A Great Blog

Lucus OS Concept

2010-02-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

What can I say? I am sucker for a good concept UI!

If Windows Mobile 7 looked like this, and if it were more stable and got rid of their horrid backwards compatibility, I would give it a try ;-)

Locus OS Interface from Barton Smith on Vimeo.

Όσα δεν φτάνει η αλεπού...;

2010-02-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

Χτες, κατά την διάρκεια του ταξιδιού μου στην δουλειά άκουγα μερικά podcast τεχνολογικά και φυσικά ακόμα στα νέα έχουμε τον κόσμο να μιλάει για το iPad. Η αλήθεια είναι πως ασχέτως αν έχω γράψει μερικές κριτικές για την συγκεκριμένη συσκευή (και ας μην την έχω χρησιμοποιήσει) η συσκευή μου αρέσει - κυρίως λόγο του iCal, Mail και iWork. Το μόνο που πραγματικά με χαλάει είναι το ότι δεν έχει flash και που ξέρεις, το iPhone 4.0 μπορεί να το έχει.

Πολλοί λένε πως το flash είναι μια παλιά τεχνολογία και πως πρέπει να εξαφανιστεί, και συμφωνώ πως στους desktop υπολογιστές το flash χρησιμοποιεί πολλά system resources που κανονικά, μετά από τόσα χρόνια δεν θα έπρεπε να χρησιμοποιεί Πολλοί συγκρίνουν το flash με το ActiveX όταν ο firefox πρωτοβγήκε στην αγορά και πολλές ιστοσελίδες χρησιμοποιούσαν ActiveX controls. Τώρα πολλές εταιρίες έχουν σταματήσει να χρησιμοποιούν ActiveX.

Εντάξει, λογικά αυτά που λένε, αλλά ένα πράγμα ξεχνάνε. Στο desktop, αν χρησιμοποιούσες firefox και πήγαινες σε μια σελίδα που χρειαζόταν ActiveX, είχαν ΠΑΝΤΑ την δυνατότητα να χρησιμοποιήσεις Internet Explorer και στον Mac και στα Windows. Στο λειτουργικό Mobile OS Χ που χρησιμοποιούν και το iPad και το iPhone, δεν έχεις την δυνατότητα να χρησιμοποιήσεις άλλον Browser. Δεν έχεις ούτε Opera Mobile, ούτε Fenec, ούτε Firefox που θα μπορούσαν να έχουν την δυνατότητα να δεις περιεχόμενο φτιαγμένο με flash. Οπότε η σύγκρισή του flash με ActiveX δεν στέκει καλά.

Στο iPhone δεν με ενδιαφέρει και τόσο πολύ αν δεν έχω flash. Πολλά πράγματα μπορώ τα κάνω και χωρίς. Αλλά με μια συσκευή που έχει μεγαλύτερη οθόνη θα θέλω να δω hulu για παράδειγμα. Πολλοί λένε πως αυτά τα show μπορείς να τα αγοράσεις και από iTunes, αλλά η αλήθεια είναι πως δεν θέλουμε όλοι μας να αγοράζουμε σόου που θα τα δούμε μια φορά και αυτό ήταν, και στο κάτω κάτω τις γραφής,άμα μας λέτε πως έχουμε και άλλα μέσα, ο κόσμος θα κατεβάζει τόρρεντ από τους υπολογιστές στο σπίτι και θα εμπλουτίζει τις συσκευές του με παράνομο υλικό αν τον έχετε σε μονοπολιστική κατάσταση - και τότε δεν θα δείτε ούτε λεφτά για τις διαφημίσεις που έχει το hulu.

Chrome Tablet Concept

2010-02-03T08:10:00.000-05:00

We've got tablet fever it seems!

I would be interested in seeing what Google can do with a Chrome tablet. Not that I have much use for a tablet as things stand, but I am a gadget geek through and through.

