Dr. Neil Hair

Two things went through my mind earlier today when one of the techies called out to me as I passed their cave. 1. Why? and 2. Why the big smile on his face when doing so? The answer is perhaps best explained by two photographs attached for your viewing pleasure. People of neilhair.com meet Hanns G, my newest and bestest friend (other than Vic Perotti who built the purchase of this monster into a research grant looking at digital business applications in SecondLife). All 28 inches of goodness sat on my desk (all of my desk in fact). I cant wait to test run SecondLife on my German friend using my Japanese Qosmio. Pictures of that event to follow in an additional post.

Autumn 2008 - two days ago - Didcot. Neil celebrates with his two friends the two magnificent victories against his nemisis - the evil - younger brother in the board game Axis and Allies. Whilst his brother faught long and strong, the intellectual superiority of The Master eventually triumphed. With a double Russian / UK mainland European attack through the Ukraine SSR the German war machine (consisting now of mostly men that defend at a roll dice of 2) hiding in the capital - was crushed. With great sadness in his eyes the apprentice handed over Germany's income to The Master - who sat back on the makeshift floor seat, Cuban Siglo II cigar in hand - smiled the ever so subtle smile that says unequivocally - 'I just squashed you like a little flower.' The game was long and the game was hard. In the series of games we played however we are now matched 2 a piece. What was to called 'Neils Troublesome Trip' was saved in the throw of 17 dice that score at 3. A few quick facts for you on the history of our game;

1. I was first introduced to The Board Game in 1986 by a US serviceman living in the house behind us in Grove, Oxfordshire.
2. My mother imported the game for me from the States for the Christmas of 1986. It remains the best present I have ever recieved.
3. My brother started playing at the tender age of 10.
4. He has beaten me 7 times.
5. We have played over 200 games.
6. I do not cheat.
7. He does.
8. He has a tendency to leave his capital open.
9. I do not.
10. Each game takes around 5 hours. This makes the game unpopular with normal people.
11. Starting the game at 10 to midnight is not a good idea.
12. Despite having played the game for over 20 years Greg's interpretation of the rules is imaginative at best.
13. Raised voices throughout the game is perfectly normal. Neighbours need not be concerned.
14. He plays with white dice, I play with red. Never use your opponents dice. Its bad luck.
15. Loosing is genuinely painful. Thankfully he looses more than I do.
16. The decider will be played this November (and we will roll for sides).

It is with mixed feelings to report that Phil Tyler - my mentor and close friend has finally left the building. On Thursday evening Phil taught his last marketing class for us and I was there with his wife and my wife to greet him. Phil has been with the college for almost 40 years and has never taken a quarter off from teaching in that time. His plans now - he tells me - are to travel and take it easy. The allure of life without grading it seems, was just too much. Mixed feelings because I'll miss having him as a colleague (he hired me back in 1999 as a visitor) but I'm pleased for him and Carol that life 3.0 is about to begin. Best wishes mate.

On Monday I got to watch my wife graduate with her PhD in management at Sheffield University in England. It was without doubt one of the best moments of my life. Its hard for others who haven't been through the PhD process to truly appreciate the utter madness, sadness, emptiness and all the other nesses that go with that process unless of course you've been a part of that journey with them (her mum for instance). To finally walk the stage and have the degree conferred is exhilarating. Id go as far to say it makes up for all the angst you go through in not quite knowing - even up to the moment of viva (oral examination) whether or not you might fail or pass. I saw my wife go through that madness just as she had seen me go through it - and the remarkable thing is - WERE STILL TALKING TO EACH OTHER!! Rose was one of just three people walking around in red amongst the 400 other people graduating (all wearing black). She looks - as Im sure you will agree - absolutely fabulous! Go Dr Hair!! Rose starts teaching Organizational Behavior at RIT's Saunders College of Business in the Fall.

My favourite local beer (yes I'll admit it - its up there with the best of British beer in my humble opinion) won the third annual Final Pour competition held by someone I dont know in a house Im not aware of. The competition was an altered form of March Madness (I am told something to do with putting balls into nets? - strange custom but there you go) where guests bring a different variety of beers that they think their fellow guests will enjoy. You sample, you vote, and before long you have a final four. You get the picture. As I am currently in the midst of closing on a house, marking mid-term papers and dealing with a number of family issues here and back in the homeland - I occasionally allow myself to imagine R&R (thats rest and relaxation - not revise and resubmit) events. A wonderful idea if you ask me and I very much look forward to throwing my own final pour contest in the summer. I expect Honey Brown to do well once again.

Last night I attempted my first out of this world lecture on 'implementation' in Second Life. Its that time of the quarter where the facts of life - namely the importance of getting things done with our marketing/advertising plans - need to be addressed. Sue (my co-instructor) and I decided to try this as a one off to see how things went. So, from 7-8pm EST I presented a number of slides using an overhead projection system developed by guru and student Matthew Anthony. I (Neilio Negulesco) presented use of an exact replica of one of Saunders classrooms to a room of around 15 avatars (including Newsie Blessed, Sue's SL avatar). I was shocked by just how effective potentially this medium can be. Students arrived and naturally gravitated towards sitting in chairs to listen (thank you Colin for deciding to sit with your head half way through the podium desk). I took virtual questions as we progressed and used the sound system in SL to literally speak my mind through the slide transitions (jpeg versions of in class powerpoint slides). I thought it was an interesting variation in the virtual format that class was also meeting in the first life - without me - as we progressed. I consider myself a bit of a veteran in the delivery of online learning systems and for me this use of SL was different in a positive way. I could see students interacting with me and the environment - one would occasionally break into a dance for instance, and another would get up and sit in another place. What was interesting was that students in class were also interacting with each other. The result of that culminated in a feeling at the end of the lecture that something special and interesting had just ocured. I'm still mulling over the implications of this but I think they are potentially significant. I'm looking forward to getting students responses to this event and even more so - going 100% virtual in our forthcoming debrief in week 11. All of us will meet virtually in SL for conversations about our experiences online. For those of you who were part of this experience - thanks guys, I really enjoyed it.

