Interesting Article about Technology, Social Networking and Teens

Teenagers' Internet Socializing

Below is the researcher talking about her findings.

REM -- Reveal

They were my first concert, 1984 at Radio City.

These songs are from the album Reveal -- came out the same year as U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind, and while I liked that album, I loved this one. It didn't really get any play, though. Stipe never played the game in the same way as Bono. He has charisma, but nobody plays in Bono's league. And when I think of where REM started -- they are probably where they always wanted to be.

Poppy ska

Not sure how they chose this to open the concert . . .

but it was perfect.

Public Relations -- Knicks -- Marbury

Marbury is an odd duck, and has alienated every teammate and coach he has ever had. He's getting paid millions to do nothing, doesn't have an agent and has made poor decision after poor decision on and off the court. He is incapable of masking what he is thinking. It is this lack of guile, however, that serves him in this situation. His ability to say, do you really think they wanted me to be the starting shooting guard. I am sure D'Antoni offered it to him. I am sure Marbury sneered in response. That sneer was what the Knicks hoped for.

Yet, somehow, the Knicks have managed to be the villain in this. That is one talented PR team. They think they are smarter then they really are. And that the public is stupid. Sadly, I think that is what PR has become.

It is as we say it is, rather then what it really is. The problem is, when you lose credibility, you lose the ability to disseminate real information, thereby making your role the antithesis of what it was originally meant to be.

Singalong Junk

From the above album -- not a fun video, just a picture, but a beautiful melody. Paul does write some beautiful instrumentals.

Mike and the Mad Dog

Some good info on their breakup from Neil Best. He has about ten blog posts from a long interview he had with Francesa. Most people wouldn't read all ten blog posts, I am not most people.

I must say that I was very happy not to receive more then one or two calls about the break-up when it happened. It made me feel like my life had progressed.

Unitl mid-December

Franken -- Coleman

Tom Friedman - Energy Technology

I haven't read Friedman's book, Hot, Flat and Crowded. And I was annoyed by Friedman for a long time for his "suck on this" rhetoric in support of the Iraq war, and his consistent insistence that the next 6 months would tell the story in Iraq got old after 36 or 42 months of the same.

But I don't like to hold grudges, and cut off good ideas just because I have had issues with the person speaking them. He also warmed my heart after the Republican Convention by pointing out the absurdity of people chanting "Drill Baby, Drill." He made the analogy to someone in the late eighties chanting "IBM Selectric Typewriters" in the face of the internet revolution.

Friedman has some very good ideas about the United States moving into a Energy Technology revolution. I drove to Cape May yesterday and listened to a podcast of Friedman speaking at the London School of Economics. You can download or listen to the address at the site I linked to, the powerpoint he used is also available. In a way I think Friedman is trying to reform himself -- and knows how poorly he performed in the early 2000's. If this is his path to redemption, I welcome him.

Ph. D. programs

Instructional or Educational Technology

Southern Miss -- not clear if completely online

Gladwell -- Outliers

Michiko Kakutani wrote a negative review of Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers. Kakutani feels that it is little more then a collection of common sense aphorisms. "Much of what Mr. Gladwell has to say about superstars is little more than common sense: that talent alone is not enough to ensure success, that opportunity, hard work, timing and luck play important roles as well."

She criticizes him for what I think is his greatest gift. That is, writing clearly about the solving of complex problems. Writing clearly does not mean that the ideas are in themselves simple, or "common sense." In fact, many of the conclusions Gladwell comes to are counter-intuitive, and require that you get beyond your first impulse.

Near the end of the book Gladwell writes about the findings of Johns Hopkins sociologist Karl Alexander. Here is a link to Alexander's article Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap. What Alexander finds in his study is that the main problem with the education of low-income students is what happens in the time that they are not in school, most specifically summer vacation. It is not necessarily news that children in these circumstances encounter problems in their home life. What is telling, however, is that Alexander (and by proxy Gladwell) finds that summer vacation is when the gap between low and high to middle-class students solidifies. Low-income students progress even further in a school year then their higher income counterparts.

We can reform education (and to some extent, need to) by changing the curriculum, spending more money on schools, and by hiring better teachers, but none of this will address the main cause of the problem. I use this as an example because it involves facts that we all, for the most part, already know. The conclusion of the report is not complex, yet it is not the conclusion I would have reached using my common sense.

I really hope this show comes back

Ain't no party like my nana's tea party

Educational Debate for the Obama Administration

A friend of mine created the following blog designed create a debate about where educational policy will go for the next administration. I helped him put together it together and will play a role in responding to comments. It is called The National Debate about American Public Education for the 21st Century.

Knowing that the Obama campaign utilized many Web 2.0 applications helped us shape this project. We hope to use those tactics here. I embedded a video below that gives an idea of what Web 2.0 applications are. And if you don't like the video, it at least has a seductive sound. (Also, feel free to ask me any questions you have about the topic).

We were not satisfied with how education was dealt with in the presidential election, and would like to find a way to give more people a voice in determining the direction of educational policy in this country. The only candidate who was really engaged in discussing the educational system was Huckabee. He actually had some good ideas, but he did not last long enough to bring his ideas wider attention. I understand that it is not the pressing issue that people made their decision on, but it is really too important to let slide.

The educational debate blog has a lot of different levels and offers different ways to participate. We do not expect everyone to fully participate, but would love to get as much feedback and discussion as possible. We list a group of big questions on the front page and thought about confining the debate to these big questions. We extended it because we wanted to focus people on the fact that it is the specifics that need to change, as well as the direction and philosophy. Making the necessary changes will requires a more refined approach, actually confronting the specific circumstances that prevent the reform that is necessary (or possibly not).

We will take the feedback from this blog and collate and submit a report to the new education secretary when President Obama takes office. Please feel free to forward to whoever you think might be interested.

I remember that this aired soon

after 9/11. It was scheduled as a tribute to John Lennon at Carnegie Hall, and I pleasantly surprised to stumble upon it on TNT. It ended up serving a duel purpose, as a tribute to both John and New York City.

What makes it good . . .

one thing is that it defies genre.




There is something in Edie that reminds of a younger Loretta Lynn, but that's hard to say because the Loretta below is still bringing it pretty good.