Jeffrey Dunster

Real Life for English Majors

I am revising a presentation that I gave last fall to BYU English freshmen. It details my thoughts and feelings about the English program at BYU and to broad freedom its students have for self-directed learning and acheivement.

I loved my non-standard English major experience. This presentation was an attempt to share how I did it, why, and to motivate them to making a similar path for themselves.

Do It With Drupal 2008 Summary

I'm sitting in the Louis Armstrong Internation Airport in New Orleans, LA. This was an intense week and I'm glad to be going home! I've been attending the first ever Do It With Drupal (DIWD) conference.

DIWD, It Was Awesome!

This was my first "real" conference experience. I've attended several as a student at BYU, but this was my first professional conference, with flight, hotel, and per dium arrangements. I would do it again.

Connectivism: Who You Know Is What You Know

I recently learned a new term for a concept I have struggled to explain to people for some time. Connectivism.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith Surprise Me

We just finished Mr. and Mrs. Smith and I was surprised by its humor—kind of like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I knew it would be an action movie, but I wasn't expecting the "battle of the sexes" and "his vs. hers", along with the clear girl-power vein running throughout. It was serious and silly too. The ending was, um, well, I wont give it away—it fit the super-human theme while making me think of Butch and the Kid again.

Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making

Each of them is one in a million. They number six thousand on a planet of six billion. They run our governments, our largest corporations, the powerhouses of international finance, the media, world religions, and, from the shadows, the world’s most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations. They are the global superclass, and they are shaping the history of our time. Today’s superclass has achieved unprecedented levels of wealth and power. They have globalized more rapidly than any other group.

Running The World: the Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power

Never before in the history of mankind have so few people had so much power over so many. The people at the top of the American national security establishment, the President and his principal advisors, the core team at the helm of the National Security Council, are without question the most powerful committee in the history of the world.Yet, in many respects, they are among the least understood.

ETL: Contentrated Power in a Global Economy

I subscribe to the netcast (iTunes link) of the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar, provided by Stanford University.

TED Talk: Adam Grosser on Renewable Refrigeration

First, watch the presentation. It's short, to the point, and effective.

TED Talk: Entreprenuerial Pitches to Venture Capitalists

This was a surprising find on TED. TED usually deals with social, economic, design and other touchy-feely topics. This presentation was how to wow investors and, in general, give a powerful presentation that influences your audience. I suspect that this was partially to help all the non-profit leaders in attendance as they seek donations.

Social Categorizing and Belonging

I don't think I belong to a "generation" as social scientists classify them. I live in too many worlds; shift between too many paradigms. For example, I am old enough to remember life before the Internet, before the World Wide Web & email (I started college in 1992), but young enough to use them, and their variants to their fullness. I'm old enough to have been taught how to write paper memos and young enough to have never written one, using email instead.