Tim.Maciag

Explorer of Technology, Art, Music, & The Everyday

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  • 2022 albums of the year

    Another great year for tunes! Before we get to the beef of it all here were 10 often in rotation honourable mentions (in no particular order):

    • Eddie Vedder, Earthling
    • 3rd Secret, Self-titled
    • Sharon Van Etten, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
    • Dan Mangan, Being Somewhere
    • Joel Plaskett, The Window Inn Sessions
    • The Interrupters, In the Wild
    • Amon Amarth, The Great Heathen Army
    • Rammstein, Zeit
    • Megadeth, The Sick, The Dying…And the Dead
    • Lamb of God, Omens

    OK, and now for my top 10. Albums that were always in rotation throughout the year. Albums that made me ever so happy and will likely continue to do so for ever!

    10. Gnome, King. A solid, chunky, mostly instrumental and super fun album. There are some definite groovers here, such as Kraken Wanker, Ambrosius, Wenceslas, and Anitbeast to just name a few

    09. Architects, The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit. Hatchi Matchi! Another fantastic album from these fine lads. I often hear the guitar tone from Quake 2 and that makes me so very happy. Favs include: Burn Down My House, When We Were Young, Spit the Bone, and Deep Fake

    08. Screeching Weasel, The Awful Disclosures of Screeching Weasel. What we have here is simply a head-bobbin’ classic pop-punk album, with every song from start to finish a toe-tapping event. What a super album! Favs include: Kill to Cure, Six Ways to Sunday, In La Quinta del Sordo, …damn…every damn song is fantastic!

    07. Stereophonics, Oochya. In constant rotation for much of the year, a fine album this is indeed. Having been a fan of these folks since their start in the 90s, this album does not disappoint. Every tune is great but to pick a few favs: Right Place Right Time, Do Ya Feel My Love?, You’re My Soul, and Made a Mess Of Me.

    06. Envy of None, Self-titled. I came across these folks due to Alex Lifeson (aka, Rush baby!) being in the band. Although a whole lot different than a Rush album, this album is soooooo very good. The ethereal voice of Maiah Wynne as layered around the ethereal and “dreamy/soothing” instruments from the rest of the band, I can’t really say enough good things about it all. Soooo good!! Favs include: Never Said I Love You, Liar, Look Inside, Western Sunset, Dumb….really it’s all good from start to finish!

    05. John Moreland, Birds in the Ceiling. Wow! What a voice. What a talent. There is not much more to say. This dude is the real deal. I like every tune on this album but to pick a few favs: Generational Dust, Lion’s Den, Cheap Idols Dressed in Expensive Garbage, and Ugly Faces.

    04. Wind Rose, Warfront. I love love love these fine lads. The raw power and shear energy of their tunes. I also am quite drawn to the storytelling from the fantasy/dwarves perspective. This is simply a solid album that was blaring constantly throughout the year. Favs include: Gates of Ekrund, Army of Stone, Tales of War, and The Battle of the Five Armies…actually, it’s all great!

    03. Bloodywood, Rakshak. I can’t say enough great things about this band. Not only are they top-shelf musicians, they are the most decent of human beings. I love the mix of “bollywood-esque” with the heaviest of heavy metal. So unique and so very excellent. Favs include: Aaj, Yaad (watch this video until the end, with their animal rights work, such beautiful humans!), Jee Veerey, Gaddaar, Dana-Dan, Machi Bhasad, and ….holey moley this is pointless…it’s all fantastic!

    02. Matt Andersen, House to House. One of the best musicians to come out of this fine nation of ours. Such a voice, such talent. Every song on this album is gold, but to pick a few favs: Let Me Hold You, Other Side of Goodbye, Time for the Wicked to Rest, Raise up your Glass, House to House…bah…every damn song is fine!

    01. Taylor Swift, Midnights. OK – hear me out here…ha. Just wait a darn minute now…haha. I know I may take some flack for this pick, particularly since it being my number 1 pick, but since her album Folklore, I’ve been a huge fan! Since coming out in October this album has been in a constant daily rotation…yes…daily. As with my number 2 pick with Matt Andersen, Taylor Swift is quite simply a gem – one that only comes around ever so rarely. It’s all good but favs include: Anti-Hero, You’re On Your Own Kid, Maroon, Sweet Nothing, Lavender Haze, Karma, Bejeweled, …I’ll stop now…every tune on this album is excellent (and no, I’m not losing my mind…haha)

    And there we have it. 2022 was another great year for music. Looking forward to what 2023 has to offer the world!

  • 2022 year in review

    The Fam Jam

    2022 was an interesting year. The world started opening back up, which after 2 years in isolation, was exciting and scary all at the same time.

