All those topics that i wish i had time to pursue more earnestly.

GreenCards:
How it works (video):

RCCosmos….. run by a friend of mine on Joi Ito’s Kula… has launched Greencard. It is a business card that germinates a seedling if dropped in water or moistened significantly. This is brilliant. It sprouts alfalpha, which as we know is a primary nitrogen capturing plant. in other words, it replenishes the soil. so get soem cards and throw them away….. heh…..

Virginia Tech Tragedy:
Virginia Tech Tragedy
B. Jesiek

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Some photos from my colleague Brent that I missed posting. They capture some of the sentiment and ideas of our students and faculty.

Quasi-academic life coaching:
I wonder whether what we need is less advice that normalises unrealistic expectations that will only ever apply to an overcommitted few, and instead begin to expand (or rather, demand) the range of examples and meaningful outcomes that a graduate education in humanities in Australia can lead to. I know a bunch of you who read this blog are engaged in just this kind of crucial, community-based activity, and yet why is it that getting published in journals (that no one has time to read) and books (that no one can afford to buy) is seen as a rational expenditure of time? Particularly when universities and governments, under the sway of Big Science’s Big Bucks, don’t even want to acknowledge what’s regarded as a valuable contribution to humanities knowledge (including that most traditional of outcomes, publishing a book that is highly esteemed amongst your colleagues, as the RQF planning discussions seem to be suggesting).
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Mel hits the nail on the head. There are things we do for the job…. publish, etc. then there are things we are and things we must be… social, political, hopefully ethical, and well-rounded human beings. Academia is progressing away from this. I support a model of the academic that is more rounded, that has friends, that has causes, that has fun outside of work that lets them have fun inside of work. People ask me where i have fun and I say that I like to do things on the internet, i like to play games, chat, learn, etc. those are fun things for me.

I was talking with a graduate student at UToronto who said… Oh they expect me to have 6 publications before I graduate. I’m like ‘woaaa, dude’ some of the people that I read and cite didn’t have a single publication until they were 40 or more. You can’t just hire brilliant people anymore apparently… you have to hire published people? this is a problem and it is gettign worse. Some places that i know of require 2 books for tenure? two manuscripts. That is setting the bar at ‘no other life’ and is, I think, depriving our students of well rounded professors and leading to significant other cultural issues in the academy. We need people who are in free to be creative, not free to be productive. if the creativity leads to productivity, great, if it leads to changes in our world that makes it a better place… even better!

Student Body Asks Media to Leave Va. Tech – washingtonpost.com:
Virginia Tech’s student government has asked that all journalists leave campus by 5 a.m. tomorrow, according to a statement issued by a spokeswoman.

“Students in general will also be declining all requests and contact from the media,” the statement says. “Please grant us your understanding as this decision was made by the students, with the intent to regain a sense of normalcy as we prepare to move forward as an academic institution and as a community in the healing process.”

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I hope this is honored and people should boycott any station that does not honor it. Respect the campus community, the students, the professors wishes.

Foto & Video log – Kittens:

Kittens

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I post this link to thank Yuka and Jason for their hospitality in Toronto and the dinner we shared.

KITTENZ!

TaxProf Blog: NY Times on Taxing Height:
NY Times on Taxing Height

On Wednesday, I blogged (Taxing Height) a new paper by Greg Mankiw & Matthew Weinzierl, The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution, which argues in favor of a tax credit for short taxpayers and a tax surcharge for tall taxpayers, as well as Frank Pasquale’s critique of the paper.

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solid scholarship

TED | Talks | Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? (video):
Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

The Buffalo News: Niagara County:
NIAGARA FALLS — The American and Horseshoe Falls will be illuminated in the colors of Virginia Tech Sunday night in honor of the 32 victims of Monday’s massacre.

The water will flow maroon and orange between 8:30 p.m. and midnight, lit by a phalanx of high powered lights on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Prior to the lighting of the falls, a memorial prayer service will be held at 8 p.m. in Statue of Liberty Park, near the American entrance to the Rainbow Bridge.

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The orange and maroon are going to flow to the great oceans just like the fallen students and professors.

I have to say in a minortarian tone, that there were at least 33 victims lives that ended in death, and we don’t know how many thousands of lives were shortened through grief, worry, and this horrible transformation of their lives, that is a greater number than those in the Hokie Nation, that is everyone who now worries a little deeper about their loved ones because of this event.

libsl contributor Jesse Malthus (Jesse Higginbotham) passed away – Second Citizen Forums:
Earlier today, a friend of Jesse’s joined the libsl IRC channel and notified us of some horrible news:

“Hello everybody, I come baring bad news about JesseMalthus, I’m not sure if he visited this channel frequently, but sadly Jesse passed away earlier today following a car accident yesterday. I am sorry I have had to be the person to tell you this, and I hope you can join us all in sending his family and friends our deepest sympathy”
In Memory of Jesse Malthus
#libsl contributor Jesse Malthus, 17, killed in a car crash.
R.I.P. Jesse Malthus

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I’ve known jesse since he appeared on Kula. He was a good guy, a programmer, a founder of the rubyists group in sl, and he did interesting work. I understood that he had just nabbed a summer programming gig with a major consulting company… based on his work with libsl. He was doing great things for one so young and our world is less for his his loss.

jesse had land in kula along with many of hist builds, experiments, and friends. We will miss him. if anyone wants to build anything there in memorium, we’ve made his space.. malthusium into a temporary sandbox, which he always loved.

Facebook | Message: Memorial Fund & Upcoming Fundraisers:
In response to multiple inquiries about both setting up a memorial fund as well as any local fundraisers, we have launched a website that will allow the Manhattan Hokies to raise both awareness and support for the victims and their families.

Please visit: http://www.nyhokiescare.org

for details.

Additionally, in the coming days, we will be announcing the details about a fundraising event in early May that will also contribute to this cause.

Thank you in advance for your support during these trying times.

Ut Prosim,

Steve Hole
President
Manhattan Hokies
www.nyhokiescare.org
www.manhattahokies.com