Almost As Good As Chocolate

The attention to detail is wonderful. Hat tip – Jess…

Shripriya — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:52:25 +0000

The attention to detail is wonderful. Hat tip - Jess dela

"Norway’s efforts have been tremendously effective. The incidence of bullying fell by half during the…"

Shripriya — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:57:47 +0000

“Norway’s efforts have been tremendously effective. The incidence of bullying fell by half during the two-year period in which the programs were introduced. Stealing and cheating also declined. And the rate of bullying remains low today. Clearly, when a school and a community adopt values that are rooted in treating others with dignity and respect, children’s behavior can change.”

- Some hopeful data from Norway’s anti-bullying efforts. It seems like the Scandinavian school system is ahead on many, many dimensions. Something worth studying for educators everywhere.

Op-Ed Contributors - There’s Only One Way to Stop a Bully - NYTimes.com

"I think we have a lot of leaders that are following those (television and talk radio) personalities…"

Shripriya — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:14:33 +0000

““I think we have a lot of leaders that are following those (television and talk radio) personalities and not leading,” he said. “What it takes to lead is to say, ‘You know, that’s just not right.’” The obvious result is that the country becomes too polarized and too distracted by phony issues to address real problems.”

- As America gets more polarized, it falls behind more. Extremists on both sides are too stupid to see that.

Facing extinction: The “responsible Republican” - Republican Party - Salon.com

R would love to live in this room! (via popchampagne,…

Shripriya — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:44:17 +0000

R would love to live in this room!

(via popchampagne, streetetiquette)

“The graduates, too, say they feel well prepared. “In our Theory of Knowledge class, when we…”

Shripriya — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:25:25 +0000

“

The graduates, too, say they feel well prepared.

“In our Theory of Knowledge class, when we debated health care, my role was to take Rush Limbaugh’s position, which couldn’t be further from my own,” said Michael Tahan, one of the graduates.

“I.B. taught us how to think through a position, and support it,” he added. “And while I understand why some parents might worry that the program is international-based, I think it’s good for America for students to learn how others nations think.”

”

- The tone of the article makes me wonder why there’s such a negative associated with “international” in the US. The USA is part of the world - you know, the rest of the planet Earth with those other land masses that people live on.

And there are things that people outside the amazing USA come up with that are worth considering and adopting. I’m glad there are people here who see that and offer those options to our young people.

International Program Catches On in U.S. Schools - NYTimes.com

Make me care

Shripriya — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:37:47 +0000

Twitter improved their New Follower email last year by adding Followers, Tweets and Following. But they left out one very important piece of information – the Bio. To me, if they had added in that one variable, the email would be perfect. Because then you not only know their twitter usage, but who they are.

By leaving it out, Twitter has made everyone soulless. Follower counts are numbers. Cold statistics that tell me frequency and popularity. A bio gives me flavor. A bio also gives me reason to act.

If someone with 2 followers and 0 tweets is a bio-less person whose name doesn’t ring a bell, I am unlikely to follow them based on the email. But if they are affiliated with a school I attended, a company I worked at, a city I lived in, or if their bio grabs me in any way, I will likely follow them regardless of the statistics.

But I don’t even get that far. Because what happens with me, and likely most people, is that most of the time they don’t even bother clicking through to the web to decide whether to follow or not. Who has the time?

If the bio doesn’t entice me, it is not going to entice me just because I was forced to click through to the web to read it. By leaving out the bio, Twitter is reducing the velocity of interactions, reducing the connections. That’s not a good thing for the service.

People are busy. Good product design should make it easy for people to care and easy for them to act in the moment of caring.

“The Xinhua News Agency, China’s dominant news service and the propaganda arm of the Communist Party,…”

Shripriya — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:12:27 +0000

“The Xinhua News Agency, China’s dominant news service and the propaganda arm of the Communist Party, introduced a 24-hour English-language news channel and is preparing to open a prominent newsroom in Times Square, part of an expensive push to increase the reach and influence of the Chinese news media overseas.”

- Smart. Media and the manipulation of media will be an important tool in affecting perspectives. China’s own FOX is on it’s way…

China Puts Best Face Forward With News Channel - NYTimes.com

“But the schools fear that the government will undermine excellence in the name of social engineering…”

Shripriya — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:33:25 +0000

“But the schools fear that the government will undermine excellence in the name of social engineering and say the process has to begin further down the educational ladder. The state, they say, should seek out poor students with potential and help them to enter preparatory schools. Of the 2.3 million students in French higher education, about 15 percent attend grandes écoles or preparatory schools. But half of those in preparatory schools will fall short and go to standard universities.”

- It will be interesting to see how France solves this. If they do manage to get underprivileged students at a younger age and change the demographics at the grandes écoles, it would be a model for other countries.

Top Schools in France Pushed to Open Meritocracy - NYTimes.com

“In particular, we think the keeper of the product vision should run the company whenever possible…”

Shripriya — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:21:30 +0000

“In particular, we think the keeper of the product vision should run the company whenever possible because the toughest and most important decisions in technology companies are always about product strategy.”

- Completely agree. Yay for Product. And unlike a lot of people, I don’t think the founding product person needs to be able to code. Bite me.

Why Andreessen Horowitz Invested in Foursquare // ben’s blog

“But during middle school, he said, “Peer perception largely dictates their self-worth.” With their…”

Shripriya — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 06:44:00 +0000

“But during middle school, he said, “Peer perception largely dictates their self-worth.” With their erupting skin and morphing bodies, many seventh-grade students have a hard enough time just walking through the school doors. When dozens of kids vote online, which is not uncommon, about whether a student is fat or stupid or gay, the impact can be devastating.”

- As if the stresses of puberty are not enough, this generation of kids deals with so much more. Can’t imagine all the other sources of angst 10 years from now… The downsides of cool tech.

How Should Schools Handle Cyberbullying? - NYTimes.com