The Socratic Method

I came across an interesting article on Digg — it was interesting on two levels: one, I learned about an fascinating method of teaching (The Socratic Method, of course); and two, I learned binary arithmetic [along with a bunch of third graders]. The Socratic Method of teaching is a method of teaching using only questions. Binary arithmetic is arithmetic using only two numbers [namely, 1 and 0].

Here’s the link.

Comment and let me know if you have had any experience with the Socratic Method . . . or with binary arithmetic for that matter!

100 Novels Refresh

Okay, so I haven’t been reading as much as I would like. I got stalled out on the sci-fi classic, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” by Heinlein. I don’t know, it wasn’t exciting enough to keep my interest, I guess. So, with the new year fast approaching, I intend to dive back into my 100(+) novels list with renewed fervor. If you don’t know what I’m talking about see the 100 Novels page.

Book Review: Starship Troopers

There was nothing wrong with this book. It was fine. Really. It’s just.
Well. (I didn’t want to get into this but here goes) It was kinda
boring.

Yeah. To me, this book felt like a war documentary – I think it was the
lack of exciting plot, more than anything – Heinlein was masterful in
skewing the world we know into a believable futuristic world, a
realistic world, full of cool ideas and concepts, but it was just a
little too dull.

Allow me to summarize: a youngster joins up with the “Mobile Infantry”,
is sent through boot camp, war breaks out against bug-like aliens,
youngster rises slowly through the ranks . . . and . . . that’s it. No
twist. No big finish.

Seriously, the first few chapters I was smiling to myself. “This is
gonna be great,” I thought. And it was, but again, the exciting plot
failed to show itself. So, my verdict: if you’re a hard-core Sci-fi
fan, you’ll be reading this anyway, but if not, don’t bother with this
one (though it is a quick read at around 208 pages).

My score: 3 out of 5

Classic Literature on MP3

I finally finished H.G. Wells The Time Machine on audiobook. I was able to download it, free and legally, from this great online resource which I highly recommend: Project Gutenberg. Another great resource for audiobooks in the public domain is at The Internet Archive. And here’s another: Librivox.

RSS for The Rest of us

Really Simple Syndication [RSS] is everywhere online these days (the icon on the left is frequently used to symbolize the existence of an RSS feed on a website or blog). This post is for the uninitiated, for those of you who either do not know what RSS is or do not know how RSS can benefit you. Now, how to put it in simple terms . . .

Imagine wanting to get several newspapers to read each morning – you have two basic options, don’t you? You can either go to the local newspaper stand for the local paper, then make a trip to New York City to get the New York Times, then make yet another trip to get your next newspaper. Or, you can choose option two and set up a subscription for each of these newspapers and have someone else do all the work getting them to your doorstep [or to your ditch or in your bushes, as the case may be].

Well. This is how RSS works. You have two basic options for web content: 1) visit each and every site you want to keep up with everyday [not knowing whether there will be new content or not], or 2) use an RSS feed to direct any new content from those websites to a single RSS reader. That’s it, really – everything else is details.

Here are some of those details: There are many RSS readers available today – some of them stand-alone programs, some of them making use of your browser’s display – too many for me to cover here, really. I’m just going to suggest one, as it is the one I am currently using. That is, Google Reader. Google Reader is fairly straightforward, has advanced features like the ability to share your feeds with others, and like so many of Google’s products is constantly being updated and improved. If you already have a Gmail account, you can start using it right away, otherwise, just create an account and “get after it”.

I’d be interested in what RSS feeds you follow – I’ll post some of my favorites in the comments.