Category — General

Metropolis Magazine:

some cool ones

Don Norman’s jnd.org / Simplicity Is Highly Overrated:

as I’ve been known to say about simplicity… “it prevents people from thinking”, which it does. If something is so simple that you don’t have to think about it, to learn about it, then that thing loses a certain value to many people as Norman indicates. What he does not indicate because he is within the realms of efficiency… is that people do like challenges, they like to be tried and to learn from those challenges in certain circumstances. If we build everything with a mind toward simplicity with the “Don’t Make Me Think” attitude…. is the moral equivalent to, “Be a machine”

It’s just hardware!:
It’s just hardware, it will not change education, it will not make our students smarter, it will not make our lives easier unless we are willing to take a long deep look into our systems and change the way we do things. We are talking about a pedagogical shift in the way learning happens, in the way classrooms are set up, and the way we view our students in this new digital world.

It’s just hardware.
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it is just hardware… but the students are not using the the same as they might use a book, or a plow, or a tractor, or an elevator. it is a connection machine, somewhat like the book, but closer to the library, the real library, where you go in and talk to people, meet people with similar interests, ask for help, receive it, etc. etc. It is always there, always open, and usually not disfunctional, but yeah… sometimes it is.

GOP & Higher Education: “It’s about training a docile work force.” No. 1.28.2006. 19.:
“It’s not about liberal education and critical thinking,” says Dennis Baron, a former columnist for the Chronicle of Higher Education and commentator on education policy. “It’s about training a docile work force.”
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yep, that is basically what it is about…

Wikipedia Biography:
Kathryn Cramer proposes that ISFDB take back author biographies from Wikipedia.
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I agree, wikipedia is not the place for…. biographies, actually it is not the place for most things. it is really hard to maintain any sense of standards in wikipedia. you can basically find valid citations for nearly any minoritarian position in the world and support it. so you will find that wikipedia is full of things that just don’t quite fit…. full of arguments about minor things. this skews the whole project.

A sad tale of technology dependence:
Fortunately, this particular laptop has a fingerprint
sensor. What a cool piece of technology! I still have no idea what my
password is, but every morning I simply drag my index finger over the sensor and
Windows logs me in.

Last night in the woodshop I sliced my index finger open while
attempting to see if a plane iron was sharp yet. (It was.)

Today, my &*%#$@! laptop thinks my fingerprint has
changed.

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Yes a sad tail indeed…. my right index finger is marked by a knife cut, has been since i was 8. fingerprints change, and they change permanently….. computer access by biometrics will always cause a problem because of the innate mutability of the human body.

KOMO-TV – Video – Video – Young student’s documentary leaving audiences stunned:
Kiri Davis is a young filmmaker whose high school documentary has left audiences at film festivals across the country stunned — and has re-ignited a powerful debate over race.

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Racism is all around along with other forms of bigotry. It is a cultural phenomenon and should be addressed through the media, the schools, and other appropriate means including laws.

BookMooch: a community for exchanging used books (book swap and book exchange and book trade):

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bookmooch.com… ‘It is a really great idea’

I ordered a new macbook from apple under my own name. It has been years since I’ve purchased a computer for myself, as virginia tech has provided adequate resources. Pratt gave me a nice desktop too, don’t get me wrong, it arrived a month or so into my first term of teaching. I really need a laptop though and more than that, I need my own laptop. I was hoping to run a grant through Pratt and order a laptop through them, but it does not look like I’ll be staying here for long, so that would not work out. Currently, I am using Virginia Tech’s laptop and I need to send it in for repairs, so I ordered a new one.

Peter Scott’s Library Blog:
Amazon.com “Wish for Lit” contest

Amazon.com has introduced the Wish for Lit contest, where it will give over $20,000 in Amazon.com products to 3 winning libraries in the United States. One library will be selected in each of the three categories: K-12, Academic, and Public. Each winning library will receive a $5,000 gift certificate for Amazon.com products, as well as up to $2,000 of Amazon.com products that are on the library’s Amazon.com Wish List

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This seems like a good program….