Reaching for the pie instead of the sky…

Once upon a time, in a place called America, there was a thing called the American Dream.  A person growing up in that America knew that if they dared to dream and worked hard, their dream would become reality.  Secure in the knowledge that inspiration, hard work, tenacity, and careful planning would lead to success, young Americans reached for the sky and even to the stars (remember Neil Armstrong).

Anyone who says "complexity is free" is officially a jackass..

It's official - Thomas Friedman is a jackass.  Plain and simple.  His latest op-ed in the New York Times "When Complexity is Free" is a dissertation in total lunacy from a man who obviously understands nothing about engineering, science or the discovery process.

On Jared Bernstein's rant to the elites - the 1% aren't interested increating jobs...

It appears that economist Jared Bernstein is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore.  Here is a quote from today's blog:

Listen elites: you want less people on food stamps...then stop screwing up the economy. Then we'll talk.  Until then - until we are back around full employment, until you stop blowing bubbles, I really don't want to hear from you about hammocks and the bad decisions of the poor.  You want to talk about job creation, infrastructure investment, skills training, mobility, opportunity - I'm all ears.  Otherwise, quiet down and get to work.

Consequences of the Sequester - an entire generation of Americanscientists could be lost…

Traditionally elections SHOULD have consequences, but in this case, they did not. Obama's strong victory in 2012 did nothing to stop the draconian sequester cuts.   As far as the sequester goes, 2012 did nothing to stop the carnage.  But actions (or inaction in this case) always has consequences and we are seeing them now.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory…a metaphor for the modern high-techsweat shops – Part 2

Yesterday, I posted a blog on the famous fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911. For those who are following this blog, you may be wondering what this has to do with technology and innovation in America. I don't want this blog to degenerate into a politically progressive tirade, even though I am an avowed progressive. So please let me explain.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory…a metaphor for the modern high-techsweat shops - Part 1

102 years ago a careless mistake caused the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to become a fiery death trap.   It was perhaps the most deadly industrial accident in the history of New York City.  The loss of life was amongst the greatest in US history for any industrial accident. 146 garment workers died, the youngest victim a mere 14 years of age.

Learning On-Line: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Continuing with Barack Obama's theme of making access to college more affordable for more Americans, I decided to explore the issue of taking classes online. What's good, what's bad and what is downright unacceptable. My knee-jerk reaction had been that this type of vehicle is fine for some forms of CE and for "light learning" of the sort that I have done on Lynda.com.

Speaking as someone who has had to reinvent myself more than once, I have found on-line learning to be a mixed bag. Sometimes an online tutorial on a site like Lynda.com was all that I needed to move forward in an area where I was stuck.

Although Lynda.com is hardly a substitute for a university-level course, it's the only online training that I have any personal frame of reference within the capacity of a student. Nevertheless, from that experience, I learned several things: