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>the blog of david n wallace [aka Lifekludger]

Mohandas Gandi is quoted as saying: “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win” when describing the stages of establishment resistence to a winning strategy of nonviolent activism.

If you’ve been reading, or better still, listening to the Extraordinary Everyday Lives podcast, you’ll know I’ve been battling with some Government bureaucratic nonsense around my work place support. Things got real stupid real quick and for no good reason except trying to ‘handle‘ people living with a disability rather than work with them. Let’s all say together ‘c o l l a b o r a t i o n’.

Anyway, I wasn’t taking it. I was sick of rolling of one more time to have them see their version of ‘help’ imposed upon me. I took up the issue on the grounds of their own policy inadequecies. Funy how “everybody likes to see justice done…on somebody else“.

Well I heard yesterday that they had decided to allow me to keep doing what I had been successfully doing for 13 years anyway.

Chalk one up for the little guy.

Keep kicking against the bricks!

Dave

Extraordinary Everyday Lives #008 : Remixed Mixed Reality Meetup

The latest EEL Show, which I host with Mike, over on The Podcast Network has gone online. Go and have a listen or subscribe here.

Wow, this is getting too much. Another show within a week from the last one. Don’t get too used to it.

I wanted to get this up as it is relevent to the topic, in first half anyway, of the recent Mixed Reality Meetup I blogged about before.

No guests. Just Mike and I chatting about extraordinary lives again.

Dave

Technorati Tags: mixedreality, net2, techsoup, secondlife, lifekludger

Getting people commenting on your blog is a wonderful thing. However we need to be aware of the environment in which blogs exist.

Recently JP was talking about Sleeper Spam on blogs. It made me think about writing down the internal process I go through in my head when it comes to approving comments on my blogs. I commented this on the post and thought this might be helpfull to others. So I’m posting it here.

Good point. One thing I always do is check out the url submitted with a comment . If it looks and feels right it’s a tick towards approval. Sometimes I also look at email address left. If they check out and I feel okay about it it’s approved. Sometimes there’s no substitute for the human traits this kind of thing requires.

Recently, if a comment doesn’t even include a url or maybe an email, I don’t approve it.

People have to be accuntable for their actions. Having a valid, active and obvious well meaning blog is a sign of this. It’s part of identity and you need identity for accountability.

As an aside, I’ve often wondered why splogs that don’t have any advertising attached exist. Maybe it’s along those same lines.

Dave - Lifekludger

Today is the anniversary of when I started blogging.

Yes, 1 year ago, my first steps onto the write side of the read/write web were bought forth onto the unsuspecting blogosphere.

I’ve been up to a bit since then. Started a few crusades. I took my Bring Beetroot Back to Subway campaign to the blogosphere. Lifekludger blog was started to explore my crusade to bring technology into the lives of people living with disability. Talked up a storm about Jewels in the Longtail. Got some great response for simply sharing about my trying out a couple TabletPC. Presented at a conference about connecting with blogs and podcasts. Started a podcast.

But the best bit has been the people I’ve made contact with.

In particular my renewed association with my friend, colleague, recently fellow Munge Brother, and in many respects mentor, Mike Seyfang. Connections do indeed happen when stories overlap. I’m glad that after a 20 odd year association of sporadic story overlap in our lives that we finally landed on the same page in the story book.

And you, if you’ve somehow stumbled upon my blogging in the past 12months and had a glance, thanks. Thanks for doing your part in making sure that for every blog writer there’s a blog reader.

Thanks to everybody that’s linked, commented, emailed or skyped. Being an active participant is exactly what this web 2.0 thing is about.

Now some stats. Between my personal blog and the Lifekludger blog I’ve written 282 posts, had 13,000 visits, a bit over 20,000 page views, seen returning visits grow from 50-700, subscribers to the feeds grow from 0 to 120 currently (peaking at 140 and averaging 52) and earnt the grand sum of $73.20 from Google adsense .

