Month: November 2008
Visit from the Bandwidth Fairy
So, we switched from 3 Mobile to TPG as our service provider today, which means 80 GB per month of download allowance rather than 6 GB, and that all the computers in the house are wirelessly connected to each other and to the web. It’s very nice indeed! Something we’ve been waiting for ever since…
…aaannd, we’re back!
This blog broke this morning. I suspect it may have been hacked in some way, since the file it was complaining about had suddenly increased in size by about 2500% with nonsense code, and my permissions had been messed with… or it might just have been a misguided upgrade or something on the server. Anyway,…
The Best of Both Worlds
Sean Carney on education in Australia and making the the public/private split work much better: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-best-of-both-worlds-20081125-6hdw.html?page=-1
Religion is like Alcohol
So, it seems to me like alcohol, particularly in large quantities, just exacerbates (or disinhibits) a person’s existing personality characteristics. If someone is already belligerent they’re likely to get in a fight, if they’re happy and mellow they’ll be more happy and mellow, and so on. And it seems to me as though religion serves…
Steven Pinker on the ‘Myth of Violence’
It’s a 21 minute mini-lecture, so set aside some time, but it’s well worth watching.
Speaking in Complete Sentences
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/obamas-use-of-complete-se_b_144642.html
Random Notes and Incidents
Been too busy to post for a while, so here’s a rapid catch-up: Brisbane has had 3 wild storms this week, leading to over 320,000 houses losing power and many being destroyed. And there’s another one forecast for tomorrow. So far we’ve been rainswept but undamaged.Alex mused that although they’re devastating, these storms are good…
Stephen Fry on the English Language
I’ve talked before here about language and how it grows and develops, and the tension between correctness and usage. This is the second half of an interview of Stephen Fry by Jonathan Ross, so it starts off a bit mid-stream, but once Stephen gets into his rant about the English language, it’s pure poetry. (I’ve…
I want to be Peter Fensham when I grow up
I spent yesterday at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) campus, at a meeting with most of the science education profs from Queensland. Very enjoyable day with lots to think about. But I was impressed once again with Professor Peter Fensham. He’s recently turned 80, and has been retired for decades already, but he was…
Let Karma Take Care Of It
I started out mostly thinking about it in relation to bike riders, and the things drivers do to them. For some reason on one particular trip home last week people pulled out in front of me 3 times. I had my lights on as usual, was doing everything the same as usual – just one…
D’oh!
Had a great idea for a post at 4 am when I got up to go to the loo. Thought of writing it down, but thought if I did it would wake me up too much and I wouldn’t get back to sleep. Thought I’d remember it, but of course I don’t.
For Whom The Knee Jerks
Donna, a student of mine from a couple of years ago who is now a teacher, dropped in for a chat on Friday, which was great. Always good to hear from the people I’ve helped to develop as teachers, and to see the later stages of their growth. One of the things she told me,…