Posts

Video Killed the Radio Star

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      "And now I understand the problems" -The Buggles This is not a post about MTV's tongue-in-cheek first ever music video, aired on August 1, 1981, back when they played music videos. This is a post about videos in general though, and how they have changed the humans.  I often turn to the internet for help with various tasks. Sometimes I'm looking for a video game walkthrough, other times I am trying to fix some household object, and still other times I am looking for help with a program or app.  Now, before I delve too deep into videos, I should start out by saying that I am a reader. I have been reading for as long as I can remember. My parents tell me I was reading well before I went to school. I have reason to question their memory in general but, since I can't remember actually learning how to read, I will trust them on this one. My stepfather came into my life just before I turned three. The story goes he was told I could read already and didn't be...
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AI, AI Everywhere, but Not a Thought in Sight

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      This post brought to you by:      Yes, I use AI. Make your judgments as you please, but AI has helped significantly in multiple areas of my life. I've used it at work, at home, and to republish this blog as a podcast. Could I have done all that myself, without the use of AI? Yes, of course I could have. However, it would have taken significantly longer and I am a fan of efficiency. And, I dare say, my coworkers are also a fan of my efficiency.     Despite all that, I am still very much on the fence when it comes to the wisdom of using AI. There are a lot of downsides, that people more knowledgeable than me have gone on about at length. The dumbing down of America, the resource usage, the existential threat. I know about all these and yet I still choose to use it. Somehow I believe that I won't fall victim to AI psychosis myself. Somehow, I believe that I will retain my ability to think and reason even if I let this beast do a lot of that for...
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On Insurance and Benefits: An American Perspective

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     I've been at work for over three hours now.  I've not done any work. Shame! Shame! Shame! Yes, I'm a horrible person, but, if you'll deal with my horrendous defiance of hustle culture for a moment, I'll explain. You see, I had to deal with the dreaded HR. To be fair my HR department is filled with lovely people whom I trust as far as I can throw. Currently, they've left me in the lurch with a payroll deadline looming and a lot of following up I will have to do on my own.     I had a procedure done for which I needed to take two weeks off of work to recover. I submitted FMLA paperwork to HR before I took off. Or at least I thought I did. I had to leave it with the office staff at the doctor's office for them to get to the right people to be filled out and faxed back over to my HR. Fax. FAX! Insert eyeroll here. This is of course where the communication breakdown began. As the days crept towards my time off, no one at any point notified me that they had ...
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On Apathy

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 Sigh... Where to begin??      In my previous post I mentioned how apathy drove me out of the classroom. I should clarify a bit in that I didn't really want to be there in the first place, so it didn't take much. But most public educators would agree that student apathy is becoming an epidemic of biblical proportions. "Biblical" doesn't quite cover it, when you realize that most of the stories in the Bible took place in a tiny portion of the world. This is a worldwide issue, much bigger than "biblical proportions". Even "epidemic" is too small. This is bigger than a pandemic. COVID affected fewer people than apathy does. I'd like to blame smartphones, but I'm not sure they are the source. Surely, they are providing a huge contribution to the problem, but I think the source lies elsewhere. I will start with smartphones because they are the most visible source, then move to what I believe is the underlying cause. I hope. I'm not sure ...
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Welcome

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 First Post! 😀     Be forewarned, reader, this blog is a place for me to get my random thoughts out. There is neither theme, nor rhythm, nor reason. The idea literally came to me at the top of a mountain. (More on that later). The only reason I remembered to actually do this was due to the trouble it took me to use Siri to make a note at the top of a mountain with little to no cell service.      Picture it... Sicily, 1912... wait, sorry. Wrong blog.     There is a moment in my morning commute during the winter where I come over a mountain pass and start to head down towards a gap in the peaks. For just a couple of weeks out of the year the sun rises in that peak right at that moment. I can only see it because the trees are bare of their leaves. It's gorgeous, perhaps too gorgeous for my tired morning brain to truly appreciate. I wish I could say the idea for this blog was born out of the inspiration descending on me in this glorious moment. But i...
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