Don Today is my Mom’s birthday. Born ninety years ago at a small hospital that no longer exists on the east side of Manhattan. Her Dad was an bailiff in the city courts and her Mom was a court stenographer. Helen was their first child. Yesterday as I sat in her room here in Tempe, AZ … Read more
Until March of this year I had not tried Uber. On a trip to Tempe AZ in March I decided to give it a try. I was skeptical and reluctant. My first ride in the valley was from my sister’s residence to my Mom’s home which was nearby. I took my iPhone out and touched … Read more
A few days ago I wrote a short piece on Facebook and in it I reflected on my anxiety of a few years ago when I retired from public education. I was certain then that my future was bleak. At the time my son said to me, “with your skill set you’re sure to excel.” … Read more
This year I got a great opportunity to work with a unique group of students in an after school program at St. Bonaventure University. I am fortunate to work with Dr. Anne Foerst, a computer science professor at St. Bonaventure. Together we applied for and received a grant from National Grid to teach STEM to … Read more
I came across a blog post from 8 years ago where I wrote about how I was working with students and talking about computers. In the post I shared that I used Ubuntu Linux as my operating system. I still work with students and I still recommend Linux over any other operating system because there is something … Read more
A few months back I purchased some surplus iPads from a local school district. I had intended to use them in an after-school program where I am a volunteer. When I discovered that I didn’t need them because we already had enough computers I laid them off to the side. A little over a month … Read more
I’ve been using Linux as my primary desktop for quite awhile. Over the years I’ve used Mandrake, Red Hat, Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian and now Linux Mint. Mint is a Ubuntu derivative which makes it part of the Debian tree in Linux. A bit over a month ago I gave my four year old MacBookPro an … Read more
Recently my friend John came to me with a problem. His Windows 8 notebook computer which is only about three years old was getting tired and not running well. He wanted to know what my suggestion was. I said, “Get a Chromebook!” He wanted to know what that was and I did a bit of … Read more
If you’re looking for a fresh educational perspective and an invitation to build a school educational program that’s the embodiment of the maker culture then you ought to read “The Open Schoolhouse: Building a Technology Program to Transform Learning and Empower Students.” Recently written and published by Charlie Reisinger who is the technology director at … Read more
Everyday I try to think of at least three things that I am thankful for. Today I’m grateful to be in good health. I’m thankful that I have a purpose in life. I’m thankful that I have a grandson too. Fall is a time of transition and sometimes it’s discouraging to see summer end. The … Read more
