What a day so far. I became totally enamored of the cleverly headlined "An Odyssey Through the Brain, Illuminated by a Rainbow" by Dr. Abigail Zuger. Solid writing and the slide shows and video interview of author Carl Schoonover were fine. Boggles the mind what scientists and technicians have wrought.
In seeing all this, however, my elearning soul yearned for MORE. More explanation, more detail, more pointing out of what each filament category did, how it functions, etc. Schoonover got me. I wanted to learn more.
Now go see it!! and then come back.
Wow. Think of how one could use these images, and the videos that scientists are now producing of cell activity in motion, to stimulate the imagination, and yes the desire for More, in say 10 year olds, 4th graders...and 6th graders, 8th, etc.!!! And hey, even 60ers in their middle age!
Sitting here in Peru, I'm thinking why don't the Education Ministers of the Andean spine countries, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia...even Chile,.. get together, form a lobbying org and persuade authors, book companies, scientist organizations, aid funders to help make knowledge like this available to the undereducated poor. I.e. make it accessible physically, but also mentally by constructing courselets by at least three education levels: kids, teens, adults. Let them share in the wonder of modern science, modern knowledge, for their own betterment.
And take a look just at this diagram. You could do a whole mp3 talk with it to go along just with it printed out. [I tried to insert it here, but Blogger resists.]
And hey, not only here in Peru, but really in the US as well it'd be great to make online learning available to all.
This stuff can be SO exciting, so enticing, so profoundly interesting, memorable, and unforgettable. And therefore it would stimulate kids to want to know more, study with attention and intention, and maybe follow a career line they never thought of before.
Now isn't that a great goal for learning??!!
Can you now see how "wonder" can lead to making the most out of life, excitement, yearning, on and on and on. That's why I'm going to now consider myself a WonderGeek and give myself permission to not only have Ballmer moments, but also Wonder moments as well:-)
Nov 29, 2010
Wikileaks: my answer to the NYT
Wikileaks, not. My reply to the NYT.
To the editors of the unsigned "A Note to Readers: The Decision to Publish Diplomatic Documents" of Nov. 28, 2010:
I'm wondering if stating that "…it would be presumptuous to conclude that Americans have no right to know what is being done in their name," means you are saying that the government should therefore have no right to secrecy about any communication or deliberation. Because that's exactly what that statement implies. Do you really mean that we the public should have the right to know everything that is done or said "in our name" by government?
If that is so, then I must as an American journalist of thirty years ask if you are advocating that the government should fail, i.e. lose all power to negotiate, lose all power to react to possible threats, lose all power to be considered an ally since all those actions normally have some aspect of secrecy or confidentiality involved?
By not condemning, or questioning at the least, the wholesale dump of cables and in fact enjoying the fruits of readership by their publication, not as part of stories generated by decisions of reporters and their editors to pursue information, but as part of the illegal stealing of lawfully classified secret documents, you are in fact encouraging more of the same illegal thefts of government information and making a mockery of "freedom of the press."
You are not recognizing that the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) exists for this purpose to make it possible for legitimate members of the media to get the documents they need to better help the public exercise their franchise, the main reason for freedom of the press in the first place, i.e., for the public to be able to cast an intelligent, well-informed vote.
As much as I have admired and certainly daily read the NYTimes, your reputation for me is now sullied, smirched, dirty, and your actions show you are putting monetary gain ahead of the rule of law and the welfare of the nation.
To help you remain consistent, I hope that from now on the NY Times will record and publish all meetings at the top executive levels of the paper and require reporters to videotape their interviews with all sources and put them on YouTube. Because after all, isn't it presumptuous to conclude that subscribed American readers have no right to know what is really behind the investigative stories which form the bedrock of your freedom of press?
To the editors of the unsigned "A Note to Readers: The Decision to Publish Diplomatic Documents" of Nov. 28, 2010:
I'm wondering if stating that "…it would be presumptuous to conclude that Americans have no right to know what is being done in their name," means you are saying that the government should therefore have no right to secrecy about any communication or deliberation. Because that's exactly what that statement implies. Do you really mean that we the public should have the right to know everything that is done or said "in our name" by government?
If that is so, then I must as an American journalist of thirty years ask if you are advocating that the government should fail, i.e. lose all power to negotiate, lose all power to react to possible threats, lose all power to be considered an ally since all those actions normally have some aspect of secrecy or confidentiality involved?
By not condemning, or questioning at the least, the wholesale dump of cables and in fact enjoying the fruits of readership by their publication, not as part of stories generated by decisions of reporters and their editors to pursue information, but as part of the illegal stealing of lawfully classified secret documents, you are in fact encouraging more of the same illegal thefts of government information and making a mockery of "freedom of the press."
You are not recognizing that the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) exists for this purpose to make it possible for legitimate members of the media to get the documents they need to better help the public exercise their franchise, the main reason for freedom of the press in the first place, i.e., for the public to be able to cast an intelligent, well-informed vote.
As much as I have admired and certainly daily read the NYTimes, your reputation for me is now sullied, smirched, dirty, and your actions show you are putting monetary gain ahead of the rule of law and the welfare of the nation.
To help you remain consistent, I hope that from now on the NY Times will record and publish all meetings at the top executive levels of the paper and require reporters to videotape their interviews with all sources and put them on YouTube. Because after all, isn't it presumptuous to conclude that subscribed American readers have no right to know what is really behind the investigative stories which form the bedrock of your freedom of press?
Aug 12, 2010
¡Por fin!
Legalizar es la única via. El mero hecho que hay un cantidad pequeña que podrías tener y usar LEGALmente es una burla total al concepto de IL-legalidad de la droga.
Esta exposición del Dr. Núñez es lo más acertado que he leido. Felicidades y ojalá que los politicos por fin empiezan de entender que su supuesta 'solución' del consumo de drogas hace mucho más daño al público que el consumo en sí— y que el público ya anda reconociendolo más y más.
El malo de la 'guerra contra la droga' ya está por la culpabilidad de los politicos.
Jul 10, 2010
Medium is the elitist Medium, eh?
Typo here, David? "...home with 500 books..." That's a pretty select group.
Re physical presence of books making the difference in school grades. Well, yes, because for many it's the first time they've had the opportunity to sit and just plain ol' read for an extended period of time. And yes, they will have had other "worlds" opened to them with the right sort of books, and that's great if you've never really had it, and it should logically have impact on school grades as well.
And, yes, we are to remember that "prestigious" is far more important than simply "useful."
Wow, David, this is really an elegant, elitist view of the reading world, "deep, alternative worlds," "lasting wisdom." Yeah, maybe once in a while, for certain people, but there's an extraordinary amount of information that can just help people get along in the world, help them achieve something more by reading than they would have, learn how to take care of themselves better, learn how to better treat other people, learn the joy, fun, delight there is in sheer good reading.
Ah, no, another type of real reading is more important you claim. "But the literary world is still better at helping you become cultivated, mastering significant things of lasting import. To learn these sorts of things, you have to defer to greater minds than your own."
