The Power of Habit

Listen to The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg on Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/B007C64916?source_code=ASSOR150021921000R

https://mastodon.online/@PoeticLicenseDK/109608205481835015

I've read Ziglar, WaitIey, Robbins, Tracy, Brown, etc, on a loop. Did it for years while I resurrected a career after leaving Allied Plywood in 2001.

Have fallen into bad habits. Started with doom scrolling Twitter. #DingDong 's actions pushed me away. Had wanted to get away for years, but the black hole of hatred and fear of TFG and his Putin connection kept me hooked like a heroin junkie.

Even after migrating to #Mastodon, I've been doomscrolling Smart News the entire holiday. Black hole. So much wasted time. So much guilt. So much fear of the tsunami about to hit in 2023.

Need to reset. New habits. Do what I know

The Power of Habit.

I needed to find this book. The above statement confirms what I and my closest colleague and mentor, VM, have been talking about. The same sense of overload that prevents me from grading is exactly what prevents students from reading to learn or attempting Math problems. We've known that what holds most back are poor habits, so I'm revisiting the things I do unconsciously and what students do unconsciously to find areas where we can all be more efficient.

This is the sort of professional development & curriculum designing that we should be doing.

.

The Greater Reset: It's a good read; now I have to process

Listening to The Greater Reset by Michael D. Greaney, Dawn K. Brohawn on Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/B09T88Q9FB?source_code=ASSOR150021921000R

"Simply put, Keynesian monetary theory is designed to concentrate wealth." That's interesting.

Although born into this paradigm shifting mindset, I had no interest in reading this book. My sister handed me the book when I dropped off holiday baked goods. Hoping I had an excuse not to read it, I asked, "Is it on Audible?" It is and it's good.

Now I have to process.

ChatGPT: where is the educational benefit?

https://mastodon.online/@PoeticLicenseDK/109602214566250186Mastodon Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2022/chatgpt-questions-predictions-ethics/Washington Post Article

ChatGPT is being applied by professionals to mine large industry specific data sets in order to generate "best practices" recommendations reports that might yield $Billions in savings. I know people who do this for a living.

However, ChatGPT is also being used by students to make convincing sounding arguments in the humanities. Where is the educational benefit?

Tim Wu's The Master Switch

Listen to The Master Switch by Tim Wu on Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/B004964ZKM?source_code=ASSOR1500219210011

#DingDong decided to ruin the party on the #DirtyBird site with a $44 billion offer to purchase it. Considering his partners, the Saudis,  the UAE, and Larry Ellison, it seemed pretty obvious before the deal closed that an anti-democratic cabal was making a bold move to control the public square, legally. So I endeavored to resist.

That #DingDong was willing to light his $22 bil stake and his investor's money on fire, and put his core business at risk, made it abundantly clear that the move wasn't about profits but about controlling the political narrative with respect to the rise of authoritarianism and fascism in America. This is the context in which I discovered Tim Wu's legal history of the media industry, with its "Manichean" dichotomy of centralized and decentralized control.

Tim Wu broadened my perspective by revisiting the evolution of America's media / communications industry. I was unaware that key players sought control of a Master Switch, which could be used to decide who has access to mass communications.

Impact of Boycotting Twitter

After a #washingtoncommanders victory, I miss the celebratory chatter & QB controversy on the dirty bird app. My favorite radio show on The Team 980, the Russell & Medhurst show, often refers to their Tweets, and Twitter conversations.

When Dr. Sabah from NC launches at the co-host that she would like to give the Ole Rooster a frontal lobotomy with a chainsaw, it's entertaining. But, I'm mature enough to sacrifice a few giggles for a larger pupose.

Talking shop

Math Fact fluency is generally poor across the grade level at 6th grade from what I can see. Addition / Subtraction facts to 20, not automatic. Multiplication / Division to 12×12, not there. The impact is that all the leaking oil from subprocesses creates a lack of fluency which creates friction at every step when students encounter higher order multi-step thinking. Grit requirement weeds out already frustrated populations.

Stopping by the woods on Thanksgiving Morning 2022.

Stopping by the woods on Thanksgiving Morning 2022.

These woods of mine I know so well

Where as a lad I used to dwell

Lost in the moment I didn't know

How unprepared I was for future snows.

My red haired hound must think it queer 

To stop without anyone near

Between the dawn and setting sun

The darkest times in all my years.

He gives his leash a shake

To ask if there is no mistake,

The only sound's the Beltway

and riot of oblivious birds.

These woods are littered with memories,

But I have promises to keep,

And now is not the time to sleep,

And now is not the time to sleep.

A Testament

On a positive note

About right

Great Cartoon.

My final word on Elon.

Final Post on Elon for a while

Publish

1d

Mike Madrid@mikemadrid@c.im

We need to show #twitter followers there’s a better way over here on Mastodon.

Encourage a better community. Bring good people over. Share good actors.

Time for the good guys to win.

6h

Fl0ps@Fl0ps

@mikemadrid I was on board with the "stay here until the end" group, but Trumps account coming back was the last straw for me.

I doubt he will even use it. Musk is just looking for revenue, and that stunt probably increased usage with the cultists coming back.

They can keep saying "In it to the end" - but every hit on that site gets musk a few pennies closer to recouping his $44B, and I'm not interested in helping him out there.

PoeticLicenseDK@PoeticLicenseDK@mastodon.online

Elon - Final Post for a while

@Fl0ps @mikemadrid
Elon may have flicked the #Twitterati the bird, but he has vaingloriously lit $Billions on fire; and he has eliminated any question about his reputation in the court of public opinion. Everybody knows that Elon is no Tony Stark, but has come out of the closet as a fascist tw@t, and an enabler of dictatorship. The US needs to terminate all of his contracts.

The #Resistance is not dead, but it has found safe havens across the virtual universe.

Nov 21, 2022, 01:55 ·  · Mastodon for Android · 0 · 0

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Models of The Mind: Nice Meta-analysis

.Models of the Mind: Nice Meta-analysis 

I've been reading about the convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) for over two decades. Models of the Mind provides a helpful meta-analysis of models of the mind shaped by philosophy, physics, biology, Mathematics, engineering, among other things. it's very approachable for the average lay person.

The author addresses studies inspired by observations of individual nerve cells, as well as analysis of electrical signal outputs from areas that fire in unison like a chorus of screaming demons. She ties it all together by referring to the history of information theory.

Readers can ponder the implications of a clear explanation of Baysean models of how prior knowledge weighs in to decision making calculations. The conversation about the tug and pull of grand unifying theories and practical applications is thought provoking. I enjoyed it.

Final Outdoor Hydroponic Lettuce Hall

It's 30⁰ outside, so I'm bringing Grow Farmstand

Inside. Final outdoor haul.

My greens grew great outside, & I proved that my leak had been a result of me not properly locking the sections.

If I leave outside, I'd ruin the pump.

This time, inside, I'll use a fan & sticky paper to control insects. I need better electrical, but cash strapped.

Twitter Addiction

Twitter addiction made me fly
Twitter addiction about to die

Blue bird electrocuted by the political rise of angels from H#!!
Now it's time to ring the bell.

Don't ask, don't tell, for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for all who fell under its spell.

Life After Twitter

Life After Twitter

I'm not bitter.

4.5 billion + years.

The Earth has lived without Elon Musk.

Cumaen Sybil, to whom TS Eliot alluded, wished for death but was hung in a cage, the leaves of knowledge, flitterred away.

Advertisers come. Advertisers go.

Talking of Michelangelo.

5 years to give

A whole new perspective on youth sports

I had no idea how girls software intersects with privilege and college athletic scholarship opportunities. In Playing to Win, Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and The Big Short explains the economics and psychology of travel softball in a personal and engaging way.

A familiar tale told in a refreshing way

Homer's Odyssey, narrated by Emily Wilson, has made this archetypal epic accessible to a new generation of audiences. For those who have read it a thousand times, she remains true to Homer's intent, despite decisions that frame word choice in a distinctly modern context, e.g. "Master" and "slave."

Wilson's exposition explains why she wrote it in colloquial language, in iambic pentameter, which flows so naturally that even a 12 year old could participate in the conversation. Her scholarly notes address structural and stylistic elements that enabled oral story tellers to transmit the story so faithfully over 2 millennium.

Homer's voice speaks once again, describing the character traits of the long-suffering, resolute Odysseus, through the clear passionate voice of the narrator, Claire Danes. The language is simple and lyrical and evocative of emotions to which every person can relate and recognize.

As an older reader, I shed tears when Odysseus' faithful dog Argos recognized him, gloried in the bloodlust of Odysseus's revenge on the suitors. I  was surprised anew about how peace needed to be restored to Ithica after his palace had been fumigated to remove the stench of death, and the bodies of the sons of Ithica had been removed. The images of the Cyclops and the Scylla, which initiated me to these stories as a young child have been replaced by a fuller portrait of a man I have come to respect, and appreciate as a contemporary.