It’s funny how regular writing for this blog has put me into a reflective mood lately. And concentrating on my surroundings, what I like, and what I don’t like really gets the juices flowing.
As it directly applies to life in the technological world, it turns out that dealing with people online isn’t that much different than IRL (in real life). You still have to treat people with respect and this is even more important when you can’t see their faces to gauge a reaction or if you’re posting a Twitter item with a 140 character limit! When it comes right down to it, you have to be even more circumspect because an electronic message can be instantly forwarded to people you never intended as an audience
Armed with this realization, I decided to put down some thoughts that I could use as a daily guideline for my interactions with people:
Every day, be the best person that you can be for that day.
Devote yourself completely to what you do.
Good luck is made. Bad luck is just everyday life.
Don’t take anyone or anything for granted.
Every day, seek out one person and say or do something kind.
Don’t ever let your family down.
Never be afraid to admit mistakes. Apologize and move on.
Be aware of where you are and how you present yourself.
Try not to dwell on absolutes because they marginalize people.
Humor can make a grim situation easier and a happy occasion memorable.
Except on rare occasions, you are not the most important person in the room.
You don’t have to make a contribution to every conversation.
Speak clearly. It’s your job to make yourself understood.
In much the same way that writing this blog on a regular basis is sometimes difficult, I’ve found that applying these principles in my daily life is easier said than done. When you live in a world where communication is instant and many things are delivered to our door, remembering to utilize our own words often takes a back seat to more pressing issues. Maybe I should add this as my wallpaper or create a random email generator to send me one item each day.
Is anyone out there addressing this issue? If so, please drop a comment on what you are doing.
So That's Life? 
Unchained
02/24/2009As a student, textbooks are a fact of life. In the “old days”, you took your course schedule to the bookstore and hoped you could figure out what books went with what courses and prayed that you had enough cash to purchase the needed materials. With any luck, you had enough leftover for a candy bar.
Books were both horribly expensive and heavy. You waddled out of the bookstore with your booty, stopped at the nearest bench, and gathered up the strength to carry your load to your final destination. If you were fortunate, most of the material was useful. If not, you had some expensive bookshelf dressing for the next 20 years.
I was listening to a story on NPR this morning about conversion to e-texbooks at Northwest Missouri State. Unbelievably, the administration there has determined that all books will be issued in electronic format. Granted, this decision was made easier because they issue a laptop to every student. However, this seemed to me like a tremendous leap.
I’m all for electronic versions of books. It helps when you’re searching for a passage and certainly makes carrying everything in one bag more plausible. However, the actual reading is a tremendous strain for me. Older eyes make it difficult to focus on the screen for too long and you just can’t lean back in a chair and read with a laptop.
One of the items mentioned in the news story was that “publishers” have started to adapt their books to meet the demands of the digital age. Instead of merely rendering text, they are beginning to include multimedia video clips in addition to words and pictures. I hate to say it but this gave me a vision of an academic world without instructors. Then again, I also had a vision of Grammy awards being presented for best adaptation of an original text with the statue going to a calculus book. Bleah! Begone visions!
The reality is that change is happening. Books need to adapt to shorter attention spans and new methods of instruction delivery. The meaning of words are still relevant and I still have to understand the material in order to pass my class. Until I get that neural implant from Neuromancer that allows me to jack into cyberspace, I’m going to have to read, digest, and comprehend. I may be unchained from the printed book but I still need to hit the ground running.
Posted in commentary, tech | Tagged education | 4 Comments »