I'd say that what matters most for readers is having "learning" available to them, in a language they can understand at the level of learning they are at for useful purposes for their lives....prestigious, cultured, literary or not.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/
Jun 19, 2010
Potatoes May Power The Batteries Of The Future - HotHardware
Potatoes May Power The Batteries Of The Future - HotHardware
I can't help still being so excited about the extraordinary things that the web still brings to an ol' Missouri Mule mind mortal.
What a fine story it would be to take this contraption to some of the lowly potato farmers in Peru's highland country to show them what it could do! This sort of story is exactly what CocoLoco is all about, making knowledge more accessible to farmers and spurring their pride as well! Maria Scurrah, is the queen of potato around Huancayo over the Andes from Lima who introduced Swedish radio correspondent Claes Andreasson and I to her tuber world there. I think she'll be excited about this.
I can't help still being so excited about the extraordinary things that the web still brings to an ol' Missouri Mule mind mortal.
What a fine story it would be to take this contraption to some of the lowly potato farmers in Peru's highland country to show them what it could do! This sort of story is exactly what CocoLoco is all about, making knowledge more accessible to farmers and spurring their pride as well! Maria Scurrah, is the queen of potato around Huancayo over the Andes from Lima who introduced Swedish radio correspondent Claes Andreasson and I to her tuber world there. I think she'll be excited about this.
Jun 7, 2010
Senado como guarantor de voces minorias
El Sr. Henry Pease tiene mucha razón en su argumento pro un Senado para Perú en El Comercio hoy día. Pero hay otro argumento fundamental.
Del punto de vista del Senado de los EEUU, su función principal era diseñado por los padres originales de la patría, para tratar de balancear al peso de los estados, es decir áreas, mayormente agricolas, con los urbanos con intereses diferentes en decisiones del Estado.
En la Casa de Representates, el Congreso, un estado que tiene una población mayormente urbano tendría mucho más población y por eso tendría más congresistas ya que se calcua el número de representates por estado basado en uno por un cierto número de ciudadanos.
Un estado principalmente de áreas rurales, agricolas por naturaleza tendría menos ciudadanos, y consecuentamente mucho menos congresistas que los estados con grandes areas urbanos.
Para ser seguro que los urbanos no podrían por peso de congresistas pisar los intereses legitimos de los rurales, crearon el Senado que no importa el tamaño física o número de pobladores de un estado, porque cada estado tiene fijado dos Senadores que representan los intereses, haciendo más igual el impacto de estos en decisiones del gobierno.
Guarantizar igualdad de importancía para intereses de los "minorias" en población era la razón fundamental de crear un Senado... razonamiento que también vale para el Perú!!
May 25, 2010
Brain Injuries Tied to Sleep Difficulties Due to Melatonin Reduction
Brain Injuries Tied to Sleep Difficulties Due to Melatonin Reduction
Ahha! At last someone is validating my experience with melatonin after the sever beating I got in Dec. 2003.
It works. Neither Mom nor Dad, nor grandparents ever had trouble sleeping that I heard about. Melatonin is much, much better than drugs for sleeplessness. I wake up as normal and ...as normal... after my two cups of coffee, feel just fine. It works great compared to the "drugs" doctors gave me at first. No after effect of drowsiness. But it's good now to see the effect confirmed. More people at least in their late 40s onward should at least try it for sleep problems instead of over the counter medicines.
Ahha! At last someone is validating my experience with melatonin after the sever beating I got in Dec. 2003.
It works. Neither Mom nor Dad, nor grandparents ever had trouble sleeping that I heard about. Melatonin is much, much better than drugs for sleeplessness. I wake up as normal and ...as normal... after my two cups of coffee, feel just fine. It works great compared to the "drugs" doctors gave me at first. No after effect of drowsiness. But it's good now to see the effect confirmed. More people at least in their late 40s onward should at least try it for sleep problems instead of over the counter medicines.
May 7, 2010
Sixth Sense Technology
Well, I finally figured out Google's WAVE and credit where due, in searching for eLearning, I happened on a reference by Joe Molloy in insistent terms to this site >>.
If over the last six months you haven't heard/seen/watched Pranav Mistry and are at all interested in technology...do NOT miss this—SixthSense technology!! I can't emphasize how really mind-boggling this is. It's a TED talk from Nov. 2009, 15 min. Extraordinary. Neuron overload.
Apr 27, 2010
Habits - extraordinary tools of life
Ok, we all know habits can be bad or good for us. I now understand they can go from one of those states to the other. Sigh.
The one at hand: I cross my legs mostly R over L whenever possible. Who knows why...it's just more comfortable. But...now my hip joint is rebelling...it aches, sometimes hurts.
I trace this to a bad habit from my camera woman days of being so perfectly balanced with betacam on or slung over my right shoulder and soundbox dangling from the left, that I found myself more and more 'relaxing' by propping my left shoe on the right, which relaxed the left side of my body, pushing my right leg bone socket out to my right side. Got that? LOLL Like a flamingo standing on one leg, relaxed, at ease, etc. But...torquing and probably wearing down ligaments and cartilage.
I'm now paying the price. So back to habits.... the point of all this to say that STOPPING said habit of crossing legs which does now seem to relieve the pain is damned hard. We are automatic beings it seems. I automatically cross the damned leg. No thought, no consideration, no conscious anything!! Body just does it. Wow.
We all know about automatically breathing, heart pumping, etc. but this deal of habit not only becoming automatic—but unwilling to become UN-automatic — beyond current aggravation, has room for growth.
Growth? you ask. Yep. If habits can become SO ingrained, why not use that tendency for the positive.
Like the habit of helping, being nice, considering other people. Why not teach this in school, reward it at work, and of course praise it at home? To the point that being nice, considerate to others becomes what else? A Habit!
Come on, Sharon, you say. But you perhaps don't live in Peru. Being considerate to others here is NOT a front and center habit. Whether you're walking on the street (schrunching over to one side beside some obnoxious person does not give you your space to walk on your side; or driving—oh, there's a zillion of those examples, like the guy who forces you to stop by putting his nose in the two-meter space you've left between you and the next car, costing you brake wear, gas expended, time spent as you brake to not hit him. Ugh.
So I want to find some way to float the idea that individual schools or businesses can set up little awards, recognitions of people who either consistently show their consideration of others, or for doing some special act out of the blue. Course advertisers on TV might get kudos from the public by doing same in a more public way. TV/newspaper media might try it as well. Ok. nada más...
... but don't you think that's a good idea?!!
The one at hand: I cross my legs mostly R over L whenever possible. Who knows why...it's just more comfortable. But...now my hip joint is rebelling...it aches, sometimes hurts.
I trace this to a bad habit from my camera woman days of being so perfectly balanced with betacam on or slung over my right shoulder and soundbox dangling from the left, that I found myself more and more 'relaxing' by propping my left shoe on the right, which relaxed the left side of my body, pushing my right leg bone socket out to my right side. Got that? LOLL Like a flamingo standing on one leg, relaxed, at ease, etc. But...torquing and probably wearing down ligaments and cartilage.
