Category Archives: Technology

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 3

Twitter logo, twitter, twitter emblem, new twitter, old twitter, logo for twitter, emblem for twitter,It’s been over a month and a half since I listed the people I’m following on Twitter in ( and ) and the number of people I’m following has nearly doubled (or maybe it has more than doubled?), so I thought I would do another post *new* listing the people I’m following.

: This is the organization by famous scientist, . Their website can be found at . I highly recommend checking out some of Nassim’s videos. He’s an uber-smart guy and has some fascinating ideas about the unification of all science and philosophy.

: The brilliance behind and more recently, . If you’re into efficiency, Ferriss is your guy. He has outlined some very interesting principles for reducing the amount of time you spent at work and for reducing the amount of time you need to spend at the gym (to get into better shape).

: Pink is a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton and a very smart guy. His book is a must-read for anyone who wants a better understand what motivates humans. He also writes entertaining , from time-to-time.

: I first learned of Michael Moore during my freshmen communications course. We were having a discussion about . Michael Moore is extremely liberal and it’s interesting to see how he criticizes even the Democrats.

: I really like this particular account because the news that is offered from it is (from what I’ve seen) relatively neutral. I’ve only ever seen “facts” tweeted from this account.

: I think it’s important to laugh and many of the tweets that I see from Conan are highly entertaining. I don’t watch his show, but it’s nice to get a dosage his comedy 140 characters at a time.

: This is the official White House Twitter account for the White House Press Secretary. This account doesn’t tweet very often, but when it does, there’s usually something important being said.

: This account publishes (once a day during weekdays), Harvard’s . I really like statistics and it’s even better when they are in this short snippet and easy to digest.

: Kaku is one of the co-founders of  (quantum science-y stuff). I’ve read a number of his books (they’re quite easy to read!) and I really liked his .

: This is the Twitter feed for Larry King. Larry posts some interesting things from time-to-time. He’s interviewed some of the most important people of the last half century, too, so I’d say he knows a thing or two about the world.

: I follow Jimmy Fallon for the same reason I follow Conan O’Brien – comedy. It’s important to laugh and Fallon has some great one-liners!

: Similar to the first person I followed (), this feed is the . This particular feed tweets some of the blog posts that are posted to the blog. It’s nice to have it in a Twitter feed rather than a newsletter or always having to check the site for updates.

: Somewhere along the way, I realized that there was more than one account for (). I noticed that they tweet slightly different things, so I now follow both.

: I really like some of the roles that Tom Hanks has played and I’ve also enjoyed watching interviews with him (to get a sense of the kind of person he is). As such, I now follow him.

: My favorite actress as a young boy. She has yet to tweet anything, but this is her verified account, so should she decide to tweet, I’ll know it!

: I follow Steve Martin for the same reasons I follow Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon — comedy!! Martin has a different sense of humor, but I still find it entertaining.

: I consider Lawrence O’Donnell to be a really smart guy. I don’t necessarily always catch his show (), but I think he presents an intelligent perspective on the things that are happening in the news.

: While he might come across a bit harsh, he offers very blunt coverage of what’s happening in the news. You could almost say he’s “rougher” version of or .

: Like the (), this Twitter feed is for when there is a new . I thought it would be wise to stay current with management tips seeing as though I’m about to begin an MBA program.

: I was reluctant to follow celebrities who had an enormous amount of followers (A. Kutcher has over 7 million as of this post), but I kept an eye on what Kutcher tweeted. It’s a nice blend of a variety of topics, so I’m in!

: Similar to (), Whoopi Goldberg is saying she won’t participate in Twitter very much, but is just putting up a Twitter account so that people don’t steal her ID. I’ve read some of her interviews and liked her stuff. Hopefully, she decides to engage with her followers and Twitter.

: Just like I’m following , Pew Research tweets all sorts of interesting (at least what I perceive as interesting) statistics.

: Matt Yglesias writes for a number of different blogs (and he posts links to them once written). He’s known as being a pretty loud voice from the liberal/progressive point of view (in the United States).

: This is one of the most reputable international publications. It has been around for over 150 years and publishes very important perspectives on a number of issues.

: I wrote about TEDTalks in , so you know how I feel about how important they are. This feed tweets when new TEDTalks are uploaded. If you like TEDTalks, this is a good account to follow.

I’m just about at 1000 words. Check back soon for Part 4 of “Who I’m Following.” In the meantime, feel free to .

