Soon after Janine and I got married I bought the first Civilization game. It was a fun, challenging game. It really pushed the envelope for turn based strategy games. I have an addictive personality and could spend hours playing the game. At times I would binge and play way too much. When things got bad I'd hand the CD to Janine and take a break for a couple months.
I went through a similar sequence with Civlization II and Civilization IV. They were also fun and challenging. My daughters started playing them, for they are educational. :-) I'd binge at times. Again I would have Janine hide the CDs then take a break for a couple months.
I've been looking forward to the next installation in the series of Civilization games: Civilization 5! The game came out a couple weeks ago. My plan had been to buy it and wait until the Christmas break to bing for awhile.
Some of the first comments about the game were positive. But then I read posts at Sulla's Civ5 Page. He walks his readers through several games he played, along with his analysis. His conclusion is the game isn't playable yet. I have a lot of respect for Sulla. He play tested pre-release versions of Civ4 and helped improve the game. I greatly enjoyed his introduction. He also shared how he played several games.
So for now I'm going to hold off. I expect there will be a patch or a major upgrade down the road. If it looks good, I'll buy it then.
But for now I'm sure Janine is happy that I won't be buying the latest Civilization game. And that is a good thing.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is up at SmallWorld.
The carnival starts with:
----------
Welcome to the October 12 edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! I know I'm not alone in calling autumn my favorite season, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the beauty here in the Smoky Mountains while showcasing some fantastic posts from around the homeschooling world.
----------
The pictures are beautiful.
The carnival starts with:
----------
Welcome to the October 12 edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! I know I'm not alone in calling autumn my favorite season, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the beauty here in the Smoky Mountains while showcasing some fantastic posts from around the homeschooling world.
----------
The pictures are beautiful.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Book review: Across Realtime
Vernor Vinge is one of my favorite Science Fiction authors. With amazing skill he builds consistent and fascinating worlds to weave stories of the future. Vernor Vinge has a strong libertarian bent. My only complaint is he doesn’t write enough. I wish he wrote more.
Across Realtime is a book with two stories. (The Peace War and Marooned In Realtime) Both of these stories revolve around a concept of “Bubbles.” At first people believed the bubbles were force fields and those inside would die after the oxygen ran out. Later they discovered the bubbles were stasis fields, basically frozen in time. Once the bubbles popped, the people would continue on with their lives.
Around our time scientists at Livermore Labs created the technology to “bubble” people and objects. A group of people used bubbles to encase armies and quickly ruled the world. The Peace War takes place fifty years in the future. A revolutionary group tries to revolt. Vernor Vinge explores what fifty years of rapid growth in computer technology might be like.
One of the heroes of the story is a science from Livermore Labs who tries to stop the bubbles from being used to conquer the world. He finds a young boy who is a greater genius. Together they lead the revolution. There is a lot of intrigue as the “Peacers” want to keep their power and stop the revolt.
Marooned In Realtime takes place in the same universe, but millions of years in the future. The singularity occurred and most of humanity has moved on. Those in bubbles during the singularity missed out. Some of these few humans want to restart the human race and are trying to gather a critical mass. Wil is the main character of the story. He is a detective who is trying to find the person who bubbled him and made Wil miss watching his children grow up.
Both of these stories are complex. There are lots of details making the stories seem real. Vernor Vinge put a lot of thought into what it means to have bubble technology.
If you like good classic science fiction, give this book a try. It rates a strong five on a scale of one to five.
Across Realtime is a book with two stories. (The Peace War and Marooned In Realtime) Both of these stories revolve around a concept of “Bubbles.” At first people believed the bubbles were force fields and those inside would die after the oxygen ran out. Later they discovered the bubbles were stasis fields, basically frozen in time. Once the bubbles popped, the people would continue on with their lives.
Around our time scientists at Livermore Labs created the technology to “bubble” people and objects. A group of people used bubbles to encase armies and quickly ruled the world. The Peace War takes place fifty years in the future. A revolutionary group tries to revolt. Vernor Vinge explores what fifty years of rapid growth in computer technology might be like.
One of the heroes of the story is a science from Livermore Labs who tries to stop the bubbles from being used to conquer the world. He finds a young boy who is a greater genius. Together they lead the revolution. There is a lot of intrigue as the “Peacers” want to keep their power and stop the revolt.
