I spent a week in Leiria Portugal learning how to mash up unbridled creativity with structured critical thinking. www.linkedin.com/pulse/tha…

Watching the normally welcoming mood of the Irish public shift to a tribal mode as immigrants hear the siren song of generous social welfare. www.insideview.ie/2023/10/g…

Starting to heat the house now that I’m positive COVID.

Life Without Free Will

Adding another Sapolsky to my shelf: Determined: Life Without Free Will amzn.eu/d/fahSyJi A cleverly irreverent take on free will. Refreshing to read Sapolsky’s critique of those who schooled me to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”. And if you want the most elegant description …

I am starting a 2800 km journey as a passenger and the first 110 km offers more comfortable and spacious seating than my Ryanair seating.

Using my blog as a link list today

I asked my Feed Readers for news items about immigration, asylum seekers, and backlash concerning European policies. Here are a few links that surfaced. European Community Migration Policy www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheet… Smuggling Migrants to Ireland www.breakingnews.ie/world/spa… EU …

Because it is raining hard outside, all the seats in the student canteen are occupied, some as laptop work stations.

Reflecting on Problem Solving

I’m using my Microblog to journal about problem-solving. **** Interpersonal problem solved. I had to sort out a serious leg infection. It meant checking into the hospital twice and taking more than 60 strong antibiotics. **** My professional life problem. I am at the tail end of teaching …

Engaged with the Gibbs Reflective Cycle

I’m attending a week-long seminar critical thinking series in Portugal with people from Finland, Germany, Holland, Iran, Ireland, and Portugal. Today’s in-class assignment has us drilling down into the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. I think I’m going to make a Sway about the findings …

Getting Value from MSFT Copilot

Impressed with some of the facets of Microsoft Copilot. Much of the student work I now get uploaded into SharePoint can be cross-referenced by colleagues who teach alongside me but never enter my classrooms. Now they can dynamically see the evolution of student portfolios as core elements percolate …

I scored no points on another of those “been there dun dat” surveys.

Critical Thinking and Creativity

I’m taking a short advanced programme about Creativity and Critical Thinking. In some corners, critical thinking is at odds with creativity. In my life, critical thinking processes help me question, analyze, and evaluating, while creativity helps me produce clever ideas and explore multiple …

Ready for a note-taking session at work.

CompSci Majors Are No Longer Safe

As Kelli Maria Korducki explains in The Atlantic, computer science is no longer the safe major. From the time I left high school, computer science degrees have been sold as one of the safest paths to job security. Through several downturns, coding jobs kept spawning and wages are very good. By the …

“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” – Bertrand Russell

Watching the writers thinking about returning to work. “New transparency in streaming data means Netflix and Disney Plus will have to change how they work,” writes Alex Cranz. www.theverge.com/2023/9/26…

Useless British Passport

“In France, I am Irish, thanks to my grandmother, born in County Antrim. In Canada, I am Canadian, having been born there. Albeit I left aged ten months. In Britain, where I spent much of my childhood, I am British, as my parents were,” writes Jonathan Miller in …

If you use LinkedIn, your best scrolling experience happens when you trust the LinkedIn algo to surface the content most relevant for you. #protip

Thinking about an F-35 that flew without a pilot

As a former flight safety officer and T-38 instructor pilot, I’m trying to read between the lines as F-35 Lockheed Martin strike fighter jets are grounded. One crashed last week in South Carolina near where I used to live. It looks like maintenance officers may want a close look again at fuel …

So we install fibre to the home last week. Tonight the kids started streaming content on two different TV sets. My laptop WiFi connectivity with some of my services is dropping. Time for some ethernet ports so I might reclaim 200 Mbps upload speeds.

Learning to Think Critically

I AM CARVING OUT four hours a week to immerse in a short course about Creativity and Critical Thinking. After a few hours in the classroom, I’m starting to think that critical thinking is at odds with creativity.

Power Words in Subject Lines

Reviewing my listing of power words because many of them work well on me.

Getting confused on first approach

Imagining hundreds of cars approaching the poorly marked entrance to our university campus at the start of our academic semester. And knowing that challenge will be faced by dozens of the young students who may feel stressed when they miss the entrance on their first attempt.

I have become snobbish about my preference for Miso Paper.

Donors Choose to Fund Emergency Drawer

My daughter Misty approaches teaching as a vocation. She wants “to help my students reach Self-Actualization–or at least some academic content–while at school, so I try to have an environment where students feel safe, loved, and included in my classroom.” So she has an …