Sag Harbor

I implore you to click on this link and listen to the piece. Its about Colson Whitehead's new book 'Sag Harbor', in which well off black teens deal with coming to terms with their 'blackness'.

The reason why I want you to listen to it is because it creates a superb backdrop for a post I'm hoping to get to this weekend. I would write it now, but it doesn't deserve some 15 minute downtime between homework assignments.

I will however say this - there is the term 'Post-black' that I want you all to remember. I believe its something that everyone should strive for, in order to move past the current stereotypes of black culture - stereotypes that people play into way too often.

Now when can I get my hands on this book?

OLPC in 2009

Is it just me or has this blog seem to be in more of a sate of reacting to other work, rather producing its own lately?


I've been dwelling on a few things lately, as one should at the start of a new year. One of them is my involvement with OLPC. This article here (Our One Laptop Per Child Hopes for 2009) hits on a lot of what OLPC has been able to do last year, but also points out where they need to move forward.

Perhaps rightfully so, he starts off with Sugar - as I myself will. From my first encounter with the OS - trying pathetically to figure out what I was doing with that ridiculously tiny keyboard and mouse - to writing guides on how to use it, I have to say that overall I'm happy with Sugar. Version 8.2 was yet another milestone that I was pleased with, but my biggest gripe with Sugar is that I was never able to get a few key features to work. Mainly getting two or more of the XOs to 'talk' to each other. Also getting the XOs online at times is merely frustrating. I would love to see Sugar improved in those two areas, since wireless communication is a principal need of the XOs.

Next up is the design. Ever since I first got my hands on the XO, I was quite impressed with how it looked and I'm not alone - almost everyone finds the machines to be engaging just my the mere sight of them. One of my wishes for OLPC is to make the two stylus areas surrounding the track pad actually usable. As of now - as far I know - there hasn't been software that took advantage of their presence.

Continuing with the subject of the XOs' design, some of you may remember the conceptual designs of the next XO and I really hope to hear some news about bringing those plans to life this year. However, I remain a bit sceptical on how those plans can be well done and still stay in the same price range as the ones we have now. With more information released, I along with the rest of the community can determain for ourselves if they would really be able to succed.

The last thing I want to hit on is the software. When I was at NECC back in 2007, I was asked by a teacher if she should try and get the XOs for her students, or if she should go with the Classmate or any other netbook. The best I could tell her was that if her students were in elementary school, then the XOs were a great choice, however reaching up to the middle school and high school age ranges, another choice maybe better to go with. I said this because I saw as the XOs geared to those younger age ranges. The thing is with that is doing so limits the usefulness of the computers and creates a stigma of being a 'child's tool'. What I would love to see this coming year is the XO having more mature learning software for older adolescents. The (somewhat) recent addition of Microsoft Xp being implimented on the machines may allow for such a thing, no matter how painful it was to watch that deal be set in place. Expanding to at the very least middle schoolers may be what allows the XOs from being stomped out by the competition.

All in all, I can't see my participation with MOUSE in regards to the OLPC ever really changing. Though I'm at a lost for how to further my involvement at the moment, I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something in the upcoming months.

Thoughts on US Education Standing

Link to article found here: U.S. Standing at Risk: Education Leaders Propose Action Agenda

For months now, I've heard about how America's global standing in terms of education - namely technology, science, and mathematic fields - has been slipping. A few nights ago I ran across the article linked above, and it does seem that people are attempting to bring the issue to ahead.

One of the most interesting things that caught my eye in this article is the quote that it ends with:
"These are demanding recommendations that will require the commitment of everyone — schools, colleges and universities, parents and students, and state and national leaders — but the dividend will be historic... We must create a system that works, a system that propels all students toward success and rejects anything less."

It spoke to what my own philosophy about all of this is - everyone involved has to want to improve the system before anything substantial can be done. And since I'm sure that this problem will only get worst before it can get any better, I'm left to wonder what tactics will be done to try and scheme students into performing well. One such method I can think of is paying children to do well in school.

Fundamentally, I have a severe issue with this. I don't believe that anyone should be paid some type of monetary stipend for their success. It was recently brought to my attention that a fair amount of a certain grade in my school is either in danger of failing, or plainly failing their classes and now things are trying to be done to fix it. One of the students in that grade then suggested that they get paid to encourage people to pick up their grades. And to me, this just kills the point behind learning and what school should ideally be about. Once you start to pay for success, I believe that it will set up a dangerous precedent leading people to believe that for every 'good' action they do, they'll get some form of material award. This is not a realistic reflection of how life truly is - not to mention it will then shift the focus of school away from whats being taught and absorbed even more than it is now.

So here is my suggestion to the educators at Collegeboard and elsewhere: Emphasize the act of learning itself, not the grades or any type of scale that is measure with a high-risk mentality. If you're able to instill a love or at least genuine interest in topics - especially the ones we're lacking in - our world standing will surely increase. It will create a much wider culture that would value education instead of the crap we have now.

Finally, what does this mean for the world that I will graduate into? I use to think when I was younger that my American citizenship and education would allow me to go anywhere I wanted in the world, but as I get closer and closer to the finish line, I'm not too sure anymore. The pool of competition keeps growing and growing and I'll be one more fish in the sea. Will my education, even if it is from a prestigious institution in America, be a joke on the international stage? All I can say is Americans need to 'step up with our game' as goes the slang. No longer can we lackadaisically blunder along while the rest of the world carries on without us - its this type of ignorance that is leading to our asses being kicked in many more areas; education is not the only grave obstacle we have to overcome.

The Premise of Modern Narcissism

Here is a New York Times article about how narcissism, in word and in meaning, is being thrown around a lot more nowadays. From pop-culture icons to everyone having a Facebook, or the equivalent time-wasting web apps out there, the article deems that all of these are fair game for being labeled as narcissistic. It then goes on to talk about how the idea of one being narcissistic has changed in recent years.

It made me wonder just how narcissistic I and everyone else that have blogs can be considered to be. We are, in all actuality, writing in the hopes that people out in the internet care about what we have to say regarding anything at all. We wish for our voices to be heard and take great joy - and in some cases pleasure - when we see others react our thoughts, for ill or for good.

So this begs the question, How do I make this so-called narcissism a positive thing? How can taking a deep rooted interest in my self not only appeal to others, but maybe help someone in some form - be it aiding in developing thoughts and disscussions, teaching others, etc? While this may be a futile attempt at justifying whatever egoistical reasons I have for keeping this blog running for the past 9 or 10 months, I like to think that some of my posts at least responds to those questions. While I can't say the same for the other online social mediums I partake in, I pride myself on the difference I try to estabish the line between the two.