A new project at PBS, mediamatters, is covering some mover and shakers in the blogosphere. Oliver Willis describes why he blogs – and he’s an awful lot more honest then you’ll typically hear. Quote: “Everybody in America wants to be famous.” Check it out.
Rediscovering the reason for participation
Denise Larrabee, for the Philadelphia Inquirer, writes:
As a writer with two young children who works at home, I realize it’s far too easy for me to become isolated from the real world and its problems, which can seem overwhelming and complex by the end of my hectic day. Once a person is overwhelmed, apathy and cynicism can all too easily gain a foothold, and that can be dangerous.
Read the rest of this timely piece at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Very timely considering our conversation.
Where are the fathers?
In this Inquirer editorial Jane Eisner writes
How state officials charged with protecting the lives of endangered children could lose track of Williams’ three boys – and, it turns out, 277 others – is mind-boggling. Gov. McGreevey’s pledge to address his government’s many failures in these cases can’t be realized a moment too soon.
But to blame this tragedy only on overworked caseworkers and bureaucratic ineptitude misses the fundamental problem. And that’s why, despite my revulsion, I had to write this column.
Because somebody’s got to ask: Where are the fathers?
It’s unfashionable (has been for ten years or so) to ask that question. But giving your kids drugs is the new hip thing! Especially amongst the poor – who of course are less likely to have a father involved. Should take care of the problem nicely.
A turnaround plan for Philly schools
Great interview with Paul Vallas, chief of the Philadelphia school system, posted at CSMonitor.
“It’s not that the schools got bad,” argues Vallas. “It’s that things changed around them. We’re preparing children for the economy of the future in the schools of yesterday.”
Politicians and education policy planners simply haven’t kept up, he says.
“You’ve got pregnant teens, more kids in foster care, more latchkey kids, less support at home, kids being exposed to far more violent images than 25 to 30 years ago, and more ready access to firearms.”
Add to that a changing economy that in recent decades has lured many women and minorities out of the classroom and into better-paying jobs.
The result, Vallas says, is a need to invest time, effort, and creativity into rethinking the way schools operate and how they hire teachers.
He also believes firmly in character education as a means of compensating for less parental support at home.
I like the plan to eliminate Philly’s middle schools. He’s made me a believer.
Learning Music Theory With Java
Check out this great set of applets.
Voter News Service: What Went Wrong?
Providing service to the networks for years, the VNS imploded the last to major elections. What happened? Now the story can be told. A must read article for system architects and project managers.
Lessons to keep in mind:
- Test early: Stress-test your system at least six months before launch
- Test heavy: Put it through at least 10 times as much activity as you really expect
- Trick yourself: Establish a deadline at least two months in advance of the “real” deadline and make all project managers and vendors comply
- Name one chief: Regardless how many partners, consultants and vendors are involved, give one person ultimate decision-making power
- Don’t reinvent the wheel: Make good use of existing personnel and technology, where possible
Counterpoint Generation-X
Garret is compiling a site comprising of four bloggers views (including me) about Generation-X and activism.
Proxies and route-about
Shelley posts some important tips for Chinese bloggers to get around weblog censorship. Scripting News had the linkage and Dan Gillmor got the ball rolling.
Living Memorials
Jeff Jarvis posts his thoughts on plans for a 9/11 memorial and they bear repeating:
- Memorials made of metal and stone do not change… but their surroundings (and people) do.
- Memorial(s) should change and grow with us.
Sometimes I dwell in discussion boards
Garret has an interesting conversation taking place in his discussion board about activism thru the last forty years and the apparent apathy that’s taken hold. Me and a fellow Gen-Xer, a fellow named Chris, are discussing the article “Why Gen X Doesn?t Care that it Doesn?t Care About the War” that Garret linked a couple days back.