Select a result to preview

TLDR 32

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 32

Published: 2016-02-12 • 📧 Newsletter

Hi all. Welcome to the TL;DR Newsletter.

This week we do some thinking about waves, flow, and relativity. :)

These posts from my readings and work this week in literacy, technology. Please feel free to share with others you believe would benefit. If you like what you see here, I recommend subscribing to get it (electronically) hand-delivered.

This week I shared the following:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

Gravitational Waves Explained by PhD Comics.

Gravitational waves may have been detected by researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). If this is confirmed, we'll have more data to explore Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Click here for the comics version of the video above.

📚 Read

While growing up, I was bombarded with "advice" from my parents and other adults that video games would rot my brain. Additionally, there is the belief that playing violent video games would lead to more violent kids.

Recent research suggests that playing video games that are more likely to include violent content in childhood is weakly associated with an increased risk of conduct disorder in late adolescence. Additionally, overall game exposure was not related to conduct disorder, nor was any association found between video game use and depression.

Now if we could only do some research on whether or not Heavy Metal or Rap is not that bad...

Research published in PeerJ examines the role of gender bias in the open source community.

The research examines acceptance rates of contributions of men versus women in the open source community. Surprisingly, results show that women's contributions tend to be accepted more often than men's. However, when a woman's gender if identifiable, they are rejected more often.

Results suggest that although women on GitHub may be viewed as more competent overall, gender bias exists nonetheless.

This post from Doug Belshaw identifies the possible next steps in the development of badges and the possible integration of blockchain technologies. The post is a supplement to an earlier post on the future of educational credentialing.

In the comments of the post, Doug hints at an initiative many of us have been working on that just went public.

A small group of "ex-Mozilla colleagues and interested parties" have united to research, iterate, and advocate on the future of open badges and blockchain technologies. You can find more at our website...or follow our open thinking on our Medium publication.

Very excited about this. More to come soon. :)

Great post from Ben Rosen in BuzzFeed in which he enlists his 13 year old sister to teach him how to use and connect on Snapchat.

What ensues is an insightful look at the habits and processes as his sister Brooke, and her friend Elsbitch (Elsbeth) give a guided tour of the medium.

I'm increasingly looking for insight into meditation and visual thinking...among other things. This post from Co.Design looks at the meditative practices involved in coloring and design.

At first you might think that this type of post has nothing to do with you...but I'd disagree.

The piece starts with Buddhist monks and sand painting...and then goes into flow, happiness, and destruction.

Good stuff.

🔨 Do

Each day we learn little bits and strategies that help us complete tasks. Many times we employ what we've learned and move on from these "just in time" moments.

As I detailed in the links at the top of this newsletter...I started keeping a public journal in which I write for five minutes (200 words) each morning. I use it as a way to get my mind running in the morning, unpack residual ideas/thoughts from the day before/dreams/morning. These posts may become something later on...or they might just be an archive of my thinking and learning over time. I chose to do this publicly...you don't have to. :)

Take five minutes each morning or night to stop, reflect, and celebrate what you learned that day. Document and archive your experiences.

🤔 Consider

"The self expands through acts of self forgetfulness." — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

This week we do some thinking about waves, flow, and relativity. The theme is intentional. The connections are emerging.

Four pieces of work this week. Getting a simple website started with Known—first one in series of posts looking at how to create and start writing on your own Known website. Lightweight blogging, publishing, and sharing using Known—second post looking at features of publishing and sharing using Known site. Digitally Literate Courses: Identifying the problem, focus, and goals—I've hinted at this for some time in this newsletter, but I'm finally announcing my side project for the year. I'm developing a premium (pay) set of classes designed to help individuals become digitally literate. I'll have more info soon. The announcement is made. The commitment is public. Shape of a story—this week we launched Learning Event 3 in WalkMyWorld 2016. Take a look at the post and come join us online. The invitation continues.

Gravitational waves may have been detected by researchers at LIGO. If confirmed, we'll have more data to explore Einstein's general theory of relativity. PhD Comics explains it. The comics version makes relativity accessible. Waves detected after century of prediction. The universe confirms what Einstein imagined.

While growing up, I was bombarded with "advice" from my parents and other adults that video games would rot my brain. Additionally, there is the belief that playing violent video games would lead to more violent kids. Recent research suggests that playing video games with violent content in childhood is weakly associated with increased risk of conduct disorder in late adolescence. Additionally, overall game exposure was not related to conduct disorder, nor was any association found between video game use and depression. Now if we could only do some research on whether or not Heavy Metal or Rap is not that bad. The humor is intentional. The relief is genuine. The vindication is sweet.

GitHub gender bias research examining acceptance rates of contributions of men versus women in open source community. Surprisingly, results show women's contributions tend to be accepted more often than men's. However, when woman's gender if identifiable, they are rejected more often. Results suggest that although women on GitHub may be viewed as more competent overall, gender bias exists nonetheless. The contradiction is revealing. Competence recognized when identity hidden. Bias revealed when identity known.

Doug Belshaw on possibilities of badges and blockchain. In comments of post, Doug hints at initiative many of us have been working on that just went public. Small group of "ex-Mozilla colleagues and interested parties" have united to research, iterate, and advocate on future of open badges and blockchain technologies. You can find more at our website...or follow our open thinking on our Medium publication. Very excited about this. More to come soon. The excitement is palpable. The collaboration is real. The future is open.

Ben Rosen enlists his 13 year old sister to teach him how to use and connect on Snapchat. What ensues is insightful look at habits and processes as his sister Brooke, and her friend Elsbitch (Elsbeth) give guided tour of medium. Learning from teenagers. Expertise exists across ages.

I'm increasingly looking for insight into meditation and visual thinking...among other things. This post from Co.Design looks at meditative practices involved in coloring and design. At first you might think that this type of post has nothing to do with you...but I'd disagree. The piece starts with Buddhist monks and sand painting...and then goes into flow, happiness, and destruction. Good stuff. The skepticism is anticipated. The disagreement is gentle. The connection is unexpected. Buddhist monks to adult coloring books to flow states to happiness to destruction. The arc is complete.

Each day we learn little bits and strategies that help us complete tasks. Many times we employ what we've learned and move on from these "just in time" moments. As I detailed in links at top of this newsletter...I started keeping public journal in which I write for five minutes (200 words) each morning. I use it as way to get my mind running in morning, unpack residual ideas/thoughts from day before/dreams/morning. These posts may become something later on...or they might just be an archive of my thinking and learning over time. I chose to do this publicly...you don't have to. The practice is established. The permission is granted. The choice is yours.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: The self expands through acts of self forgetfulness. Gravitational waves confirming relativity. Video games probably mostly okay. GitHub bias when identity known. BadgeChain launching publicly. Teenagers teaching Snapchat. Buddhist monks and coloring books and flow. Public journaling documenting learning. All forms of self-expansion through self-forgetfulness. The question remains: what do we discover when we forget ourselves?

Previous: TLDR 31 • Next: TLDR 33 • Archive: 📧 Newsletter

🌱 Connected Concepts:

Part of the 📧 Newsletter archive documenting digital literacy and technology.