During first couple years at my first real job post-college, a friend of a friend would IM me questions about how to solve computer problems for which he could not figure out the answers. These requests started as me doing the work for him with dubious promises of doing the same for me. (I knew…
Another I cannot believe I did not blog this. The book was really good. Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons…
From the TED’s About This Talk: Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studies the bugs in our moral code: the hidden reasons we think it’s OK to cheat or steal (sometimes). Clever studies help make his point that we’re predictably irrational — and can be influenced in ways we can’t grasp. When I ran across Dan Ariely’s…
Today is the 273rd day of the year, so at the three-quarters point, here is an update on my resolution progress. Complete unfinished novel series. The Harry Potter series was finished at the first-quarter update. The Sword of Truth series  was finished at the half update. The Ender series is now done. That is all thirteen books from…
I started reading Native Son because it is Banned Books Week (last week of September). The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association asked people to read their favorite banned book. I’d rather take a chance on finding a banned book I already have and want to read than go back and read…
Hm. Maybe no longer doodling in meetings is why they seem hard to remember? Studies show that sketching and doodling improve our comprehension — and our creative thinking. So why do we still feel embarrassed when we’re caught doodling in a meeting? Sunni Brown says: Doodlers, unite! She makes the case for unlocking your brain…
Found I develop free software because of CUNY and Blackboard following the Blackboard security issues story. It is a really good blog post. This conclusion made me smile. I am certain there are plenty of people in the system I support who strongly agree. I just wish there was an easier way of finding and…
Interesting articles accusing Blackboard of being lax about security. A Black Eye for Blackboard Over Its Response to Major Security Flaws which is about Millions of student exams, tests and data exposed. I saw the security bulletins, but I was not aware of the back story leading to why it was announced. We run an unaffected…