    SSEers in Lego-making action!
    Making an RV? What? 🙂

    My teaching evolved into something different, with my teaching philosophy changed in a way I didn’t think it ever would. The changes largely due to our forced COVID experiences of the past few years has me thinking in new and exciting ways that I am wanting to continue to explore from the lens of how best to support my students but also myself and other educators (from the perspective of Mepham’s matrix of autonomy, fairness, well-being – an idea carried over from my PhD days). Regardless, I’m excited to continue the journey of how best I can support the future software designers and developers of the world. Indeed some of it is trial and error but I am thankful for my students who, even though at times are forced to come along for the ride with me as I teach core and required classes, nonetheless come along and provide me with open and honest feedback along the way. Engineering students really are a great bunch to hang out with throughout my days!

    I attended my first academic conference since coming on board with the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Regina in 2017. Wrote two peer-reviewed and accepted papers to boot! The conference – CEEA-ACEG’s (Canadian Engineering Education Association) annual event – this year it was at York University in Toronto – my first conference since my PhD days. The conference was ever so fun as I got to link up with like-minded educators in engineering and science. Folks met over Zoom over the last few years but it was nice to connect with them in-person. The CEEA folks are so inspiring and I am glad to have decided to be attached in some way to the community.

    I received official recognition at work for my experiential and reflective-based teaching practices and got to meet others who also demonstrated interesting and unique teaching practices who also received similar recognition as well. Even more crazy was I got a certificate to highlight my work as well as attend an event where I got to meet and shake the hand of our new university president and our new dean of engineering. I have realized I am thankful and grateful for having a gig that officially recognizes folks who take the time to go outside the box and take initiative to explore new ways of exploring and honing their craft in a safe-to-fall way (Kudos to Dr. Alec Couros for creating these fantastic teaching recognitions). My old gig did this too, they just took more of a fail-safe approach to it all – a kind of “ya explore away, but if the shit hits the fan, the fun (might) need(s) to be over.” Having said this, I am also ever so grateful for my past experiences too as without key folks giving this crazy guy a little leeway and flexibility to be crazy and creative I wouldn’t be who I am today (i.e. super thankful for the Jacky Hoffert’s, Cindy Ikola’s, Shannon Waugh’s, Chris Zimmer’s and Wilbour Craddock’s of the world)

    Pippin, Nova, and I went through a rather scary event where Pippin almost lost his life due to a bloated stomach. Gladly he is back to his normal and annoying, but super awesome self. He really is our world and we love this little big guy ever so much!

    Doh!
    Woohoo!!

    COVID finally hit Nova and I and let me tell ya, it was an experience I would have rather done without but seemed inevitable. As we near the close of December we are both COVID-clear but I am still experiencing some long-COVID-type symptoms – the dry coughing, brain fog, and sinus fun. Hopefully, this clears soon. I was one of the unfortunates who during COVID lost all sense of taste and smell along with all of the other stomach and sinus fun. Thankful for vaccines though as maybe it could have been a worse time

    I also re-started the gym thing after a 2-year hiatus due to COVID. This has had a really positive impact on me mentally and physically as I try to get back on track to having more healthy internals (I’ll likely always be a big dude as food is life, but I can tighten up the internals indeed). Also if I can get rid of some of those external “COVID cupcakes” mostly seen around the stomach region (haha), gained throughout COVID, even better! 🙂

    Overall, reflecting back on 2022 – hills and valleys aside – another fine year! Stay tuned for my albums of the year coming soon!

  • CEEA 2022, Summer Vacay, & the Future

    Me presenting @ CEEA 2022 (York University)

    This past month (in June 2022) I was able to present both my papers at the annual/2022 Canadian Engineering education Association (CEEA) conference @ York University in Toronto. Below are links to my papers.

    The first paper above, “Facilitating Cross & Beyond Course Project-Based Software Engineering Learning Experiences,” details a process I have been exploring since being hired as a lecturer in the Software Systems Engineering (SSE) program, the general premise is the exploration of a process for educators, students, and industry collaborators to build on and continue iterating on the good work students produce within project-based courses. The paper discusses a learning experience that took place in 2018 with my graduate and undergraduate students, and my previous place of work, eHealth Saskatchewan. I’ve since been exploring the use of the process in other courses as well throughout the years, facilitating successful and/or interesting collaborations between students and industry partners (particularly with the Regina Fire & Protective Services, Internation Association of Business Communicators (Regina branch), the Regina Food Bank, and most recently the Regina Mandolin Orchestra so far). I hope to continue exploring this process this Winter as I engage in a new collaboration with Luther College’s Nonprofit & Voluntary Studies Network in future class offerings

    The second paper above, “An Exploration in Facilitating Learning Experiences Towards Inspiring Responsible Software Engineers,” details a learning experience I facilitated for undergraduate and graduate SSE students throughout 2021 that had students immerse themselves in exploring (and software engineering) solutions in support of education for sustainable development towards one (or many) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is my hope to continue exploring this in future course offerings as well.

