BFTP: Augmented senility

I love the idea of augmented reality. Point your device at a building and see its history; at a painting and view information about the artist; at the night sky and see the names of the constellations. As this functionality moves from phones and tablets to eye-glasses worn on a daily basis, I can see an increasing use for AR, especially for those of my generation who may be able to recapture some loss of mental functioning lost due to aging. (Or that's my excuse, anyway.)

These speciality AR apps I am calling Augmented Senility.

The first app I would personally use would be the "link the face to the name" app. I am now capable of mis-remembering the names of people, including my own family, that I have know for years. The routine of calling a grandchild the name of each grandchild before hitting on the right nomenclature could be prevented. An in-app purchase might be adding data beyond the name - how you know this person, if you owe them money (or vice versa), their political bent, etc.. (OK, Daniel Suarez has already written about this in his science fiction books Daemon and Freedom.)

The next app would be the "this is why you came into the room." On entering a room, your eyeglasses display would actually point to the reason for your trip - your tablet, car keys, wine glass, inhaler, the toilet - etc.

Another great app to have would be the "find my car in the parking lot." A small brightly lit and flashing arrow pointing one's way back to the specific location in the mall's parking lot could be voice activated. Couple that with directions back to one's hotel room when on vacation or at a conference and you'd really have something.

The list of things for which Augmented Senility could be used is endless, but it would mostly be a memory aid - did you take your meds, did you change your Depends, did you chase those kids off your lawn, did you post something curmudgeonly to Facebook?

Kickstarter, anyone?

Original post 7/15/16

BFTP: World's best workforce: can't we have a better goal?

 ... children in one set of schools are educated to be governors; children in the other set of schools are trained for being governed. The former are given the imaginative range to mobilize ideas for economic growth; the latter are provided with the discipline to do the narrow tasks the first group will prescribe. (Kozol, 1991).

I will say right up front, work has given me a great deal of satisfaction and self-worth throughout my life. Especially the professional work for which my education trained me - teaching, librarianship, and school administration.

Had I a magic wand, I would give the gift of meaningful work to each and every individual on the planet.

The goal/mission/tagline "creating the world's best workforce" has found its way into many K-12 school's plans. Minnesota legislatively mandated all its schools do so. The rise of STEM, coding, school-to-work, career pathways, etc. echo this sentiment.

But what a narrow goal. It seems to place value on our children only as potential workers who can contribute to the economy. I'd like to think I am of more value to the state and country than a cog in an money-making engine.

What if we changed our mission in K-12 education

• World's most critical thinkers?
• World's best problem-solvers?
• World's most creative individuals?
• World's most empathetic citizens?
• World's most daring entrepreneurs?
• World's most aesthetically appreciative?
• World's healthiest people?

Best workforce? To me this sounds far too much like training for compliance. Training to take orders. To be governed, not to be the governors.

We can do better.

Original post 5/5/16

Home projects: the good, the bad, the ugly

It's an itch.

Possibly exacerbated by boredom.

A few extra dollars left over at the end of the month.

LEGO deprivation as a child.

Maybe a mental illness.

Anyway, I decided my rarely used home office in the second bedroom needed a make over.

The photo above is the "before." Sagging, overcrowded shelves in ancient pressed-wood, mismatched bookcases. Black work table, brown shelves. Broken slats in window blinds. Tacky display of plaques and framed certificates. Unseen is an old futon bed too large for the room on the opposite wall.

Functional, but ugly.

So, off to IKEA. Will I never learn?

After careful measurement of my existing space, I selected two new bookcases at the local IKEA store after waiting 40 minutes just to enter. Loaded the heavy SOBs into my little Honda Fit along with a separate shelf and brackets (and a case of needed wine from Trader Joe's). Only minor back sprain. I unboxed in the garage and carried a few pieces at a time upstairs to my office. 

As I am sure many readers know, IKEA products are sort of adult LEGO sets. You put them together yourself using visual instructions.

If you look closely, among the first instructions is to have two people working on the assembly. Fat chance. The instructions should also say: 

• Don't put together at the end of the day when you are tired.
• Don't put together in a hot room.
• Don't put together while drinking wine.
• Don't put together if you are not handy.
• Have bandages close at hand.

I have found that the first rule of putting any furniture together, IKEA or other, is that if when you put a piece in the wrong way, it will always be among the very first pieces. This means that when you eventually discover the mistake, always at the very end of the assembly, you will need to carefully take apart the entire piece, correct the error, then put it all back together again, praying you have not lost any critical nuts, bolts, screws, nails, or do-hickeys. 

After putting the first set of shelves together twice, the second set of shelves was much easier. Possibly because I waited until the next morning to tackle the construction.

The downside of waiting was that I lost sleep worrying about whether the shelves would actually fit the wall space I had. Yes, I measured, but it was going to be very, very tight. I strategised, sleepless at 3am, about removing molding at the bottom of the wall, planing away some of my work table, etc. But the furniture gods were smiling, and the pieces all fit. 

The finished product. Don't look too close. But I like it. The colors now match. Books don't have to be turned on their spines to fit. The plaques are not so glaring. I gave the futon bed to a neighbor, along with one of the old bookcases, and bought a small sleeper sofa that actually fits on the opposite wall for company.

The itch has been scratched.

But I am getting the urge to replace my front door lock with one of those keyless touch pad thingies. Where's my screwdriver? I'll let you know how it turns out. If I can get back in the house.