Mass Transit and Coronavirus

Maxine Joselo reports that mass transit is a minor agent in the spread of covid.

-DD

Statistics Teaching

Jess Hartnett explains how she teaches statistics at Gannon University in Erie using the open source tool, JASP.

Her blog uses cute graphics to explain statistical concepts, and to applies statistics to concepts like global warming.

-DD

Image source: https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/extrapolating.png

Sleep Deprivation and Corporate Success or Failure

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic shares concerns about the lack of quality sleep, and how organizations can encourage healthy sleep behaviors.

-DD

Writing as a Business

Laura Miller observes that you can write a best seller and still go broke . Alexander Chee notes that writers experience an "asymmetry between effort and reward” (para. 7). And Miller notes that "the vast majority of books don’t make money; publishing, like baseball, is a game predicated on failure" (para. 8).

-DD

A Writing Schedule

Rebecca Schuman counsels instructors about scheduling their writing responsibilities. She says that for most young instructors, scheduling short, focused bursts is better than dedicating an hour or more to a writing project.

-DD

Microsoft Windows Store

Preston Gralla suggest that Microsoft should close the online Windows Store because it is a website with few useful apps, and it does not represent Microsoft well.

-DD

Reading With a Purpose

Douglas Hunter explains that time constraints and an outside agenda often force readers to skim and skip within an otherwise fascinating book . Scholars should set aside time to return to these promising works.

-DD

Books in the Microwave Oven?

Chanel Stitt reports that libraries are finding that books are being microwaved by borrowers trying to sanitize books in the age of coronavirus.

Placing a book in a microwave oven can cause charring or even burning of the book, and the library ensures books are free of coronavirus before loaning them.

-DD

Memorable Online Presentations

John Nawn authored a series of articles on planning online presentation content and delivering the presentation so that those enrolled have a memorable experience.

-DD

Native American Settlement Chronology

Sturt Manning reports on modified chronologies for Native American settlements.

-DD

Productivity in Times of Stress

Aisha Ahmad muses on attitudes and behaviors which tend toward allowing an individual to remain productive in times of stress.

-DD

The Art of Refusal

David Perlmutter suggests how administrators can tactfully refuse requests for resources in a time of scarcity.

-DD

An Illusion of Locality

Lee Smolin opines that locality is an illusion in the froth of particles and fields we inhabit.

-DD

Promoting Community Welfare

Dina Gerdeman observes that community charity is a hallmark of long-lived Japanese companies.

-DD

Editing Zoom Video

Zoom's blog reviews options for editing a saved recording and then sharing the result.

-DD

Writing in Jargon for Inaccessibility

Eve L. Ewing comments on inaccessible writing filled with professional jargon.







-DD

The Inner Scorecard

Marcel Schwantes writes about Warren Buffet's commitment to maintaining an "inner scorecard ," an integrity with core personal values. These include:

• Do business with the right people.
• Keep your focus on the things that truly matter.
• Invest in yourself.

-DD

Complex Covenants Are Weak Covenants

Victoria Ivashina and Boris Vallée researched financial covenants and infer that complexity is viewed as weakness by investors.

-DD

Better Than Yesterday

Better Than Yesterday has created a playlist suggesting behaviors for success.

-DD

Habits for Success

Christina DesMarais suggests some behaviors common in happy, successful people :

1. Get up every day at 4 a.m. and exercise.
2. Make prayer or meditation a ritual.
3. Get serious about to-do lists.
4. Stop watching TV.
5. Stop drinking alcohol.
6. Stop smoking.
7. Take risks.
8. Stop blaming others (or Fate) for your situation.

I have observed that the leadership at Indiana Wesleyan University generally models these behaviors, and a many of these traits are expected or encouraged for all employees.

-DD

Social Distancing in the Classroom

Francie Diep reviews guidelines for social distancing in university classrooms.

-DD

Agile Developnent Creates Efficiency

Andy Wu researched the productivity of a Google hackathon, and discovered that Agile development methods improved productivity and efficiency, at the expense of muting the creative voices of individuals which spark exceptional innovation (or dead-end research).

-DD

Doomscrolling

Angela Watercutter muses on the negative impact of scrolling through news feeds just before bed.

-DD

Lifetime Learning

Nishant Gupta discusses the importance of being a lifetime learner .

-DD

Oxygen and Life

Jasmin Tayag writes about the history of life on earth , and how life seems to have begun in an atmosphere without oxygen over a billion years ago. Rocks with evidence of oxidation date back perhaps a half billion year ago, Charcoal from ancient forest fires has not been found before 400 million years ago.

-DD

The Link Between Social and Fiscal Capital

Rachel Layne studied how community members judged a household's purchases based on family income.

-DD

Parrots Count!

Erik Nelson muses on avian math abilities .

-DD

Vitae Writing

Leonard Cassuto offers valuable tips for writing a vitae , an academic resume.

-DD

Educational Requirements in the U.S. Government

Goldie Blumenstyk discusses changes in U.S. Government hiring criteria which could reduce the need for a university education. This move may help some job seekers, but it will further stress University enrollment efforts.

-DD

Google Fi and Voice.

Google now says that a single account can use both Fi and Voice .

-DD

Coping With Change

Keith Nix offers a devotional on transitions .

-DD

Saying NO!

Marcel Schwantes observes that establishing priorities requires saying no to interesting opportunities.

-DD

Landscape of Fear

Ed Yong muses on the "landscape of fear" that occurs when an apex preditor approaches prey animals. Yong cites research by Liana Zanette into various prey populations and the effects of predation.

Reading this reminded me that many human populations are fearful, considering themselves to be prey of the ruthless and powerful. Perhaps we can learn from studying the ecology of fear.

-DD

Carpathian Mountain Flooding

Zhanna Bezpiatchuk reports on floods occurring in Ukraine and its neighbors in Eastern Europe. Unregulated logging and climate change are contributing factors to this disaster.

-DD

Orphaned Children

Melissa Greene recounts the abandonment and isolation of a Romanian infant who later was adopted by a U.S. couple.

-DD

Transforming Wood

Transforming wood can give it the strength of steel, or even make it translucent.

-DD