    The 2022 CEEA conference was really amazing. It was my first time attending the conference. I learned so much and connected with so many excellent folks from all across Canada doing great work in Engineering (and STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education. Plans are currently underway for a paper(s) submission to the CEEA 2023 event which will be at UBC/Kelowna. Super excited!

    With that, it is my plan over the next month and a bit to take some time off to recoup and rest up, coming back strong in mid-to-late August 2022 to prep for the Fall 2022 term! I am looking forward to taking a much-needed break as I reflect on the past couple of years, being thrust into COVID response back in March 2020, seemingly working non-stop until now (Summer 2022) trying to keep my head above water and trying my best to evolve my teaching while providing the best possible learning experiences to my students. I’ve learned a lot over the last little bit and hope to continue to explore, as although COVID wasn’t really a great thing that happened to us all and it really was a reactive “fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants” response, I do think some good emerged from all of my crazy explorations and experiences (and this just might be the premise of my next CEEA paper #hint …haha 😉

    Have a great summer all. If you do reach out please know I will be taking a break from it all and will respond when I can!

  • Spring Lego fun in 271

    Photo by Vlad Hilitanu on Unsplash

    I was able to break out the Lego in my people-centred design software systems engineering class this week (ENSE 271), the last time being 2-3ish years ago due to Covid.

    This activity was one I adapted/evolved from Stanford’s d.school to get SSE learners in the mindset of design thinking for their class project. Fun times!! Learners seemed to really enjoy the experience. I’ll have to do a write-up on it all in the near future – maybe for next year’s CEEA event!

  • Awards obtained from the RCE Saskatchewan

    The 2022 RCE Saskatchewan Annual Awards for Achievement in Education for Sustainable Development is happening on May 4, 2022. As director of the Humanity-Centred Computer Systems Engineering Graduate & Undergraduate Projects & Research Lab, I am pleased to announce that my students and I were successful in obtaining two awards for our efforts in the projects

    • “Education and Explorations in Being Responsible Software Engineers.” See below for student projects
    • “Web Engineering the Projects & Profiles on RCE Saskatchewan’s Website.” See below for student work

    As the event is in-person and being live-streamed we hope you can check it out!

    For more information see here:

    RCE-Recognition-Event-Advisory-2022Download

  • 2022 Engineering Project Day

    Hi all – Apologies for the late notice. This semester at the uni has breezed on by (where in the world did the time go?!?) – was in Zoom and in-person and in Zoom oh my – my poor brain! :slightly_smiling_face:

    This Saturday, April 9th we are scheduled to have our first in-person Engineering Project Day event at the University of Regina since COVID graced us with its presence. Indeed, it is an in-person event and given COVID is still a thing, masking is a requirement as per the University’s masking policy. The event starts at 8:30 am and runs until 3:30 pm and is located on the main level of the Education Building. Admission is free! …and I know this question is likely to crop up – unfortunately, due to logistics, we will not be web streaming the event this year (I’m also sad but please know we do hope to explore this in future Engineering Project Day events).

    There are cool projects from all engineering programs, but biased as I am, like toats mcgoats super cool-beans and awesomeo projects in software systems engineering this year (like in all years…ha :wink:). Hope you can make it out! https://www2.uregina.ca/projectday/

  • A research award was won!

    My team comprised of Ramona Kyabaggu-Sakubita Cheryl Camillo and me, along with our partners at Eden Care Communities (Billy Pratt, MA (Leadership) and Michelle Zulyniak) were awarded the Santé Award from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) for the Top Solutions Program: Innovation Grant in 2021-22. Exciting!

    This work expands on explorations from one of our software engineering capstone student teams from previous years (Team Nicks). This is super exciting news as we continue our research and innovation exploration in the area in the coming year

    For more information, see SHRF’s article “Interdisciplinary research team examining how technology can help improve the delivery of home care.”