I'm now paying the price. So back to habits.... the point of all this to say that STOPPING said habit of crossing legs which does now seem to relieve the pain is damned hard. We are automatic beings it seems. I automatically cross the damned leg. No thought, no consideration, no conscious anything!! Body just does it. Wow.
We all know about automatically breathing, heart pumping, etc. but this deal of habit not only becoming automatic—but unwilling to become UN-automatic — beyond current aggravation, has room for growth.
Growth? you ask. Yep. If habits can become SO ingrained, why not use that tendency for the positive.
Like the habit of helping, being nice, considering other people. Why not teach this in school, reward it at work, and of course praise it at home? To the point that being nice, considerate to others becomes what else? A Habit!
Come on, Sharon, you say. But you perhaps don't live in Peru. Being considerate to others here is NOT a front and center habit. Whether you're walking on the street (schrunching over to one side beside some obnoxious person does not give you your space to walk on your side; or driving—oh, there's a zillion of those examples, like the guy who forces you to stop by putting his nose in the two-meter space you've left between you and the next car, costing you brake wear, gas expended, time spent as you brake to not hit him. Ugh.
So I want to find some way to float the idea that individual schools or businesses can set up little awards, recognitions of people who either consistently show their consideration of others, or for doing some special act out of the blue. Course advertisers on TV might get kudos from the public by doing same in a more public way. TV/newspaper media might try it as well. Ok. nada más...
... but don't you think that's a good idea?!!
Apr 25, 2010
Chris Lehmann - Wow! Educator for our times plus...
Hey, this is just a scribbled notes, skeletal version of Chris' fine, energizing, coherent version of what he wants schools to transform into. Hope this sketch kindles your interest in going to the YouTube original version because he's worth "seeing" in person!
CHRIS LEHMANN
My TEDxNYED Talk - Creating School 2.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FEMCyHYTyQ&feature=player_embedded#!
http://goo.gl/j3tk
3/06/10
He wants his kids to have amazing schools, to be learners. "Let's build a place where we can come together and learn."
He wants them to love the acquisition of knowledge...but what about loving the acquisition/execution of accomplishment!!
He wants them to have a day like 'today' where they walk out of the talk and say "...my head hurts because it's so full of ideas." [Now I know what to say after working on CocoLoco and my head is 'spinning' from all the thought surges.]
Data Driven Decisions: - hits hard at testing as the testing norm, end all be all. *** "Standardized testing is cheap and easy, but it's not good."
Building Caring Institutions - We Teach Kids, Not subjects - Language counts - say, "I teach kids English. "9:00? Kids need adults - help them make sense of the world.
Should be Inquiry Driven: schools should be places of great inquiry; ask rich, powerful questions then seek the answers. What are the questions we can ask together? Go from guided inquiry to open inquiry.
Student Centered - about their work, about their learning. 10:10 Teachers as mentors. Many teachers have a moment when they realize that at least for one child They ARE the adult that matters.
Community-based schools - We can learn from many.
" If you're reading a book in class by a living author and you don't call the publisher and say hey, are they willing to do a half-hour Skype call, you're doing a disservice... Bring your classroom into the world, and the world into the classroom."
Schools should be Collaborative, because synthesis works, because my idea reacts with your idea and is changed. When we allow ourselves to react with the minds of others we grow. We've got to let kids and adults work together. This is our office table...we all hang out there.
In all our spaces we learn together. Schools should be places of passion; pix of kids working on a piece of sheet metal: "Lonny Mercado is cutting sheet metal to build the first ever flow-process biodiesel generator. because a caring teacher who had an idea and 30 kids worked on something that had never been done before and now they have a patent pending on it."
And here's where it gets really cool, this is seven times more efficient what they built than the standard biodiesel is built. They gave it away to Creative Commons. If you're going to use it for a non-profit purpose, they gave it away. We know of a village in Guatemala and a village in Ecuador that took what our kids have built and went from buying the diesel for the electricity to power their schools to actually powering their schools electricity simply by the crops that they had and the work of our kids, and what the people in that village, the students in that village, built."
This happens when we dare to ask the question, what if high school wasn't just preparation for real life, what if we honored the work of the kids, and said, high school IS real life. "
Integrated: fewer classes instead of 8 classes a day. so kids have time to get down to work. He visited a philadelphia traditional high school - "By the end of the day not only could I not remember what the actual stuff that was taught in first period, I didn't remember what class I had. We've gotta make the day make more sense. ...we need longer classes that meet fewer times, so kids have the time to play with ideas, so they have time to get down to work, then wecan see, we can build those essential questions we can build those themes, so that when you're studying genetics in a biochemistry lab, and you're looking at how you become who you are, you're reading Hamlet and you're asking how does he become what he is." kids in chemistry illustrate in art class what titanium represents, etc. classes connected ot one another throughout the day.
Meta-Cognitive - we need to think about thinking.
Anything you teach is not as important as helping kids learn to think for themselves!
Technology these days has to be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary and invisible; it's got to be everywhere, it's gotta be important and then we've just got to stop talking about it so much and just use it as a tool."
16:16 Says Neil Postman said that with the Gutenberg printing press, you didn't have the Europe you always had plus books, you had a whole new Europe because it was a truly transformative technology, yet in so many schools in America and all over the place, we don't have whole new schools, we have the schools we've always had plus some technology and what we need are whole new schools. The technology should allow us to redefine everything, and what it really allows us to do is create, research, collaborate, present, and network in all kinds of new ways. Yes, schools have done some of these things for a very long time, but now we can do them like never before."
How do we change the world? - 18:00 Let's be humbled by all we do not know and skeptical of those who are not.
Keep Asking Questions - and don't settle for easy answers.
18:30 - And for the journalists in the room, let's go after the people who give us easy answers.What's going on in American education right now is a travesty, and we settle for the easy answers and we settle for the sound bite, without asking the harder questions. Let's ask the hard questions, and let's demand the answers.
Continue the Conversation - dream big in every community.
Go back to where you live, talk to kids, teachers, ask state reps, ask how can we dream about what we want our schools to be. ... Kids know something is wrong, teachers know something is wrong, parents know something is wrong. We've got to
Empower the Kids." they deserve a voice in their own education, and we need to be learners ourselves. and we need to be willing to be transformed.
CHRIS LEHMANN
My TEDxNYED Talk - Creating School 2.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FEMCyHYTyQ&feature=player_embedded#!
http://goo.gl/j3tk
3/06/10
He wants his kids to have amazing schools, to be learners. "Let's build a place where we can come together and learn."
He wants them to love the acquisition of knowledge...but what about loving the acquisition/execution of accomplishment!!
He wants them to have a day like 'today' where they walk out of the talk and say "...my head hurts because it's so full of ideas." [Now I know what to say after working on CocoLoco and my head is 'spinning' from all the thought surges.]
Data Driven Decisions: - hits hard at testing as the testing norm, end all be all. *** "Standardized testing is cheap and easy, but it's not good."
Building Caring Institutions - We Teach Kids, Not subjects - Language counts - say, "I teach kids English. "9:00? Kids need adults - help them make sense of the world.
Should be Inquiry Driven: schools should be places of great inquiry; ask rich, powerful questions then seek the answers. What are the questions we can ask together? Go from guided inquiry to open inquiry.
Student Centered - about their work, about their learning. 10:10 Teachers as mentors. Many teachers have a moment when they realize that at least for one child They ARE the adult that matters.
Community-based schools - We can learn from many.
" If you're reading a book in class by a living author and you don't call the publisher and say hey, are they willing to do a half-hour Skype call, you're doing a disservice... Bring your classroom into the world, and the world into the classroom."
Schools should be Collaborative, because synthesis works, because my idea reacts with your idea and is changed. When we allow ourselves to react with the minds of others we grow. We've got to let kids and adults work together. This is our office table...we all hang out there.
In all our spaces we learn together. Schools should be places of passion; pix of kids working on a piece of sheet metal: "Lonny Mercado is cutting sheet metal to build the first ever flow-process biodiesel generator. because a caring teacher who had an idea and 30 kids worked on something that had never been done before and now they have a patent pending on it."
And here's where it gets really cool, this is seven times more efficient what they built than the standard biodiesel is built. They gave it away to Creative Commons. If you're going to use it for a non-profit purpose, they gave it away. We know of a village in Guatemala and a village in Ecuador that took what our kids have built and went from buying the diesel for the electricity to power their schools to actually powering their schools electricity simply by the crops that they had and the work of our kids, and what the people in that village, the students in that village, built."
This happens when we dare to ask the question, what if high school wasn't just preparation for real life, what if we honored the work of the kids, and said, high school IS real life. "
Integrated: fewer classes instead of 8 classes a day. so kids have time to get down to work. He visited a philadelphia traditional high school - "By the end of the day not only could I not remember what the actual stuff that was taught in first period, I didn't remember what class I had. We've gotta make the day make more sense. ...we need longer classes that meet fewer times, so kids have the time to play with ideas, so they have time to get down to work, then wecan see, we can build those essential questions we can build those themes, so that when you're studying genetics in a biochemistry lab, and you're looking at how you become who you are, you're reading Hamlet and you're asking how does he become what he is." kids in chemistry illustrate in art class what titanium represents, etc. classes connected ot one another throughout the day.
Meta-Cognitive - we need to think about thinking.
Anything you teach is not as important as helping kids learn to think for themselves!
Technology these days has to be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary and invisible; it's got to be everywhere, it's gotta be important and then we've just got to stop talking about it so much and just use it as a tool."
16:16 Says Neil Postman said that with the Gutenberg printing press, you didn't have the Europe you always had plus books, you had a whole new Europe because it was a truly transformative technology, yet in so many schools in America and all over the place, we don't have whole new schools, we have the schools we've always had plus some technology and what we need are whole new schools. The technology should allow us to redefine everything, and what it really allows us to do is create, research, collaborate, present, and network in all kinds of new ways. Yes, schools have done some of these things for a very long time, but now we can do them like never before."
How do we change the world? - 18:00 Let's be humbled by all we do not know and skeptical of those who are not.
Keep Asking Questions - and don't settle for easy answers.
18:30 - And for the journalists in the room, let's go after the people who give us easy answers.What's going on in American education right now is a travesty, and we settle for the easy answers and we settle for the sound bite, without asking the harder questions. Let's ask the hard questions, and let's demand the answers.
Continue the Conversation - dream big in every community.
Go back to where you live, talk to kids, teachers, ask state reps, ask how can we dream about what we want our schools to be. ... Kids know something is wrong, teachers know something is wrong, parents know something is wrong. We've got to
Empower the Kids." they deserve a voice in their own education, and we need to be learners ourselves. and we need to be willing to be transformed.
Apr 5, 2010
Perspective: eLearning boredom can change
Consider:
"As we develop learning solutions for our customers, we encounter an ever-increasing resistance to LMS-based eLearning. Learners are tired of sitting through 160 slides of content. Managers are tired of people taking eLearning and not having skills to do their job. Business owners are beginning to relegate eLearning to simple compliance (“so we can say we did it”)
courses.
They have valid complaints. The vast majority of eLearning is not designed to drive performance improvement. The reason for this is simple: Most eLearning replicates the worst practices of education electronically: lecture and multiple choice tests."
http://www.q2learning.com/collateral/WP-Beyond-LMS-20091202bb.pdf -----------------
eLearning can and will be a fantastic learning tool especially for under-developed countries with masses of people without any recourse, i.e. money, for higher education...or even education on how to just use the internet for their own benefit.
But... as the old saw goes, back to basics. Back to thinking from the USER'S POINT OF VIEW!! Happily, that's where CocoLoco began. I'm more and more confident it will soon find a home.
"As we develop learning solutions for our customers, we encounter an ever-increasing resistance to LMS-based eLearning. Learners are tired of sitting through 160 slides of content. Managers are tired of people taking eLearning and not having skills to do their job. Business owners are beginning to relegate eLearning to simple compliance (“so we can say we did it”)
courses.
They have valid complaints. The vast majority of eLearning is not designed to drive performance improvement. The reason for this is simple: Most eLearning replicates the worst practices of education electronically: lecture and multiple choice tests."
http://www.q2learning.com/collateral/WP-Beyond-LMS-20091202bb.pdf -----------------
eLearning can and will be a fantastic learning tool especially for under-developed countries with masses of people without any recourse, i.e. money, for higher education...or even education on how to just use the internet for their own benefit.
But... as the old saw goes, back to basics. Back to thinking from the USER'S POINT OF VIEW!! Happily, that's where CocoLoco began. I'm more and more confident it will soon find a home.
Mar 29, 2010
NYT "Texts Without Context"
"Texts Without Context" Michiko Kakutani, Mar. 17, 2010
The article is thought-provoking in several directions and certainly worth considering. Basically it reviews recent publications concerning the negative societal impact of the web and its effect on our mental absorption of written material, which obviously influences attitudes and actions.
============
AS a moderately "addicted" user of the internet, I'm becoming bored with much that I'm reading and watching. Long ago in say the mid-90s, I became aware that my use of the web was like a never ending hour-glass: I surfed copiously as I explored something new, but then little-by-little narrowed the focus to the bits that served me and then again widened out for the next topic of interest or necessity.
While this habit persists, it has to some extent come up against not a brick wall, but it's opposite—both the overwhelming, unending horizons or more and more material to consider ... and of course, the limits of time to do all that narrowing to get to what one wants or can use.
Let's consider that we seem to be entering a period of transition in web use, for some abrupt, disturbing; for others, challenging and invigorating. What are the solutions/options?
1. Personal: As with any habit which may become an addiction, there's a point at which most people will say, Whoa, horsey! and "TMI" in this case. It's the old pendulum swing phenomenon. After experiencing web exhaustion, the way out will most likely be an increasing search for and reliance on aggregate sites which are relevant to our individual tastes and therefore earn the term "useful."
A recent example for me is the "Open Culture" blog/website, a "quality aggregator" for my tastes and needs. Another is the twitter spin-off of Web2.0Classroom http://twitter.com/web20classroom http://goo.gl/IoZV set up by Steven W. Anderson.
