The American psyche

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

- John Steinbeck

photo credit: Lisa Brewster via photopin cc

If you don’t know how to die

If you don’t know how to die, don’t worry; Nature will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and adequately. She will do this job perfectly for you; don’t bother your head about it.

Michel de Montaigne

photo credit: the|G|™ via photopin cc

There are plants and then there are plants…

“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t“

- Michael Pollan

photo credit: jazzijava via photopin cc

Exquisite dependence

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

- Carl Sagan

photo credit: Sérgio Bernardino via photopin cc

 

Python MOOCs: The ultimate show-down!

In which Goldilocks learns to code.

These days, there are several dozen ways to learn to code online.  Python, in particular, is the language of choice for several online courses.  This has allowed me to “shop around” for the online tool or tools that suit me best.  It has also given me a chance to think about the different elements that go into a successful online learning  experience.

I have been thinking about learning some computer programming for quite some time.  In fact, as I’ve told a number of people recently, not taking CS is my biggest regret about my own college experience (oh, so many years ago!)

When I first read about the mechanical MOOC, I decided that it was time.  It would use Python, which is the language I had settled on, and it would use existing online resources in combination: Opencourseware and online textbooks courtesy of MIT, exercises from Codecademy and online discussion in OpenStudy.

The nature of work

“Most men would feel insulted if it were proposed to employ them in throwing stones over a wall, and then in throwing them back, merely that they might earn their wages. But many are no more worthily employed now.”

- Henry David Thoreau

‎photo credit: Thomas Leth-Olsen via photopin cc

Inventors of the Future

Inventor of the future

“Science, math and engineering can give you the exhilarating power to become not mere spectators or consumers, but the active explorers, makers and doers who will help invent the future.”

- Susan Hockfield

photo credit: 4-6 via photopin cc