Our trip to Rock Mill

Yesterday about 12 hardy residents (it was cold and windy) went to Fairfield County, Ohio, to see Rock Mill, part of the county park system. Our "docent" on the bus was one of the residents of The Estates (formerly The Forum) Joe, a soil scientist, who had worked in that county (then very rural) for 14 years. The mill had been an 18th century marvel of technology and entrepreneurship, first built by Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith. There were several owners in the 19th century, but when things like canals and railroads made it outdated it and the fields were all drained for agriculture, it fell into disuse. It was partially restored by a local residents of some wealth, Rita and Bob Stebelton. Then came community support to make it part of the park system. And of course, there were a few miracles along the way. This is a PBS documentary about the restoration. And our friend Joe is even in the film.

https://youtu.be/Q1QXvh1zI94?si=9HgNjOpV5OaHhJd2

fairfieldcountyparks.org

On the way we drove past the Lockville Canal Park and could see the remains of Ohio & Erie Canal Locks South 11, 12 and 13.  Since we live close to the Riverside / Ohio Health complex  we saw a wide range of technology on that trip. To get there we also drove the outskirts of Canal Winchester and saw many of the places we used to see when Phil lived there.

And I still don't have a smart phone

Four years ago I wrote this. Nothing much has changed.

Not only do I not know how to use a smart phone as many my age do, but I don’t know how to do the simplest, ordinary everyday tasks familiar to my grandmothers (b. 1876 and 1896): harness a carriage horse, kill, gut and pluck a chicken, milk a cow, trim a kerosene wick or bank the stove with corn cobs to heat water for a weekly bath. Nothing I did in my professional life (academic librarian in Slavic Studies, agriculture, veterinary medicine at 2 different universities) lasted even a year or two, and unless they were digitized, my publications have disappeared. Did the student reconstructing road kill for a class project go on to make a difference, or the horse on the treadmill help someone get tenure? It was exceptionally interesting--but did it matter?

I do think education is over rated. At least higher education Did my job make a difference like the men who build, plumb and wire houses that last for over a hundred years? Or was it even as important as the commercial truck drivers who deliver food that someone else has grown, harvested and packaged for my use?

 
I probably spent half my professional life attending meetings, or writing reports, or staring at budgets of cuts that never seem to come together. At annual review time with my boss (he visited each library) I'd scoop everything off my ancient desk and put it in a box. About 6 weeks later I'd look in the box--usually nothing needed attention. Occasionally today I run into a former dean or department chair at Panera's who remembers me, and that's nice, but I do wonder if they have the same thoughts I do.

What does Amazon know about you?

BBC News article includes extensive history, narrative, graphics, photos and insight into how and why Amazon collects massive amounts of data Amazon on users through multiple channels of e-commerce and devices – by Leo Kelion –

“You might call me an Amazon super-user. I’ve been a customer since 1999, and rely on it for everything from grass seed to birthday gifts. There are Echo speakers dotted throughout my home, Ring cameras inside and out, a Fire TV set-top box in the living room and an ageing Kindle e-reader by my bedside. I submitted a data subject access request, asking Amazon to disclose everything it knows about me Scanning through the hundreds of files I received in response, the level of detail is, in some cases, mind-bending. One database contains transcriptions of all 31,082 interactions my family has had with the virtual assistant Alexa. Audio clips of the recordings are also provided. The 48 requests to play Let It Go, flag my daughter’s infatuation with Disney’s Frozen. Other late-night music requests to the bedroom Echo, might provide a clue to a more adult activity…” . . .

That’s the introduction to a difficult to read, white on charcoal scrolling screen.  It’s a very scary universe.

“We find ourselves being shot backward into a kind of feudal pattern where it was an elite, a priesthood, that had all the knowledge and all the rest of the people just kind of groped around in the dark,” says Shoshana Zuboff, a Harvard professor and author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.”

There’s Good News in the Bible, but also in the economic news

There's a lot of good news out there if only the liberal media would let you in on it. The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest report on income and poverty, which came out in October found real median family income up 1.2 percent from 2017 to 2018, real median earnings up 3.4 percent, the number of full-time, year-round workers increased by 2.3 million, and the poverty rate declined from 12.3 percent to 11.8 percent, with 1.4 million people leaving poverty. That's why Democrats want to impeach the President. The poverty and earnings report combined with the November jobs report could just signal that not as many people need the federal government, and for leftists, that's tragic news.

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-world-is-getting-better-its-just-that-no-one-tells-you-about-it/

There are many items of good news in this article—from medicine to technology to environment.