2. Webwide: While the volume of sites no doubt will continue expanding with social media and people's willingness to express themselves more and more on the web in personalized forms of websites, blogs, twitter topics, etc., I believe and hope there will be more parallel development of these "smart" sites, designed to help us with the narrowing process and labeled as such.
News: front and center. As a perceived "victim" of the atomization of information, I hope and believe that news will continue to thrive primarily through local outlets, probably the most relevant for neighborhoods and families.
Bloggers not withstanding, national and international news will survive, but more and more will have to be related directly to our governing bodies. That means we will have to more easily see and understand why those international stories/issues are important to our lives and our choices of who governs us.
Just as in my Mom and Dad's time as non-university graduates and working class folk, they relied on the editorial stance of their favorite local paper to tell them whom the best candidates for office were based on local news both daily and investigative, we will more and more (or "once again," if you chose) look to specific "experts" to guide us in choices this time NOT because we don't have the wherewithall to get more information, but now it's opposite, because we're simply overwhelmed with too much to sift through within the time frame of daily life.
More and more I believe news publishers will have to begin to be more careful in choosing and more explicit in explaining the importance of stories from the rest of the world. I would not object to subheads: Relevance, Future implications, even the informal So what? as guides to understanding and remembering the relevance what we read.
Conclusion: From the article: "Given the constant bombardment of trivia and data that we’re subjected to in today’s mediascape, it’s little wonder that noisy, Manichean arguments tend to get more attention than subtle, policy-heavy ones; that funny, snarky or willfully provocative assertions often gain more traction than earnest, measured ones; and that loud, entertaining or controversial personalities tend to get the most ink and airtime."
Ah, but we choose to be bombarded, we're not "subjected" to anything. We do have choices and we can "just say no." And do. It will be a matter only of how long it takes more and more people to get to this point.
"...it becomes easier and easier, as Mr. Sunstein observes in his 2009 book “Going to Extremes,” for people “to avoid general-interest newspapers and magazines and to make choices that reflect their own predispositions.”
Whoaa. Let's go back to Mom and Dad. No matter what they read or heard, they were never ever going to become Republicans. Period. They were never going to give up their commitment to the working man, which my father was.
Based on personal observation, we are far more influenced by what happens to us, our friends, families, colleagues, neighbors than what we read. Experience felt and related personally still counts. Taxes, wars, health and education reinforce or turn voters when they feel and understand the effects.
All of which is remind that Freedom of Expression and the Press were given us so that we could better exercise our franchise. That vote is one of the three overwhelmingly vital linchpins of our democracy: the vote, freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The pendulum has swung a bit to one extreme. It will return.
The article is thought-provoking in several directions and certainly worth considering. Basically it reviews recent publications concerning the negative societal impact of the web and its effect on our mental absorption of written material, which obviously influences attitudes and actions.
============
AS a moderately "addicted" user of the internet, I'm becoming bored with much that I'm reading and watching. Long ago in say the mid-90s, I became aware that my use of the web was like a never ending hour-glass: I surfed copiously as I explored something new, but then little-by-little narrowed the focus to the bits that served me and then again widened out for the next topic of interest or necessity.
While this habit persists, it has to some extent come up against not a brick wall, but it's opposite—both the overwhelming, unending horizons or more and more material to consider ... and of course, the limits of time to do all that narrowing to get to what one wants or can use.
Let's consider that we seem to be entering a period of transition in web use, for some abrupt, disturbing; for others, challenging and invigorating. What are the solutions/options?
1. Personal: As with any habit which may become an addiction, there's a point at which most people will say, Whoa, horsey! and "TMI" in this case. It's the old pendulum swing phenomenon. After experiencing web exhaustion, the way out will most likely be an increasing search for and reliance on aggregate sites which are relevant to our individual tastes and therefore earn the term "useful."
A recent example for me is the "Open Culture" blog/website, a "quality aggregator" for my tastes and needs. Another is the twitter spin-off of Web2.0Classroom http://twitter.com/web20classroom http://goo.gl/IoZV set up by Steven W. Anderson.
2. Webwide: While the volume of sites no doubt will continue expanding with social media and people's willingness to express themselves more and more on the web in personalized forms of websites, blogs, twitter topics, etc., I believe and hope there will be more parallel development of these "smart" sites, designed to help us with the narrowing process and labeled as such.
News: front and center. As a perceived "victim" of the atomization of information, I hope and believe that news will continue to thrive primarily through local outlets, probably the most relevant for neighborhoods and families.
Bloggers not withstanding, national and international news will survive, but more and more will have to be related directly to our governing bodies. That means we will have to more easily see and understand why those international stories/issues are important to our lives and our choices of who governs us.
Just as in my Mom and Dad's time as non-university graduates and working class folk, they relied on the editorial stance of their favorite local paper to tell them whom the best candidates for office were based on local news both daily and investigative, we will more and more (or "once again," if you chose) look to specific "experts" to guide us in choices this time NOT because we don't have the wherewithall to get more information, but now it's opposite, because we're simply overwhelmed with too much to sift through within the time frame of daily life.
More and more I believe news publishers will have to begin to be more careful in choosing and more explicit in explaining the importance of stories from the rest of the world. I would not object to subheads: Relevance, Future implications, even the informal So what? as guides to understanding and remembering the relevance what we read.
Conclusion: From the article: "Given the constant bombardment of trivia and data that we’re subjected to in today’s mediascape, it’s little wonder that noisy, Manichean arguments tend to get more attention than subtle, policy-heavy ones; that funny, snarky or willfully provocative assertions often gain more traction than earnest, measured ones; and that loud, entertaining or controversial personalities tend to get the most ink and airtime."
Ah, but we choose to be bombarded, we're not "subjected" to anything. We do have choices and we can "just say no." And do. It will be a matter only of how long it takes more and more people to get to this point.
"...it becomes easier and easier, as Mr. Sunstein observes in his 2009 book “Going to Extremes,” for people “to avoid general-interest newspapers and magazines and to make choices that reflect their own predispositions.”
Whoaa. Let's go back to Mom and Dad. No matter what they read or heard, they were never ever going to become Republicans. Period. They were never going to give up their commitment to the working man, which my father was.
Based on personal observation, we are far more influenced by what happens to us, our friends, families, colleagues, neighbors than what we read. Experience felt and related personally still counts. Taxes, wars, health and education reinforce or turn voters when they feel and understand the effects.
All of which is remind that Freedom of Expression and the Press were given us so that we could better exercise our franchise. That vote is one of the three overwhelmingly vital linchpins of our democracy: the vote, freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The pendulum has swung a bit to one extreme. It will return.
Mar 28, 2010
Old, worn criticism, but worth revisiting on Journalism's future
Ok, I should have immediately noted the date, but didn't and wrote a long rebuttal before I realized the article was three years old. But...since I put in the effort, I'll go ahead and set it out. Points are still valid.