  • Software Engineers exploring the UN SDGs

    Over the past year and a bit, I have been facilitating a learning experience for both my undergraduate and graduate software systems engineering (SSE) students. The learning experience involves an in-depth, independent exploration of solutions in support of the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    The general questions I am exploring is can the now-and-future (software) engineer be inspired to contribute to positive local and global change? Can this be accomplished by immersing learners in a “safe-fall”, guided learning exploration on the engineering of computer technologies in support of the UN’s SDGs? My wife would tell me these are all run-on sentences, and for surely they are. My writing is a work-in-progress- HA! That all being said, I want to share with you brief 1-3 minute solution commercials on my students’ creations from the Fall 2021 (undergraduate class) and Spring 2021 (graduate class) where students explored exactly this. I, for one, have been inspired by the outcomes of my students’ explorations. I hope you are as well.

    As an aside: Look for a supporting publication as part of the 2022 Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) event.

    Fall 2021

    (Undergraduate SSEers. Alphabetical by project codename)

    Mason’s “aeS” app. A game to teach children about ocean pollution
    Roxanne’s “Cope” app. An iOS watch app supporting mental health
    Rishabh’s “GreenScreen” app to support recycling efforts. This project will continue to be explored in the 2021-2022 SSE Capstone class in the Winter 2022
    MJ’s “CURL” app to help learners learn
    Abraham’s “Eatable” app to help tackle food waste and hunger
    Aina’s “Find” app in support of aiding vulnerable people

    Krupal’s “HealthHack” app to support people’s quest for healthy lives (Link leads to his commercial in GitHub)

    Carter’s “In Our City” app to help local teachers support their educational efforts
    Arika’s “No More Waste” app to help tackle food waste
    Shane’s “RageQuit” app to help tackle video game addiction and toxicity. This project will continue to be explored in the 2021-2022 SSE Capstone class in the Winter 2022
    Joe’s “SAS” app to help raise awareness of sexism and harassment and educate on their elimination
    Jon’s “Shared” app to help homosexual men learn, via stories, how to navigate their world
    Kaila’s “SolarShare” app to help citizen learn about solar energy

    Spring 2021

    (Graduate SSEers. Alphabetical by student first name)

    Bipin’s “Say No To Hunger” app to help reduce food waste
    Brandon’s “User-Friendly Jukebox” to support good health and well-being
    Dhaval’s “ProjectPosidon” to help support water infrastructure efforts in Tanzania
    Dhruval’s “Food For All” app to help tackle hunger in India and beyond

    Helly’s “Covid-Support” app to help companies manage COVID exposures (Link leads to his commercial in GitHub).

    Ho’s “Covid-19 Awareness” app to help citizens better understand Covid-19
    Nidhi’s “Motive Green” app to help citizens understand their carbon footprint
    Priya’s “WorryNot” app to help support mental health
    Reema’s “MHCare” app to help support mental health
    Sangeeta’s “Yield Prediction” app to help support agriculture efforts around the globe
    Shreyans’s “Connecting Humanity” app in support of hunger and poverty relief
    Tejal’s “Land Locator” app to help support small and large agricultural efforts
    Trevor’s “VoiceCare” app to help support good health and well-being

    I know there is a lot to unpack here. That said, all of these projects and student explorations give me hope! I also know that many students learned a lot about the UN SDGs and were/are inspired to go forth and be awesome – positively advancing society for us all!

  • 2021 albums of the year

    Another year around the sun. And another year of COVID fun. Reflecting on it all, it really wasn’t all that bad. I know some of you can’t wait to get back to “normal.” I for one don’t think the normality of pre-COVID life was anything to stick a flag into. This year brought growth, in work and play and maybe in more unwanted ways as well (#belly #covidcupcakes haha). But ya, on reflection, stuff & things are moving along and stuff & things aren’t as terrible as they and others may spout them to be.

    There is a lot to unpack from 2021 but given this post is about music let’s stick to that. From a music perspective, 2021 was a stellar year. One of the better slices-o-life of our worldwide self-containment experiment of the last couple of years is that musicians took time to make some stupendous albums. And a lot of them did. I know I say I struggle most years to break it down to 10 albums but this year was the most difficult it ever has been. As such, rather than a top 10 as I normally do, you’re getting a top 20. Couldn’t be helped. I trimmed as much as I wanted to go – from over 100 albums, down to 45ish, to 30 and now 20 – ha! To trim anymore is to split the smallest of hairs. Every song on every album below is simply awesome in its own way! So, here we go!

    20. Blue Rodeo. Many a mile. Canadian gems. Not a terrible tune to be heard! Favs include: It’s all in your hands, I owe it to myself, I think about you, and When you were wild

    19. Julie Doiron. I thought of you. So good. The only reason this album is higher down on my list is that I only heard of it in December! Favs so far include: Thought of you, Dreamed I was, You Gave me the key, etc.