I’ve learnt a lot and had a hoot.

Here’s to the next year! Bring it on!

I spent the morning on Second Life meeting with others from around the world involved in non profit ventures.

There was a heap of people there and it got quite crowded and noisy from the typing. Unfortunately the audio wasn’t great so I had a bit of trouble hearing and staying engaged. It didn’t help that Mike kept sticking food all over his body.

That’s me on left in Pink Floyd shirt, Mike sitting with yellow techsoup shirt and Beth Kanter in the Gold dress. And on right a picture board of me I happenned to drop right next to the stage

I took some video over my shoulder but as yet can’t get it off tape, so as soon as can will put a snippet up on how it looked from my end of real life.

It was a unique event and a credit to the techsoup guys for giving it a go.

More photos can be seen here via flickr.

Dave - Lifekludger (Dave Koi)

Technorati Tags: mixedreality, net2, lifekludger, techsoup, secondlife

Extraordinary Everyday Lives #007 : Mungefest

The latest EEL Show, which I host with Mike, over on The Podcast Network has gone online. Go and have a listen or subscribe here.

We had heaps of technical probs this time, mostly due to my link I think. I ended up on telephone. So I patched it back together and it makes interesting listening.

We eventually get into some weighty discussion about Lifekludger in this episode - about 34mins in.

Nick Hodge from Adobe is guest and apart from the technical problems and resultant less than ideal sound it was a hoot.

Dave

So as readers would be aware from here, here, here and here, I’ve been dsipping my virtual feet into Second Life.

A story behind the news is when first landing in SL, my repressed 70’s leanings emerged and I decked myself out with a standard issue tie dye shirt that SL has in their inventory.

Here I am in SL :

Then I saw a post over on gapingvoid with this picture of Doc:

Now, I ask you, is that freaky or what?

Dave

Techsoup.org are having a mixed reality meetup in SecondLife on 18th. Beth has all the info. over on her blog.

I’m intending to be there virtually and I knew Mike would be interested so I helped him get into SL and ramped up last night so if we get the chance we can go there. Here’s a photo of us sitting in front of the sign on the techsoup land in SecondLife - adourned in our techsoup tshirts.

I’m the young, good-looking, thin one on the right….hey, it’s virtual…I can be whatever I like!

Besides, I couldn’t find a wheelchair in SL - (ref. bottom few paragraphs).

Dave

Technorati Tags: second life, techsoup, lifekludger, mixed reality, fang

The latest edition of the Extraordinary Everyday Lives Show is out.

Scoot over to the podcast network and grab it - this edition we talk to Dr Lloyd Walker, Rehabilitation Engineer and currently the Director of NovitaTech….plus the usual frivolities.

Dave

Yep, today was definately a stone.

Thanks mostly to inflexible workplace support arrangements courtesy of the inflexible, dehumanising Australian Federal Government.

I was in a meeting with four, yes four, people paid to tick boxes so they can fit me into the dictated ’support’ arrangements so I can have the assistance required to fulfill my working role. I counted 21 staff on their in/out board. 21 people to tick boxes so I can get help at work.

The part that annoys me is that for the past 13 years I’ve had exactly the same amount of support with no hassles. Why’s it changing now? Well, it’s suppossedly to minimise risk to the Govt. of putting workers into the field. The economic rationalist agenda never sleeps.

It’s unsaid, but the reality I think is that they don’t really expect somebody with a disability like I have to be working in the position I am. Certainly not full-time and in a managerial/decision making role. They expect I should stay put, not be ambitious, and am not motivated to better myself. Like I said, it’s unsaid, but often you don’t need words to know you’re not valued - actions speak louder.

What really urks me is how they don’t as an organisation own up to that part of the problem that has been due their own beuracratic inefficiencies.

I refuse to fit neatly into theirs or anyone elses box they create.

I shall not go gently into that good night….