The Unending Wisdom of TEDTalks

For quite some time now, I’ve been accumulating a list of TEDTalks that I wanted to do posts about. Unfortunately, I think the list is growing “out of control.” As such, I thought I would just do a catch-all post to cover some of the more under-discussed TEDTalks. If you’re unfamiliar with TEDTalks, I highly recommend checking out the list of the . There are some really good topics there. In previous , I have discussed other TEDTalks (), and I’m likely to talk about them again in the future. Without further adieu, here are some of the TEDTalks that I think are worth a gander:

– This one was recommended to me by a good friend of mine, likely because of my inclination for a positive disposition about life. There were some interesting statistics about smiling (and health). I highly recommend this to anyone, but especially to those who would rather be gloomy.

– This is a talk I learned of by following the . It was given by one of the passengers on-board the infamous  (the one that landed in the Hudson). Not only was this passenger on-board, he had a front row seat to what was going on as he was in seat 1A. I very much enjoyed his talk. I think my favorite line from his talk: “I’m a collector of bad wines.” If you don’t quite get what he means by this, I’d watch the video.

– As the top comment on the video laments: “Why doesn’t this have more views than Lady Gaga?” Given that there are many ways of learning, I think it’s important that data be represented in many fashions. Rolling has, really, made data interesting (to those who would have otherwise not thought so) and even for those who think that numbers are interesting all by themselves. In an updating post about who I’m following on Twitter, you’ll notice a number of additions of people who are focused on transforming data in chart/graph/etc. form.

– I think I was watching  one night and one of his guests was Salman Khan. I was amazed by what this one guy had put together from simply starting with the intention to help his cousins with mathematics. There are now thousands and thousands of videos teaching students around the world about a range of subjects from the French Revolution to calculus.

– I just had to include this follow-up to one of the . I must say, I am surprised that this video has only garnered about a quarter million views in a year’s time, while his first TEDTalk has more than 2.5 million views.

– Somewhere along the way, I developed an affinity for the brain and brain science (or neuroscience). Things that have to do with the brain fascinate me. Maybe it’s the trillions of intricacies to the brain (I’m a , remember?) In this video, Limb shows the neuroscience behind creativity.

– I’m not necessarily endorsing WikiLeaks (one way or the other), but I believe it can be useful to seek to understand the viewpoint or reasons why someone does something.

– With a title like this, how could I not include this in a list of TEDTalks to watch? I’m in favor of most things that seek to unify the world in peace. In this video, Hunter explains how he attempts to get his 4th-graders to solve the problems of the world. I think this is superbly brilliant! Most of the time, children haven’t been socialized into ways of thinking that can become rigid. It’s useful to allow them to use their unencumbered imagination to work through some of these complicated issues.

There are many more TEDTalks that are worth talking about (both under-viewed and adequately viewed). I invite you to share with us some of your favorite TEDTalks in the comments section.

What’s On My iPod: Lectures From A Road Trip, LA to DC, Part 2

This post is a bit overdue as the lectures/podcasts I listened happened during the last week of June, but I thought it would still be nice to go over some of the things that I learned from the lectures/podcasts. As you’ll see, this is a “Part 2” where the first part was dedicated to the I had on my iPod (). (Look for Part 3 in the coming week, which will list the Podcasts I included from this trip.)

As I mentioned in , I was in the midst of a long haul of a drive — 4o hours of driving time. Initially, I thought I’d be listening to more music than other things, but it didn’t turn out that way. Prior to leaving LA, I went through  and picked out a number of different lectures that I thought would be interesting. Part way through the trip, I discovered what Podcasts were and that allowed me to add a number of other “lecture”-type tracks along with the latest from a few shows that I like to watch to stay ‘informed.’ Without further adieu, here are the lectures along with a little snippet about them (note: partway through the trip, I erased some of the lectures I had heard to make room for others and I’ve forgotten which ones they were, so you won’t find them in this list):

The Authentic Leader: Interview with Bill George – From what I remember of this, it was quite short (about 10 minutes) and the interviewer asks a few questions of Bill George about some of the key findings of his book, .

Preventing Future Financial Failures – This was another short track (about 20 minutes). The interview is with , a professor of Business Administration at Harvard. Moss references his working paper called, “.”

Fiscal Policy in an Emerging Market – This was one of my favorite lectures. It was by the former Chilean Minister of Finance, . He had some fascinating ideas and examples of the success that Chile observed in managing its fiscal policy (and how that could be applied to other countries). The most important takeaway: use the surplus from the “up times” as stimulus during the “down times.” (This is different in that most countries tend to borrow more money in the “up times.”)

