Change makes me antsy

So, yesterday I called your attention to the Communication & Cognition blog, now in its new form. Sam Bradley, the C&C blog author, and I have been emailing back and forth as I pick his brain about his recent transition to using WordPress to publish his blog rather than blogger.

I have known about WordPress for sometime now.
My first introduction to it was through friends of our family who publish blogschmog.
But I have been reluctant to switch to it because...well, I don't much like change. I like things to work. And even when it's not working exactly right...I have to get pretty darn displeased in order to make a switch. Now, when it comes to "designing" my own pages for my website and my teaching pages, I don't need much more than Dreamweaver--a program that I have been using and pleased with for about 7 years.

But when it comes to how the blog looks here on blogger...I'm getting tired of it and can't quite make it look better or lay it out better using this program.

So, now I'm thinking about switching too. But that means change.
I've got to download WordPress and see if it's as easy as folks say to learn.
Usually, flexible (which I can tell WordPress is) doesn't equal easy.
Plus, I will need to make changes to my web host, too...as it can't support WordPress under my current plan.

But, compare the look of my blog to that of Communication & Cognition or Blogschmog, or any of those in the WP showcase page, and it's no contest.

But change makes my stomach churn.

Short Film Shows the Power of the Right Words

Many thanks to former student Jennifer Robinson, now of the Interactive Television Research Institute in her native Australia, for passing on this short film that shows the impact that good marketing can have.

It's less then 6 minutes long...

Give it a look.

The Story of a Sign

Quick bit of Audio News

I'm in the middle of adminstering the second unit exam to the IFS class. I can't believe how hard these guys have been working, and how much ground we've covered in 10 days!

I'll be posting some of the (quite impressive) data that the research groups collected during their lab days over the next few posts.

But, for now, I thought I'd pass on a story of a big radio conglomerate--one that often gets bad press as the evil empire--doing good.

Story (thanks to Media Week): Clear Channel creates The Pink Channel.

Here's the XM page for The Pink Channel

My Vietnam...Your Iraq

That's the name of a new documentary produced by IU-Telecomm professor Ron Osgood. Went to a screening last night and found it a very moving piece. It tells the stories of parents who are Vietnam vets and who have children deployed to Iraq. Unbelievable stories. You can find out more at the production's website.

If you get a chance to view it in the future, you certainly should.
I went home and hugged my kids tighter than usual afterwards.

Good Advice from Jacobs School of Music Faculty Member

Check out this bit of good inspiration from the IU News Room.
It focuses on Jeff Nelsen, a faculty member from the IU Jacobs School of Music who is also a French Horn player and a member of the Canadian Brass. Nelsen, apparently, teaches people how to be "fearless" in their performances. And we all perform: business people, college professors, performers, students looking for their first entry-level job in their career field.

Here's the press release.

My favorite: "Don't compete. Did Einstein compete? Did Mozart?"