NTIS/NTRL data base for searching

“The National Technical Reports Library (NTRL – U.S. Department of Commerce) has become an open access resource, following a decision made by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).

The National Technical Information Service serves as the largest central resource for government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information available today. For more than 60 years NTIS has assured businesses, universities, and the public timely access to approximately 3 million publications covering over 350 subject areas.

The search window. https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/

The most valuable companies over 100 years

Amazing. 100 years ago the largest, most valuable companies actually had products!. The only one I can see that made it through is Standard Oil/Exxon. By 2017 the top five are all tech--Alphabet is Google.

http://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-valuable-companies-100-years/?

And Wal-Mart.  What change since 1950. When we were in Arkansas we visited the original Walton store, a 1950 Ben Franklin Five and Dime like the one in my home town of Mt. Morris many years ago, but Sam was ambitious and expanded. He didn't like the franchise's rules so started his own chain. It wasn't a Wal-Mart that killed my home town small businesses, it was a strike by a union at the printing plant, then changing technology, then moves to the south by the companies where everyone worked.

http://www.visualcapitalist.com/walmart-nation-mapping-largest-employers-u-s/?

Women in technology fields

I'm not the least bit concerned about the underrepresentation of women in the tech industry. Those companies hire those who can make them a profit, including a disproportionate number of foreign workers. They all lean heavily to the Left, so take it up with the protestors. Women also don't choose the same career track in college, and when they do get into tech/computer work, many don't like the culture, nerdy, male and strange. No one worried that in my career field (library science) women outnumber the men at all levels. Women outnumber men in almost all the professional colleges--law, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and Dartmouth has reported finally women outnumber men in engineering. In many cities, women in similar age groups and education level earn more than similarly qualified men. Where are the protests? A capitalist will look at the bottom line, and if that bottom is on a woman, she gets the job.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/10/women-are-more-concerned-than-men-about-gender-discrimination-in-tech-industry/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2016/04/04/u-s-cities-where-women-earn-more-than-men/#5645bc4c4544

Brothers, Sisters, and Technology

A relatively recent development that psychological scientists must account for is the role of technology in helping siblings stay in contact years after they leave the family nest. . .

 

Sixty-three percent of siblings in the study said they were friends on Facebook, according to Conger, and those siblings reported more frequency in sibling contact, greater levels of advice-seeking behavior, and higher ratings of relationship satisfaction compared with siblings who had no Facebook contact. Siblings participating in the study also used other forms of technology to keep in touch, including phone calls (51%), texting (20%), and email (9%). Compared with other modes of communication, phone contact between siblings was associated with greater advice-seeking and better psychological adjustment and overall health outcomes.

“Siblings matter, and they are in a unique, lifelong, dynamic relationship,” Conger said.

 

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-many-flavors-of-relationships

The poverty meme

"The global incidence of extreme poverty has gone down from almost 100% in the 19th century, to 10.7% in 2013. While this is a great achievement, there is absolutely no reason to be complacent: a poverty rate of 10.7% means a total poverty headcount of 746 million people." https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty/

This progress wasn't made with Communism or dictatorships or street demonstrations, and it won't continue by taxing wealthy countries more to fight a mythical climate problem when that money could be going to address poverty problems today instead of sea level in 10 decades. We should have learned from the Rachel Carson debacle which killed millions of African and Asian children with still no solution for malaria while trying to protect birds and insects.

There are genuinely hungry people in the world and the USA, but what has lifted most people out of hunger and poverty isn't government programs, but innovation, technology, creative use of fossil fuels, the green revolution in agriculture and entrepreneurship. Someone living below the "poverty line" in the USA today has more material luxuries than the wealthy of the 19th century. Refrigeration, indoor plumping, flush toilets, healthy food, education, health care, sanitation, even smart phones automobiles and computers. Yet, the SJW only care about the gap.

People do make bad choices--we eat too much, exercise too little, smoke, drink, and are promiscuous. Government isn't going to change that. That's the job of the church to address moral and spiritual failings. Read the definition of "food insecure." Hunger in the USA isn't even relevant and is a meaningless word. The number of people living in extreme poverty fell by more than 1 billion since 1990, from 1.85 billion in 1990 to 0.76 billion in 2013. On average, the number of people living in extreme poverty declined by 47 million every year since 1990 (or 130,000 every single day). Violent crime is also down dramatically since the Omnibus Crime Bill. Who is driving the narrative that this is an awful, horrid place in need of more government control? I can think of at least two. 1) Democrat party, 2) the media.