Winners Don’t Take All – This probably was my favorite lecture. I learned so much from listening to try to cram her regular (30-hour course) into 90 minutes. There were so many important takeaways from her lecture that I listened to it on three different occasions just to try to retain it all. In fact, I even mentioned her work on negotiation in a (read: plea) to Democrats with regard to negotiation a few weeks ago (on the subject of the debt ceiling negotiations).

The last 4 lectures I have were all from a series from the University of Chicago aimed at educating the educators about “Understanding the Global Economy.” The four titles were:

Econ 101: What are Markets?
Markets, Trade, and Globalization
Teaching Economics and Trying to Step Outside the Bubble of Capitalism
Globalization: The Great Debate

The last lecture (Globalization: The Great Debate) was probably my favorite in this series. The speaker, , had the audience do a mock debate on the pros and cons to globalization. I learned some interesting points about (both) sides of this debate.

As I mentioned earlier, there were some more lectures I listened to, but I deleted them to make room for some new ones. If I recall correctly, one of them was a series by . In about a weeks times, I will be getting back in the car and driving from Ottawa to DC and I will have about 9-11 hours of time to listen to more lectures. If you can think of any that I might find interesting, please let me know with a comment (or email) or even a tweet! ()

The Best Piece of Advice: We’ll See…

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever come across is one with regard to . I’ve written about perspective and having a in posts before, but I think that this particular post, or more accurately, the content of this post, is the best summary of my “perspective” when it comes to perspective.

The I’m quoting this from says the story is Taoist, but I’ve heard other people say it’s from different traditions:

[There was] an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.

“Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“We’ll see,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.

“How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“We’ll see,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“We’ll see,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“We’ll see” said the farmer.

This kind of story could keep going on and on and on — and it has relevance to every subject (you’ll notice that I’ve placed it in every category that I currently have for the posts I write). While there are some things that I categorically disagree with (the death penalty being one), I could see this story or as the answer to many hardships in people’s lives. Having lived through *some* hardships so far, I can understand how hearing these words are not necessarily comforting with regard to certain instances, but well after the fact (in my experience), the perspective created by these words can illuminate some unexpected insights.

~

I thought I’d present some examples from the news where we could apply this wisdom:

– Many Toronto Blue Jays’ fans are pleased (myself included) that they acquired Colby Rasmus (via trade). He may turn out to be a great player for the Jays, or he may not. We’ll see.

– Most economists (and people) following the “” will tell you that the US needs to raise its debt ceiling or there will be ramifications of epic proportions. Most of what I’ve heard/read on the issue seems to be a whole lot of politicking. If the US defaults on its loans will that be the worst thing in the world? If the US averts this “disaster,” will that be a good thing? We’ll see. (This particular We’ll See might not have a concrete answer for another 30 years).

– As Borders’ stores continue to close their doors for the final time, many speculate on what this may mean for other businesses similar to Borders. The outlook isn’t usually positive, but maybe this will free up time for other endeavors. We’ll see.

– (An odd bit of news, to say the least). This particular example is quite similar to the farmer’s son falling off the horse and breaking his leg. While I don’t expect Alex Trebek to be drafted to the military, who knows what this injury will do for his “perspective” on life. And the answer is: We’ll see.

As you can see, these “three” words can apply to pretty much anything you can come up with. I’d like to invite you to share with us in the comments some situations that you initially thought were poor (or great) that turned out to be great (or not so great) with us in the comments section.

For the folks who are visual learners:

When was the Last Time You Unplugged?

I’ve been in the midst of traveling a lot recently (), DC to Ottawa, Ottawa to Toronto, Toronto to Niagara Falls, back to Toronto, and now back to Ottawa (and in about a week), back to DC. In this time, especially when I was going from LA to DC, I have, somewhat out of necessity, had to “unplug” from my usual comings and goings on the internet. In this time, I have rediscovered how liberating it is to be away from technology.

Do you remember the last time you unplugged?

It might sound scary at first, turning off the blackberry, putting away the iPad, shunning your iPod, leaving the TV room, and just being with your “thoughts.” Or even just being quiet with yourself. I don’t have the statistics in front of me, but I would bet that there are a fair number of people who have tried this temporary “unplugged-ness” who, at first, were probably quite anxious about it. Maybe there were trepidations about what would happen to x, y, or z while they weren’t able to respond immediately. Eventually (at least that’s the hope), these types of people realize that the greater world (and even their more immediate world) still goes on without their interacting with it. Strange, huh?

In preparing to write this post, I did a few searches and found that there are nearly 6 million results for the search query: “.” An interesting result: .

