tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49425248910948443722024-02-18T23:37:55.071-05:00Scattered PlotsNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-41153465602818542282014-11-16T12:13:00.002-05:002014-11-16T12:13:27.072-05:00Football<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But we shouldn't be OK with the unacceptable bargain that football has become. If kids are risking traumatic lifelong consequences to get a shot at an education that the school isn't really giving them, that's crushing hypocrisy for a university whose mantra is "leaders and best."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">From <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/stephen-henderson/2014/11/16/stephen-henderson-football-university-michigan-schlissel-hoke/19050307/">Stephen Henderson</a></span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-16514722544258307482014-11-16T10:14:00.001-05:002014-11-16T10:14:52.237-05:00Weather<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Ok. How is "smoke" part of the weather. Weird. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5yazM2MLadtUBZpENA4qfMDPnO5lMHSMn7CqE0Ab-kFdDmRQCTCZG9wFGca8RWh5i7yoZKsr3BJTHqGVlXz7JLjnZFvJFZhwjNsxR-SAfgaOr02nDRPnp9esThOGluBl0zJi5fb5kqo/s640/blogger-image--480032462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5yazM2MLadtUBZpENA4qfMDPnO5lMHSMn7CqE0Ab-kFdDmRQCTCZG9wFGca8RWh5i7yoZKsr3BJTHqGVlXz7JLjnZFvJFZhwjNsxR-SAfgaOr02nDRPnp9esThOGluBl0zJi5fb5kqo/s640/blogger-image--480032462.jpg"></a></div>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-32382105899124373142014-10-25T15:32:00.002-04:002014-10-25T15:32:59.004-04:00Batcomputer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T7bwV6TtbkcSI9mq5QZrtJrBcbxsQl2WpkY_5heBy82TaQIu1MgZtE6Ii4GXu8vdngD7zS43hyphenhyphenVlCn-19DF2VLiJ3FkdnUf4gKOBRqc1_jV_ZqIOKbXYBCZd-joksobJBttoYMrsknk/s1600/Batman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T7bwV6TtbkcSI9mq5QZrtJrBcbxsQl2WpkY_5heBy82TaQIu1MgZtE6Ii4GXu8vdngD7zS43hyphenhyphenVlCn-19DF2VLiJ3FkdnUf4gKOBRqc1_jV_ZqIOKbXYBCZd-joksobJBttoYMrsknk/s1600/Batman.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Back in the day, I remember being amazed when I saw the bat-computer in "Batman Returns" (The picture is from the Tim Burton's "Batman", which I was just too young to see when it was new). Batman had a computer that could search through all sorts of records. It had dozens of monitors. Wait, wait. Not only monitors, but color monitors. It was amazing. At the time, we had a computer that looked something like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6znwBcxmbDalFllEEDOI-5vQONbNkf3S2DozxLov196wpf-N0xKM9lFWVeGN-Lx7M6iy4hjez_GSHM0y8mFim-fOPztDuQFvP_wqbfp-eYU_xTU-mPhzU7GwVm4MfnntjLhw9UN7-2Ag/s1600/Commodore.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6znwBcxmbDalFllEEDOI-5vQONbNkf3S2DozxLov196wpf-N0xKM9lFWVeGN-Lx7M6iy4hjez_GSHM0y8mFim-fOPztDuQFvP_wqbfp-eYU_xTU-mPhzU7GwVm4MfnntjLhw9UN7-2Ag/s1600/Commodore.PNG" height="304" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I still remember monochrome computer monitors (mono = "one", chrome = "color"). The internet was years away. Our computer games were on these big floppy disks (the ones that were actually floppy). We used "Word Perfect" to type documents. There was no mouse!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVZ8GBrgzl5iajfxm882MK4Ujdpsg38Uij5zPBSBegwCd0c2BZ-zgWnhUxZpgniYCl1URUBU0TPO4RgKW1Z4et6950U1eGWU7EN1VNVUlnhJXa_di5SVM3-X_jI56EAKM1atkdFF5DwE/s1600/mysetup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVZ8GBrgzl5iajfxm882MK4Ujdpsg38Uij5zPBSBegwCd0c2BZ-zgWnhUxZpgniYCl1URUBU0TPO4RgKW1Z4et6950U1eGWU7EN1VNVUlnhJXa_di5SVM3-X_jI56EAKM1atkdFF5DwE/s1600/mysetup.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A couple weekends ago, I took a look at my computer set up. I was working on some files that were saved on my old personal laptop. I pulled out the iPad just to make the picture complete. I'm catching up to you Batman.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-53983838307390593732014-08-24T22:01:00.002-04:002014-08-24T22:05:01.863-04:00The bag #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I read <a href="http://www.engadget.com/discuss/what-do-you-keep-in-your-bag-for-work-and-travel-1si4/">this article</a> and was not impressed. So, I took out the contents of my travel laptop bag and spread them out over the floor to take an inventory.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHRMPcLaTz2-ZOzzTWFg8AFMMJ5_oPAcDv44mDxVtCSud9JLuTXe6pDGGZ8FKHBWA2loshvy7wWd4OdgPESUb9baerGdhCkJOHUPy7Ao1lgN6NhwEB851FUqAkW9gwjsvVahQa_x284oY/s1600/travelbag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHRMPcLaTz2-ZOzzTWFg8AFMMJ5_oPAcDv44mDxVtCSud9JLuTXe6pDGGZ8FKHBWA2loshvy7wWd4OdgPESUb9baerGdhCkJOHUPy7Ao1lgN6NhwEB851FUqAkW9gwjsvVahQa_x284oY/s1600/travelbag.jpg" height="271" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here is everything that I have in my laptop bag, going from left-to-right and top-to-bottom.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Generic 6-plug power strip.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Kindle Fire video kit (Micro HDMI-to-HDMI cable and Micro-USB cable for power)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">White Monster Microfiber screen cleaning cloth.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Apple Laptop power </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">adapter.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Blue USB 3.0 cable in bag.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">iPad 2 with green cover.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Black HP Laptop power adapter.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Black Mini HDMI-to-HDMI Cable in bag.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Black Micro USB and white Kindle Power Adapter.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Mini DisplayPort to VGA converter in bag.