Another Thought About Peter Maxwell Davies’ Criticism of Educational Systems
I was talking with a colleague about the piece I wrote on Monday, in which Sir Peter Maxwell Davies expressed concern over the number of British youngsters who had never heard of Ludwig van Beethoven....
View ArticleThe Smarter the Technology the Dumber the People
It is hard to read the news these days without being overwhelmed by stories whose key actions can be attributed to ineptitude. Whether it involves software development by drones who know how to use...
View ArticleA Representative Word of the Year
Towards the end of every calendar year, the division of Oxford University Press responsible for the publication of dictionaries declares a “word of the year.” According to the Associated Press account...
View ArticleIs Google Making the Next Generation Stupid?
Today’s news (which I read as reported by Lance Whitney for CNET News) about Google Play for Education should be taken as a warning that it is probably time for anyone who takes education seriously to...
View ArticleSometimes the Rich And Mighty Lose
Here in San Francisco the two ballot measures that would have enabled the implementation of the 8 Washington condominium project were defeated. Apparently, a majority of San Francisco voters (myself...
View ArticleDavid Gewirtz Gets a Brand-New Mac Without Mavericks
Reading David Gewirtz’ DIY-IT post on ZDNet this morning quickly established itself as a working definition of Schandenfreude. The premise behind his story is as follows: As I mentioned yesterday, I...
View ArticleConfidence Or Con?
A BBC News report quotes Secretary of State John Kerry on the current round of efforts towards peace in the Middle East as follows: We have six months ahead of us on the timetable we have set for...
View ArticleBye-Bye Apple Mail?
Topher Kessler, who contributes to MaxFixIt on CNET Reviews, finally seems to have gotten around to confronting Mail. Ironically, in his latest post, he is writing about one of the few hassles I have...
View ArticleA Macabre (but Amusing) Juxtaposition
This week’s Bay Guardian announces its cover story with the single word DEATH on the cover. Since this is the issue for both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, this is not surprising, nor is the grim...
View ArticleInsomnia
Did anyone notice that insomnia, as a reaction to a traumatic situation, emerged as the narrative theme used in both NCIS and NCIS: LA, each of which treated it in a different manner? Posted by...
View ArticleThe Deceptive Abstraction of Music Notation
I have been doing background reading in a variety of areas as a result of my completing my traversal of Music, Language, and the Brain by Aniruddh D. Patel. I have already discussed a tendency in that...
View ArticleEdith Wharton’s Anthropological Stance
I have been working my way through Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. I have any number to things to complain about in her style, beginning with her decision to pile more characters into her...
View ArticleAnother Kind of Bailout
Most people by now know that HealthCare.gov Web site, the “digital portal” to the benefits provided by the Affordable Care Act, was launched in a seriously broken state. Today, President Barack Obama...
View ArticleSpamming the NSA
I just read David Gerwitz’ amusing contribution to ZDNet about how much spam must be overloading the NSA as a result of all the electronic mail they are consuming. In the interest of trying to make...
View ArticleWe’re Totally Fed Up (and What That Connotes)
The latest article on Al Jazeera English about the current stagnation of our government has a really great photograph from Reuters that should not be missed. It shows people protesting the stalemate;...
View ArticleSnob Pornography
I have not seen much written about The Kraus Project, Jonathan Franzen’s latest book, which was released at the beginning of this month. This does not surprise me. Ours is not a culture that knows very...
View ArticleProfiles in Cowardice
This past Wednesday, Gary Wills put up a particularly caustic post on NYRBlog entitle “Back Door Secession.” By taking a historical point of view, he could compare current TEA Party activities, which I...
View ArticleBicycle Follies Cross the Pond
For a while, probably as a result of spending most of my time away from home as a pedestrian on the streets of San Francisco, I was writing about what I called the “defiance culture” of cyclists. When...
View ArticleSearching for Solutions to Aging?
I just finished reading Technology Reporter Jane Wakefield’s latest piece on the BBC News Web site entitled “Google spin-off Calico to search for answers to ageing.” Early in the article she quotes...
View ArticleReliable Mail Delivery
It used to be that physical mail would be delivered reliably no matter how adverse the conditions were (as in rain, snow, and sleet). My guess is that most of the current generation using electronic...
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