Little Big Planet Contraptions

2010-02-02T17:04:00.002-05:00

I don't own Little Big Planet (yet), but from the demo I played a few months back I can say that it's on my wish list ;-)

I came across this video of level design for the game from a design competition- pretty darn cool!

Apple iPad on YouTube

2010-02-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

OK, no more cranky ol' man when it comes to the iPad ;-)

I've said what I would like to see in subsequent versions and I am keeping my fingers crossed. I saw this video on the Apple Channel on YouTube. I have to say that it's pretty cool, for an overgrown iPod Touch ;-) What makes it cool is not the OS, but rather the app design on some of the built-in apps. Depending on how things shape out for the second Generation of the iPad (and what I am doing educationally at the time) - I may just get one!

Αρχίσαμε ξανά με τα μαθήματα!

2010-01-31T09:52:00.000-05:00

Αυτή την περασμένη εβδομάδα αρχίσανε τα μαθήματα ξανά. Αυτό είναι το προτελευταίο μου τρίμηνο ως φοιτητής σε πρόγραμμα Μάστερ. Τον Μαι τελειώνω το τρίτο μου Μάστερ, και τον Δεκέμβρη τελειώνω το τέταρτο (και τελευταίο) μου Μάστερ. Για να καταφέρω ένα τέτοιο κατόρθωμα έχω τρία μαθήματα - δύο πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο και ένα διαδικτυακά, και μαζί με όλα αυτά έχω να τελειώσω και την διατριβή μου (με τίτλο «Ελληνικά για Ταξιδιώτες»), και κανονική δουλειά (δηλαδή έχουμε και το σαραντάωρο την εβδομάδα στο γραφείο).

Η αλήθεια είναι πως αν και φαίνεται αδύνατον αυτό το κατόρθωμα, είναι δυνατόν να γίνει - και να δουλεύεις, και να κάνεις μαθήματα. Πριν αρχίσει το τρίμηνο είχα βρει όλους τους καθηγητές μου και τουρ ζήτησα να μου δώσουν πληροφορίες για τα βιβλία και την ύλη που θα έχουμε αυτό το τρίμηνο. Οπότε το διάλειμμα που είχα μεταξύ 15 Δεκέμβρη και 22 Γενάρη το έριξα στα βιβλία για να βγάλω την ύλη. Το περασμένο καλοκαίρι άρχισα να γράφω την διατριβή μου, και την τελείωσα πριν μια εβδομάδα. Η αλήθεια είναι πως πρέπει να την διαβάσω αναλυτικά να δω αν υπάρχουν λάθει, αλλά σε γενικές γραμμές τα δύσκολα είναι τελειωμένα.

Το μόνο κακό είναι τα δύο μαθήματα που είναι πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο είναι και τα δύο τις Τρίτες οπότε οι μέρες μου είναι αρκετά μεγάλες - και λόγο αυτού την περασμένη Τετάρτη ήμουν σαν κοτόπουλο. Άντε! 1 εβδομάδα τέλος, 14 ακόμα μέχρι την αποφοίτηση! Τα Σαββατοκύριακα πρέπει να διαβάζω παραπάνω από ότι έχω συνηθίσει, αλλά δεν πειράζει το να ζορίστουμε και λίγο ;-) Τουλάχιστον δεν χρειάζεται να ξανακάνω corporate finance όπως κάνει τώρα (για πρώτη φορά) ο @javapapo :-)

iPad - name FAIL

2010-01-28T17:02:00.002-05:00

The name iPad is a bit of a failure on more level than one!

Sure, if you are talking about a Pad you are thinking of a Pad of Paper and a pen to go with it, right? No stylus (as I've harped on and on again over the last 3 blog post) means that this metaphor is slightly out. As the internet reminds us, MadTV has made a parody apple product called the iPad (in Greek it would be the ιΣερβιέττα LOL). It seems like apple didn't care much about the previous naming of the product in a parody ;-)

Personally I would have preferred to see the iPADD - like in star trek (maybe that's what they were going for)

iPhone 4.0 Missing in Action

2010-01-28T07:58:00.001-05:00

Looking at the iPad announcement I can't help but wonder where the heck is Mobile OS X 4.0 (aka iPhoneOS, iPodTouch OS, iPad OS). I can't help but to also compare it to the Knowledge Navigator concept video that was produced by Apple in the late 80s (or was it early 90s?)