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">'Stardust' DVD.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Kindle Fire with stylus and case.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">100 Index Cards.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Powder blue javelin pen.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">VGA and 3.5 mm audio cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Green HDMI cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Female 3.5 mm audio to male stereo RCA cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Male 3.5 mm audio to male stereo RCA cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">3 sets of plastic silverware, napkin, salt and pepper.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/If-500-Questions-Game-Life-ebook/dp/B0012D1DJ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1408931172&sr=8-4&keywords=if">If... (Volume 2)</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">JVC earbuds.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Roll of pre-1982 pennies.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Smooshed bite-size Milky Way Dark.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1GB SD Card in case.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Peter Griffin USB drive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">8GB Sandisk flash drive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">4GB Geek Squad flash drive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">2GB Sony flash drive (compatible with Windows 98).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Sandisk MobileMate (SD/Micro/mini Card reader).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Green Lighting-to-USB cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">White Apple 30-pin to USB cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Gray Mini USB cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Black Ethernet cable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">15.6' HP Laptop.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Logitec corded mouse.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Star Wars playing cards.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Empty Altoids container.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">12-inch ruler.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Compass.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Bag spare <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R28B50/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">styli</a>.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Typically, I don't take the Kindle Fire and the iPad with me when I travel; I take one or the other. Sometimes my Sony Camcorder gets wedged inside the bag, too. Not pictured is the iPhone 4s and Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic that I carry around in my pocket. For a while, I also had a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009MDBU/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1">Kill-a-watt</a> and a sound pressure meter in the bag, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">On a completely unrelated note, my laptop bag is falling apart. I have looked for replacements, but I have yet to find one that is sufficiently large.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-11186660086445994452014-08-23T15:39:00.000-04:002014-08-23T15:39:15.222-04:00Know thyself #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I came across <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/google-knows-you-better-than-you-know-yourself/378608/" target="_blank">this article</a> about Google Now and the power of digital assistants and predictive algorithms. The theme is about how big data is used to find patterns in our life that we neglect to see. It asks an interesting question: does Google know us better than we know ourselves? The idea of self-deception is presented and it reminded me of a thought from C. S. Lewis. When writing in the Problem of Pain, he writes:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">We imply, and often believe, that habitual vices are exceptional single acts, and make the opposite mistake about our virtues — like the bad tennis player who calls his normal form his 'bad days' and mistakes his rare successes for his normal. I do not think it is our fault that we cannot tell the real truths about ourselves.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">While the article focuses mostly on a positive self-deception, like the player Lewis describes, I am reminded of the continuum of possibly misguided self evaluations. In the light of Robin Williams departure, there has been a renewed public focus on depression. The other day I came across a text-based 'game' (think "Choose-your-own adventure" book) called <a href="http://www.depressionquest.com/" target="_blank">Depression Quest</a>. The game is rather emotionally challenging. It does remind me that for every tennis player who over-estimates his greatness there is someone struggling with a crippling sense of failure and self-loathing. That makes me wonder about the effects of predictive algorithms on the depressed mind. I wonder if they have the effect of sometimes deflating our opinions of ourselves or whether they merely pull people back to reality, which would actually be an improvement for the depressed individual.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Changing topics and building off the idea of analytics, I wonder which data collector knows me best.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Firstly, there is my bank. I use my debit card more than cash, so the result is that the bank knows when and where I spend my money. I do a lot of shopping at Meijer (A million reasons in a single store), so that does not give them insight into what products I am buying. However, they could probably tell how often I have left my house just by looking at how often I go to the gas station.