February 2014 – ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

“Teaching” at the university, or: I am neither a, nor your, private teacher

2014-02-28

Clearing up a misconception in university teaching. At least in Germany, the ones in front of the class are not teachers, nor are they rewarded for teaching. Making this and a few other issues clear is really helpful. I think it led to students still knowing they could ask me, but stop wasting time on irrelevancies.
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If you cut off the spine of a book to digitize it, keep your legs out of the way

2014-02-28

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. James Russell Lowell Personally, […]

A very good article on time management in science

2014-02-27

Read a very good paper on time management. Love the ways you can say no, without coming off too negative (two-page table!).
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Why not to trust in-department data storage

2014-02-19

A third point against local storage of research data: Professors are not forever — it only seems this way. Not meant as offense, but read yourself.
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Being an Adult, or: Life is Not a Song

2014-02-17

Ah, princesses. Nice that Disney and other companies try to celebrate self-determined people, but shouldn't they be competent as well? Shouldn't they, I don't know, start learning or something after they have finished singing?
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Using HemingwayApp Offline

2014-02-16

Hemingway is a cool website that evaluates how well you write -- okay, at least gives you some feedback. If you do not want to use it online, there is a way to use it offline ... a fairly easy way.
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Dealing With the Plagiarism Plague Among Students

2014-02-15

Some ideas of dealing with plagiarism among students, dealing with the facilitating skill development and changing the mindset of the students. Applicable for instructors and universities -- and even students who want to prevent plagiarism.
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Let’s Not Wait for a Panacea to Ensure Good Scientific Practice

2014-02-14

Comment on a presentation about good scientific practice and what can be done to ensure that science keeps its integrity (including pre-registration of studies and data sharing). Also: Social Media.
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Write like Hemingway — no, not drunk, but better.

2014-02-13

Hemingway is a cool webapp that evaluates your writing in terms of complexity, used adjectives and adverbs, and more. All it takes is a quick copy & paste.
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The Fear of Making Mistakes

2014-02-12

Do you have something to say, but fear that others will criticize you for it, especially if you make a mistake? Scared of the vitriol online? This posting is for you.
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This is a private blog showing my opinions. If you have an issue with what I write here, either don’t read it or talk to me directly. Don’t waste your time — or mine — dragging my employer into matters where they hold no authority.

The institution I work for, or rather the people officially representing it, have already distanced themselves from this blog. I find this unnecessary, as I’ve clearly stated in the «About this Blog» section that this is a personal blog.

Frankly, I have nothing but contempt for those who lack the backbone to address their concerns directly and instead resort to passive-aggressive tattling to others. Such behavior strikes me as not only cowardly, but also spineless, gutless, and wholly unprincipled. Moreover, these efforts are as pathetic as they are futile.

That said, I might listen if you present compelling arguments and evidence, as constructive feedback is always welcome. Who knows? We might even both gain something valuable from the interaction.

A comment for those seeking to use this site for personal gain: Given the increase in requests, let me be clear. I write on this blog because I want to. It’s my hobby, my playground. Sometimes people point me to interesting products/services and I write about them. But any request regarding ads or sponsored placements ends up the trash without a reply. And if you think something would be of interest, differentiate yourself from the spammers by referring to a posting — in an intelligent way. (I get enough auto-generated mails to identify them immediately.)

BTW, posts can get updated after I published them if I spot spelling errors (not a native speaker) or think a different wording might improve precision and clarity.

This blog is not focused on a single topic, or method. As long as it is relevant to improving creativity (or allowing it in the first place), it's fair game.
Some postings on this blog deal with freedom, as I think that we need freedom of thought, of speech, of association, etc. pp. to solve mankind's problems. Thus, some postings may seem a bit remote when it comes to organizing creativity. Freedom is, however, the bedrock of creativity.
The heterogeneity of the postings can make reading this blog a bit cumbersome, at least if you are only interested in one topic. You can either use the search function (above), or use the categories or the tags to narrow down the postings you see.

ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

How to generate, capture, and collect ideas to realize creative projects.

Month: February 2014