Looking at the iPad screen, I can see a large screen that can do wonders with handwriting, like the Newton or a piece of paper (I am not talking about handwriting recognition, just digital ink). As I wrote yesterday the stylus is missing in action.

Looking at the iPad lock screen, I can see potential for status indicators like incoming mail, upcoming appointments, facebook and twitter notifications and so on.

As I stated yesterday the iPad (with 3G) could also do voice, SMS and MMS. Just add a bluetooth headset (or wired headphones) and you could communicate. It is the best solution? Well, no, but the functionality is there, like in the knowledge navigator video.

Another thing that I really wanted to see is an improved podcast client. I can hunt and peck at podcasts on my iPhone at the moment by going to iTunes, but the darned device does not sync my subscriptions over to the device from iTunes so I have to remember all the podcasts that I subscribe to, check each one individually to see if there is something new, and then download it. Pain! Need a better podcatcher!

To Dos are also missing - The iPad looks like a pretty good paper notebook replacement (if you had a stylus). Why is there no to-do app that syncs with your Mac's to-do list and on Mobile Me?

Maybe there will be another iPhoneOS event in April that is just for developers, or they'll pull a rabbit out of their hat in June ;-)

iPad 1.0 - FAILish

2010-01-27T17:01:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I was thoroughly unimpressed by today's iPad event. Don't get me wrong I disliked iPod 1.0 (didn't buy one until the 3rd generation iPod), and I disliked the first iPhone (didn't buy one until the 3GS). If history is any indication I will probably like iPad 3.0 (either that or I won't care as much). So here's a rundown:

The Pros:
Nice iCal App - I gotta say, I am a sucker for design and the calendar app looks great!

Nice AddressBook App - ditto for the addresbook app. Reminds me of old school addressbooks.

iWork on the iPad - Now this IS awesome. With this you can edit any MS office documents that you receive, you can create new iWork documents, and conceivably you can attach an iPad to a data projector and run your lecture from it. COOL! (Keynote is my preferred presentation software)

It's unlocked! - You don't need to have cell service on it, but you can if you want - and it's GSM unlocked! Finally!

Price - $500 for a 16GB WiFi (or $629 for 16GB with 3G) isn't bad at all. It's actually looking like the price of a Netbook.

The So-So:
Keyboard Dock - It's a good start. I would have expected a bluetooth keyboard though.

iPhone Apps compatible - It's nice that this device already has a library that it works with. No need to wait for developers to make new apps for (yet another) platform. I would have been more excited if there weren't a ton of fart apps on the appstore ;-)

The Cons:
No Multitasking - This is a no-brainer

No Camera(s) - Missed opportunity. Especially for a front facing camera that you can use for conferencing.

No Stylus - The screen is BEAUTIFUL! Simply beautiful. It just BEGS to have a writing implement (read: stylus) be part of the package. Yes you can get a pogo-stick, but this means that the OS does not have built-in support for stili.

No Flash - Like it or not, there is a boatload of flash content on the web. Lots of it is video, and there is a great deal of it that is for web design and navigation elements. If I need a laptop to experience the full web, why would I buy an iPad?

No Tethering - While you can, if you want, throw in any SIM card you want in this device, I already have an iPhone, for which I pay $30/month and I am not using all my data (don't even come close to the 5GB). Why can't I tether my iPhone to the iPad?

No dialer, SMS, MMS - Since you can pop a SIM card into this, why is there no SMS/MMS apps and dialer so you can use a bluetooth headset for make and receive calls?

