Traditional universities and accreditation bodies are becoming hide-bound by the intrusion of business practices. Could a new form of accreditation circumvent that?
Continue readingCategory Archives: Tools and Ideas
I have watched the debate between climate scientists and the global warming deniers with a great deal of frustration, but until recently I could not articulate clearly why I found it so exasperating. It seems that the denier camp has … Continue reading
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.
Continue reading…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.
Continue readingIt’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.
Continue readingThis 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.
Continue readingI have learned just in the last couple of days that there is some guy named “LeBron” who is apparently some sports figure. He is in the spotlight about something, probably having to do, directly or indirectly, with money. At least one large ego may be involved. Don’t know, don’t care.
Continue readingI was intrigued to see an interesting article on the website of American Scientist magazine about the problem of the volatility of the data that narrates our civilization. The article, “Avoiding a Digital Dark Age” by Kurt Bollacker describes in … Continue reading
A recent article in the Washington Post reports growing confidence in the US economy even though it will probably be some time before we see a real, live “recovery”. Call me cynical, but I don’t really think we’ve hit bottom … Continue reading
As we have come to expect, Maker Faire this past weekend was a feast for the inventive, the curious. I think we can now say without fear of contradiction that “Makers” are not merely a sub-category of geekdom, but a … Continue reading