Straight from the :

It’s an epidemic. It can strike anyone. It begins harmlessly enough… maybe with a cell phone, an online social network profile, or an IM. But before long, the electronic screens invade every corner of your life.

There’s a name for this tragic and extremely annoying condition: Screen Addiction.

But there is hope. Send an intervention to someone you care about! Help them take the first step towards recovery.

There’s also a and a form you can fill out to send to your friend with a number of drop-down menus, which, depending on your mood, can be quite comedic (or quite unfortunate, should the intended recipient actually be exhibiting some of the tendencies). Overall, I think the site could be quite handy for an “electronic” intervention (which may be the only way of reaching someone who has a fear of unplugging).

I think the most important thing to consider with regard to “unplugging” is moderation. Someone who spends 14 hours a day with their laptop or the blackberry glued to their thumbs is probably, at some point, going to need a day or two where this isn’t the case. I can’t imagine it’s very welcomed by the body (even if their ). In the end, you can’t force your friends to “unplug” themselves from their technology, but you can lead by example. As the title asks, “when was the last time you unplugged?”

What’s On My iPod: Songs From A Road Trip, LA to DC, Part 1

I’ve been away from writing posts for a while (my last post of quotes was on ) because I’ve been driving across the country (well, countries). I spent the last part of June and the beginning of July driving from . It’s not an easy trip, especially if you’re driving by yourself. A few years ago, I had driven from (with an indirect route that went from Colorado to New Mexico and then across), (again, by myself), so I was prepared for a long haul. On my first trip (Detroit to San Francisco), I didn’t have an iPod or any kind of mp3-player. This time around, I had an iPod and I made good use of it — kind of.

In preparation for the trip, I combed iTunes for songs that I would want to listen to on this trip from Long Beach to DC. When I was a teenager, I really liked to belt out tunes — were fun to sing. However, much of the rock ballads that I would sing as a teenager (and much of the rock ballads that have been written), from my perspective, are a bit unhealthy (to sing as someone other than the actual singer). Much of the language used in songs is not something that you really want to affirm for yourselves. As we learned earlier, our words and . So, I had to find songs (for the most part), that I wanted to “sing” and “affirm” the meaning of. This really narrowed my search and because of it, I made some exceptions.

Below, you’ll find two lists. One list is of the songs that I actually ended up listening to. The other is a list of songs that I had downloaded and added to the iPod, but just didn’t feel “in the mood” to listen to.

Did Listen To

Aerosmith – Dream On
The Beatles – Because
. . . – Eight Days a Week
. . . – I Saw Her Standing There
. . . – I Want To Hold Your Hand
. . . – All You Need Is Love
. . . – Hello Goodbye
. . . – We Can Work It Out
. . . – All My Loving
. . . – And I Love Her
. . . – Can’t Buy Me Love
. . . – I Should Have Known Better
. . . – Help!
. . . – Girl
. . . – Across The Universe
. . . – Strawberry Fields Forever
. . . – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
. . . – Penny Lane
. . . – I Feel Fine
. . . – Yellow Submarine
. . . – In My Life
. . . – With A Little Help From My Friends
. . . – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
. . . – Hey Jude
. . . – Something
. . . – Come Together
. . . – If I Fell In Love With You
. . . – Let It Be
. . . – Blackbird
. . . – From Me To You
. . . – Get Back
. . . – Here Comes The Sun
. . . – Love Me Do
. . . – Revolution
. . . – She Loves You
. . . – Stand By Me
. . . – There Are Places I Remember
. . . – Ticket To Ride
. . . – Yesterday
Bill Withers – Lean On Me
Billy Joel – For The Longest Time
. . . – Just The Way You Are
. . . – Piano Man
. . . – She’s Always A Woman
Boston – More Than A Feeling
Bryan Adams – Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?
Bryan Adams – Everything I Do, I Do It For You
Colbie Caillat – Fallin’ For You
. . . – I Never Told You
. . . – Bubbly
. . . – The Little Things
. . . – Realize
Corinne Bailey Rae – Like A Star
. . . –  Put Your Records On
Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
. . . – Circle of Life
. . . – Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
. . . – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
. . . – Something About The Way You Look Tonight
. . . – Tiny Dancer
. . . – Your Song
Eric Clapton – Layla
. . . – Change The World
. . . – Tears In Heaven
. . . – Wonderful Tonight
Jack Johnson – Better Together
. . . – Banana Pancakes
. . . – Belle
. . . – If I Had Eyes
. . . – Do You Remember
John Legend – Everybody Knows
. . . – If You’re Out There
. . . – Ordinary People
. . . – Stay With You
. . . – So High
. . . – Save Room
. . . –  Each Day Gets Better
. . . – P.D.A. (We Just Don’t Care)
. . . – Again
. . . – Heaven
John Lennon – Give Peace A Chance
. . . – Imagine
Journey – Open Arms
. . . – Faithfully
. . . – Don’t Stop Believin’
. . . – Lights
Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven
. . . – Black Dog
. . . – Kashmir
Tracy Chapman – Fast Car
Usher – Nice And Slow
. . . – U Got It Bad
. . . – How Do I Say
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Love of All

