Bill's Notebook » Uncategorized

Democrats Play Checkers, Republicans Play Chess, Obama Plays Go

bill — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:51:43 +0000

Watching the Olberman/Maddow wailing over Obama’s spending freeze proposal. I am especially enjoying the Republican glee over their supposed victory on this front. The Republicans do not see the trap that has been set for them in the midterms.

From Go strategy – “Reduction: Placing a stone far enough into the opponent’s area of influence to reduce the amount of territory he/she will eventually get, but not so far in that it can be cut off from friendly stones outside.”

The midterms will be a major setback for the Republicans.

Especially Relevant Today – THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS

bill — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:50:02 +0000

With the advent of social networking, you hear a lot about crowdsourcing, flashmobs, and distributed teams. Although these can be useful, they also have their limitations due to their unstructured nature.

Jo Freeman’s essay was written in 1970 and concerns the feminist movement but it’s message about how unstructured groups can become even more tyrannical than a formal group is well worth remembering. It is a long read but well worth it.

An All-Too-Real View of College Group Projects

bill — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:04:01 +0000

As a part-time professor, I have assigned, observed, and graded many group projects. With more communication tools at their disposal, students seem to collaborate less.