She did it! Took iPads away from her kids, by guest blogger Sarah

In case you were curious how #operationipadelimination was going...

Well, I'm pleased to say we are well over a month iPad free and loving it! The girls are more creative than ever before and getting along better too! Hmm. My house may look like a homes chool but I'm just fine with that. The girls tape EVERYTHING they make to my walls!  I'm noticing they are also watching much less tv (maybe 30 minutes a day) and Wii use is down to just the weekends. I thought they'd want more of other stuff but they don't. And I'm not having to entertain them all day either, moms!  Our quality time together is much richer too. I'm actually starting to like my daughters. LOL!  (If you know me, you'll laugh at that) So if you're like me and on the fence, with a nagging feeling that electronics are taking over your home and the brains of your developing children, give it a try and see how your kids do for a month. Maybe two. Maybe six. I'm not sure I ever want to bring them back out. I sort of like these kids sans technology!! In fact I like them a whole lot better!! ❤ And I kinda feel like I'm a better mom too. Who knew?!

By guest blogger Sarah (I've known her since she was 14--now has 4 kids, from teen to toddler)

My new printer, the HP Envy 5660

Monday I needed to replace the black cartridge in my HP Deskjet 3520, and the paper came out white!  Two people worked on it, we followed all the trouble shooting suggestions, including a user's suggestion of mixing ammonia and water and drop it into the print head, then followed by prayer (I think that was in jest).  No. It didn't work. My daughter and I checked all the deals on the internet.  So I took all the cartridges (3 used, 1 unused) back to Staples which had a record of my purchase, got a $61 refund, bought a new $150 printer reduced to $95 with all sorts of discounts and coupons, bought a 3 year warranty (I usually don't but these only last about that long), and the whole thing with my $5 coupon from recycled older cartridges came to $54 for a new wireless printer/scanner/copier, an HP Envy (less than a package of ink cartridges if I'd replaced them). Yes, it's a racket to sell ink. Checked all the customer reviews, they were excellent. Now my daughter needs to come by and connect everything. I also signed up for the Instant Ink. HP tracks my paper usage and send me cartridges for $5 a month.

Long form journalism and wordy blogs

are a thing of the past.

Now that I've tried blogging and posting to Facebook using my i-pad mini, I can see why people are using shortcuts and no sentence structure.  Today I learned how to turn it on and off and upload a photo to Facebook.  But I'm back at the computer so my fingers can stretch a bit.  Increasingly, the ordinary person is dumping their computers when using social media.
 

This is the photo I posted on FB a few minutes ago.  First I took a photo of myself in the mirror, or maybe it was my finger.  I'm a little awkward at this. I had to delete that one and the 6 "burst" behind it--can't hold the finger down too long.

This is our replacement Lazzy Bear from Christmas 1986.  Our first one was stolen in a home break-in--imagine someone stealing a stuffed bear--but they were very popular that year.  My friend Nancy got me a new one.  We still put him out every Christmas.

Non-use of technology

Periodically, I do a “fast” of Facebook or Blogging.  I sign off.  But when I return, there’s just as much posting as before.  Maybe more.  It’s a bit like a diet.  I can do it for awhile. In the “old” days, people gave up watching TV.  I can see myself in most of these studies.  Read on.

Resistance, addiction, and identity

“There are a number of studies that have focused on cases of deliberate, even conspicuous, non-use, as in when people swear off e-mail during their vacation or give up Facebook for Lent. In these cases of deliberate refusal of a technology, one of the key traits of the individual is her or his ability to resist the temptation of using technology. Approaches that frame (social) media and technology use as addiction fall into this mold (e.g., Andreassen, et al., 2012; Stieger, et al., 2013).

In other cases, non-use may represent an individual’s attempt to regain (a sense of) self-control over their own technology use (e.g., Ames, 2013; Baumer, et al., 2013; Schoenebeck, 2014). In many of these cases, the discourse is one of control. Because the resulting non-use may be partial or negotiated, these kinds of studies tend not to frame “use” as a monolithic concept for which non-use is the binary opposite.

Moving beyond the individual, the voluntary non-use of technology may function as the production or performance of a particular sociocultural identity. For instance, abstention from Facebook becomes an act of performing a particular identity, one bound up with “conspicuous non-consumption” and a rejection of neoliberal values of commodification (Portwood-Stacer, 2013).

Non-use (and use) of the smartphone app Grindr also figures prominently in partners’ negotiations about the status of their own relationship (Brubaker, et al., 2014). In another example, the Christian period of Lent becomes, for some, an occasion to limit use of social media (Schoenebeck, 2014).”

