Year: 2007

Edward Tufte Short Course

Just back from attending this short course by the master of “intelligent design” himself Edward Tufte. It was well worth the time and effort! I’d recommend it to anyone who prepares or presents information with a computer (ie, just about everyone!). His insights are numerous and often challenge conventional wisdom. His bottom line is to enhance communication by increasing the dimensionality and resolution of data. The course included copies of all four of his major books, highlighting the most recent, Beautiful Evidence. The photo shows his discussion of Powerpoint’s role in the Columbia disaster, which I reviewed in 2005 and is included in Beautiful Evidence.

Update: Visit my Using PowerPoint Effectively resource page.

Everglades Canoe Trip 2007

I dubbed this year’s trip Challenging the Elements for good reason. By pure chance this was the most difficult trip yet. We started by navigating in the dark on the first day. This was not as bad as it sounds and turned out to be rather pleasant. The next day started out warm and sunny, but the weather changed abruptly to rain, then cold rain with a headwind. We would fight the wind several more times before the end. At one point we were forced off a small bay and had to bushwack our way to the next river. All told it was quite the adventure!

Mirror Neurons, Imitation Learning and Empathy

Mirror Neurons help explain why watching someone perform a task is almost as important as doing it yourself. The human brain responds to both doing and watching in the same way. Mirror neurons may also play an important role in social interaction and the development of empathy. Researchers recently proposed that their dysfunction may explain some of the symptoms of autism. And speaking of autism, what about a possible link to early television exposure? This reinforces the AAP “no television under 2 years of age” recommendation.