What has caught my attention this week?
Writing with Miles Davis
Aaron Gilbreath, questioning the value of lengthy, extended and verbose sentences in prose, holds up Miles's economical playing as a model for writing. Miles was famously quoted, "Play what's not there," and the author offers several musical examples "show how measured, uncluttered phrasing increases rather than decreases the impact," and explores how other writers effectively communicate a lot through brevity. (Contrast this with John Coltrane, Miles's bandmate during the 1950s; "Once in a while Miles might say, 'Why did you play so long, man?' and John would say, 'It took that long to get it all in.'" Quoted in Jack Chambers, Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis.)
(Source: Monica McCarthy)
How Studying Body Language Changed the Way I Socialize
Phil Dhingra, a former game company employee, now mobile app developer, describes how a former boss taught him empathy through observing others' body language, understanding context and the unsaid, and learning to get away from the conditioned response.
(Source: Hacker News)
Study faults most colleges and universities for not having stronger general education requirements
Evidently college students don't succeed on tests measuring general knowledge, which is another quality employers seek along with technical skills. In other words, people who are culturally literate.
(Source: Academic Impressions)
Related: And while we're at it, a Census Bureau publication reports the correlation between college major choice and earnings.
(Source: Inside Higher Ed)
Data Scientist: the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century
Hard to imagine? The sought after employee appears to be someone mastering computer programming/development and statistics, with doors opening in business, health and medicine and life sciences, or even in settings and careers we haven't yet imagined.
QR Codes: A Back Door for Malware
Too bad. They're fun, actually, with a mobile and an app to scan and read.
(Source: Academic Impressions)
Pay it forward and paying tribute: talking to undergraduates at my alma mater
A fine piece by Bonnie Swoger, science librarian and blogger, telling how she talked to students about her career in libraries and honored one of her professors at a festschrift.
(Source: Bora Zikovic)
What i was born for
Lindsey Mead, one of my favorite writers, quotes a marvelous Mary Oliver poem reflecting the themes of awareness and reading.
