Rop's Reflections

Good work doesn’t come from talkers & followers. It comes from doers & innovators.
Don’t try to please people too much. Do your best, and let it go.
Think deeply. Enjoy life.

Nice presentation about our current state of information technology and education, with soothing music.

We live in the era of infinite information.

Web 2.0 = Sharing instantly

Great potential to move the world forward. Plenty of room for creativity. Students need to be instructed better. Teachers only guide them along, but they are the future.

More warmongering from the Republican. This time from Palin.

Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11.

Today we had a whole day meeting on knowledge management. I just talked the other day how I think most meetings suck. Today is no difference. Incredibly useless. Way too general. Too much focus on the definitions and concepts and too little on actual action.

Detail. Too much of it and you lose the big picture. Once the big picture is lost, you walk blindly without knowing what to do or where to go.

I think the people inside the organization can do it better to make knowledge management work. Heck, I can do it better. We don’t need outsiders.

A sign of an underdeveloped organization: people think that they are not good enough. They think that the people near them are not good enough. They trust others more. They trust foreigners more than local people. They trust so-called “professionals” more than they do their own colleagues. So they spend bunch of money on those “experts” to talk in general terms, about non-applicable ideas.

External advisors are overrated.

This culture of distrust should be changed.

When I move, I think better. When the body is active, blood flows to the brain better.

I think most effectively and when I’m on travel.

Once I sit at my desk in my office, my brain processes things more slowly.

Creative people shouldn’t be tied to offices. Good organizations must allow people to move around. There should be no finger scans for creative people.

I am a knowledge worker, not a factory assembly line staff. I don’t need to be stuck in some tired old building from 8:30-16:30 M-F.

I work best when I’m in motion.

Let’s work better.

McCain is trying to postpone debate. He said he wants to “focus” on the economy. I call chicken.

Palin is also not talking to the media.

When you have no substance, you avoid questions that would reveal that fact.

Perfect example: Palin talking about Russia and Alaska.

Science education must begin at an early age. The word “science” must be incorporated into everyday thinking of students. Otherwise, “science” would seem far away and hard. We need good teachers for that.

It doesn’t mean science has to be made too fancy. Science presentation doesn’t have to be a circus. It should be presented as naturally as possible.

Richard Feynman is an example of a great natural science teacher.

Natural means being part of us. Anything that seems far away, we don’t care about them. Doesn’t matter how grand or amazing they are. If it cannot be made relevant to us, we just don’t care.

Back to teaching yesterday after being away for many months. Some things have changed. No more parking cards from security. But you need a magnetic card to enter the faculty lounge.

Small class to teach this term. Good.

It’s nice to be back and talk about physics. Although just a few hours per week. Getting back to the basics is good.

First Google Android phone will be launched today. Looking forward to read about it.

http://code.google.com/android/

 Can’t stand this warmonger and smear campaign politician.

John McCain’s lies (Time.com)

A list of McCain’s lies.

Warmongering:

Being well-educated doesn’t make someone an elitist: