Month: October 2014

What if businesses and schools looking for big ideas followed Asimov’s advice?

The great ideas of the ages have come from people who weren’t paid to have great ideas, but were paid to be teachers or patent clerks or petty officials, or were not paid at all. The great ideas came as side issues.

via Published for the First Time: a 1959 Essay by Isaac Asimov on Creativity | MIT Technology Review.

The Next Printing Revolution

Having access to a 3D printer at Hammond has definitely changed the way I think about design, production, and consumption (in a school environment at least).

I greatly look forward to the concept of printing to continue to extend from hand written manuscripts to the printing press to 3D printing to this type of molecular crystal printing…

But the most interesting application has to be the potential for 3D-printed pills and medications. The technique could be adapted into a consumer-friendly machine allowing patients to simply print their own medicines in the exact dosages they need.

via Scientists Produce Rounded Crystals That Could Lead To 3D-Printed Pills.

Posting to Social Spaces Instead of Blogs

I’ll admit, there are times when I think it would be much easier to share links, ideas, and posts via something like Google+ or Facebook or Twitter rather than my blog.

Then I take a deep breath and step back. I realize the instant amount of traffic that is offered by those services doesn’t equate to the feeling of having my own space on my own blog.

Just a late night feeling after a long day.

My Favorite Albums

My friend Royce challenged me to list my favorite albums on Facebook.

I love music, so this is hard. But here we go…

– Nirvana: Nevermind (the album that made me like music and changed my life and my generation.)

– The Beatles: (The White Album) (sure, Abbey Road is a/the masterpiece, but I’ve always loved the chaotic underbelly of the Beatles…for me, this is pure music perfection.)

– Willie Nelson: Spirit (the best Willie album… “it’s been some of them days, Lord.”)

– Flaming Lips: Soft Bulletin (cause “It’s getting heavy…”)

– Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker (even if it is named after a Mariah Carey song.)

– Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Reservations is my anthem and this is the best album of the century so far.)

Not too far away from my list in 2008.

Just told my (in)famous “three legged pig” joke on the sixth grade field trip in honor of all my beloved students who had to suffer through it over the years. All is right with the world.

I Went Back to Android

I tried.

I bought an iPhone 5s in August and did everything I could to try and live in an Apple ecosystem full time (for science).

However, given the choice at the Verizon Store yesterday between an iPhone 6+ and a new Moto X, I took the Android path.

I don’t regret or second guess my decision one bit. I’m typing this now on my Moto X and I’m loving this phone so far. Its quite possibly the best mobile I’ve ever owned (given, it’s only been a day).

Why?

I’m in the Google cloud, I like to tinker, and I don’t like having the same phone as 90% of the people I see around me. Plus, I can run my life and business on this phone in ways that aren’t possible with iOS.

iPhone is great. It’s just not for me.