10 Reasons There's a Bright Future for Journalism by Mark Glaser, June 28, 2007
My comment:
1. More access to journalism worldwide. Yes, and Google's translation service will make the amount available of that news far greater. But with let's say 10s of thousands more pieces become available even within one country, how will one lonely person sift through ALL of it? Google page count may be one way, but if you're looking beyond the "popular" i.e., chosen by many then you need a filter which can at least point out the reliable from the not. Who will provide that filter?
2. I don't think news publishers nor journalists ever thought that "we have all the answers here." Normally journalists deal with one very targeted topic, event, situation, person and report on that as a breaking story, normal story, feature, investigative piece.
The loyalty or esteem given that publishing org is largely based on a client's (reader, listener, watcher) perception of the quality of that targeted news. PLUS more and more these days loyalty is to those who comment on the news bloggers and paid columnists who obviously are largely fed on "news" generated in part from their own contacts, but much more so from news publishers.
THEY are the ones who have to earn revenue to pay for journalists' expenses:
• time spent on the story
• train or plane tickets
• cab fare or rent-a-car bills
• 3 meals a day per diem
• hotel bills
• phone bills
• perhaps a lunch here and there for a source
All above only to say aggregation of other news outlets on a publishers' site is NOT journalism. Please. It may be a way of attracting clicks, but I repeat, it is NOT journalism.
3. Sorry to repeat: what's being described is "distribution" of news stories unbound, not "journalism."
4. Agreed.
5. Agreed.
6. Right. People who used to write letters to the editors, now have a plethora of places where they can express themselves. While there are "more outsiders and experts exerting influence over the news agenda," there's also a concentration of political views now focused on distorting, exaggerating, and above all drawing attention that is also a "concentrated agenda=setting power" radicalizing political discourse away from "truth."
7.Where are these "conflicts of interest" being published? Haven't seen them.
8. Again, if that happens, will that de-concentration and revenue "spread out to smaller independent sites" make it possible to fund credible ongoing nationwide or statewide investigations of government actions?
9. Agree on environmental concern. But...choosing online over print means millions of people with limited incomes unable to buy a personal computer will be forced to depend only on TV and radio for news, a considerable shrinking of their ability to be informed voters, the raison d'etre of press freedom. Here in Peru at least people in urban areas, even small commercial villages, can go to public computer use stores for around 60¢ at least once a week if they wish.
10. Point taken about followups...should be a lot more.
============
10 Reasons There's a Bright Future for Journalism by Mark Glaser, June 28, 2007
My comment:
1. More access to journalism worldwide. Yes, and Google's translation service will make the amount available of that news far greater. But with let's say 10s of thousands more pieces become available even within one country, how will one lonely person sift through ALL of it? Google page count may be one way, but if you're looking beyond the "popular" i.e., chosen by many then you need a filter which can at least point out the reliable from the not. Who will provide that filter?
2. I don't think news publishers nor journalists ever thought that "we have all the answers here." Normally journalists deal with one very targeted topic, event, situation, person and report on that as a breaking story, normal story, feature, investigative piece.
The loyalty or esteem given that publishing org is largely based on a client's (reader, listener, watcher) perception of the quality of that targeted news. PLUS more and more these days loyalty is to those who comment on the news bloggers and paid columnists who obviously are largely fed on "news" generated in part from their own contacts, but much more so from news publishers.
THEY are the ones who have to earn revenue to pay for journalists' expenses:
• time spent on the story
• train or plane tickets
• cab fare or rent-a-car bills
• 3 meals a day per diem
• hotel bills
• phone bills
• perhaps a lunch here and there for a source
All above only to say aggregation of other news outlets on a publishers' site is NOT journalism. Please. It may be a way of attracting clicks, but I repeat, it is NOT journalism.
3. Sorry to repeat: what's being described is "distribution" of news stories unbound, not "journalism."
4. Agreed.
5. Agreed.
6. Right. People who used to write letters to the editors, now have a plethora of places where they can express themselves. While there are "more outsiders and experts exerting influence over the news agenda," there's also a concentration of political views now focused on distorting, exaggerating, and above all drawing attention that is also a "concentrated agenda=setting power" radicalizing political discourse away from "truth."
7.Where are these "conflicts of interest" being published? Haven't seen them.
8. Again, if that happens, will that de-concentration and revenue "spread out to smaller independent sites" make it possible to fund credible ongoing nationwide or statewide investigations of government actions?
9. Agree on environmental concern. But...choosing online over print means millions of people with limited incomes unable to buy a personal computer will be forced to depend only on TV and radio for news, a considerable shrinking of their ability to be informed voters, the raison d'etre of press freedom. Here in Peru at least people in urban areas, even small commercial villages, can go to public computer use stores for around 60¢ at least once a week if they wish.
10. Point taken about followups...should be a lot more.
============
Mar 27, 2010
Golden Rule a plus in economics
Findings - Researchers in the Market for Fair-Minded People - NYTimes.com
“Markets don’t work very efficiently if everyone acts selfishly and believes everyone else will do the same,” Dr. Henrich says. “You end up with high transaction costs because you have to have all these protections to cover every loophole. But if you develop norms to be fair and trusting with people beyond your social sphere, that provides enormous economic advantages and allows a society to grow.”
This sets out the major plus in getting societies more committed to the Golden Rule. Well put. This should clang a big bell here in Peru. Here it's put in the negative, Don't do to others... which means don't push the little old lady trying to cross the street, which seems to be the original Confucius version. Here's hoping leaders will get the message of this article and start talking about the economic gains of treating one's neighbors, colleagues, clients, customers with respect in the GR way.
“Markets don’t work very efficiently if everyone acts selfishly and believes everyone else will do the same,” Dr. Henrich says. “You end up with high transaction costs because you have to have all these protections to cover every loophole. But if you develop norms to be fair and trusting with people beyond your social sphere, that provides enormous economic advantages and allows a society to grow.”
This sets out the major plus in getting societies more committed to the Golden Rule. Well put. This should clang a big bell here in Peru. Here it's put in the negative, Don't do to others... which means don't push the little old lady trying to cross the street, which seems to be the original Confucius version. Here's hoping leaders will get the message of this article and start talking about the economic gains of treating one's neighbors, colleagues, clients, customers with respect in the GR way.
Mar 17, 2010
Google's CEO Eric Schmidt at Abu Dhabi Media Summit - notes
Riveting talk and Q&A about the media and the increasing shift of development of the internet toward mobile devices first. Well worth watching the whole 45 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMjtOSvMDs
On the news media's situation: " You want to see the future look at those devices [kindle, etc.] and imagine a more targeted news device. that will ultimately replace many of the printed versions of the same thing. "
Magazines/Advertising: "Magazines are phenomenal, I love magazines, i love the pictures, i love ...they even have fragrances in some cases, they're trying to figure out how to do that on computers yet, but they have beautiful photos and so forth we can do the same thing now on these mobile devices. But we can do something else, in advertising, the advertising can be more personal. it can be more dynamic.
All of the announced and all of the rumored tablets have dynamic targeted advertising as a key component of their media strategy occurring this year. ... I do know that an advertisement that is targeted is worth more money, that the ads that are shown on my television at home that don't apply to me are a waste of advertising. Wouldn't it be better if they were more targeted.
