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  ≈≈ How to Have Your C “AI” K 🍰 and Eat It Too ≈≈ ∞ Teaching Kids to Think in an AI World ∞   “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Dan Millman.  Back in December, just before the holidays, we posted a couple of blogs about AI and children’s development, specifically the risks presented by AI toys. We talked about privacy, safety, and the slightly unsettling possibility that a stuffed animal might start offering life advice before the child has even learned to say “Mama.” This time I’d like to talk about the other side of the coin: the benefits of AI, the reality of it, and, most importantly, the management of it. Today’s kids will grow up in a world where AI is as ubiquitous as a key fob. So instead of asking whether children should use it, the better question might be how. AI is an extraordinary learning tool. It can explain complicated subjects, help kids explore ideas, and break down informati...
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Storms, Generators, and the Mystery of Why We Make Using Better Things Complicated. Up front, some transparency. This blog supports technology that a company we’re affiliated with uses as part of its product. If you buy their product through the links here, we may get a commission. This disclosure is at the end too, but we figured starting with it was the grown-up thing to do. But honestly, this isn’t really about selling anything. It’s about a technology that solves an obvious problem and, for reasons that remain slightly baffling, isn’t encouraged as logic would expect.   A week or so we enjoyed a spectacular blizzard. If you had nowhere to go, and I mean absolutely nowhere, it was beautiful. Peaceful. Snow falling quietly, trees wrapped in white, woods looking like a postcard, fire going in the hearth…basically a scene straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. (I can’t believe I wrote that sentence, I’m not entirely sure what came over me, I apologize.)  Before the storm,...
≈ I Did the Math on Life — and the Results Are a Little Disturbing ≈   ∞ A good reason to start rebuilding respect for each other now ∞ Ok, I know. I’m an idealist. A dreamer. Naïve. Foolish. Possibly the only adult left who still believes the “Reply All” button should be used responsibly. I think no one should suffer. No one should go without food, clothing, shelter, or education. I think life is not a competition. It’s not a reality show where the one standing at the end is the winner. And it’s short. Ridiculously short. Based on my completely unpaid and wildly unverified research, we spend about 30% of our lives sleeping and 70% earning a living, which leaves approximately 0% for actually living. If you make it to 80, congratulations, you’ve technically had zero years of free time. I’m not saying the math checks out, but I ran it by AI and it responded with a confident paragraph and a pie chart, so obviously it’s correct. When I re-calculated using my trusty desk calculator I ...
  ≈≈ Is a Square Round? ≈≈ ∞ A Modest Proposal for Civil Political Discourse ∞ When is a Square a Circl e ? Friends of mine like to point out, frequently and with actual mementos, that I have a hard time admitting I’m wrong. Their evidence surrounds me: a sign that says, “I am not arguing, I am just explaining why I’m right,” another proclaiming, “As long as everything is exactly the way I want it, I’m totally flexible,” and a button that reads, “I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.” All gifts of love, obviously. I know this because they still answer when I call. And truth be told, I get it. It would be very hard for me to argue with them about that. I would, but it would be hard… 😊 Which brings me to my favorite kind of discussion: supporting statements like “a square is round.” It’s absurd, challenging, and oddly satisfying. It invites openness, curiosity, and discussion, not instant conclusions. And in that way, it’s not far from modern political debate, assumi...
≈ Today’s World Is Stressful. It’s Your Job to Manage It ≈ Some Thoughts On a Strategy.   In the crowd I “hang” with, we agree on a lot. (Quotation marks because most of the hanging is done through texts, and phone calls, with occasional face to faces that require travel). We agree on favorite places we’ve been. Favorite restaurants. Favorite vodka. Bucket lists. Life philosophies. We’ve known each other forever. And then there’s the stuff we don’t all agree on, worst places we’ve been, whether Clapton is the best ever, and restaurants, like the place everyone loves but one of us still actively warns complete strangers to avoid. Yes, and some politics, a little. Yet, somehow, miraculously, we still talk to each other and enjoy being with each other. No shouting. No unfriending. No dramatic exits from a group chat followed by an obscure social media meme. It’s a modern miracle worthy of study. This is called a choice. (Remember that word, it keeps coming up). There are things w...
  ≈≈ Fitting Exercise Into Your Day Without Using Any Time ≈≈ ≡ Nine Simple Things That Help ≡ **First, and most importantly, I’m not a doc, so if you’re thinking of getting into exercise talk to your doc before you do. You can send them the link so they can see what the routine is. They may want you to get checked out first. OK, disclaimer done, now it’s on your back 😊 So, I’m one of those older Northeast people that hasn’t migrated south for the winter. There’s a myriad of reasons. Our kids are here, grandkids as well. We’re comfortable in our home and happy here. We love the seasons and, not least of all, I have a wife and a watch and they both work. She works here, so here’s where we live. Super Cool Watches We have relatives and friends that are full-time South as well as those that are snowbird Floridians. They laugh at us in the winter, some pretty funny memes and comments. In the summer we ask if they’re enjoying the heat and humidity, both reported in one number, reg...