Introductions and a minor rant.

So. This is the first of what will hopefully be many posts about not only technology, but also music, photography, sci-fi books and writing, and whatever else may strike my fancy. You'll also be able to find links to other blogs and podcasts that I like and enjoy. Speaking of, in the future, I may start doing a weekly podcast, nothing huge or long, but it'll be fun.

First on the agenda, technology and education. From where I sit, it seems like this is one of the areas where we should really be focusing a lot of our money and energies. I agree that arts and music need more money too, but looking at it pragmatically, shouldn't we be providing our children with the tools that they'll need to succeed in the new 21st century economy? After they've had that success then they can put more money back in to arts. And wouldn't well trained, highly capable students be more likely to keep more jobs in America, thus bolstering the economy? The OLPC people have it right, now they just need to do this in the states. 

If you look at most (not all) public schools, the technology that they have is either not being used or is not being used to its full extent. I'm not talking about rendering 3D animation, rather students aren't even being instructed on how to manage a website or learn about good web surfing habits. In that vein, how many of our spyware and malware problems could be resolved almost instantly if we taught smart web use at a young age, say 5th or 6th grade?

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know. Hopefully this space can also be used for civilzed discussion and if there is demand enough I'll post on a more regular basis. Cheers.

Mr. B.