I imagine myself almost back to a rhythm. Probably not, but I can pretend. So, on our agenda at this time is this one:

A reason why I love Tom Dispatch: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175103/john_feffer_their_martyrs_and_our_heroes

the cultural desire to always be at fever pitch and engaged in war is always a fucking doozie.

and
Another Poire d'anguisse/ass-pear winner:
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/08/03/aclu-files-brief-opposing-forced-hospitalization-pregnant-women
And I don't care if she was smoking a crack pipe two ways to Sunday because I have been expressly treated to the phenomenon whereby a single stupid man is just stupid, but a stupid woman is representative of all women. Twerenttruethen enit tainttruenow, bessie.

Link: http://www.utne.com/Media/Literacy-Information-Overload.aspx

Drink from the firehose! People, organization is 80% and technology is 20%. Of Anything Transactional and Modern - meaning reports, start-ups, business, whatever. small and big scale alike.

Librarians rule. Remember that.

Link: http://bit.ly/rVLG2

Why would the ability to semantically interact with a ginormous database make me happy? Why would it touch my soul? Because my brain runs about 45 tangents at once in its natural resting state unless I am in deep meditation. To not have to toggle my brain is rest. I would rub this interface and database forever if given my druthers. Well, when I wasn't outside marveling at the things in my garden and the people I have found around.

Conversely, as no thought is worth a thing unless it has doubters in the chorus, The whole point of research is to massage this information out of the data sets! If the interface is doing it, it defeats the brain building work of doing research.

But, to carry it on, the volume of data to read scan assimilate is beyond the confines of a normal day....so we need to evolve our ability to research in this admittedly reliant way.

bliss. i am going to watch it again!

Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/liz_coleman_s_call_to_reinvent_liberal_arts_education.html

I really liked this in a way that stands out above other TEDs that I have watched (and I watch fairly religiously!)

I am in academia, have heard a lot from faculty and staff, and constantly struggle to keep the bounds of appropriate for technology (this in response to the constant highlight of tech competency as a goal in the talk).

I am also a believer in pencil and paper and academic freedom above tech "fixes"

This spoke to me. I would hope that you give it a listen too.