Did Not Listen To

Andrea Bocelli – Ave Maria
. . . – Time To Say Goodbye
Bach – Air On A G String
. . . – Prelude
The Beach Boys – Kokomo
. . . – Wouldn’t It Be Nice
. . . – Good Vibrations
Beethoven – Fur Elise
. . . –  Moonlight Sonata
Bob Marley – Get Up Stand Up
. . . – Stir It Up
. . . – Exodus
. . . – Waiting In Vain
. . . – No Woman No Cry
. . . – Could You Be Loved
. . . –  Is This Love
. . . – Jammin’
. . . – One Love
. . . – Redemption Song
. . . – Three Little Birds
Bobby McFerrin – Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Boyz II Men – A Song For Mama
. . . – In The Still Of The Night
. . . – It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye (To Yesterday)
. . . – Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
. . . – I’ll Make Love To You
. . . – The Color Of Love
. . . – On Bended Knee
. . . – Silent Night
. . . – One Sweet Day
Coldplay – Yellow
Creed – Higher
. . . – With Arms Wide Open
Debussy – Clair De Lune
Green Day – Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
Kelly Clarkson – A Moment Like This
Michael Jackson – Heal The World
. . . – The Way You Make Me Feel
. . . – We Are The World
. . . – You Are Not Alone
Natasha Bedingfield – Unwritten
Pachelbel – Canon in D
Savage Garden – I Knew I Loved You
. . . – Truly, Madly, Deeply
Styx – Come Sail Away
The Temptations – My Girl
. . . – The Way You Do The Things You Do
Three Dog Night – Joy To The World
UB-40 – Red, Red Wine
Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin – Ave Maria

~

So, these are the songs that I had on the iPod. As a percentage, I’d say I listened to about 67% of what I had on the iPod. I’d say I listened to my “Beatles” playlist a few times, too. As well, when I was in (or near) major cities, I would listen to the radio. The songs that you see here are just the songs that I had on the iPod. I also had a number of lectures from and podcasts. I’ll talk about those more in another post. For now, I’m interested to know if you think I missed any songs. Are there other songs out there that have a positive meaning to them and would be in alignment with the two posts about words that I cited in the 2nd paragraph?

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 2

Twitter, new logo twitter, twitter logo, twitter emblem, blue twitter bird, In a continuation from , I am listing the people that I am following on Twitter along with a mini-description of who/what they are/have done.

: While I may not always agree with what the UN does (or doesn’t do), I think that the work they do is very important to fostering a global climate of peace. Moreover, I think an organization like the UN would likely be involved in any .

: I am not from Ohio nor do I think that I will ever live in Ohio (long-term), but if Kucinich’s idea of a is ever realized, I will happily submit my resume to be part of that government agency.

: : “Bernie Sanders is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.” It just goes to show that it is possible for independents to be elected to the US Congress and stay there and make a difference.

: We can chalk this one up to smart people. If of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman in 2000, the political landscape may look very different — same goes for the scientific landscape. We may not have had the documentary .

: This is the Twitter feed of the complementary healthcare modality of which I am to use.

: A comedian (from Canada) who has some of the funniest bits on race that I have ever seen. For some of his funniest jokes, check out what I wrote about him .

: The current president of the . I’m looking forward to updates from her about new studies connecting consciousness, science, spirituality, and wisdom.

: The founder of “.” I have no doubt that there will be some pleasant reminders from her about “believing your thoughts.”

: I saw Paul give a presentation to a group of students during my sophomore year as an undergrad. I liked his positive message and am glad that he continues to share it with the world.

: I like to think of Louise as the “Queen of Self-Help.” She has helped change so many lives with the principles from “.”

: I wish were on Twitter. is the organization that continues to see the world through the eyes of .

: He has been talking about spirituality for nearly 20 years, but he didn’t get “famous” until he went on Oprah and nearly “broke the internet.” Footage from the ten sessions can be found .

