Dave, this is a bit off the beaten track for your technical Q&A, but I’m confused by everything I’ve read and can’t figure out who came up with communism, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin or Leon Trotsky? I hear all their names bandied about, but thought maybe you’d be able to shed some light on this topic.
Dave, given the breadth of your knowledge, how do you keep up? Do you experience “learning overload?” What does it feel like for you, and how does it affect you and your business? What do you do about it and how do you counter it?
Dave, since you seem to be answering a wide range of questions, I’ve been reading with horror about the evidence that Ukrainian liberal candidate Viktor A. Yushchenko has been poisoned by dioxin, and it struck me: isn’t this the same chemical that the Food and Drug Administration tests for in our meat and poultry?
Dave, Dave, you’ve gotta shed some light on this: I keep getting email messages – spam – for different drugs, and I’m getting a bit curious about what each one does… I’ve kept a list and this week alone I’ve had the chance to buy all of the following drugs from online pharmacies at a huge discount: vicodin, xanax, valium, cialis, vioxx, oxycontin, viagra, ativan, botox, levitra, ambien and phentermine. Talk about alphabet soup! What ARE these drugs? And, by the way, why are there so many Vioxx lawyers trying to get me to join their lawsuits?
Dave, I’m very concerned about the “search engine” approach to doing research. I think it’s useless as training for doing real research, encourages children to acquire just the superficial facts, skimming along the surface of information rather than learning the real story on any given topic.
The first use of computers for research should be learning how to find books at the library. Second, students should learn how to use physical encyclopedias and online encyclopedias. Third, students should be introduced to online periodical indexes. The use of search engines should be the last “skill” to be introduced and should be combined with a discussion of the commercial underpinnings of the system and the various ways that results are manipulated.
You seem to be pretty deep in the world of search engines and online research. Do you agree with what I’m saying?
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