BFTP: Pause a moment

Pause for a moment...

• Put some air in your tires
• Check your map
• Play a game that your kids play
• Accept thanks for something without over analyzing
• Read the funnies in the newspaper
• Take a walk
• Look at old pictures of your kids
• Park in space farthest from the entrance
• Stop at the DairyQueen
• Plan your dream vacation
• Give somebody else time to figure it out for themselves
• Call your mom
• Kiss your grandchild on the top of his head and find her a cookie
• Wear your oldest sweatshirt
• Have two glasses of wine instead of just one
• Read an old-favorite book
• Take out the earbuds and enjoy the birds
• Catch your breath

These past 12 months have been especially stressful for many, many people in ways this old retired guy can't even imagine. But one thing I have learned perhaps worth passing on, If you get to the big stuff five minutes later, it won't make any difference in the long run. 

Original post 12/1/18

BFTP: 5 "soft" tech skills

Source https://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2018/07/26/new-soft-skills-evolution-infographic/

Soft skills are the personal attributes, personality traits, inherent social cues, and communication abilities needed for success on the job. Soft skills characterize how a person interacts in his or her relationships with others. the balance careers

My previous school districts regularly hosted day-long workshops on coding. And that's fine. If one looks at coding as a problem-solving strategy and means of developing rational problem-solving abilities, I am all for it. If teaching coding is about creating life-long tech skills at third grade, it is a waste of time.

Computer programming and coding when seriously undertaken at high level can be valuable work place skills. Programmers and data integration specialists can make a good living and the need for their skills will only increase. Still, even computer professionals need "soft skills." I'd argue that these soft skills (especially needed by a group often stereotyped as asocial) are a better predictor of career success than programming or other hard technical skills. 

Here are five of those soft skills that come to mind:

1. Communication for understanding. People in the technical field have a reputation for being poor communicators. The specialized language of technology is not familiar to the lay user and far too often, techs delight in compounding the problem of clear understandings by flaunting acronyms to demonstrate some sort of intellectual superiority. The successful technologist of the future will be able to "translate" tech talk in ways that users, decision-makers, and even politicians might understand.
2. Programming with empathy for user needs. A program can be extraordinarily powerful, but without at least a semi-intuitive interface, most of that power will go unused. Or the training will be long and very painful resulting in the number of people able to use the product in the organization being small and resentful. What seems simple and straightforward to those of who work with technology on a daily base, can be puzzling and frustrating to the end user. Great technologists view their products from the user POV.
3. Project management. Any time a task requires more than one person having responsibility for its completion, project management will be critical to its success. I lived this in real time when trying to get separate large databases to share data reliably. It is no longer enough just to be competent at one's own job as a programmer - you have understand your role in the larger project and even add value by managing the project, helping with building timelines, objectives, responsibilities, etc.
4. Ethical decision-making. As AI become more powerful, ethical considerations for technologists become vital. We are already seeing reports of search engines with cultural and sexual biases in their returns. The technologist who programs thinking about right and wrong, equity, and cultural proficiency will be of more value not just to his organization, but to society as a whole.
5. Attention to creativity. Too often coding classes and programming are teaching and testing the ability to simply follow a recipe. The heart of good technology skills is creative problem-solving. This is not creativity for the sake of being creative, but in designing new ways to solve stubborn problems, increase efficiency, or add value. What problems are you asking students to solve in their programming lessons?

The technologists to whom some of these soft skills come naturally will rise to the top of the tech pool. But many will need to practice improving their ability to interact with people, not just with keyboards.

Original post 8/20/18

The public library - still the best deal going

Even before the pandemic, I rarely darkened the door of a public library building.

But even so, this month alone my public library has saved me about $38. Using Overdrive's Libby, I have read Deacon King Kong, Leave Only Footprints, and The Silence. Amazon gets plenty of my money as well, but this January, not quite as much. I also check out audio books and magazines from our county library system.

Our library system recently switched from providing ebooks on Cloud Library to Libby. I don't know how the number and variety and currency of titles compare, but I love the fact that I can easily read Libby titles on my Kindle, with all the features I have grown to expect from that format. (I've been a KIndle user since June 2008. Buying books is one of my not-so guilty pleasures. In 2020 alone I bought 34 books - about $500 worth.

In 2011, I wrote in What is the new economic model for libraries?:

The economic rationale for libraries has always been simple: It's less expensive to buy one book and share it than it is to buy a book for everyone. (See Common Sense Economy)

And that worked just fine when information and entertainment came in atoms and only one person could access one container o'information at a time. It worked best when information and its physical containers were expensive for the average person. It worked well when people seemed OK with paying taxes to support the common good - like public libraries and public schools.

But libraries need to find a new economic rationale for their existence other than sharing - and fast - since sharing doesn't really work anymore - or will stop working soon.

It seems I may have been wrong. Thank goodness. Maybe the old economic still works in the digital age. Here is hoping it works long into the future.

P.S. The public library in my small hometown of Sac City, Iowa, had truly been a life-saver for my 88 year old mother. Confined to her home by the virus, the library has gone out of its way to provide her a constant flow of reading materials.