We at google are doing similar things for television. the set top boxes and so forth, it's the same principle."
Eventually the digital revenues should be higher than analog because the advertising is more targeted, the viewer more focussed, the outcome is more measurable, and we can produce a better viewing consumption innovation experiment for the user. ...The consumer will eventually get what they want, they eventually always do. And they want entertainment, they want information and they want their education and they're going to get it online.
Technology allows people to be enormously creative. Think about Facebook and Youtube, two of the leading brands in the online social age, especially if you're a young person. And they didn't exist five years ago.
.. .they'll be another one and another one... The way to think about this if you're a media person think of it as a ship [?] that iterates a scenario.. prototype early and often, gather and analyze the data, cause you can measure everything and try again and measure and try again. Instead of having someone run up to you and say I'm absolutely sure...I'd say prove it. I don't really care about what you think, I care about what your users think and you can ask them. Why? because everyone of them has a mobile phone, every one has a way of testing. If you're not doing that, you're not running your business, in my view in the right way.
YouTube and Facebook now constitute 9% of all time online.
This should be called the "Magic Summit." 24 min speech and Q&A.
Re effect of the internet: I'm very worried about the loss of what I call deep reading. What I've noticed is that everyone I work with spends all of their time in short form. Short message, short communications, short interrupt , and so forth. And all of the analysis says that we don't multitask very well, that human beings the science says, are better off on focussing on one thing, and then focussing on something else. and so forth. So I worry that there is an impact of the internet and this crazy life that we all have. So I'll say it negatively. Now I obviously believe that the benefit of what I'm describing is overwhelming.
So let's start with one of the final goals of our society which was for people to actually be able to communicate with each other. and in the next five or ten years it will be possible for essentially everyone to be able to communicate. "
Billion new people will come on line in the next 3 years because of mobile phones. "They have never been heard from before, they're in countries I've never visited, they're in countries that we ignore, they're in languages that no one here speaks in this room. and there are a billion of them. What do they want? Are they the same as us? I hope so. We're going to hear from them for the first time.But just as the globalization of the last ten years has had the benefit of lifting two billion people out of abject poverty roughly into the middle class at least in their country's middle class which is a remarkable achievement from a health and education perspective, we're going to hear these new voice, I think that is wonderful. I've always believed that the objective of all of us particularly in this region, should be about tolerance and in order to get tolerance you have to get understanding. and by translating things automatically, by allowing people to communicate, and so forth, we're going to make that.
People who live their lives on line think a little differently, they don't think quite in a stove-piped way not quite as nationalistic they're not quite as subject to identity poitics and it's possible to reach them on an individual basis about things that they care about. And that's a tool and a technology that all of us can use to make the world a better place.
One of the great success stories of our world has been the development of telecommunications networks with these basic SMS-enabled phones, the number of people who are coming in in what we think of as inexpensive phones $20-30 phones through the MTM network and so forth in Africa has really given people information that is crucial to them. Typical example is that with SMS queries, Google does a lot of this, with an SMS question you can ask a question like what's the weather, and you sit there and go, well, the weather it's sort of hot here in the Arab world. If you're a farmer in Africa, the weather will determine your planning schedule, and if your planning schedule is not correct, your family will go hungry.
So the importance of these small networks and in particular the basic level phone who have never had any communication can not be overstated."
Politicians are now well aware that they're under a microscope.
Flash mobs - word of mouth to go do something.
How powerful are these against repressive regimes...tanks still trump the internet...but people have long memories. and I think that's the contest that we're going to see in the next few years.
I obviously believe that the social good of all of this will be phenomenal. with the rise of living standards the sense of community is worth everything that I just talked about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMjtOSvMDs
On the news media's situation: " You want to see the future look at those devices [kindle, etc.] and imagine a more targeted news device. that will ultimately replace many of the printed versions of the same thing. "
Magazines/Advertising: "Magazines are phenomenal, I love magazines, i love the pictures, i love ...they even have fragrances in some cases, they're trying to figure out how to do that on computers yet, but they have beautiful photos and so forth we can do the same thing now on these mobile devices. But we can do something else, in advertising, the advertising can be more personal. it can be more dynamic.
All of the announced and all of the rumored tablets have dynamic targeted advertising as a key component of their media strategy occurring this year. ... I do know that an advertisement that is targeted is worth more money, that the ads that are shown on my television at home that don't apply to me are a waste of advertising. Wouldn't it be better if they were more targeted.
We at google are doing similar things for television. the set top boxes and so forth, it's the same principle."
Eventually the digital revenues should be higher than analog because the advertising is more targeted, the viewer more focussed, the outcome is more measurable, and we can produce a better viewing consumption innovation experiment for the user. ...The consumer will eventually get what they want, they eventually always do. And they want entertainment, they want information and they want their education and they're going to get it online.
Technology allows people to be enormously creative. Think about Facebook and Youtube, two of the leading brands in the online social age, especially if you're a young person. And they didn't exist five years ago.
.. .they'll be another one and another one... The way to think about this if you're a media person think of it as a ship [?] that iterates a scenario.. prototype early and often, gather and analyze the data, cause you can measure everything and try again and measure and try again. Instead of having someone run up to you and say I'm absolutely sure...I'd say prove it. I don't really care about what you think, I care about what your users think and you can ask them. Why? because everyone of them has a mobile phone, every one has a way of testing. If you're not doing that, you're not running your business, in my view in the right way.
YouTube and Facebook now constitute 9% of all time online.
This should be called the "Magic Summit." 24 min speech and Q&A.
Re effect of the internet: I'm very worried about the loss of what I call deep reading. What I've noticed is that everyone I work with spends all of their time in short form. Short message, short communications, short interrupt , and so forth. And all of the analysis says that we don't multitask very well, that human beings the science says, are better off on focussing on one thing, and then focussing on something else. and so forth. So I worry that there is an impact of the internet and this crazy life that we all have. So I'll say it negatively. Now I obviously believe that the benefit of what I'm describing is overwhelming.
So let's start with one of the final goals of our society which was for people to actually be able to communicate with each other. and in the next five or ten years it will be possible for essentially everyone to be able to communicate. "
Billion new people will come on line in the next 3 years because of mobile phones. "They have never been heard from before, they're in countries I've never visited, they're in countries that we ignore, they're in languages that no one here speaks in this room. and there are a billion of them. What do they want? Are they the same as us? I hope so. We're going to hear from them for the first time.But just as the globalization of the last ten years has had the benefit of lifting two billion people out of abject poverty roughly into the middle class at least in their country's middle class which is a remarkable achievement from a health and education perspective, we're going to hear these new voice, I think that is wonderful. I've always believed that the objective of all of us particularly in this region, should be about tolerance and in order to get tolerance you have to get understanding. and by translating things automatically, by allowing people to communicate, and so forth, we're going to make that.
People who live their lives on line think a little differently, they don't think quite in a stove-piped way not quite as nationalistic they're not quite as subject to identity poitics and it's possible to reach them on an individual basis about things that they care about. And that's a tool and a technology that all of us can use to make the world a better place.
