the languages. Are languages that are inefficient and can't bring in business deals going to get scrapped? Why learn Ukrainian, a language very important to the history of Saskatchewan and Canada and still relevant culturally today, when Chinese is so much more economically relevant?

The article notes that "At this point, it's not clear how much money the government will funnel into its strategy." On the one hand, maybe the languages could gain some extra funding and exposure. On the other, I hope that if attempts are made to cut back other languages in favour of pumping up the business end of things, students, not just those involved in the languages, will raise their concerns loudly, and in as many languages as they know.