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Secondly, there is Amazon. Not only does Amazon know what I actually spend money on, they have an idea about those aspirational items that I read about. For example, they know how many times I've looked at the specs of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-NR626-7-2-Channel-Network-Receiver/dp/B00BLGUKDE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408821680&sr=8-1&keywords=onkyo+nr626" target="_blank">Onkyo TX-NR626</a>. They could probably use that information to make some predictions (At some point in the future, I hope to be living somewhere so that I can make use of a dual-zone audio receiver).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thirdly, there is Goliath or rather Google. Not only do they know what I search for, but they have my emails. That's a big deal since I am not one for making phone calls. If you want to know what Google thinks about you, try signing into your Google account and going to <a href="http://www.google.com/settings/ads">Google's Ad preferences</a> to look at the 'interests' category.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Fourthly, there is the Facebook. For a while, I would say that Facebook knew me best. However, it's been about ten months since I signed on to Facebook and over a year since I regularly visited the site. I wonder if robo-Zuckerberg, or whatever you want to call the Facebook algorithms, ever figured out why I stopped checking in with them.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-44784652852469212872014-08-16T18:42:00.001-04:002014-08-16T18:42:28.812-04:00Traditions #hashtagI am surviving DB fest '14. If I had a dollar for every guy I saw wearing a wife-beater and smoking a cigarette I would be a millionaire. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMZ8pF_O-D2q_KQfW9Xh0I3ImUSiq7_kh7Ma-OHZ3hwylYMSYHwfAF6LiBYnqLv-tQfPLYI-hevMu4TxpopafmJWEPiZStMg5IASwcPMvmMedO-GMjOsZMPTvu_pGTutEpaqrOJrNXLY/s640/blogger-image--251475920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMZ8pF_O-D2q_KQfW9Xh0I3ImUSiq7_kh7Ma-OHZ3hwylYMSYHwfAF6LiBYnqLv-tQfPLYI-hevMu4TxpopafmJWEPiZStMg5IASwcPMvmMedO-GMjOsZMPTvu_pGTutEpaqrOJrNXLY/s640/blogger-image--251475920.jpg"></a></div><br></div>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-29903140376297273662014-08-15T23:08:00.001-04:002014-08-15T23:08:54.364-04:00Blogging via an app #hashtagThis is my first blog post submitted via the Blogger app for iOS. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsWLtJv5ie1o5EIx15PPZBcRaIDYyX3uut_fDucWxagP5Ld-qrHt2LnQd-leLa4vqwUsZbXHEc8T2RiscyYJTfSrw4GpmTYH87sc3mRBp83AVMXWHnG5M6w-hUIR7IoQ4w6C9MTo4I9Y/s640/blogger-image-1352570983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsWLtJv5ie1o5EIx15PPZBcRaIDYyX3uut_fDucWxagP5Ld-qrHt2LnQd-leLa4vqwUsZbXHEc8T2RiscyYJTfSrw4GpmTYH87sc3mRBp83AVMXWHnG5M6w-hUIR7IoQ4w6C9MTo4I9Y/s640/blogger-image-1352570983.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I am a few sentences in and I am already seeing some of the shortcomings. Firstly, as one might notice from the included picture, I haven't found a way to rotate pictures taken with the camera. Secondly, the iPhone keyboard is missing one key item: commas. Surprisingly, typing standard text is simple even on the relatively small green of my iPhone 4s. This is largely a result of the power of autocorrect. At this point, I would share with you an interesting article about the history of autocorrect. However, according to the reviews there is no way to insert links. The irony is not lost on me. The Google search engine is built to look for which websites are most linked to.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Let's try this writing out the link in HTML. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://www.wired.com/2014/07/history-of-autocorrect/">wired</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We'll see if that works. If not just search for Wired the history of autocorrect.</div><br></div>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0Wixom Wixom42.55101 -83.544224tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-80739909485343810892014-07-22T20:14:00.001-04:002014-07-22T20:14:10.223-04:00Go blue #hashtag<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ItTdTDgeLvA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Saw part of this on Sportscenter. Go Blue.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-19770259123807804202014-07-22T16:16:00.002-04:002014-07-22T16:16:41.018-04:00Sequel #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I found <a href="http://www.starwars.com/games-apps/star-wars-crawl-creator/?53cec52ce4b08faad5c72def" target="_blank">this</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I wonder how long my students would tolerate me starting each day with the learning objectives written in the crawl. . . "Episode XCVII: the Inscribe Angle Theorem"</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-14186762500764904142014-07-21T12:56:00.000-04:002014-07-21T12:56:08.516-04:00Wiles Tangent #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://simonsingh.net/books/fermats-last-theorem/who-is-andrew-wiles/" target="_blank">Andrew Wiles quotation</a>:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">[Fermat's Last Theorem]</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> was my childhood passion. There’s nothing to replace that. I had this very rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life what had been my childhood dream. I know it’s a rare privilege, but if you can tackle something in adult life that means that much to you, then it’s more rewarding than anything imaginable. Having solved this problem there’s certainly a sense of loss, but at the same time there is this tremendous sense of freedom. I was so obsessed by this problem that for eight years I was thinking about it all the time – when I woke up in the morning to when I went to sleep at night. That’s a long time to think about one thing. That particular odyssey is over. My mind is at rest.