Marooned In Realtime takes place in the same universe, but millions of years in the future. The singularity occurred and most of humanity has moved on. Those in bubbles during the singularity missed out. Some of these few humans want to restart the human race and are trying to gather a critical mass. Wil is the main character of the story. He is a detective who is trying to find the person who bubbled him and made Wil miss watching his children grow up.
Both of these stories are complex. There are lots of details making the stories seem real. Vernor Vinge put a lot of thought into what it means to have bubble technology.
If you like good classic science fiction, give this book a try. It rates a strong five on a scale of one to five.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Have you heard of trunk monkey?
Janine and I have been laughing at Trunk Monkey videos.
This is one of my favorites:
As a father of teenage girls this one has a certain appeal to me:
Though we might just be able to send Baby Bop.
Janine says this is one of her favorites:
There are more.
This is one of my favorites:
As a father of teenage girls this one has a certain appeal to me:
Though we might just be able to send Baby Bop.
Janine says this is one of her favorites:
There are more.
Friday, October 08, 2010
A deep thought
Think about this for a few minutes:
People in distress will sometimes prefer a problem that is familiar to a solution that is not.
-Neil Postman
Bits and Pieces
October 2010
(Hat tip: Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list)
People in distress will sometimes prefer a problem that is familiar to a solution that is not.
-Neil Postman
Bits and Pieces
October 2010
(Hat tip: Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list)
Perception vs. Reality
Andrew J. Coulson writes in President: “We Need More Teachers.” Reality: “Yoohoo! I’m Right Over Here! Hellooo!”:
----------
This week, President Obama called for the hiring of 10,000 new teachers to beef up math and science achievement. Meanwhile, in America, Earth, Sol-System, public school employment has grown 10 times faster than enrollment for 40 years (see chart), while achievement at the end of high school has stagnated in math and declined in science (see other chart).
Either the president is badly misinformed about our education system or he thinks that promising to hire another 10,000 teachers union members is politically advantageous–in which case he would seem to be badly misinformed about the present political climate. Or he lives in an alternate universe in which Kirk and Spock have facial hair and government monopolies are efficient. It’s hard to say.
----------
Go check out Andrew's charts.
----------
This week, President Obama called for the hiring of 10,000 new teachers to beef up math and science achievement. Meanwhile, in America, Earth, Sol-System, public school employment has grown 10 times faster than enrollment for 40 years (see chart), while achievement at the end of high school has stagnated in math and declined in science (see other chart).
Either the president is badly misinformed about our education system or he thinks that promising to hire another 10,000 teachers union members is politically advantageous–in which case he would seem to be badly misinformed about the present political climate. Or he lives in an alternate universe in which Kirk and Spock have facial hair and government monopolies are efficient. It’s hard to say.
----------
Go check out Andrew's charts.
Resources for leaving public schools
Guilt-Free Homeschooling has a list of nice set of resources for those who are Leaving Public School.
My next PC will have a SSD
One of the big bottlenecks on today's computers is the hard drive. It takes time to retreive files off the spinning disk. The several second boot up time is largely waiting for the disk to start spinning and then to pull off all the code and data. Hard drives are thousands of times slower for moving data then typical memory chips.
One of my brothers has often encouraged me to get a Solid State Hard Drive or SSD. These are just memory chips that can hold data when the power is off. Computers with SSD can boot up so fast that you won't even believe it. The problem has long been that SSD is much more expensive than hard drives.
Revisiting Solid State Hard Drives looks at the current costs and benefits of SSD and Hybrid SSD. The price performance ratios are getting better and better. I think my next PC will have a SSD!
One of my brothers has often encouraged me to get a Solid State Hard Drive or SSD. These are just memory chips that can hold data when the power is off. Computers with SSD can boot up so fast that you won't even believe it. The problem has long been that SSD is much more expensive than hard drives.
Revisiting Solid State Hard Drives looks at the current costs and benefits of SSD and Hybrid SSD. The price performance ratios are getting better and better. I think my next PC will have a SSD!
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Don't forget to send in your submission to the next Carnival of Homeschooling, which will be held at SmallWorld.
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Just how much are teachers paid???
When first reading statements like:
----------
In the 2000-01 school year, the average teacher made $43,250, the AFT's most recent salary survey says. By comparison, midlevel accountants earned an average of $52,664.
