Speaking For All Mankind

A much-needed antidote to the modern workplace.

This article from Edu.Blogs reminds me of a presentation that I gave at a conference where I advocated using SimCity to teach introductory Public Administration.  Game based learning seems a natural way to have students quickly learn a number of complicated skills and in-depth knowledge.

I spent Sunday afternoon brainstorming how to incorporate HTML5 and CSS3 into my online web class.  Is it too soon?

The major intellectual influence in my life was Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.  I remember reading the preview for the series in Science Digest and seeing the very first episode.  I must have checked out the Cosmos book hundreds of times and I spent weekend afternoon devouring the science magazines down at the public library. I watched all the  NOVA programs and hung out with other kids in high school who were science and computer enthusiasts.  I was a geek and quite proud of it.

So it was with a bit of sadness when I read the following in Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum’s Unscientific America:  How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future:

“Arguably, the most important news-oriented science communication today occurs via Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, popular public-affairs-slash-comedy programs that manage to integrate a surprising amount of scientific content and treat it very sympathetically overall – as long as the scientists who go on air can laugh at themselves, and their profession, a little.”

I like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert but a seven-minute science segment is no substitute for the effect Cosmos had on a generation.

With all the enthusiasm for social networking tools and Web X.0 technologies, it is important to reflect on what didn’t work.  FailFare will be held in New York on April 14th to discuss IT project failures.  Maybe there should be a OpenGov FailFare.

Just look at the features and specs.

Bill Gates backs innovative reactor design.  To me, the best way to get off oil-dependency is a combination of solar, wind, and nuclear.

“POIA requires Executive Branch agencies to publish all publicly available information on the Internet in a timely fashion and in user-friendly formats. It also creates an advisory committee to help develop government-wide Internet publication policies.“

The Public Strategist argues that government working with tech companies is like an elephant partnering with a mouse.

As Walter Anderson predicted close to 20 years ago, the ability to create personal realities has led to the increasing rise of online hate sites.  Is there an app that PREVENTS groupthink and group polarization?