I tried to resist and regain power over my life, but just now I posted on Facebook:

Donald Trump is such a jerk, and he's the perfect Trojan Horse (for those who haven't studied history, that is not a condom but a trick) that the Democrats will use to elect Hillary. This woman has committed more crimes than most people already incarcerated, and will complete what Obama has left unfinished.

Are smart phones changing Christians?

I was really getting into the article about 6 ways smartphones and social media are changing Christians, and then read the final paragraph, "To listen to my entire 34-minute conversation with Wells and Groothius on the pros and cons of personal communications technology, subscribe to the Authors on the Line podcast in iTunes, download the recording (MP3), or stream the conversation." The irony. . .

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/six-ways-your-phone-is-changing-you

Some tidbits about science

The survey, "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding," conducted in 2012, involved more than 2,220 Americans and was conducted by the National Science Foundation for the Science and Engineering Indicators report that is presented to the federal government.

“According to a new survey that focuses on public awareness and perceptions of science, research and scientists, only 74 percent of Americans that participated knew that the Earth orbits the sun. The survey also revealed a strong appreciation for the work of scientists while Americans continue to struggle to answer basic science questions.”

Actually, I’m surprised that 74% knew.  Aren’t you?

About 30% Americans say that “dealing with global
warming” should be a priority for the president and
Congress. In recent years, dealing with climate issues
has been near the bottom of Americans’ list of
potential priorities.”

So guess what our President and Secretary of State are doing?

“. . . between 2000 and 2008, scientists represented just 1% of characters on prime-time network shows. Of these scientists, 7 out of 10 were men and almost 9 of 10 were white. 8% of the characters were medical.”

I’m thinking they aren’t counting the pathologists and archeologists in the the crime shows.

I’m not surprised that the Internet is increasingly becoming a source of information for scientific information.

Today’s lecture tools

When I went to college in the 1950s and 1960s, and even later when I returned to make up a math class I didn’t have as an undergrad, or a refresher in reference titles so I could ease back into my career in the 1970s, we had face to face interaction with the instructors/professors.  Even in very large lectures, there was a human being.  Overwhelming, most of my classes were small, both in foreign languages (my undergrad major), and in library science (my master’s degree).

Today I saw an advertisement at OSUToday for LectureTools:

“LectureTools student iPad app allows students to relay feedback to their instructor in real-time during lecture. With larger screens than smartphones and smaller footprints than laptops, many students are beginning to tote iPads to class and many institutions are experimenting with iPad initiatives.”

Don’t even need raise your hand.  If you’re shy or autistic, no problem.  Be as silent as you want.

Technology flattens your wallet

When we bought our home on Abington Rd. in 1968, it was our third, and I was 28, my husband 29. Other than the mortgage (paid off in 1988), our housing expenses included a phone bill for one phone, and utilities--gas, electric, water. That’s it.  No cable TV.  No cell phone. No internet.   No news service via the internet.   What does the homeowner or renter pay today? According to the Journal of Accountancy:

Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults said they believe that technology has made it easier to spend money, and just 3% said it has made it easier to save. Thirty-seven percent said technology has made it easier to both spend and save, according to the national telephone poll, which consisted of 1,005 responses.

The survey found that Americans who subscribe to digital services spend an average of $166 monthly for cable TV, home internet access, mobile phone service, and digital subscriptions such as satellite radio or streaming video. That’s the equivalent of 17% of their average monthly rent or mortgage payment.

Respondents who download songs, mobile applications, and other products spend an additional $38 per month, on average, according to the survey.

This sounds really scary!

Using a person's social network information instead of a resume? Based on the remarks, jokes, and opinions I've seen on blogs, Twitter and Facebook, some people ought to be more cautious about building a different profile! And that list of friends? And family? The future employer just might decide the person is too social, or not social enough and not even know she might be in a book club, or volunteer at a hospital, or belong to a bowling league, and therefore doesn't socialize on-line.

Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates' suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.

A résumé doesn't provide much depth about a candidate, says Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures who blogs about the hiring process on the company's website and was herself hired after she compiled a profile comprising her personal blog, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, and links to social-media sites Delicious and Dopplr, which showed places where she had traveled.

The world of technology is just getting too strange and scary. I just learned today that even if your cell phone is "off" you are being tracked. Also, if you have any sensitive financial or political data, do not keep it on a computer that is hooked to the internet.