----------
Many feel a sense out outrage. But comparing how much teachers make to other workers in the United States can be a bit tricky. One important factor to remember is the average American worker spends about 2000 hours a year on the job. In contrast the average teacher spends closer to 1500 hours.
When compared on an hourly basis it turns out the pay is better than many professions. In a nationaly study Michael J. Podgursky and Matthew G. Springer found that:
---------
Generally, teachers earn more on an hourly basis than other educated professionals, including accountants, computer programmers, engineers, and architects.
---------
I have long know the above. Depending on the situation I'll often try to gently teach people that teachers make pretty good money. But I hadn't realized the extent of their benefits.
In Just How Much Are America's Teachers Getting Paid? Business Insider reports:
----------
The average teacher in the state of Illinois makes $61,402. Illinois teachers work around 176 days, 300 minutes, or 5 hours, per day. That's just over 35 weeks per year. On average, they make $348.88 per day, $1.16 per minute, or $69.60 per hour guaranteed. Teachers in Illinois work an average of 12 years. They can retire at age 55.
In order to find out what they really make though, you should take their pension benefits, net present value them and amortize them over their career. As of 2010, the average pension for an Illinois teacher is $43,164. It compounds annually for life at 3% per year.
Now it's time to do some math and make some assumptions. Assume that the lifespan of the teacher is no different than the average American, 78 years. If they start teaching at age 22, on average they will quit at 34. This means they will wait 21 years to collect their pension. The discount rate for the cash flows is a conservative 5%.
When you crunch all the numbers, the net present value of that pension is $290,756. Amortizing that over a twelve year career adds $24,229.64 to their average salary, making their actual salary before health benefits are added in a tidy $85,631.67, or $97.31 per hour.
----------
Wow! I hadn't realized just what a good deal teachers were getting. The article goes out to point out that few private sector workers get anything like this kind of benefit.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
----------
In the 2000-01 school year, the average teacher made $43,250, the AFT's most recent salary survey says. By comparison, midlevel accountants earned an average of $52,664.
----------
Many feel a sense out outrage. But comparing how much teachers make to other workers in the United States can be a bit tricky. One important factor to remember is the average American worker spends about 2000 hours a year on the job. In contrast the average teacher spends closer to 1500 hours.
When compared on an hourly basis it turns out the pay is better than many professions. In a nationaly study Michael J. Podgursky and Matthew G. Springer found that:
---------
Generally, teachers earn more on an hourly basis than other educated professionals, including accountants, computer programmers, engineers, and architects.
---------
I have long know the above. Depending on the situation I'll often try to gently teach people that teachers make pretty good money. But I hadn't realized the extent of their benefits.
In Just How Much Are America's Teachers Getting Paid? Business Insider reports:
----------
The average teacher in the state of Illinois makes $61,402. Illinois teachers work around 176 days, 300 minutes, or 5 hours, per day. That's just over 35 weeks per year. On average, they make $348.88 per day, $1.16 per minute, or $69.60 per hour guaranteed. Teachers in Illinois work an average of 12 years. They can retire at age 55.
In order to find out what they really make though, you should take their pension benefits, net present value them and amortize them over their career. As of 2010, the average pension for an Illinois teacher is $43,164. It compounds annually for life at 3% per year.
Now it's time to do some math and make some assumptions. Assume that the lifespan of the teacher is no different than the average American, 78 years. If they start teaching at age 22, on average they will quit at 34. This means they will wait 21 years to collect their pension. The discount rate for the cash flows is a conservative 5%.
When you crunch all the numbers, the net present value of that pension is $290,756. Amortizing that over a twelve year career adds $24,229.64 to their average salary, making their actual salary before health benefits are added in a tidy $85,631.67, or $97.31 per hour.
----------
Wow! I hadn't realized just what a good deal teachers were getting. The article goes out to point out that few private sector workers get anything like this kind of benefit.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Where does all the money go?
As my oldest child gets closer to college, I've started worrying more about the cost of higher education. I'm in the high tech industry so for me the natural course of events is products get better and better, while getting cheaper and cheaper. For example today's new cell phones are more powerful than the personal computers I bought just a few years ago.
I've tried to understand better why college education is so very expensive.
Last year I wrote:
"I have blogged in the past about the problem of rising cost of acollege education. In a nut shell the cost of college education has climbed twice as fast as inflation for decades. It has gotten to the point that a college education is not an economic benefit for many."