One of the great success stories of our world has been the development of telecommunications networks with these basic SMS-enabled phones, the number of people who are coming in in what we think of as inexpensive phones $20-30 phones through the MTM network and so forth in Africa has really given people information that is crucial to them. Typical example is that with SMS queries, Google does a lot of this, with an SMS question you can ask a question like what's the weather, and you sit there and go, well, the weather it's sort of hot here in the Arab world. If you're a farmer in Africa, the weather will determine your planning schedule, and if your planning schedule is not correct, your family will go hungry.
So the importance of these small networks and in particular the basic level phone who have never had any communication can not be overstated."
Politicians are now well aware that they're under a microscope.
Flash mobs - word of mouth to go do something.
How powerful are these against repressive regimes...tanks still trump the internet...but people have long memories. and I think that's the contest that we're going to see in the next few years.
I obviously believe that the social good of all of this will be phenomenal. with the rise of living standards the sense of community is worth everything that I just talked about.
Feb 23, 2010
Wow!
Truly an extraordinary vivid, dramatic story that every boomer should read. It makes the old saw of "patience pays" have new meaning and what a joy for those doctors involved. This has to help push even more money into genetic research. Can't wait for the next installment tomorrow.
con referencia a: Target Cancer - After Long Fight, Melanoma Drug Gives Sudden Reprieve - Series - NYTimes.com (ver en Google Sidewiki)Feb 17, 2010
Lack of Morning Light Keeping Teenagers Up at Night
Lack of Morning Light Keeping Teenagers Up at Night
Fascinating for those of us Boomers who take melatonin to get a full, rich night's sleep.
Fascinating for those of us Boomers who take melatonin to get a full, rich night's sleep.
Feb 2, 2010
Wife/Mother/Worker/Spy - Weighed Down by All the Memories - NYTimes.com
Wife/Mother/Worker/Spy - Weighed Down by All the Memories - NYTimes.com
ARK! I am NOT a hoarder...I'm a conserver. So there. Great article for us boomers who refuse to acknowledge that the past ever ends...it always just lingers on...and on... with all the trappings that give it real life! So the real solution is to take digital pix of all excess. If necessary do a VR 360º roundabout of it. There, except for touching, you've got it in your hot little hands...or at least within hands' reach!
Like my Dad's old army campaign desk. It's wonderful. I keep thinking I'll save it for when I get a tiny place (this time) in the countryside.
I'm going to quote liberally from a email I just sent to a couple of friends.
"Barb, I just now saw this...it's hysterical! i love it. You see, when I brought my Mom's stuff back [from Los Angeles] in that poor pregnant 20-ft container bulging...I put a great deal of it of course into the quinta [muse] house with all that huge living room and dining room space, plus the three bedrooms upstairs...AND the extra big long room I rented from the lady in the quinta house that you can see straight ahead when you look down the lane —to absorb that which was obviously NOT going to fit into the house!
Then it was to Chaclacayo! LOTS of room with the big house with that long "galeria" facing onto the garden with the one extra bedroom deposito, plus the real outhouse deposito with loads of room, AND my wonderful big office! Hoarder Heaven!! but of course, I am NOT a Hoarder! I'm just a muley conservatris, she says with a smug smile. "
ARK! I am NOT a hoarder...I'm a conserver. So there. Great article for us boomers who refuse to acknowledge that the past ever ends...it always just lingers on...and on... with all the trappings that give it real life! So the real solution is to take digital pix of all excess. If necessary do a VR 360º roundabout of it. There, except for touching, you've got it in your hot little hands...or at least within hands' reach!
Like my Dad's old army campaign desk. It's wonderful. I keep thinking I'll save it for when I get a tiny place (this time) in the countryside.
I'm going to quote liberally from a email I just sent to a couple of friends.
"Barb, I just now saw this...it's hysterical! i love it. You see, when I brought my Mom's stuff back [from Los Angeles] in that poor pregnant 20-ft container bulging...I put a great deal of it of course into the quinta [muse] house with all that huge living room and dining room space, plus the three bedrooms upstairs...AND the extra big long room I rented from the lady in the quinta house that you can see straight ahead when you look down the lane —to absorb that which was obviously NOT going to fit into the house!
Then it was to Chaclacayo! LOTS of room with the big house with that long "galeria" facing onto the garden with the one extra bedroom deposito, plus the real outhouse deposito with loads of room, AND my wonderful big office! Hoarder Heaven!! but of course, I am NOT a Hoarder! I'm just a muley conservatris, she says with a smug smile. "
Jan 29, 2010
Lazer fusion test
Mind Boggle: there's the ever nonplussing 'infinity,' 'eternity,' but "... the beams delivered their energy in pulses lasting a little
more than 10 billionths of a second." !!! Atoms yes in space, but billionths of a second in time? Beyond Wow! of the test itself!
"However, the beams delivered their energy in pulses lasting a little more than 10 billionths of a second."
- BBC News - Laser fusion test results raise energy hopes (view on Google Sidewiki)
Jan 28, 2010
Saved by a cell!
Fascinating...but what a blow this could be to botox, eh? Actually the 'wow' sentence is:
""What's most exciting is that the changes that occur in blood stem cells during aging are reversible, through signals carried by the blood itself."
Nonetheless daily runs and good eating will still be prime 'aging' helpers all round.
""What's most exciting is that the changes that occur in blood stem cells during aging are reversible, through signals carried by the blood itself."
- Aging of Blood Stem Cells May Be Reversible - BusinessWeek (view on Google Sidewiki)
Jan 20, 2010
Google Haiti People-Finder Gadget
Yeaa, Google. Super job. People beyond State in the Defense Dept. are also very happy about the gadget. Great job of stepping in and filling an unbelievably urgent need.
in reference to: Official Google Blog (view on Google Sidewiki)Jan 19, 2010
iPnone keyboard - YES!
If this is true, then halleluyah! Finally. It's the main reason I haven't indulged. My wonderful Palm TX is my travelling companion in a very, very small package..helped of course by Mark/Space's essential Agenda app.
in reference to:"Meet your new laptop. Apple has not only opened a programming interface that allows developers to create applications that reside on the iPhone, the company has recently opened up the hardware interface. This means that, soon, attaching a keyboard and screen (among other things) to your iPhone literally will be a snap."
- Opposable Planets (view on Google Sidewiki)
Jan 17, 2010
Knol is not a Wikipedia wannabe
Google's Knol gives people, aspiring writers, so-so writers, people who just have some level of considered expertise a place to plop their stuff. Wikipedia is for serious research or for necessary research...like who the hell is ???.
But Knol, seems to give a much broader swath of folks the opportunity to share what they know. It's easy, it let's you "enhance" old style writing with small bells and whistles, or small audios and videos, and it's useful for being so easy and available— to everyone.
Yeaaaa, Google!
I repeat, Knol is NOT Wikipedia!
Jan 3, 2010
Windows on mac Q&A
Too bad this page hasn't been updated since 2008.
in reference to: Can you run Windows "inside" MacOS X? Access Mac files in Windows? Copy and paste between Windows and MacOS X? @ EveryMac.com (view on Google Sidewiki)
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