Want to Learn It? Write It!

For along time I’ve noticed that I seem to do better writing when at least some fraction of the work is done on paper with a pen or pencil. I particularly like using a nice rollerball pen or, better still, a fountain pen.

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Let a Thousand Radio Stations Bloom!

…against all odds and expectations (on my part, at least) Congress has passed the Local Community Radio Act. This law removes previous restrictions on small, low-power community radio stations. Of course, the major broadcasters fought this bill, but a fierce, determined grass-roots efforts won through.

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Knowledge and Liberty for All

Change, especially the kind that moves a civilization forward, requires easy access to knowledge and information. The Founding Fathers understood this. As exponents of the Enlightenment, they saw the availability of knowledge and information as a critical element of a thriving and prospering nation.

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Persistence of Memory, or, Google is for Wimps

It’s commonly known that in the pre-print age people relied on their memories to store information, but it is not commonly realized just what this entails. When we think of memorizing something, we think in terms of learning something by rote, so that we could recite it if called upon to do so.

The medieval memory went far beyond that. The art of memory was not merely about holding information, but about processing it.

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The Cloud Model of Employment

This current economic depression has made mincemeat of the job market. It is forcing a lot of people to adapt in ways they didn’t expect. I do not expect that the jobs will recover very quickly, and many jobs are clearly gone for good. This is the growing new reality: we are all generalists now.

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