: I recently had the good fortune to read . Of course, there was a to the ideas put forth in the book, but the authors of The Spirit Level have published an updated edition and continue to provide updated information on their blog. My favorite bit in this ongoing debate is a video of the 4 of them (two in favor and two opposed) .

: I don’t remember where I first saw , but I continue to be amazed at how breaks down the issues in a way that can be accessible to many people.

: I first saw Eboo give a lecture during my undergrad called: “” This guy is really smart and like Rachel Maddow, he, too, is a Rhodes Scholar.

: Christiane Amanpour is probably one of the better journalists of the last 30 years. I don’t often watch , but I think she is very smart.

: “Institute of HeartMath is dedicated to conducting research and providing programs for schools and families to facilitate heart-based living.” Some of the research that happens here is incredible. Check out the under “Most Popular Research.”

: The of the . Layton led the to , more than double its previous high. It’s quite possible that he’ll be the first Canadian Prime Minister not affiliated with the (kind of like the ) or (kind of like the ) in history.

: ThreeHundredEight is the Canadian equivalent for FiveThirtyEight. refres to the number of seats in the Canadian House of Commons.

: Elizabeth May is the first member of the to be elected to serve as a .

: Another very smart person. Rifkin wrote . I highly recommend reading it.

: While Robinson has done a number of things, I first learned of him through his TEDTalk called ““. From there I got a hold of his — another great read. I also like the .

: I was first introduced to Hans Rolling through his TEDTalk, “.” I have since learned that he does a number of cool things with statistics on his site, .

: Another really, really smart person. My introduction to was through his book, . He’s the Director of the and, interesting fact: at the age of 29, he became one of the youngest economic professors in the history of Harvard.

: Like I talked about with Ezra Klein yesterday, my first introduction to was through . He seems like a really smart guy that knows his stuff, especially when it comes to politics.