Crippled by AppStore - It's really nice that I can get apps from the AppStore for the iPad, but there are Mac apps that I would really love to see run on this device. Applications like Rapidweaver and Chrome (yes, an alternative browser) for example.

iBooks App - It brings nothing new to the table! It's just another eBook reader. Such a great big touchable display? Can't I take notes? write in the margins? Highlight text? Copy and Paste? (for research purposes or fair use commenting of course!). I think that textbooks are useless unless you can annotate, copy and paste info to and from them.

Lack of many New and Original Apps! - iChat was something that I was expecting. I was also expecting some sort of WOW factor. Nope.

Television Blue Screen of Death!

2010-01-26T17:35:00.000-05:00

OK! I will admit it! HD Television has spoiled me! Last night, those of you who follow me on twitter, would have seen my frustration as my cable provider (Comcast) and how none of the HD channels were working! No CBS, no NBC, no ABC and worst of all NO FOX! I was so prepped to watch 24 in widescreen HD glory (like I've done for the past season, or two) but when I switched inputs from computer to broadcast/cable on my television - nothing!

Well, not nothing exactly, the blue screen of television death that tells you that there is no signal (in the olden days this would have been the snowy screen). Argh! The Standard Definition of all these channels was coming in. 24 was technically available on Fox SD on a 4:3 aspect ratio - but it was grainy...and 4:3! HD has spoiled me :p I hope that comcast fixes this soon, otherwise it's back to just watching television on Hulu for me. The only reason I went back to broadcast was the (slightly) better quality of the image and the fact that I could see things on broadcast - no need to wait a day (or 7 in the case of some shows) to watch the content.

Comcast - FIX IT!!!!!

Maemo or Android? Why Choose?

2010-01-25T17:32:00.000-05:00

In today's interesting-find-pile we have a Nokia N900 (A maemo device) dual booting into Android. It's just a stock android ROM, no extrast like Sense UI or Moto BLUR, but I am sure the ROM cooking community will have all those available for download and installation.

I am wondering if Symbian S60 were ported to the N900, would you want to do a triboot? Depending on the day you could have Symbian, Android or Maemo at your fingertips ;-)

Καλός το gowalla

2010-01-20T17:35:00.000-05:00

Με το που είπα στο καλό στο foursquare είδα πως όχι μόνο υπήρχαν και άλλες εφαρμογές του τύπου αυτού αλλά είδα πως και εφαρμογές που δεν είχαν αυτή την δυνατότητα αρχικά (την δυνατότητα check in) άρχησαν να την προσθέτουν. Μια τέτοια εφαρμογή ήταν το yelp!

Κοίταξα λοιπόν να αρχίσω φρέσκος με μια νέα εφαρμογή και να δοκιμάσω το gowalla. Γιατί το Gowalla και όχι μια άλλη εφαρμογή; Γιατί μου άρεσαν τα γραφικά καλύτερα λολ

Τα δεδομένα δεν έχουν αλλάξει και πολύ. Δεν έχω φίλους στην συγκεκριμένη υπηρεσία, και δεν με ενδιαφέρει να είμαι δήμαρχος κάποιου μέρους, όπως ήταν στο foursquare . Αποφάσισα όμως να χρησιμοποιήσω την εφαρμογή διαφορετικά. Αντί να βρίσκω φίλους με την υπηρεσία. Αποφάσισα να καταγραφή που πήγα (όσον αφορά μουσεία, εστιατόρια και αλλά τουριστικά μέροι) και να καταγράψω τις απόψεις μου. Έτσι έχω ένα «διαβατήριο» που μου δείχνει χρονολογικά που πήγα, τι μου άρεσε και τι δεν μου άρεσε.

Για να δούμε πότε θα το βαρεθώ χαχαχα

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Arlington St,Chelsea,Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες της Αμερικής

If you can read this....