Recently I came across a reference that it is worse than that, the cost of higher education has climbed three times faster than inflation.
Jay P. Greene may have part of the answer. He recently publised a report on Administrative Bloat at American Universities: The Real Reason for High Costs in Higher Education.
This is the start of the executive summary:
----------
Enrollment at America’s leading universities has been increasing dramatically, rising nearly 15 percent between 1993 and 2007. But unlike almost every other growing industry, higher education has not become more efficient. Instead, universities now have more administrative employees and spend more on administration to educate each student. In short, universities are suffering from “administrative bloat,” expanding the resources devoted to administration significantly faster than spending on instruction, research and service.
Between 1993 and 2007, the number of full-time administrators per 100 students at America’s leading universities grew by 39 percent, while the number of employees engaged in teaching, research or service only grew by 18 percent. Inflation-adjusted spending on administration per student increased by 61 percent during the same period, while instructional spending per student rose 39 percent. Arizona State University, for example, increased the number of administrators per 100 students by 94 percent during this period while actually reducing the number of employees engaged in instruction, research and service by 2 percent. Nearly half of all full-time employees at Arizona State University are administrators.
A significant reason for the administrative bloat is that students pay only a small portion of administrative costs. The lion’s share of university resources comes from the federal and state governments, as well as private gifts and fees for non-educational services. The large and increasing rate of government subsidy for higher education facilitates administrative bloat by insulating students from the costs. Reducing government subsidies would do much to make universities more efficient.
----------
As Mr. Spock would say: Fascinating.
I've tried to understand better why college education is so very expensive.
Last year I wrote:
"I have blogged in the past about the problem of rising cost of acollege education. In a nut shell the cost of college education has climbed twice as fast as inflation for decades. It has gotten to the point that a college education is not an economic benefit for many."
Recently I came across a reference that it is worse than that, the cost of higher education has climbed three times faster than inflation.
Jay P. Greene may have part of the answer. He recently publised a report on Administrative Bloat at American Universities: The Real Reason for High Costs in Higher Education.
This is the start of the executive summary:
----------
Enrollment at America’s leading universities has been increasing dramatically, rising nearly 15 percent between 1993 and 2007. But unlike almost every other growing industry, higher education has not become more efficient. Instead, universities now have more administrative employees and spend more on administration to educate each student. In short, universities are suffering from “administrative bloat,” expanding the resources devoted to administration significantly faster than spending on instruction, research and service.
Between 1993 and 2007, the number of full-time administrators per 100 students at America’s leading universities grew by 39 percent, while the number of employees engaged in teaching, research or service only grew by 18 percent. Inflation-adjusted spending on administration per student increased by 61 percent during the same period, while instructional spending per student rose 39 percent. Arizona State University, for example, increased the number of administrators per 100 students by 94 percent during this period while actually reducing the number of employees engaged in instruction, research and service by 2 percent. Nearly half of all full-time employees at Arizona State University are administrators.
A significant reason for the administrative bloat is that students pay only a small portion of administrative costs. The lion’s share of university resources comes from the federal and state governments, as well as private gifts and fees for non-educational services. The large and increasing rate of government subsidy for higher education facilitates administrative bloat by insulating students from the costs. Reducing government subsidies would do much to make universities more efficient.
----------
As Mr. Spock would say: Fascinating.
We're trying to raise creative minds
I like this quote from Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list):
The uncreative mind can spot the wrong answer,
but it takes a creative mind to spot the wrong question.
-Anthony Jay
Weekly Business Writing Tips #380
The uncreative mind can spot the wrong answer,
but it takes a creative mind to spot the wrong question.
-Anthony Jay
Weekly Business Writing Tips #380
Are you looking for ideas for your next homeschool co-op?
If you are looking for an idea on a fun homeschool co-op activity, Let's Play Math! has a suggestion: Alexandria Jones and the Mathematical Carnival.
The new face of advertising
Recently my mother sent the family a link to a fun video about dogs catching treats in slow motion:
The video is fun. The thing I found fascinating is it has almost three million views. This is the new face of advertising. If you create an entertaining ad the world will beat a path to your Youtube video.
The video is fun. The thing I found fascinating is it has almost three million views. This is the new face of advertising. If you create an entertaining ad the world will beat a path to your Youtube video.