Insofar as tracking phones, if you believe yourself or the person you are with is a target worth tracking, and that the opponent has the ability, best is to not carry any phone. Smartphone or not. The phone is constantly tracked by the company. Your travel habits can be mapped retroactively or in realtime. Think of the cell phone as a strobe light that's always blinking. We can't see them blinking, but the phone company can.

Insofar as smartphones, iPhones for instance have a battery that cannot be removed. With a BlackBerry you can pop off the back and take out the battery. When I was with certain units on the Iraq/Iran border, everyone with a phone was to take out the battery. An officer said that if you leave the battery in, you can practically watch it drain as the Iranians ping the phone. If they see thirty phones travelling together in a remote area on their border, they likely would take notice. But imagine ten people have phones. If one guy doesn't take out the battery, that's enough to track the unit and even hit you across the border with rockets, artillery or an airstrike. Michael Yon, Iraq war reporter

Steve Jobs--why technology can't help education

Interview with Wired Magazine 1996

I used to think that technology could help education. I’ve probably spearheaded giving away more computer equipment to schools than anybody else on the planet. But I’ve had to come to the inevitable conclusion that the problem is not one that technology can hope to solve. What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology. No amount of technology will make a dent. The problems are sociopolitical. The problems are unions. You plot the growth of the NEA [National Education Association] and the dropping of SAT scores, and they’re inversely proportional. The problems are unions in the schools. The problem is bureaucracy.

I have a 17-year-old daughter who went to a private school for a few years before high school. This private school is the best school I’ve seen in my life. It was judged one of the 100 best schools in America. It was phenomenal. The tuition was $5,500 a year, which is a lot of money for most parents. But the teachers were paid less than public school teachers – so it’s not about money at the teacher level. I asked the state treasurer that year what California pays on average to send kids to school, and I believe it was $4,400. While there are not many parents who could come up with $5,500 a year, there are many who could come up with $1,000 a year.

If we gave vouchers to parents for $4,400 a year, schools would be starting right and left. People would get out of college and say, ’Let’s start a school.’ You could have a track at Stanford within the MBA program on how to be the businessperson of a school. And that MBA would get together with somebody else, and they’d start schools. And you’d have these young, idealistic people starting schools, working for pennies.

They’d do it because they’d be able to set the curriculum… God, how exciting that could be! But you can’t do it today. You’d be crazy to work in a school today. You don’t get to do what you want. You don’t get to pick your books, your curriculum. You get to teach one narrow specialisation. Who would ever want to do that?

These are the solutions to our problems in education. Unfortunately, technology isn’t it. You’re not going to solve the problems by putting all knowledge onto CD-ROMs. We can put a website in every school – none of this is bad. It’s bad only if it lulls us into thinking we’re doing something to solve the problem with education.

Lincoln did not have a website at the log cabin where his parents home-schooled him, and he turned out pretty interesting. Historical precedent shows that we can turn out amazing human beings without technology. Precedent also shows that we can turn out very uninteresting human beings with technology. It’s not as simple as you think when you’re in your 20s – that technology’s going to change the world. In some ways it will, in some ways it won’t.

What becomes of electronic waste?

Today I control more electronic gadgets in a day in my own house than what I would do in a year in 1977 when I returned to work in a high tech computerized library at a university of 50,000. Three digital cameras (there's a 4th in a drawer), a video camera, 3 scanners, 2 printers, 2 computers (a 3rd not connected), 2 email accounts, a phone/fax, a cable network, a wireless network, a copier (2 if you count the one in the scanner), 12 blogs with the information stored off-site, Facebook account, 3 cd players, DVD player and VCR, 6 or more remotes, microwave, various digital clocks that blink and flip if the power goes off, an i-pod, 2 cell phones one with a camera, and 3 cordless phones one with an answering machine. We have 6 TVs (4 cable connected, 2 with antennas). We also have 6 radios in the house, but the one with batteries which would be useful in a storm I can't find. In 1977 we had one TV and one telephone and maybe 2 radios. If we had batteries, they were in the car or flashlight.

In 1957, the year I graduated from high school, my parents had electric clocks with moving hands, maybe 3 radios, but no TV, or AC or even an electric fan in the house. Only children rode bicycles. The U.S. mail was delivered twice a day by mailmen who walked, we received 2 newspapers at the door, and one local weekly, plus numerous magazine subscriptions. Thirty five or 55 years ago, the American family had a much smaller footprint, even with a car that only got 11 miles/gallon, but I don't know very many greenies who would give up their computers, cell phones, or cameras. Do you?

Our kitchen clock when I was growing up.



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