2010-01-19T17:30:00.001-05:00

...then it's probably not all Greek to you ;-)

Well, here's a funny story about someone trying a little too hard (I guess). At St. John's College (New Mexico, US) proud of its emphasis on the classics, they printed a T-shirt last year that in Attic Greek that said: "If you can read this, you're overeducated." Well, that was the intent! They actually made mistakes on the accent and breathing marks. I think meaning was retained, but people complained anyway ;-) If you are going to do it, do it right!

Now I am not up to speed with Greek Linguistics. Personally I want to find out more about the historical progression of classical to modern Greek in all linguistic areas (phonology, morphology, syntax and so on). I was under the impression that accents were a later invention (not necessarily part of the original Attic Greek) and I've always had problems with Erasmus Pronunciation. I guess this is on my to do list. The article is pretty funny - have a read :-)

Down Memory Lane - Enhanced Books

2010-01-14T17:30:00.002-05:00

I was reading this blog post recently on Enhanced eBooks on idealog. Part of the blog post was familiar, having lived through the technology-days of the early 90s, and part was brand spanking new to me. For example I did not know of Expanded Books. I was surprised that these expanded books worked on HyperCard because as a Mac owner (in 1994...or was it 1995?) I had not seen any of these expanded books. I guess the fad must have passed me by by the time I got my own computer.

The blog post was an interesting read. I guess my objection to eBooks stems both from a usability point of view (how we use them when we have them, compared to real physical books), and from a posterity point of view. Formats change, computers get upgraded, backward compatibility is shed, and of course there is always the issue of DRM. I can still go to an archive and see a book from 100, 200, or 300+ years ago. Handwritten, printed, etched and colored, those books are available. Yes they've been preserved in some fashion (they weren't just left out in the sun or in humid environments), but the point is that they exist. Knowledge is not lost or locked up in a format that no one can access. I guess we'll see how this eBook thing pans out in 2010 :-)

Avatar - Atari 2600 Version

2010-01-13T17:33:00.002-05:00

I guess this is a jab at some horrendous video game adaptations of movies (looking at you ET!, and others). I found this via Boing Boing today - a retro look at what a (crappy) rendition of Avatar would look like, in video game form, for the 2600. It's easier to make fun of bad games for the NES and pre-NES era, that still amuses us. Bad games for the playstation and beyond era don't even muster a pity laugh ;-) (I wonder if that will change as younger generations have little concept of "classic" gaming)

Printers are sent from hell

2010-01-12T17:19:00.003-05:00

Props for @nellleo on twitter that brought this to my attention :-)

So Printers are sent from hell! This was a funny little comic strip about one man's frustrations with printers. As someone who does not own a printers at home (any more), I can commiserate. The thing that I found astonishing was that printers no longer come with a USB cable! You buy a "cheap" printer, but then you have to shell out another $10, $15, or $20 on a USB cable! I guess it's a sign of the times when things that used to be bundled together no longer are (like desktop docks for iphones and ipods)

Pornographic Statistics

2010-01-11T17:30:00.003-05:00

I came across this inforgraphic last weekend through a contact on twitter (@titanas if I remember correctly).

I have to say that I was really surprised at the production/consumption level. I assumed that since a lot of porn is made in the US, that the US would be chief consumer, however China, Japan and South Korea make up 76% of the world's total porn consumption (if revenues are any indication anyway). I was also surprised that Warner Brothers and GM make millions selling erotica. Hotels I get (the whole pay per view thing), but I don't see how cars fit in.

There is no end to the weird things you can learn on the internet...

Synced!

2010-01-11T08:45:00.001-05:00

Τώρα κατοχοίρωσα και αυτό το μπλόγκ στο sync.gr

(απλό τέστ αυτό το δημοσίευμα για να δουλέψει το sync)

Αντίο foursquare

2010-01-09T18:34:00.000-05:00

Εδώ και περίπου ένα μήνα χρησιμοποιώ την εφαρμογή foursquare για το iPhone. Η ιδέα της εφαρμογής είναι πως όλοι μας συνχάζουμε σε κάποια μέροι, όλοι μας έχουμε φίλους και γνωστούς, οπότε μπορούμε να δούμε αν στα λημέρια που συχνάζουμε είναι και οι γνωστοί μας όταν ήμαστε και εμείς εκεί.

