The Becker Blog

OK, this is just too much fun.

http://www.globalgamejam.org/

Live video can be found at http://www.globalgamejam.be/livewall/

The local Calgary site begins at about 4 PM today; others have started, of course, as the various time zones join up.

I’m sure there are people who study this and publish about it. To them: forgive me. I am not really interested enough to track down and read the literature. I mean no offense. It’s just that I’ve noticed a few things that I find amusing…

I’ve been on FaceBook for about 2 1/2 years and it’s fun*. I catch wind of lots of interesting articles and news items through FB. I’ve noticed though that most people seem to approach FaceBook “friendship” in one of a few ways:

1. They only friend actual RL friends and family.
   1. These are often the people who reveal a little TOO much. Perhaps they think FB is a private space. That anyone can see.
2. They friend colleagues and professional contacts.
   • These people are the ones who tend to share news of a global or SIG nature. I hear about lots of interesting things from these folks.
   • They also tend not to say much about their personal lives.
3. They friend ANYONE.
   • I call these FaceBook Tramps.

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It’s thoroughly disgusting when a University fires someone who has worked for them for more than 35 years. Their ‘crime’? Getting sick as a result of being abused at work. Despicable! (note: I am NOT talking about Mount Royal).

What will be done about it? Probably NOTHING. This is not new for this institution.

I quit a job there that I loved because the place is no longer safe for someone who is not willing to

1. lie
2. look the other way
3. be abused
4. admire the Emperor’s suit

I am teaching a course there this term as a favour. I really like the course. The students look like they will be interesting, and fun. The PLACE still makes me sick. Literally.

Why do they continue to do what they do? Because people let them. It REALLY is as simple as that.

The U of C is going through another round of DEEP cuts.

The primary reason for the cuts, says Weingarten, is poor market performance caused by the economic downturn which has adversely affected return on endowment funds used to support various programs and the Universities Academic Pension Fund.

The endowment fund has shrunk by $40.4 million, since hitting a high last year of $411 million.

I live about 15 minutes from the city limits. That means that part of my drive includes highway, secondary highway, and country roads, paved and not.

One of the things I love about the drive home is that during the last 30 minutes or so of the drive there are only 2 intersections with traffic lights. For the last 10 miles or so there are none.

On a good night, I feel myself starting to unwind as soon as I leave the city lights.

On a good day, the turn off of the main highways signals the last and funnest part of the drive. I realized today that not many people get to do this. I am grateful that I get to.

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(C) 2010 M.Parker

SPOILER ALERT:

If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t already know how it goes (and can’t guess) then DON’T read this post. I won’t tell you exactly how it ends, but guessing will be child’s play after reading this.

Don’t get me wrong; I loved this movie. I’m listening to the soundtrack right now. It was visually stunning. Beautiful. Could easily develop a fantasy crush on one or two of the Na’vi men.

BUT……

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Thanks Mark for once again posting something that makes me think (and that gives me an opportunity to tough on a favorite topic: the importance of teaching quality in higher ed).

Boredom vs. Failure Part 2: The New Demographic

From Mark’s post: “What’s striking about these four results is the huge difference for students with low knowledge.  Doing it right matters a lot for these students.  What’s also striking is how it doesn’t make much difference for the high knowledge students.  In fact, in the first experiment, the low-knowledge students even did better than the high knowledge students when given integrated text plus illustrations.”

I’ve always assumed that the good students don’t really need us – they will do fine no matter what. They possess good & varied adaption & learning skills so it doesn’t matter if the instructor is boring, selfish, stuck in the 19th century, or just plain stupid. The good students will learn what they need to. That’s why it’s not much of an accomplishment when a school only lets in the best and they all succeed (well, duh). Student success in those schools says very little about the teaching quality of the faculty.

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Apparently it is in China – if you get caught.

Chinese academia ghost-writing ‘widespread’

This BBC article claims that “More than $100m (£63m) changes hands in China every year for ghost-written academic papers, according to research by a Chinese university.”

As I see it, the only thing that really distinguishes this crime from the all too common practice of claiming authorship for everything one’s own grad students do is that the grad students weren’t yours.

There are plenty of academics who routinely add their names to everything their grad students publish. I personally know a science department where a good number of the faculty get most of their publications without ever having to write a word. Yet THAT practice rarely gets questioned. WHY? They didn’t do the work. They merely paid to support the grad student. If I follow that same logic, does that mean any publication I get while being paid by the university must bear the name of the person who approves my paycheque?

I realize there is huge pressure to publish, but the truth is, if people stopped bowing to that pressure and actually claimed credit ONLY for the work they actually did, then the problem would sort itself out as most of the so-called “high fliers” do very little of their own work or writing.

Academia needs to get back to real, honest work. Honestly is supposed to be our most cherished value. Most academics these days are as corrupt as the students they claim to despise – you know those who cheat their way through school.

If Academics actually practiced what they preached, we’d be far better off.

We are making a mess of our planet. Whether you are a “believer” in the so-called ’settled science’ of Climate Change or one of those heretics that the Movement derisively refers to as a ‘denialist’, most people would agree, however grudgingly, that we need to change how we use the world if we want to survive as a species. (Note: The world itself will survive. The question is whether or not we will, and what species are we going to take with us to extinction.)

Hexxus

Among the Believers, there is often an assumption that this is a binary issue: one either subscribes to the preachings of the moneyed Climate Scientists (which apparently includes agreeing not to question the “science”), or one is under the influence of Big Oil  (lead, no doubt by Hexxus, made famous in Ferngully).

Some of us do not wish to be associated with either group, thank you very much.

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We make them every year – at least, many of us do. The whole notion has been so maligned that some of us have taken to keeping them private.

What’s wrong with making New Year’s resolutions? It’s as good a time as any, and a date that most of us can easily remember.

It’s a time to think back, take stock, and strive to do better. That’s what they’re about, aren’t they? If I really gave it some thought, I could come up with a very long list, but I think a shorter list is easier to focus on.

In that spirit, here are mine (NOT in order of importance – that’s a whole different can of worms):

1. Lose 15 lb.
2. Have more fun.
3. Laugh more.
4. Forgive faster.
5. Judge less.
6. Write more blog entries. (Actually, that could be write more just generally.)
7. Finish writing the 5 books I’m working on.
8. Pay more attention to the people who matter to me.
9. Get rid of some of the clutter.
10. Find meaningful work that also pays well.

Stay tuned…