    18. Pokey LaFarge. In the blossom of their shade. A few years back I saw Pokey & his gang at the RFF and they blew me away. This is a fun album! Favs include: Mi ideal, Killing time, Get it ‘fore it’s gone.

    17. Gojira. Fortitude. I love these fine folks. All songs are epic masterpieces but to pick a few favs: New found, Hold on, Amazonia, Born for one thing, Into the storm, Another world.

    16. Descendents. 9th & Walnut. These folks know how to rock it out. What a great album. Favs include: Mohicans, Sailor’s Choice, Nightage, man – all of it!

    15. Architects. For those that wish to exist. What a fantastic album. The heaviness is next level. Favs include: Black lungs, Giving blood, An ordinary extinction, etc.

    14. Wardruna. Kvitravn. What a super interesting & unique album. I simply love the rhythms and droning beats. From Munin, Kvitravn, Gra, Ni, etc. All fantastic!

    13. Brandi Carlile. In these silent days. What an awesome talent. I saw her play on SNL and immediately fell in love with her music. Favs include: Right on time, Letter to the past, This time tomorrow

    12. Face to Face. No way out but through. Another fantastic album from one of my all-time fave bands. Favs include: Blanked out, Anonymous, Farwell song

    11. Serj Tankian. Elasticity. An EP from one of the best vocalists and songwriters out there. All is there to enjoy as it’s a short EP but Your mom is a definite standout

    10. Courtney Barnett. Things take time, take time. Another fantastico album from Courtney and Co. Favs include: Sunfair sundown, Rae street, If I don’t hear from you tonight, Before you gotta go, etc.

    9. Bachelor, Jay Som & Palehound. Back of my hand. So very good. Favs include: Back of my hand, Sand angel, Moon, etc.

    8. Bloodbound. Creatures of the dark realm. Just a super great head-banging event. Favs: When fate is calling, Ever burning flame, March into war, Kill or be killed, etc.

    7. Lucy Dacus. Home video. Super songwriter and musician. Favs: Hot & heavy, First time, Christine, Going going gone, etc.

    6. Greta Van Fleet. The battle at garden’s gate. These fine folks are the real deal. Just wonderful. Favs include: The barbarians, broken balls, My way soon, etc!

    5. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. When god was great. These folks are gold! Favs: MOVE, I don’t believe in anything, The truth hurts, Decide, etc.

    4. The Killers. Pressure machine. The unabridged version with the storyline is so good. Favs: Quiet town, Cody, In another life, Runaway horses, etc.

    3. Teenage Bottlerocket. Sick sesh! Gold! These folks I love so very much! Favs: You’re never going out of style, Ghost story, Hello dana, etc.

    2. The War on Drugs. I don’t live here anymore. So so so very awesome. Goosebumps every time I listen. Favs: Harmonia’s dream, Victim, I don’t live here anymore, Living proof, etc.

    1. Bleachers. Take the sadness out of Saturday night. One truly excellent album. So fantastic. Favs: How dare you want more, Chinatown, Big life, Stop making this hurt. All solid gold and was in rotation much of the year which is why it is my very top pick

    0. Bowling for Soup. Getting old sucks. And just because. My favourite song released in 2021 was not any album that was released in 2021 but I’ll have you know, this band, and this song. So fucking great which is why it is here! Here’s hoping these dudes make another album soon – with this tune on it!

    And there you have it. There was just no way I could reduce my top 20 down to 10 so here you have 20 solid gold albums, and one solid gold tune, from 2021. What do you think? What are yours?

  • Towards a “metaverse” we can all be proud of

    A pause for reflection from Ethan Zuckerman: “The metaverse isn’t about building perfect virtual escape hatches—it’s about holding a mirror to our own broken, shared world” from: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/10/facebook-metaverse-was-always-terrible/620546/

    As we continue to explore variations on the metaverse (variations of online digital spaces), which I think are inevitable, and as we inch even closer to a near Ready Player One existence, my question is where do/can we go from here? Can #softwareengineers & #computerscience practitioners make a difference? I think, maybe yes?

    Towards this, my students have been exploring (PDSA) solutions in the realm of providing immersive experiences around the UN’s 17 SDGs and it has been interesting to see how my students are providing opportunities for folks to “[hold] a mirror to our own broken, shared world” while also providing knowledge growing opportunities embedded within their computer system creations to allow humanity to positively progress forward. I look forward to sharing my student’s creations from this current term in a future post (here’s my post about my student’s creations in a past class).

    As I continue to explore this idea it is my hope that when my students are unleashed into the world that they take with them a sense of duty in the spirit of Eli Pariser’s idea of being responsible/ethical digital urban planners – those that seek to create palaces for the people where we all can all learn and grow in a more human(e) way.