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Good advice for life. </span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-37460034981770809642014-07-19T22:02:00.002-04:002014-07-19T22:02:29.169-04:00Organizing my digital life 2 #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In an <a href="http://gregnmath.blogspot.com/2014/05/organizing-my-digital-life-hashtag.html" target="_blank">earlier post</a> I wrote about the overflow of technology surrounding me. Having spent more time with thew new Windows (8.1) I have come to a conclusion. Windows 8.1 isn't bad. I've gotten used to the start screen and I like it better than the start menu of the past. That only problem with it is apps. The problem isn't with the third party apps. It's the Microsoft Apps that are terrible. The combination of Internet Explorer and the Reading List app make a great combination. Everything else is garbage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Aside from games and news apps which occasionally freeze (see video), there is the hugely disappointing Mail and Calendar apps. Firstly, the calendar app does not synchronize with Google Calendar, which makes in completely useless. Secondly, the mail app just stops working. Every couple of weeks Mail will just stop receiving new messages. I have to wait a few days for the the app to start working again or try deleting and adding my account anew. The frustrating part is that my Google Account works flawlessly with the native mail and calendar applications on my iOS devices. It is a strange world we live in in which Apple plays well with other companies and my PC has become tied to one monolithic corporation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here is some video of the Bing News App and Bing Sports App not working. Enjoy.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-76265369165941025892014-07-17T15:23:00.003-04:002014-07-17T15:23:43.594-04:00Rise of the Machines #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pre-reading: <a href="http://www.wired.com/2014/02/outsourcing-humanity-apps/" target="_blank">Wired: The Bro App</a> and <a href="http://broapp.net/" target="_blank">Buy the Bro App</a> (This is not an endorsement)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One of the benefits to a slow job hunt and a lack of graduate level classes is the freedom to read for pleasure. I cam across this article while trying to get the "Wired" App to work on my Kindle. Technology affects that way that we live and interact with other people. The way that it affects us is still difficult to evaluate. As I see, there are two possible scenarios. Firstly, technology helps us create more connections with people. Conversely, technology has the potential to replace connections with other people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The latter idea is described in the article. In my own life, it reminds me of Facebook birthday reminders. Back in the days of my youth, when I was a regular Facebook user, I felt guilty wishing people a happy birthday on Facebook. If I didn't remember your birthday without prompting, aren't I just faking it? If I don't care enough about you to actually remember your birthday why should send a message? In this case, there is the idea that I am using technology to perpetuate the lie that someone else matters to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">On the other hand, sometimes I forget birthdays because I don't know what day it is. When prompted, I can remember an important person's birthday. That problem is that I don't know what today's date is (This is a more common occurrence during the summer months when entire weeks blur together). There is also the matter of precision. There are a few friends of mine whose birthday I sort of know. I have a friend whose birthday is at the end of February. I know what week it is. I know that I will have dinner with that person to celebrate that person's birthday. However, the exact date is something at which I would have to guess. Now, traveling back to the circa 1970 technology, I could get by mailing a birthday card. If it arrives a few days late or a few days early I can blame it letter carrier. The instantaneous travel of text messages is less forgiving. Perhaps there is room for some electronic reminders.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn34dTX6eErupiwcKb4rkLnK1UFmLoofprq1IGkuk-6X8A2ogD2QmTwqlWrTxAo9rmxPIz4bUbJwbk8q0leWk4GkZG3cwRDqSFvdLyBLF8CYwM1UnLMyrPwz882SMltycJGS-__VicGvc/s1600/Thebroapp.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn34dTX6eErupiwcKb4rkLnK1UFmLoofprq1IGkuk-6X8A2ogD2QmTwqlWrTxAo9rmxPIz4bUbJwbk8q0leWk4GkZG3cwRDqSFvdLyBLF8CYwM1UnLMyrPwz882SMltycJGS-__VicGvc/s1600/Thebroapp.PNG" height="181" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-25271666156711284122014-07-02T10:06:00.000-04:002014-07-02T10:06:03.217-04:00Taxes<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140702/POLITICS01/307020029/Wayne-plan-countywide-school-tax-divisive" target="_blank">Wayne plan for countywide school tax divisive</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I really thought that this was a good idea until I read the line where one administrator said money would be spent on "</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. . . security measures such as structural changes to windows and doors and adding locks and cameras. . .</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">" What a waste.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-36845502029876007562014-06-13T13:42:00.000-04:002014-06-13T13:42:04.813-04:00Day 1 - No syllabus<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Today is my first day without a syllabus in a year. I had no idea how to spend my time.