Educators Succeed Despite Adversity
education is supposed to be about nurturing thoughtful creativity, yet we are often forced to “stay on script.”
From Where Inspiration Arises
One can never tell from where inspiration arises. The Maker Movement is one of the best, most inspiration movements to have arisen in the United States since the Boy or Girls Scouts. The Maker Movement draws inspiration from circumstances and people from all walks of life, is not limited by race or gender, and is…
Ramblings on Latitude and Longitude Using a Lightboard
Fall 2015 my university commissioned one of our on-campus engineers to design and build not one but two Lightboards. If you aren’t familiar with what a Lightboard is you’ve come to the proper blog. On Tuesday, March 1st, I gave a mess of lecture about the size and shape of the Earth, and double-down on…
The Year of the Fire Monkey
The Chinese New Year began on Monday, February 8th, which was yesterday. Sorry; I should have posted an announcement on Sunday so people could have planned parties and what-not. This is the Year of the Monkey, but not just any monkey. No, this is the Year of the Fire Monkey. Chinese culture has it’s own…
Great Geography Twitter Accounts
I am a constant Twitter user. I began using Twitter in March 2009. My divorce was causing me to shed friends like glaciers calve icebergs and I needed a way to connect with people. Many people I run across don’t understand Twitter and I spend time trying to educate them about appropriate Twitter use. Twitter…
Small Schools Can Make A Big Difference
You probably have never heard of Julius Rosenwald. Even if you grew up in Chicago the name, “Julius Rosenwald,” may not mean a thing, may ring no memory bells. However, if you have ever visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago you have him to thank. He was one of the important benefactors…
Open Source GIS and Mapping Tools to Help You Get Started
I’ve been an ESRI ArcGIS user since the days of Arc/INFO Ver. 5.0. Having used “command line GIS” since 1991 the rise of open source GIS solutions intrigues me. Trying new products and new software and learning new terminology and getting familiar with many different data formats are valuable jobs skills for me. However, being…
