Cliff Stoll on Everything

I’m sure you’re all aware of Cliff’s catching of KGB hackers in the 80s. He’s wonderful to watch, and listen to… he believes computers don’t belong in schools… YAY. And what does he want?

Sabrina, my RA this fall, sent me the video. Her favourite quote is

If you really wanna know about the future, don’t ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist, someone who writes code.. If you want to know what society will be like in 20 years.. ask a kindergarden teacher! They know what a society will be like in the next generation.

Check out his wikipedia page to see what Cliff’s been up to. Oh, and Cliff teaches science to kids sometimes.

I like the end of the video… it chokes me up… “It is the voice of life that calls us to come and learn…” But it is the context in which he says it.

Cuil…. ZOMG!

I finally went to play with Cuil, the killer search engine set to destroy Google. I was really impressed. Impressed with all the hype out of something that it this stage really suxxors. I guess the need for accurate results is totally unnecessary when it comes to search engines. Actually, it is not totally useless, but it would appear as if it’s page ranking system just doesn’t exist. Try googling [sic] hungsinger on Cuil. Does jeremy come first? Even though he’s one of the major bloggers. No. He’s on page two, and only his profile on educause. Type in levesque, and at least catsy’s dad comes first.

I’d like to know what in areas where I do know something that what should be at the top IS at the top… that builds at least the illusion of trust that stuff at the top in areas I don’t know might be equally valid.

Quantum mechanics for cat lovers – Newton strikes back.

I just love Journey By Starlight: Quantum mechanics for cat lovers – Newton strikes back. and everything at http://journeybystarlight.blogspot.com I’ve seen so far. Now, how to work it into my science course. Of course, I think that George Berkeley (1685-1753) said it all before…

Berkeley theorized that individuals cannot know if an object is; they can only know if an object is perceived by a mind. He stated that individuals cannot think or talk about an object’s being, but rather think or talk about an object’s being perceived by someone. That is, individuals cannot know any “real” object or matter “behind” the object as they perceive it, which “causes” their perceptions. He thus concluded that all that individuals know about an object is their perception of it.