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-71541288993181977262014-05-04T10:10:00.002-04:002014-05-04T10:10:57.922-04:00Organizing my digital life #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have too much stuff. I think that I am making up for not having the newest and best toys as a child by buying things now as an adult. Worse of all, I refuse to be a fan-boy. So, I have a Windows XP Desktop, a Windows ME Laptop, a Windows 7 Laptop, a Windows 8 Desktop, a Kindle, a Kindle Fire, an iPod, iPad and an iPhone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thinking about hardware for a moment...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have my Windows 8 desktop because I was tired of having to unpack my laptop all of the time. Plus, on the off chance that I break my laptop, I still need a computer. It's the back-up. Furthermore, I want to learn the new software so that there is less of a culture shock when I eventually have to replace my laptop with a device running Windows 9.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have my Windows 7 laptop because it is my portable office. I use it as my primary computer at school and at work. I used to play games on it, but now it is my e-mailing and document creating device.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have my Windows ME Laptop because it is the only computer that I own that will run "Lords of the Realm 2".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have my Windows XP desktop because it reminds me of the idyllic days of my youth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have a Kindle because it is the best device for reading books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have a Kindle Fire because it was on sale. It's a great device for watching media. It's portable enough that I can carry it around easily.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have an iPod because I like to listen to music and, in particular, the radio.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have an iPad because I use it to teach when using Doceri.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have an iPhone because I wanted a small smartphone with a good camera and I didn't want to learn a new OS (Sorry Android).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I also have five e-mail address, four of which I use on a daily basis. I have an Apple ID, Microsoft Account and a couple of Google accounts. I have a Dropbox, Skydrive and an Amazon Cloud Drive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Returning to my purpose for writing this document, does anyone have software suggestions for a new Windows 8 PC?</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-20012181426712876882014-05-04T09:53:00.001-04:002014-05-04T09:53:27.992-04:0028 Days Later #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I miss blogging. I need to go work on my E-Portfolio or plan another week of lessons.</span><br />
<br />Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-56822301499548608912014-03-29T12:03:00.000-04:002014-03-29T12:03:17.042-04:00Never, ever, ever give up #hashtag<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsTkMq2T2wQ42funRxKNn8FokoFbFvne4bjY73OnI2gQQOCWLhyphenhyphenyKoRXLsKgbIB27B9_2g4ayCoNZontPPTYbNh6f3hArEMatfx_TYvqm_hCvMZXMCo1vWrqCZkpOxgrAr0mxtUHbG_8/s1600/Nevergiveup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsTkMq2T2wQ42funRxKNn8FokoFbFvne4bjY73OnI2gQQOCWLhyphenhyphenyKoRXLsKgbIB27B9_2g4ayCoNZontPPTYbNh6f3hArEMatfx_TYvqm_hCvMZXMCo1vWrqCZkpOxgrAr0mxtUHbG_8/s1600/Nevergiveup.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/never-give-up-on-becoming-an-entrepreneur.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">from Lifehack.org</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">For the first time, I gave students an exam on a unit that I planned and implemented. While the results are still too be tabulated, I was a bit disappointed by one aspect. Even though the students had two days to work on the exam, there were students who quit on the first day. Students could think about problems and study on the night between the two days of exams. It got thinking about the nature of mathematics. With the CCSS, we have eight practices that were are supposed to develop in students. . . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">MP1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP4. Model with mathematics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP5. Use appropriate tools strategically.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP6. Attend to precision.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP7 Look for and make use of structure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">MP8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">How do you scaffold grit and perseverance?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One more closing thought of pessimism related to the attached image. The first panel left me with an interesting thought. Sixty years of three-month-long attempts could almost mean 239 failures before success. I am not sure if that would be exhilarating or exhausting.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-39582721605422146222014-03-22T16:11:00.002-04:002014-03-22T16:11:35.285-04:00Break time #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I came across a funny quip from Ben Franklin. He wrote:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages. So ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As a teacher, it made me think about the nature of education. I have to go write some papers though, so maybe someday I'll get back to this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The word of the day is <i>mantissa</i>. It's the part of a number that is after the decimal point. So, for 3.18, the "point one eight" is the mantissa. It is a math word that I should have known, but was only introduced to recently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Back to work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-55815946343804763672014-03-15T17:25:00.002-04:002014-03-29T12:03:31.319-04:00MACUL n'more (ED504)<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Traveling to MACUL gave me the first time to travel with my iPad. When Apple announced that they were going to </span><a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/02/13/apple-set-to-discontinue-legacy-non-retina-ipad-2" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;" target="_blank">discontinue the the iPad 2</a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">, the price dropped by $100 at Best Buy and most other retailers. The barrier to entry was low enough that I purchased one and have begun using Doceri in my classroom. So, while I was moving from session to session, I was able to take notes, store them in iCloud and easily look at them while typing up the blog-post on the good old PC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The iPad is </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">a great tool for consuming and creating media. You can record and edit photographs, videos and music. Reading and writing text is something that can be done on the iPad easily. The iPad is touted as <a href="https://www.apple.com/education/ipad/" target="_blank">an educational tool</a>. However, as a computer, you still can't really programs on the iPad. Making apps for the iPad is hard (both because of the programming complexity and closed App Store ecosystem). The reduction in the cost of computer power means that people have more and more computer power available to them. However, fewer and fewer people know how to create computers. Most of the devices we have are polished, but locked down. People rarely tinker with their laptop or smartphone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">On to the stage comes the <a href="http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs" target="_blank">Raspberry Pi</a>. The Pi is among the world's cheapest computers. It is about the size of a smartphone, features all the connections to hook up to a keyboard, mouse, monitor and network cable and it only costs $35 (there is an older cheaper one for $25). It runs on free, open-source software recorded on an SD card. It is cheap enough so that students can "<a href="http://makezine.com/magazine/raspberry-pi-101-what-is-the-pi-anyway/" target="_blank">afford failure</a>." Most of the computers in a school are locked down; not even the teachers are allowed to install software. The Pi gives students a sandbox to play in. It gives the students the opportunity to create software, not just be consumers of software.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.billvanloo.com/teaching/presentations/raspberry-pi-minecraft/" target="_blank">Bill Van Loo</a> has begun using the Raspberry Pi in his school with elementary and middle school students. Students in a week-long summer camp program set up their Pi's and started programming code for Minecraft. This sort of creative activity engages students in higher order thinking and problem solving, but it also gives the students a purpose for learning. In his presentation, Bill Van Loo described the process of building a circular tower in Minecraft. Writing the code to do so required revisiting how to convert polar coordinates (in which it is easy to give the equation for a circle) into the rectangular coordinates (which describes the world of Minecraft).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I was thinking this summer that I might take a vacation somewhere as a reward for graduating. Vacations are expensive, so maybe I will do that next summer. However, I can probably afford to pick up a Raspberry Pi and tinker with it. I'll never teach a programming class, but the Raspberry Pi offers the potential for a club or extra-curricular activity. It also gives me the power to create something more than just an awesome blog, but to create something that actually does something (Like run <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/news/913" target="_blank">Doom!</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Returning to my iPad, in another session I came across <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/explain-everything/id431493086?mt=8" target="_blank">Explain Everything</a>. It is a video capturing/screen-casting/whiteboard application for the iPad. It allows users to import Documents, PowerPoints, PDFs and a host of other file formats. Then, the users can annotated or mark-up the file before exporting the as images or as an MP4 video. Users can get a similar product for PC's called <a href="http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html" target="_blank">Jing</a> for free. However, the file format that Jing saves in is difficult to upload and edit. Explain Everything videos can either be immediately uploadable to YouTube or can be loaded into (the free) Microsoft Movie Maker and further edited. Best of all, unlike other videos editing software, Explain Everything only costs $2.99.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Conclusion:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">For the cost of parking and the gas to drive out to MACUL, I could buy a computer and start learning how to code. For the cost of a muffin at MACUL, I could download Explain Everything and start flipping my classroom.</span></div>
Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-60931647994793357392014-03-14T01:59:00.000-04:002014-03-14T01:59:00.130-04:00Happy Pi-Day! #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Happy Pi-day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I scheduled this to post at 1:59 in the morning, so the date and time should read 3/14 1:59AM.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Next year, I could schedule something to post at 3/14/15 9:26AM</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Let's look at some pi. . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The World Record for memorizing digits of pi is held by Lu Chao who memorized the first 67,890 digits of pi. So far, I have the first 8 digits. I am working on more. As soon as I get beyond the first 11 digits, I should beat out most scientific calculators. So, after that I can start making up digits to impress people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Both P and pi are the sixteenth letter of their respective alphabets (English and Greek).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Albert Einstein, </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X90qKQAMh8A" target="_blank">Billy Crystal</a>, </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Michael Caine, and </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHozn0YXAeE" target="_blank">Taylor Hanson</a> were all born on Pi Day. That is probably the only sentence you will ever read in which Albert Einstein and Taylor Hanson appear in the same sentence.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-315580497296027142014-03-12T12:10:00.000-04:002014-03-12T12:10:24.185-04:00Tech Joke #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Teaching and being a grad student leaves little time for blogging, but I did have the opportunity to take this picture the other day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is the screen of my iPad. I am using the remote desktop program Doceri on my Windows PC to read an article about Linux using Chrome as a browser. Let's summarize: Apple device, connected to a Microsoft PC, using a Google Browser to read about Linux. It sort of reminds me of Captain Planet.<i> Apple-Microsoft-Google-Linux-Heart with those powers combined, I have the INTERNET!</i></span></div>
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Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-59186777463718369312014-02-14T07:09:00.000-05:002014-02-14T07:09:00.053-05:00Thoughts on the Fourteenth #hashtag<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It is important to remember the story of Eva Braun (Eva Brown). Hitler had a girlfriend. So, if you are spending Valentine's Day alone, it does not mean you're a bad guy. It just means you're less lovable than Hitler.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That is not entirely true. It could just be a numbers game. According to the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html" target="_blank">CIA</a>, there are 1.01 men for every 1 woman on Earth. If the 7,095,217,980 were to pair off in male-female couples for the holiday there would be an extra 35,299,592 single guys on Valentine's day (I could not find reliable information on how same-sex relationship would affect the number of "extra" men in the world). The population of Canada is about 35 million people.</span><br />
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Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-24204211202862685262014-01-25T17:36:00.000-05:002014-01-25T17:36:14.484-05:00Comets #hashtag<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCgAGtUKmkTiT5i_BETPihwjvtL4IKVJZ8oYVjgPz5XyYFTpVrFPmHaBP7kc1bHZDQldIrtUar4A2kfUhQn855Xsst79achH-yi3LEvGD1XK60bOCZn1ZKXvh0Mq0yQ1ePwvCa42Z5iM/s1600/comet.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCgAGtUKmkTiT5i_BETPihwjvtL4IKVJZ8oYVjgPz5XyYFTpVrFPmHaBP7kc1bHZDQldIrtUar4A2kfUhQn855Xsst79achH-yi3LEvGD1XK60bOCZn1ZKXvh0Mq0yQ1ePwvCa42Z5iM/s1600/comet.gif" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Comets are pretty amazing. On Friday in ED512, we had a brief review of the physics of motion while examining graphic organizers. The amount of kinetic energy in an object is one half the mass times the square of the velocity. While watching the Science Channel this afternoon, I learned that a comet can travel up to 1,000,000 miles per hour and be miles across. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">So, I picked a three mile diameter comet, converted into SI units and did the math (assumed that the comet has the density of water-ish). The kinetic energy of the quickly moving comet that I just described would have a kinetic energy of 5.89E24 joules. It's 5,890,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules. That is a lot. It's about 1,000 times the energy contain in all the <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=5.89%C3%9710%5E21+joules" target="_blank">natural gas in the world</a> (not all the natural gas used this year, but all the natural gas reserves currently waiting to be extracted).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That got me thinking about the weird comparisons that we make. If something is long, we say that is the length of X football fields. If it's really long, we say it is the length of Y Empire State Buildings, laid on their side. When it's astronomically long, it could wrap around the Earth X times or to the Moon Y times. The volume of something large is measured in multiples of Olympic swimming pools (or fill up a bunch of football stadiums). We use strange units of measurement.</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-17172579977810814082014-01-22T12:42:00.000-05:002014-01-22T12:42:11.078-05:00Baby, it's cold outside #hashtag<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMf8dVKfAp0pgI90qRQPqmNPM2h1DRTr69XNcNicBPkyugt1FHBZW4UmjcyGvdoT0h1PXVEFXzTwmNG7sfR5sGyox2fWTgo_sF0fkP68b4-Krj2g9_O8trQpkj9amsWVBzMnc0DtwD6d8/s1600/cold.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMf8dVKfAp0pgI90qRQPqmNPM2h1DRTr69XNcNicBPkyugt1FHBZW4UmjcyGvdoT0h1PXVEFXzTwmNG7sfR5sGyox2fWTgo_sF0fkP68b4-Krj2g9_O8trQpkj9amsWVBzMnc0DtwD6d8/s1600/cold.png" height="58" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Students were complaining about how cold it was today. They were right. I checked the Weather Channel during break. It was twenty degrees colder in Walled Lake than in Siberia. Someone could get sent to the gulag and it would warm them up (both the slave labor and the outdoor temperature).