Blurts

This from Education Week on the education-related agenda of possible candidate Mitch Daniels. I am starting to wonder when I see these issues whether what is promoted are personal values of the candidates (has it been successful in their states) or the recommendations of some tea party focus group. More for less appeals when applied to any service we consume but such expectations are often simplistic and unrealistic.

Private-school vouchers and public school choice. Limits on collective bargaining for teachers. An emphasis on content over pedagogy for teachers. An expansion of charter schools. Teachers evaluated, in part, on test scores.

I am thinking real leadership has to do with setting realistic priorities you are willing to stand behind. If you don’t think education is important then come out and say it. Don’t act like you value the process of education and think someone else should do it on the cheap.

Need to clean that iPad and tired of using those miniature, expensive cloths you purchase at the Apple store? Try microfiber cloths from Amazon Automotive – ZWipes. These really do a great job. Thirty-six hand towel sized cloths for under $25.

We drove back from Minneapolis today and as is our custom we listened to TWIT podcasts. How many couples can say that?

The MacBreak Weekly session featured a discussion with ex-Engadget editor  Nilay Patel. Most of the discussion focused on the Apple/Samsung lawsuit (is Samsung stealing the look of the iPhone, etc.). Interesting enough I guess, but not the topic here. In the “what have you been up to” segment, Patel said he and colleagues are starting a new online site focus on what he described as the “long form”. If interested in Nilay’s analysis listen to the discussion (about 25% or so from the beginning – MacBreak Weekly). The group (see This is my next …. for now) reasons that some web readers are ready for content which goes a little deeper suggesting that online content seldom offers the depth of analysis that allows readers to understand issues. Patel offers some examples what he thinks of as short and long form sources.

This concern is actually far from new – e.g., Nicholas Carr’s “The shallows“. I just think it is interesting how once a trend in one direction continues for some time someone notices and hopes that going in the opposite direction will attract some attention. I hope so.

The “long form” – I like that.