: He is sometimes credited with “.” I can’t say I’m a fan of some of the things he says, especially segments like ‘,’ but he’s smart. I may not continue following him throughout my time on Twitter, but at least initially, I’m going to give it a go.

~~~

So this is the rest of the list that I have chosen to initially follow. There’s no doubt that the list of people I follow will expand and as it does, I may do a Part 3 (and Part 4) of this series. Is there anyone I’ve missed? Is there someone you might suggest? Who are you following and why?

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 1

So I did it. I finally did it. I joined the . I’m not sure how or why, but I had the strange idea that Twitter was mainly for cell phones and seeing as though , I never joined. A few months ago, I decided that I might dip my toe in the water and I signed up for an . I never used it, but it was there. Over the last couple of weeks, (off and on) I’ve done a bunch of reading about Twitter – what is its purpose, what it can be used for, how not to use it, how to use it, etc. What’s clear to me, there is an abundance of opinions about the “right” and wrong way to use .

Once I made the decision to join Twitter, I had to then decide who it was that I was going to follow. A good place for me to start was the list of “pages” I’ve liked on Facebook. Since I didn’t want my Twitter feed to just be about (information), I thought it would also be appropriate to add comedy as well as major sports teams that I’m fans of. Without further adieu, I give you, the list of people who I am following (at least after the first 24 hours of being on Twitter):

: Rachel Maddow is the host of “” weeknights at 9pm on MSNBC. I try to catch the show when it’s posted to the web a couple of hours after it’s over. : she earned her PhD in Politics at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship.

: I’m not sure what I can say about Oprah that most people wouldn’t already know. I have a sneaky suspicion that now she’s not hosting her TV show every afternoon, she may use Twitter more often. Pure speculation.

: The current President of the United States. Say what you want about his policies, he is most definitely among the greatest orators of our time. His speeches are a treat to listen to. If you haven’t, I’d go back and watch one and remember, at the time he gave it, he was a still a State Senator for Illinois. (An interesting tidbit: after the speech showed that some people, in 2004, were already calling Barack Obama the 1st black President of the United States.)

: “Top Tweets algorithmically selects and retweets some of the most interesting tweets spreading across Twitter. Enjoy!” As a ‘lurker’ of Twitter, I often checked out the @toptweets feed to see what was being bandied about. Now that I’m on Twitter, of course I’d follow @toptweets.

: I really like smart people. I think Naomi Klein is brilliant. She’s quite well-known as the author of two books: and The Shock Doctrine. I’ve only supplied links to the Wiki articles for both these books, which is a nice introduction into the book. I’d still advise spending some time reading the actual book.

: George Stroumboulopoulos is the host of a Canadian talk show that covers everything from politics to celebrities spliced with pop culture and news. I see it as a hybrid between and The Rachel Maddow Show (without all of the analysis that Maddow and her team do).

: Nate Silver and the are the best place to get forecasts of presidential, Congressional, and gubernatorial elections in the United States. Not only does he forecast elections, but he also addresses things like March Madness and other questions of science.

: I was first introduced to Ezra Klein on an “episode” of The Rachel Maddow Show. Again, my affinity for smart people has me following Ezra Klein. On a side note, I was surprised to see someone (my age) on TV as a commentator. I’m sure most people at some point have that (s/he’s my age!) moment when watching TV — seeing Ezra Klein was that for me.

: I like to learn and the tweets from this account are supposedly factual. Assuming that is in fact the case, most of what I’ve seen come from the feed so far has made me think, “well that’s interesting.”

: I’ve been a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays for as long as I can remember. This is a great way to stay up to date with Blue Jays information. In fact, since I follow the Blue Jays feed, I learned that they were (temporarily, of course).

: Like the Blue Jays, I’ve been a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs for as long as I can remember. Just like with the Jays’ feed, I’m able to keep abreast of the latest Leafs’ information. For instance, today, I learned the Leafs’ .

: As with the Blue Jays and the Maple Leafs, I’ve been a fan of the Cowboys for quite some time, too. I don’t have any random signing or demotion to mention for the Cowboys, but I am hopeful that there will be a .

: When I was younger, I used to watch a lot of CNN and got used to seeing Anderson Cooper. I always liked how he seemed to ask some of the tougher questions of the people he interviewed. I don’t watch him very much anymore (only in the airports where there always seems to be a TV tuned to CNN), but I thought he might be an interesting person to follow.

: I really, really like Jon Stewart. . I’m a little sad that he doesn’t have his own Twitter account, so I thought I’d follow the next best thing: his TV show’s Twitter account.

: Like Jon Stewart, I think that Stephen Colbert is really smart. I think it takes a smart person to be able to satirize the news in the way that Colbert does. Most recently, I’ve enjoyed .

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I try to make a point of having posts no longer than 1000 words (or very near to that), so look for the rest of this list in tomorrow’s post.

Proof That Grassroots CAN Work: Germany Closing ALL Nuclear Plants by 2022

Germany has a history of being anti-nuclear. Put more accurately: the citizens of Germany have a history of being anti-nuclear. :

The anti-nuclear movement in Germany has a long history dating back to the early 1970s, when large demonstrations prevented the construction of a nuclear plant. . . an example of a local community challenging the nuclear industry through a strategy of direct action and civil disobedience. . . Anti-nuclear success at [here] inspired nuclear opposition throughout Germany, in other parts of Europe, and in North America. . . Germany’s anti-nuclear stance was strengthened [from the Chernobyl incident]. . . In September 2010, German government policy shifted back toward nuclear energy, and this generated some new anti-nuclear sentiment in Berlin and beyond. On September 18, 2010, tens of thousands of Germans surrounded Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office. In October 2010, tens of thousands of people protested in Munich. In November 2010, there were violent protests against a train carrying reprocessed nuclear waste.

The people of Germany do not want nuclear energy — they’ve made this abundantly clear in their recent history. An interesting (and somewhat inspiring) bit of protesting that wasn’t included in the introduction of this Wikipedia entry happened