Improving your financial IQ
A good friend of mine often studies the stock market and finances in his spare time. Recently I asked him what magazines, newsletters and blogs he followed. He pointed me to these two and included the comments:
The Daily Reckoning - (very conservative politically)
John Mauldin's Thoughts from the Front Line - (moderately conservative politically)
He also suggested reading:
"Chapters 8 & 20 of Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor (then read as much of the book as you can handle)"
Benjamin Graham heavily influenced Warren Buffett.
Personally I like The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias.
The Daily Reckoning - (very conservative politically)
John Mauldin's Thoughts from the Front Line - (moderately conservative politically)
He also suggested reading:
"Chapters 8 & 20 of Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor (then read as much of the book as you can handle)"
Benjamin Graham heavily influenced Warren Buffett.
Personally I like The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias.
The 10 worse parts of homeschooling
Carolyn shares her Bottom 10 Worst Parts of Homeschooling, along with suggestions on how to cope.
Its a good list.
Its a good list.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - Along with a new baby!
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Homeschool Curriculum and Parenting Advice.
We have such a wonderful set of bloggers who take turns hosting the carnival. The host this week got up the carnival, after having a baby last week. Such dedication!
The carnival starts:
----------
Welcome to the October 5, 2010 edition of The Carnival of Homeschooling!
Here at HomeGrownMommy, we’ve had quite the eventful week! We had the wonderful blessing of welcoming our fifth child into the world through a peaceful and perfect home birth on Monday morning, September 27th! Little Sophia weighed 9lbs 2 oz at birth and was 21 inches long. She’s just so sweet and calm; and we’re all enjoying getting to know her.
----------
We have such a wonderful set of bloggers who take turns hosting the carnival. The host this week got up the carnival, after having a baby last week. Such dedication!
The carnival starts:
----------
Welcome to the October 5, 2010 edition of The Carnival of Homeschooling!
Here at HomeGrownMommy, we’ve had quite the eventful week! We had the wonderful blessing of welcoming our fifth child into the world through a peaceful and perfect home birth on Monday morning, September 27th! Little Sophia weighed 9lbs 2 oz at birth and was 21 inches long. She’s just so sweet and calm; and we’re all enjoying getting to know her.
----------
Book review: Doctor to the Stars
Doctor to the Stars is a collection of three stories by Murray Leinster. The stories are about a medical doctor who travels between planets solving problems. Calhoun, the hero, is smart and able use his knowledge of medicine to figure out what is going on and what needs to be done. The stories written in the 1950s, and so they are a little dated.
In “The Grandfathers’ War” Calhoun tries to stop the ultimate parenting problem when the parents have decided they have to go to war with their children, to save their children. With “Med Ship Man” Calhoun is able to salvage a con man’s attempt to buy land cheap when the con man almost destroys a colony. Tallien Three is a bit of a horror story where humans seem to be turning into a creature like a zombie.
The stories are pleasant and well told. They move along and are entertaining. They aren’t great, but I enjoyed them. If you want to enjoy average good science fiction from the 1950s, then check out “Doctor to the Stars.” I give it a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.
In “The Grandfathers’ War” Calhoun tries to stop the ultimate parenting problem when the parents have decided they have to go to war with their children, to save their children. With “Med Ship Man” Calhoun is able to salvage a con man’s attempt to buy land cheap when the con man almost destroys a colony. Tallien Three is a bit of a horror story where humans seem to be turning into a creature like a zombie.
The stories are pleasant and well told. They move along and are entertaining. They aren’t great, but I enjoyed them. If you want to enjoy average good science fiction from the 1950s, then check out “Doctor to the Stars.” I give it a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Book review: First Lensman
First Lensman by E.E. "Doc" Smith is another favorite book I recently bought from Fantastic Collectibles.
The Lensmen Series is one of Science Fiction's great classics. It has everything. The story arch spans billions of years and travels across two galaxies. There are great space battles and secret spy intrigue. This is the ultimate battle between good and evil.
"First Lensman" is the second story in the series. Here we watch our planet explode onto the Galactic scene, barely surviving as hostile aliens try to Civilization. The Lens are a tool created by the Arisians to help Civilization. Virgil Samms is the first individual to receive a Lens. We watch as he struggles to protect our earth from politicians and pirates. He travels to Arisia where he is given a Lens. This gives him enough power to save Civilization, for now.
This books ratchets up the roller coaster ride that continues through out the rest of the Lensman series. Each book expands in scope, with bigger space battles and badder aliens. Yet in book our heroes are able, sometimes barely able, to destroy the bad guys.
