Sometimes, it's hard for me to switch gears from something I care a lot about - launching this cooperative startup, or lobbying for these guys who are facing down dictators in Myanmar or kidnapped by thugs in Iraq - to writing python tests for a purpose that is,
I like biking in the heat. Being in touch with my body, feeling that actual need for shade and water, somehow makes me feel a bit more alive. It would be different of course if I had to do it, or if I had no shelter. But maybe because I
ok, just happy that Melvin Carvalho shared this with the W3C mailing list. Reputation space matters - I'm talking about human rights assertions here about bad things, how to verify and act on them - and I am really glad a few people might see this who can
So many ideas, if I write one a day I could probably write for three months straight. But I am slow to put them out. Some because I want to really make a difference with them, and write for an audience; but finding the audience, and adding the research and
So I was riding my bike back from Trader Joe's on my lunch break, and a thought occurred to me (all my best work is on a bike, or in the shower...). If the universe is close to 14 billion years old, and the furthest galaxies we can
And I thought Ralph Waldo was my friend...reading his essays for some comfort and deeper thinking and ran into one where he idolizes Napoleon. For ruthlessly killing people without hesitation. Emerson, really? What is wrong with you? So much for comforts of the past...we're gonna have
This variation on Twenty Questions teaches kids a bit of information theory and lets them take a different approach to powers of 2. First, the kids should be familiar with the regular game of Twenty Questions. Then, ask as an open-ended question: "Suppose instead of the whole world. you
Here is another opportunity for discovery: one-third. For kids who have learned how to divide and get decimals (or show a child briefly who has learned long division and knows what decimals are). Ask simply, what is one-third in decimal? The discovery that 1/3 = .33333333... the repeating decimal, is
For kids who have been introduced to exponents but haven't been taught specifically about what it means to take 'N to the zero power', this is an opportunity for a small 'Aha!' moment. If a child already knows what is ten to the 2
Here is a fun way to introduce kids to the concept of modulus (without ever saying the word): ask, why does a week have 7 days? Suppose you could change it - how many days would you put in the week? Then ask some questions about 'in X days,