A Human Chain along the Elbe River: Approximately 120,000 people formed a 120 kilometer-long chain between the nuclear power plants in Krummel and Brunsbuttel to take a stand against the federal government’s nuclear policy. At the same time around 20,000 people demonstrated in front of the Biblis Power plant in southern Hesse. Another 7,000 protesters gathered in front of an interim nuclear waste storage facility in North Rhine-Westphalia.

That is incredible. Seeing pictures of protests/marches at the National Mall can be kind of exhilarating, but a 120km chain of people — that’s quite a political statement. Forget political, that’s quite a statement in general. To be able to gather that many people together (not just in one place), but to span across a distance so great — that’s just inspiring. Moving forward to this year, after the , the Germans resolve for a nuclear-free country was reignited.

On Saturday [March 12th, the day after the Tsunami struck Japan], anti-nuclear protesters formed a 45-km (27 mile) human chain from the Baden-Wuerttemberg capital of Stuttgart to Neckarwestheim I. Between 50,000 and 60,000 demonstrators took part, according to police and organisers. [sic]

Three days after the disaster started in Japan, Chancellor Merkel announced a , during which the initial plans to extend the life of some of the older nuclear plants in the country . The next day, the Chancellor took it one step further by off the grid (temporarily). Some noted that this with the upcoming state elections.

While I’m sure that these decisions made the German citizens happy, it clearly was not enough for them. On March 26th, just two short weeks after the event in Japan, to “demand the irreversible phase out [of] nuclear power.” (Here’s a link to an , in case you don’t use Google Chrome/Translate to read the German article.) The protesting , with pockets of people protesting in different areas of the country totaling over 10,000.

… And now finally, the German citizens are getting what they asked for — . A country whose energy department will never again have to create plans and procedures for dealing with new radioactive waste. By the year 2022, Germany will have . How awesome is that? Forget for a second where you stand on nuclear energy and just take in the effect that the citizens of the country had on the policymakers of the country. The citizens of Germany did not want nuclear energy. Period. The policymakers thought that this position (of the people) may have softened and tried to open up the possibility for more nuclear power. Upon learning of this, the citizens revolted. Heeding the word of the people, the policymakers had to go back on their plans to increase nuclear energy in the country.

This is quite an amazing feat (to me). The people wanted something – desperately – and now they’re getting it. It seems similar in a way to some of the other things that have happened this year. There were the for union rights and more noteworthy, there was (and still is) the overwhelming number of . It has been quite a year for “small groups” of people, hasn’t it? It may seem a bit clichéd, (but it is most definitely not contrived); I wanted to end this post with a quote from a :

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

A Shift Towards Waldorf & Montessori: Education & American Public Policy, Part 3

In , I spoke about American public policy in the context of economics. Specifically, I tied in the concept of altruism and showed how given the opportunity, people are more likely to take money from a complete stranger than give money to a complete stranger. In , I wrote about campaign finance and elections in America. I understand that no system is perfect, but I felt that if there were more integrity in campaign finance & elections, people may have a little more faith in the system. In Part 3, today, I will talk about education in American public policy.

Everywhere you turn, there seems to be another story about the poor statistics of education in the United States. The Chicago-Sun Times is reporting that . And that’s an article that was published today! This past December (2010), the US slipped farther down the rankings on the ‘, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world.’ (The data can be found .) On these rankings, the US is now considered “average” on the overall reading scale and on the science scale. They fell below average on the mathematics scale. Shanghai-China, Korea-South, Finland, Hong Kong-China, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Estonia, Switzerland, and Poland, all out-performed the US on all three scales.

If you’re interested in the history of education in the United States, I’ve found a couple of great resources that highlight significant events through history with regard to education in the United States (; and .)

I had the chance to see earlier this year and I thought it was quite an eye-opening experience. While I don’t know that I agree with everything that is put forth in the movie, I think that the fact that this movie is even possible (meaning that a documentary of this nature could be done about education in the US) shows that there are definite holes in the system. It was interesting to watch attempt to alter the structure of unions for teachers in the Washington, D.C. area. I don’t think that many would have predicted a a year later.

I am not a primary school teacher, elementary school teacher, secondary school teacher, college-level teacher, or university-level teacher. I don’t know what it’s like to be standing at the front of the classroom day after day — students looking up at me expecting me to tell them something. I believe that it takes a special kind of person to not only be willing to do this, but to want to do this. I think teachers are a vastly underappreciated population. Sure, we have “,” but that’s far from enough, given the responsibility they are charged with — education our young. Could there be a more sacred responsibility?

A former cited statistics in an article published in association with (a libertarian public policy think tank) claiming that . While this may be true, I wonder if maybe the funding is going to the “wrong” places in education and if this may be a case of ‘.’ Put more bluntly — maybe the system is faulty. I think more funding for education can be a positive thing, if used in the right way and if given to the right places.

Maybe the US education system needs a . I was fortunate enough to have had an experience in the . I was far too young to really remember much of my experience there, (I was there from before kindergarten to just before the start of the second grade). It may not be feasible at this point, but I’d really like to see what a nation could do if all of their schools were taught in the Montessori-way or the . There are many different forms of across the world, but I am most familiar with Montessori and Waldorf.

I wonder what a nation of kids raised and educated through Waldorf Education would look like. Would we have ? Would we be ? Would there be less ? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I’d like to think that a system of education like Waldorf’s (given to us by Rudolph Steiner), would dramatically shift a fair bit of the way we interact with each other, especially with regard to education. As I said earlier, the responsibility of teaching our youth is sacred. We should treat this task and those who do it, with the highest regard, just as those who do it, should treat our youth with the highest regard.