If you enjoy Science Fiction and have never read the Lensmen series, start with Triplanetary and then read First Lensman. You are in for a great ride.
The Lensmen Series is one of Science Fiction's great classics. It has everything. The story arch spans billions of years and travels across two galaxies. There are great space battles and secret spy intrigue. This is the ultimate battle between good and evil.
"First Lensman" is the second story in the series. Here we watch our planet explode onto the Galactic scene, barely surviving as hostile aliens try to Civilization. The Lens are a tool created by the Arisians to help Civilization. Virgil Samms is the first individual to receive a Lens. We watch as he struggles to protect our earth from politicians and pirates. He travels to Arisia where he is given a Lens. This gives him enough power to save Civilization, for now.
This books ratchets up the roller coaster ride that continues through out the rest of the Lensman series. Each book expands in scope, with bigger space battles and badder aliens. Yet in book our heroes are able, sometimes barely able, to destroy the bad guys.
If you enjoy Science Fiction and have never read the Lensmen series, start with Triplanetary and then read First Lensman. You are in for a great ride.
A book review of The Tipping Point - by one of my daughters
I'm cleaning up some old email and came across a book review my oldest daughter did of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. This was part of our summer reading program.
Here is the review:
---------
The book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is about at which point a force becomes unstoppable. There are three rules dictating this: The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.
The Law of the Few is about the types of people that can start these epidemics, Gladwell’s word for this unstoppable force. The first type of person is called a Connecters. Connecters are the type of person that link everybody together. The next type is labeled Maven. Maven are information specialists and they enjoy helping others with this information. The last type of person is called Salesmen. They are what ‘sells’ the epidemics.
The Stickiness Factor is whatever happens to make the epidemic-to-be so memorable. One example, Sesame Street, the monsters were what the children paid extra close attention to.
The Power of Context tells of how people environment affects their behavior. The main example in the book is of New York. When the police force adopted a zero tolerance attitude to minor crimes the drop off of major crimes was considerable.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting book about epidemics.
---------
Here are some of my thoughts about the book.
If you haven't read it, give it a try. I think it is very worthwhile.
Here is the review:
---------
The book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is about at which point a force becomes unstoppable. There are three rules dictating this: The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.
The Law of the Few is about the types of people that can start these epidemics, Gladwell’s word for this unstoppable force. The first type of person is called a Connecters. Connecters are the type of person that link everybody together. The next type is labeled Maven. Maven are information specialists and they enjoy helping others with this information. The last type of person is called Salesmen. They are what ‘sells’ the epidemics.
The Stickiness Factor is whatever happens to make the epidemic-to-be so memorable. One example, Sesame Street, the monsters were what the children paid extra close attention to.
The Power of Context tells of how people environment affects their behavior. The main example in the book is of New York. When the police force adopted a zero tolerance attitude to minor crimes the drop off of major crimes was considerable.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting book about epidemics.
---------
Here are some of my thoughts about the book.
If you haven't read it, give it a try. I think it is very worthwhile.
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Don't forget to send in your submission to the next Carnival of Homeschooling, which will be held at Homeschool Curriculum and Parenting Advice.
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
A good step in the right direction
I heard that the average child in America gets something like ten criticisms for every compliment.
This would be a step in the right direction:
We should be as quick to compliment as we are to criticize.
-Mitchell Pl Ejnik
(Hat tip: Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list)
One of our favorite parenting books is The Power of Positive Parenting. Glenn Lathem's main point is parents are much more effective if we reward good behavior, than if we try to stop bad behavior.
This would be a step in the right direction:
We should be as quick to compliment as we are to criticize.
-Mitchell Pl Ejnik
(Hat tip: Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list)
One of our favorite parenting books is The Power of Positive Parenting. Glenn Lathem's main point is parents are much more effective if we reward good behavior, than if we try to stop bad behavior.
Nice article on homeschooling
MSNBC.com has a nice article on homeschooling: Home-schooling parents turn to blogs, Facebook for help.
Several homeschooler bloggers are quoted:
Carolyn Morrison - Guilt Free Home Schooling
Melissa Wiley
Shannon Entin
Several homeschooler bloggers are quoted:
Carolyn Morrison - Guilt Free Home Schooling
Melissa Wiley
Shannon Entin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)