I often joke that the really good students do well “despite my teaching”… While I am not dead serious when saying it, there is a certain amount of discomfort in me when saying it. This begs the question whether our education system produce winners?
What makes an academic’s life great?
March 13, 2010This depiction of the best jobs in America, with professor featuring number 3, made me think about the job of being an academic…
Please rob me… location-based services and privacy
March 5, 2010Location-based services may be the new “hot” thing for marketers (see Six Pixels of Separation blog entry), but Mitch Joel also points out the scary part. By checking in with services such as Foursquare you give away your location… Now if you were mischievous you could put that information to use. This has been “proved” by the “service” Please Rob Me, that shows that you can now quickly determine who is away from home… Fair enough you will still have to figure out where these people live etc., but how difficult can that be with tons of personal information lying around on the web waiting to be harvested… (of course if you check-in to your house… oops)
So by the way I have multiple personalities: thinking of robbing me — I am wherever you don’t want me to be…

Powerpoint and parenting…
March 2, 2010Well, you may ask, what has parenting and powerpoint in common? My initial answer would be that, except that they both start with the letter “p”, not much.
However, in a conversation today I was reminded of a presentation referred to by Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design in her excellent book slide:ology. The presentation refers to Dan Posts’s “punishment” for his kids – making a presentation!!! Hear Dan talk about Bungee Chord Parenting a.k.a. Dad 3.0. (OK he did not use Powerpoint, but Apple Keynote…)
Makes the parent in me think… (and worry a bit)