So, after a few months of running around looking like a newbie I forked out $10 and went shopping. First thing that caught my eye was a Nehru suit - black of course. Next stop Shoes - leather and etched steel - just what the doctor ordered. Then I decided that my skin was bothering me and that my hair just wasnt hanging the way I wanted it. So I bought a face job and a new style (complete with 'blood' colouring). The whole process was very simple - probably too easy (since I had Matthew Anthony on hand to help I cant say it was difficult at all). I can see how people become addicted to the way in which they look (Ive heard some saying they own more SL clothing than they do in their real life). Next stop - a white Nehru suit to lecture in. And why not - its not as if its real!

Happy new year everyone! Several personal technological reflections for 07 that made a difference to my life this past year. The first was my new Intel Core Duo, my last big update was in 2003 - video processing on this new machine is ridiculously fast (almost realtime), my craving for Battle Field Two was fuel injected with the new graphics card (this is in fact a vast understatement) and my productivity dived (see last comment). I discovered the power of Facebook for research purposes and productivity sored, started using Second Life for commercial purposes (teaching) and gazed in awe at the coverage of google earth (to the point where sat with my father we could see his boat on the river Dart in Devonshire). Other than that however Ive remained wanting a little. No foldable screens, electronic paper, always on free wifi, GPS watches or Freddie Mercury 3D holographic concerts from the 1980's. I do though live in hope. I hope 2008 will bring the following for me in particular, a decent compact prosumer HD video camera, decent HD video processing software to go with it, decent HD DVD media to store it on (here's hoping) and my very own little island in Second Life to call home (complete with 60ft yatch) donated by some large organization.

I got some of the best news ever today at 11am. My wife, who has been working on her PhD for a few years now, passed her viva exam and can now use the title! Her thesis explored psychological contracts in a virtual team. That means there are now Drs Hair in the house and I am one very very proud husband!! Rose, youre the best and I knew you'd walk it Nx.

So, having recently estolled the special relationship England has in my mind with Canada I came across an article from the BBC reflecting on Prime Minister Brown's position on UK foreign policy (the BBC is by far my favourite news site DESPITE the recent decision to pursue advertising as a means of generating revenue). I wanted to share because it reinforced a comment I make to most of my students at some stage when we discuss international marketing and the UK-US bond. When we 'say' we have a 'special relationship' what does that 'really' mean? Does this ever go beyond the 'Ive been to America - because Ive been shopping in New York' or the 'Ive been to England because Ive been shopping in London' crowd? For those doubters out there the following extract may well solidify the conviction - it certainly shocks most of my students when they hear it for the first time:

"When considering the relationship a British prime minister must have with the United States, it must never be forgotten that there is a not-so-secret tie binding the US and UK together. It is the agreement, renewed only in the past year, under which the United States and Britain swap information on nuclear weapons and Britain buys US missiles for its nuclear submarines. No British prime minister can afford to distance his or her country from the US to such an extent that the trust involved in such an arrangement is dissipated. After all, the US has given the UK the ability to destroy much of the American homeland, an act of trust with no parallel in history."

A few other facts that Ive learned over the years that have helped me understand the relationship:

1. Eating faggots is not considered the done thing in America.
2. Placing ticks in boxes in the US is likely to offend the tick.
3. Lever said in the US is - when translated into English - a kind of coat made from cows hide.
4. Lever said in the UK is - when translated into the US - a way of departing from a once loved female.
5. Herb in the US is a popular shortened name for Herbert when translated into English.
6. Aluminium in the UK translates to the US as a latin form of to iluminate.
7. A retainer in the US holds teeth, a retainer in the UK also holds teeth but only if you pay him or her to do so.
8. Swimmies in the US help provide bouyancy in water, swimmies in the UK are a form of trunk to be worn when swimming.
9. A trunk in the US is the back end of a car. In the UK a trunk is something you wear when swimming.
10. A boot in the UK is the back end of a car. The bootie in the US is a backend of a person.
11. A hood in the US is the front end of a car. A hood in the UK is the front end of a coat.
12. Bacon in the UK is a delicious form of pork - as succulent as it is tasty. Bacon in the US is a dried substance that is good for striking matches.
13. Pants in the US are worn outside of undergarments. Pants in the UK are always worn inside of ones trousers (unless you are Madonna or Cameo).
14. A basement in the UK is a place for storing coal. A basement in the US is a place for storing Canadians.
15. Ice cream in the US is actually made of cream. Ice cream in the UK is actually made out of corrigated cardboard.
16. In the UK a sandwich is a single slice of meat layered in bread. In the US it is the entire animal with the bread on the side.
17. In the UK a motor race involves turning corners. In the US this also means turning corners but usually only one way (left).
18. Over 95% of cars in the UK are manuals. Over 95% of cars in America are automatics.
19. Most distressed tourists in England are Americans attempting to drive manual cars on the wrong side of the road. Most distressed tourists in America are English attempting to eat sandwiches without understanding the concept of 'the box'.
20. The English drive on the left so they can hold a sword in their right hands as they pass attacking oncomers. Americans drive on the left because they wanted to annoy the invading English (true).

I have many many more to share - and over time I will. Thats it for now.

Happy thanksgiving everyone, I miss Rochesher as much as I miss England when Im away from it.