Tag: technology

Responses on Twitter to “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Last week I asked: What did you say when someone asked you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” when you were in elementary school. Below are some answers from Twitter. Enjoy! (Also, feel free to continue the #wdywtbwygu hashtag.)

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

UPDATE: Read some of the responses.

Quick thoughts from this evening:

@P2chairman When I was in elementary school and people asked, “What do want to be when you grow up?” I’d say, “scientist and inventor.”less than a minute ago via Power TwitterGreg Linch
greglinch


@P2chairman I’ve realized more and more over the past year or so how much those lie at the heart of my interest in journalism and technologyless than a minute ago via Power TwitterGreg Linch
greglinch

When you were in elementary school, what did you say when asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Do you see any connections between that and your current job or interests?

Thinking about this makes me feel thankful for all the great opportunities I’ve had and continue to have in journalism and technology.

UPDATE: Read some of the responses.

News Foo session pitches

I’m here in Phoenix for the first-ever News Foo camp (what’s a Foo Camp?). I’ve pitched two sessions for this afternoon based on ideas I’ve been thinking about lately:

I’ve been meaning to write about these once the ideas are baked a little bit more, so stay tuned for more details.

Books: Finished Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky, started Program or be Programmed by Douglas Rushkoff

Goodreads is a social network for readers that Lauren Rabaino introduced me to in June. One of the cool features they offer is a way to embed the review you write about a book, so I’ve added that below for Clay Shirky’s Cognitive Surplus, which is the first book I’ve tracked my progress with using Goodreads (and read in its entirety on the iPad):

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected AgeCognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The deft way Shirky connects and articulates different concepts (even when they’re mostly very familiar), plus the examples he deconstructs and conclusions he offers, make this a highly insightful read.

I really want to re-read Here Comes Everybody at some point soon.

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Adding to that review, I’d again emphasize: although the concepts Shirky discusses may not be new to you, the way he frames everything and connects ideas is wonderful. I would recommend that anyone working in journalism read this book.

For a taste of the book, read the Wired piece Cognitive Surplus: The Great Spare-Time Revolution and watch a related TED talk, How cognitive surplus will change the world:

The next book I’m reading is Program or be Programmed by Douglas Rushkoff, which I started last night. Follow my progress on Goodreads and join the conversation about the book on Rushkoff’s site.

For a taste of the book, read his Huffington Post piece and watch his SXSW 2010 speech:

Regarding Rushkoff’s premise, there are some interesting comments on this BoingBoing post.

I’m aiming to read Program or Be Programmed pretty quickly and then move on to Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson, which I’ve written about previously in the context of innovation.

What are some interesting books you’ve read lately? Please share in the comments!

STEM for kids, teens and me. And my sister.

Consider:

…programming should be used as a means to introduce kids to ways of thinking and problem solving that will be useful to them in many different spheres of human endeavor. If in the process they get hooked to computer science and end up in careers involving programming, that would not be a very shabby outcome, either!

Shuchi Grover said this in a post about Computational Thinking, Programming…and the Google App Inventor on SmartBean (read other highlights).

I sat down Sunday morning to read that piece (which I found through my handy Google alert for “computational thinking”) and it reminded me of something I’d almost completely forgotten about:

In summer 2000 — before eighth grade — I attended IMACS (no relation to Apple) for a few weeks. IMACS, short for the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, offered STEM-related activities in a day-camp format for different age groups.

My faint memories from IMACS include programming some rudimentary commands to control a robot, working with simple electronic circuitry to illuminate small light bulbs and completing various logic/reasoning questions.

So why did I, as 13-year-old who was mainly interested in writing, do this? Honestly, I don’t remember exactly beyond these two basic reasons:

  • My good friend Chris was going to attend
  • I’d had some technical inclinations since elementary school

You see, Chris and I had been aftercare aids at Country Isles. Yes, we sometimes clutched clipboards and walkie-talkies as we deposited toys in classrooms. But we also assisted with tech and AV — even Winterfest in 1997 (I will never forget what it’s like to be a 10-year-old running cables and duct-taping down wires for a school-wide singing show. Oh, and what ever happened to MiniDiscs?).

Earlier in elementary school when people would ask me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I would say, “A scientist and inventor.” Surely, even a few years after such a notion, that too factored into my decision to attend IMACS.

My larger point in recapping all this history is that earlier interests, such as from childhood, can stick with us as we grow up and it’s never too late to start appreciating other areas.

Honestly, math was my least favorite subject in high school. I used to think journalists and math didn’t mix. I was young(er) and wrong. In the year or so since I graduated college, I wish I had done at least one stats class (in addition to psychology, but that’s for another post).

So why am I now fascinated by computational thinking and programming? My passion for journalism and how the fields relate, sure. But it’s also clear that my earlier interest and experiences, even one as limited as IMACS, play some role. (I also always have to credit Daniel Bachhuber specifically on the computational thinking front because he shared the first things I read/listened to on that topic.)

All of this is not to say you can’t develop a tech inclination later in life. You certainly can. What I am saying is how it’s helpful to evaluate what and who might have influenced you — and what comes of that.

Case in point, yesterday I talked my sister through setting up a blog on WordPress.com. I didn’t succeed earlier in the summer in getting her to host her own cooking blog, but in June she did buy her domain. What changed yesterday? I don’t know. We were just video IM chatting and it happened. Michelle, a rising college sophomore interested in finance and business (she digs math), is now set up to be a creator — not just a consumer.

Even if she never sets up her own hosted blog, never touches a line of code or never goes any further, it has — thus far — certainly been worth my brotherly nudging. And, to borrow from Grover, it wouldn’t be too shabby if she did.

What were some of your most noteworthy technical influences? Where did those influences lead?

Correction: The opening quote, originally attributed to Charles Profitt, has been updated to reflect the actual source — Shuchi Grover.