Back to Basic (computing)

Some times I like to crack out my old Asus Eee 900, just because. To be fair, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the old war horse.. It still boots up, holds a 6 hour run-time charge, connects to the WiFi and gets me online. I've booted it up to type this blog entry, matter of fact. The only problem really is that I've got enough spare tech laying around that I don't generally think about cracking out the Asus unless I really need to, or I just feel like putzing about on it. It's the tech equivalent of dicking around the woodshop, to be honest.

Talk about first world problems. I'd really like to find a use for the thing. I might just be able to use it at UGA, provided I can get the browser updated (not an issue) and get some basic capabilities put on it (like reading .pdf's, also not an issue). It's not really much of a jump from .docs to typing things up in Google Drive anyway, and it gives me some measure of being able to roam about campus as I need to, without worrying about my nicer laptop getting high-graded.

Atta Boy, Utah

Browsing through news reports before going to class, I happened upon this gem. I heart civil disobedience in the face of national government stupidity, so the folk in San Juan county get a gold star in my book.

Never understood of public lands being closed to the public anyway. Let me just sign a waiver that says that if I die it's my own damn fault for being stupid and let me go in. That way no one gets sued. If folks have got the money to go, and the land is still physically there, I don't see what the problem is.

A German Nigerian Prince Wants to Publish Your Thesis!

Got an email over night from a publishing company out of Germany. Some person I don't know sent me this passive aggressive email, being all butthurt that I didn't respond to their first scammy email. And make no mistakes, there are scams aplenty for recent grad students to blunder in to.. Fake honors societies (make a one time donation to become a member!), publishing companies that would like to be so generous as to offer to publish your thesis for exorbitant fees and full sign-over of rights..

Critical thinking and common sense are not currently in vogue with the masses, and that's doubly true for the students that have graduated in the last couple of decades. Triple true for any politician, since creating unique problems to provide solutions for is more profitable than solving existing problems. So, it makes sense that these sorts of scams have popped up over the years, especially since emailing because cuts their advertising budget down to practically nil as long as they have a decent front*.

Here's the thing though; grad students are supposed to be well versed in critical thinking. It's one of the requirements of putting out innovative material; you've looked at all these papers and looked at your data and synthesized it into something new. I guess I'm just a little sad that there's overwhelming evidence, in the form of scams, to tell me that these same grad students are shutting off their critical thinking skills when they aren't looking at papers.

*Webpage

Politics; The Ultimate Peril of Academic Ambition

It's not really a secret that I teach Geomorphology at the University level, but what courses and where I'll leave up to the fickle anonymity of the internet. There's not a code of silence that you have to sign along with your first born child and a year of Associate Professor salary in order to work in academe, but there might as well be. If your political views are right of center, for example, it would probably be best to heed the advice of your first amendment lawyer and shut your damn mouth before your political opinions wreck your chances of getting hired by a left-leaning department (pro-tip; most departments lean so far left that they look like Michael Jackson berating a dropped penny on the floor).

Damn you penny!

Got to walk a fine line when it comes to politics, then. I mostly keep my opinions to myself, but participate in like minded groups when I can (quietly). I can pitch group membership of innocuously named groups easily enough without getting myself in trouble, but getting ostracized for loudly being pro-2nd is a good way to get off tenure track. Then again, that's what this blog is for; it's a pressure release valve for things I can't say on campus.

At least until I get tenure, then I can say whatever the hell I want.