Για να σε προωθήσει η εφαρμογή να κάνεις «check in» σου δίνουν παράσημα για διάφορα κατορθώματα, όποτε για παράδειγμα αν τους πεις πως πηγές σε τρία μπάρ σε μια νύχτα. Αν συχναζεις στο ίδιο μέρος και πας αρκετές φορές τότε σε κάνουν δήμαρχο αυτού του μέρους.

Έχω λοιπόν κάποια παράσημα, έγινα και δήμαρχος σε μερικά μέροι αλλά η εφαρμογή δεν με τραβάει πιά. Η αλήθεια είναι πως το βαρέθηκα, και στο κάτω κάτω, στα μέροι που συχνάζω είναι αρκετά εύκολο να δω αν υπάρχει κάποιος γνωστός.

Το άλλο γκόλ της υπηρεσίας είναι το να δεις που είναι οι φίλοι σου (αν θες να πάς και εσύ υποθέτω) και να δεις τις εντυπώσεις διαφόρων πελατών για τα μαγαζιά που σκέφτεσαι να πας. Η αλήθεια είναι πως υπάρχουν αρκετές εφαρμογές που κάνουν τα ίδια όπως το yelp, google latitude, britekite και loopt (υπάρχουν και άλλες αλλά δεν τις θυμάμαι).

Υπάρχουν άλλοι που χρησιμοποιούν το foursquare; Αν ναι, τι νομίζετε;

-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Σπίτι

Where's my 3G 850/1900

2010-01-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

I have to say, the Google Nexus is very impressive! So much so that I would not mind giving up my iPhone for it (mmmm...OK, maybe not - but I would use both ;-) ) There is only one small problem - no 3G coverage on the 850 and 1900 frequencies, namely the frequencies that at&t uses.

Of course you could buy it unlocked for $500 and use it on GSM/EDGE on at&t but that's so 2000! Why would I spend $500 this day and age for the privilege of using my phone on EDGE? I would have thought that we've made enough scientific advances to have a phone that operates on quadband GSM (a standard by now, surely) and at least quadband 3G (if not 5-band 3G to take 900Mhz european usage into account).

Nice try Google, but please try again :-)

Motorola Backflip

2010-01-07T18:25:00.002-05:00

I was a bit skeptical of the whole "keyboard on the back side" of the motorola backflip - but having seen this video (even in mute) does make the device intriguing. The one thing that is a bit of a concern is that the specs look to be the same as the CLIQ that is presently available for T-Mobile. Interesting form factor, but could we do something about the specs?

The very first fail

2010-01-07T17:07:00.002-05:00

I saw this over at the nextweb the other day - pretty funny!

What's funnier is that I had a fascinating discussion about twitter-talk (SMS spelling) right after I saw this - completely impromptu

Left4Dead - NES Edition

2010-01-06T17:34:00.001-05:00

This is wicked cool!

They've made a Left 4 Dead version for the NES...

I love retrofication :-)

Open is not so open anymore

2010-01-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

A while back there was a fascinating article titled "Open Isn't so Open Anymore". It lingered in my starred items folder for quite some time, but I finally was able to read it. I think the blog post does deserve a reading (or even a re-reading!)

My two cents on the issue: In order to really have open education, we really do need some radicals to step up to the plate and take command of the field. As is written in the article

Open source is often presented as a methodology, not an ideology [...] But openness is not a methodology. Openness is an ideology along the lines of democracy. It is worthy of theoretical discussion. And various modes of implementation should be subject to debate and criticism.

and I agree. Of course the problem with Openness is that...well it's open! If you look at some efforts to liberate knowledge (see my Instructional Design Wiki for example), it's not a process that is easy or quick. It does take time to liberate knowledge and to develop meaningful representations, articles, examples of that online. The big question here is where is the motivation to accomplish this truly open education model?

