Opinion
What’s So Bad About Google+ Integration with Google Search?
There has been a lot of complaining lately about Google’s integration of Google+ results into its search. There have been a lot of accusations. Many say we can no longer trust Google’s search results. Some have gone so far as to say that Google is going back on its pledge to “Do no evil.”
I see things a bit differently. Google offers a variety of services, many of which can be called apps in their own right. Google wants to integrate these services into a single app, each piece of which integrates into each other. The black toolbar added recently took a major step in this direction. The inclusion of social results from Google+ is yet another step.
Cursive – Who Thought This was a Good Idea?
I have a vivid memory from a very young age of scribbling a bunch of loops on a piece of paper with a blue ballpoint pen. My young mind was intrigued with how long swirls and peaks could form words. Of course, since I was still too young to read I was writing gibberish.
As I grew older writing became a constant part of my life. Much of my early education involved drawing block letters in large spaces on lined paper. Every year the spaces grew smaller in order to refine my handiwork. I always knew that my artistic skills were not great when it came to drawing lines, and my simple block letters were no exception.
In third grade I finally reached what I thought was the holy grail of writing. In Mrs. Powers’ class I learned to write in cursive. I learned the letters, and how to string them together easily. Of course, my cursive writing was only legible if I wrote slowly and carefully. In addition I had adopted special forms of certain letters such as the capitalized T and F from Mrs. Powers’ own style, rather than her lessons. She taught the “proper” way, but I preferred the letters as she wrote them. To me it was as much a preference in style as it was in legibility.
The next few years I dutifully wrote cursive in class. I pitied my poor teachers who had to read my writing, and I still do. My cursive legibility relied as much on the readers’ expectations as my own skills. This, I learned later, was a common thread between most writers of the cursive script. Honestly, can you say that you’ve never found a beautifully written page that had words that could only be discerned based on the words around them?
After Mrs. Powers, the most important person in my life of the handwritten word was my 8th grade history teacher, Mr. Keith. One day Mr. Keith pulled me out of class and had a very frank discussion with me.
“David,” he said, “your handwriting is terrible. Some letters angle to the left. Some angle to the right. They should all angle to the right because the eye flows better that way.”
His next words changed my life.
“Honestly, if you can’t write any better than that, then print.”
It really was that simple. The rigid requirements of school said that I should use cursive script, because it was a skill I should practice. Another requirement was that my writing be legible enough to read. The two requirements, in my case, were contrary. I had, though, been trying to meet both requirements. Mr. Keith helped me understand that there could be a choice.
From that day forward I turned in my classwork in printed form. I would have turned in my homework the same way, except that I rarely saw homework as a requirement.
Every year most teachers would approach me and inform me that I should be turning in my assignments in cursive. Printing my assignments was not acceptable, because I was expected to use cursive script. Since I had learned a bit about making decisions on my own in the face of conflicting instructions, I knew what to do. I would smile, nod, and agree to use cursive script.
I would then turn in my next assignment in cursive, without the care required to make my assignment reasonably legible. After that one assignment I would return to my printed words without a word, or a complaint from the teacher.
Cursive, I learned, was pretty but useless. As a system of communication, cursive was imprecise. With practice my writing never improved beyond what I learned in third grade. I had gained in speed, but not legibility. Cursive writing was not for me, and I began to think it wasn’t so great for everyone else either.
Several years ago the news came out that schools were no longer pushing cursive writing skills as a necessity. I was thrilled with the news. Not only would the new kids no longer be forced to learn a form of communication that was barely effective across the general population, but also there was hope that one day I could read a prescription form.
Now when I write by hand I prefer an all-caps block lettering. Occasionally I throw in a lower-case vowel such as when I write the word “email.”
I think the biggest lesson I learned through all of this wasn’t really about cursive script at all. It was about rules. To my teachers writing cursive was the rule. I was expected to follow the rule. The rule, as it turns out, wasn’t 100% right. Learning the difference between rule and right is important to us all, and cursive script was a tool that helped me understand.
Jared Loughner – Prophet?
Although there are very few statements to build on so far, we should be on the lookout for the next phase of the Jared Loughner lunacy. Jared’s worries about mind control and some variant of illiteracy that made sense to him contain just enough of a link to reality that they will spark interest in [...]
Barack Obama’s Promises – Advice Taken
Back in November, I wrote a post advising then President-Elect Barack Obama how to make lots of promises, but not necessarily keep them. Whether he was aware of it or not, he has been following my advice perfectly. The man has made plenty of promises, but failed to follow through on very much at all. [...]
Barack Obama – Miserable Failure
President Barack Obama is on track to be one of the worst presidents in history. Having been in office less than a year, he has built a track record in failure like no other president before him. As his stated goals have been to change the very ideals of America, Obama’s failures may be a [...]
Warcraft Economics – Auctions, Profiteering, and Helping Others
I love to play World of Warcraft. Questing, killing beasties, gaining achievements, and Player vs Player are just entertaining things to do on a nice relaxing evening. One of the great things about WoW, as it is known, is that there are so many different ways to play the game. One of my most enjoyable [...]
Stimulate Me – How Obama Could Win the Economic War
Now that we’re starting to get an idea of what President Obama’s economic knowledge is like, it’s starting to get a little worrisome. Taxpayer money is being thrown at hundreds of projects, like museums, sidewalks, libraries, and a trolley in Puerto Rico. Pushes for more “green energy” projects will do more to raise energy costs, [...]
Anti-Israel Protesters – I Don’t Get It. Yes I Do.
A violent street gang, over the course of months, randomly fires bullets at houses in a populated residential area. For months, the city asks politely for them to stop. Over time, the mayor begins to suggest that the gang has gone too far. Eventually, the police move in and strike at the leaders, and begin [...]
Merry Christmas
As I wake this morning, before loading the car for the day’s travels, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Because the opposite of Merry Christmas isn’t “Happy Holidays,” “Happy Festivus,” or “There is no God.” The opposite of Merry Christmas is, “I hope your dog craps on your face to wake you [...]
How to Save the US Auto Industry
As the arguments have gone on about how to bail out the US auto industry, I’ve thought a lot about it myself.I believe that the US auto industry can be saved with some rather simple steps. Primarily, these include such common-sense things as un-crippling the automakers, reforming the automotive market, and trying some innovative experimental [...]