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In case you are wondering, there is a 14 hour time difference between Michigan and Siberia. It was just after sunrise in Michigan, which according to the internet, is the coldest portion of the day. Meanwhile, it was well after dark in Siberia (the colder portion of the day, but not necessarily the coldest).</span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942524891094844372.post-14409084599793699812014-01-20T17:51:00.000-05:002014-01-20T17:59:53.965-05:00Tiering it up (ED510)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; text-indent: 0.5in;">For our Geometry class, we implement a novel form of tiering most days of the week. Our Geometry class is a somewhat flipped classroom. Students watch videos introducing them to new material during the evening. They use a set of guided notes to help them keep track of the new material. On the day following in class, they begin with a diagnostic quiz. The quiz covered four or five problems from the previous section. Students have 15-20 minutes to work on the quiz.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">When students are done working on the quiz, or after a given amount of time, we will go over the problems as a group. After going over the problems as a class, students give themselves a score for the test by totaling up the points from each problem that they correctly answered. The point totals correspond to three groups of problems that students work on in the classroom. Students who get none of the problems right would assign themselves to Group A; a student who got all the problems right would assign herself to Group C. Students are encouraged to evaluate their own level of understanding (ahem, metacognition). If a student if confident about his or her understanding of the material, the student is encouraged to ignore the numerical score on the diagnostic quiz and join the group that he or she thinks is most appropriate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here is one example selection of homework:</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Group A: Page 353-354 #16-17, 22-28, 29, 30-31</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Group B: Page 353-354 #22-27, 29, 31-35</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Group C: Page 353-354 #22-25, 29-31, 38-42, 51</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">While at first, it looks like a random sequence of numbers, there is a pattern. Students in Group A focus their attention on definitions and basic calculations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Take a look at problems 16 and 17:</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3Wc1L0O0RYiFrLYioOdMOOPXXVEsEc-7-vWP2F0Km19rcYGripWE9Q3R-4eHlKyzJqHk05eHu-clZyOQNZSSfLva6PyQYFuLd68qSM-iv4h0IttdqMpnP5RHHFSB8vLDNr0MdTydp5s/s1600/t1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3Wc1L0O0RYiFrLYioOdMOOPXXVEsEc-7-vWP2F0Km19rcYGripWE9Q3R-4eHlKyzJqHk05eHu-clZyOQNZSSfLva6PyQYFuLd68qSM-iv4h0IttdqMpnP5RHHFSB8vLDNr0MdTydp5s/s1600/t1.jpg" height="75" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There are still some problems that
all students are expected to complete. Problem #29 requires students to evaluate two examples of student work. All students are expected to work on
this problem; it shows up in each problem set.</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpN1b-EOc8JUKQUkxbJ4Wf1c_OQhRhhfWHovESoXED6FmX5VvOn8lg8_KIzZV5hjD09qtLyC8kLCukpFSSzUbmYOUMZqfvuct_5jZ4bv0vj1v3GbJT_6hxDyRzIb59as_FVGxykw-wN4/s1600/t2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpN1b-EOc8JUKQUkxbJ4Wf1c_OQhRhhfWHovESoXED6FmX5VvOn8lg8_KIzZV5hjD09qtLyC8kLCukpFSSzUbmYOUMZqfvuct_5jZ4bv0vj1v3GbJT_6hxDyRzIb59as_FVGxykw-wN4/s1600/t2.jpg" height="100" width="320" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Problem 51, on the other hand, only
shows up in Group C’s problem set. It's a bit challenging.</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLmlJ6BzXgl0InxXWsK7jvUTn4Y-V8-tIsdQ33q2ru8ZDet2_YVzJF68V2zMu2FIB42z7f2BTnpUYpvJ4uFj51LZ7RVvgzyq_uAF_lmguD36_JwjrtbDPhgqxxsLsxn5c8kovRcWMeiw/s1600/t3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLmlJ6BzXgl0InxXWsK7jvUTn4Y-V8-tIsdQ33q2ru8ZDet2_YVzJF68V2zMu2FIB42z7f2BTnpUYpvJ4uFj51LZ7RVvgzyq_uAF_lmguD36_JwjrtbDPhgqxxsLsxn5c8kovRcWMeiw/s1600/t3.jpg" height="95" width="320" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Challenges</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">How does
tiering work in practice?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Creating
the differentiated problem sets is relatively easy. There is a host of
available resources that help select problems. The district has a unit planning
guide which lays out the standards to be covered from each section of the
textbook. The textbook maker provides sample problem sets depending on the desired
difficulty. Designing the problem set is just a matter of aggregating information
from three or four different resources. It takes time to look over the
problems, but it’s doable. A satisfactory solution exists.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The problem is getting students into the right group.
Creating differentiated tasks is comparatively simple. While all students pick
up the diagnostic quiz when they walk into the room, the actual engagement in
the task varies from hour-to-hour and day-to-day. On some days, I would say
only half the students attempt the problems before we start going over with as
a class. After the quiz, I am not entirely sure that all students engage in a metacognitive
conversation and evaluate their knowledge. I think that some of them just work
with their group of friends (<i>SHOCKING</i>). Also, I know of at least one student who just
counts up the number of problems, ignoring the potential differences in
difficulty, and does the problem set with the fewer number of problems.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Another challenge to tiering is that tiering is not a word, at least according to the MS Word dictionary.</span></span>Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08139682456492318676noreply@blogger.com0