There are three types of educators: the tenure track, the tenured, and the adjuncts. The adjuncts and the tenure track faculty don't really have much incentive (other than altruism) to contribute to an open education system. If they do so they are showing the ace up their sleeves - the thing that will get them tenure or the thing that will get them hired back next semester as an adjunct. For adjuncts, participating in open education can truly mean loss of employment and therefore a state of not being able to support themselves. The adjuncts that have jobs and teach just for the fun of it might participate in Open Education initiatives, but those who string along several adjunct position to pay the bills may not.

As far as tenured faculty go, the way status and promotion is achieved is through publishing, lectures and presentations (and to some degree teaching). I would say that the current system does not reward these types of out of the box thinkers which is precisely why we need some radicals to help the process along (preferably some radicals with tenure).

Given the current conditions, I can see why the author says:

People are trying to make a living off of being open – i.e. openness as a utility to advance a career, gain recognition from peers, or make money. This is fine. But it’s not what I’d expect in the early stage of a movement. Ideological purity in open education had a very short existence. Instead of building a future foundation, we see instead a foundation to serve for career advancement.

Of course, personally, I don't see a problem with people trying to promote or advance their career, gain recognition or make money from being open. Being open does not necessarily conflict with profit. If you, for example, create an OE course and provide would be learners with a bibliography, why not link the books to amazon and if people buy books from there, you get a small kickback (peanuts, but it's something). If you like what you read, or find it useful - even if you did not like it, why not donate to the community? Or if it's just one person providing the courses, why not given him or her a tip (let's say some money for an espresso)?

If you are a college professor, why not gain recognition from your peers for creating a great educational resource? Heck, even if you aren't a professor, if you are a subject matter expert, why not gain some recognition? We all have intrinsic motivation factors that lead us to do what we do. Does it matter that people do it for altruistic purposes (provide free knowledge and educate the people) or for borderline narcissistic purposes (like get accolades and recognition)? Isn't it the end result that's important?

I do understand that products are influenced by the process by which they were conceived and implemented, but that's why you have community in the end - they can take a work that was borne of the need to gain recognition and improve upon it. thus mitigating some of the potentially bad parts.

I don't just - just a thought...

My Lazy American Students

2010-01-04T17:52:00.000-05:00

An interesting article popped up on Inside Higher Ed today about the work ethic of American students (Original Boston.com article here). I would say that this is a gross overgeneralization based on anecdotal evidence. Now anecdotal evidence does serve a purpose, but I think that you are not comparing apples to apples.

The United States for instance does not have a unified educational system (and with policies like No Child Left Behind we're shooting ourselves on the foot - but that's another story). This means that someone who graduated from a High School in rural location-x and someone who graduated High School from a wealthy suburb-y won't necessarily have the same education. In contrast, countries like Greece have a national curriculum followed throughout all school in Greece.

Does this mean that Greeks are less lazy than Americans? Of course not! I know many Greek college students, in Greece who spend their days at Cafes, not attending lectures, just doing what they need to do to get by. Then again, there are the superstars. Students like this exist regardless of cultural background. The people who come to the US to study have other motivators than students who stay local to attend their local college. Students who pay for their own expenses have other motivators than students who have their parents pay for things.

I get that this is an op-ed piece, but I think that too little credit is given to the hard working american students, and too much credit is given to a group of foreign students based on the observations of some superstar students.

Part of me thinks that there is also an expectations gap. If someone texts through your class, you may be boring. If that same person who does not pay attention in class still gets an A, what does that mean? If people get C, D, and F, what does that mean? I think that a whole level of meta-analysis has not been completed here. M'eh...Monday afternoon ramblings from a current grad student...