This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

9-11 Hearings at Audible.com
The 9/11 Commission Hearings are available for free at Audible.com. Individual downloads of the testimony of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, former National Counterterrorism Coordinator Richard Clarke, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and others. Of course you won’t hear Condoleezza Rice…

AssortedStuff: It’s The School’s Fault Again

While this report sounds like another industry lobbying group trying to scare Congress into giving their companies lots of money, they do make one good point. We don’t do a good job of math and science instruction in this country. Part of the blame for that goes to society in general which gives lots of lip service to learning those subjects but then has an adult population which is largely (and often proudly) ignorant of even the most basic math and science concepts. How many people actually understand the odds behind the lottery or what the theory of evolution actually says?

Over at Assorted Stuff, Tim Stahmer is discussing the state of math and science education and how it is being linked to the exporting of jobs to other countries.

Had the opportunity to take part in a panel at SXSW with Tom Hoffman, Kaye Trammel and Mike Sloan. The panel went well, but the best part was meeting Mike, Kaye (and her husband Mark, oh and Triumph the Dog too.. long story…) and connecting again with Tom Hoffman. Was a nice weekend in Austin. Will post more about sessions later, but wanted to note how good these folks are to work with. The panel went well. We actually had a few compliments from folks. Austin is a great city… was a nice time. I look forward to working with Tom, Kaye, and Mike again in the future.

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There is a “no photography or videotaping” policy for the sessions. If I had known, I wouldn’t have lugged my Canon Digital Rebel with me…

There is also a $90 fine for using any of the power outlets in the halls or in the session rooms. What do they think we’re going to do, plug Marshall amps into the power outlets and start playing in the halls?

Pretty blogger unfriendly…

[Joi Ito's Web]

Several folks are talking about the use of the power outlets. I must say I didn’t hear anything about it until tonight and only after reading the SXSW Community Blog and Joi Ito’s site. Not exactly sure what the problem can be… Am glad I didn’t get fined… Concurrently at the Austin Convention Center, The Texas Home and Garden Show is taking place. Wonder if they let them use any water?

I noticed the no photography sign that Ito posted about later in the day. I didn’t see it in the morning session when Werbach spoke.

One thing I did see was about 15 folks using flash cameras during the session. Am thinking it may have more to do with speakers getting tired of folks having flash cameras going off in their faces than anything else. But am thinking a sign just telling folks not to use flash photography should be enough.

One sign I did see that made me laugh was the sign indicating that the Smoking Balcony (designated smoking area) was sponsored by National American Spirit Tobacco. Maybe next year the escalator will be sponsored by Otis…

Almost two months without a post although I have been skimming my favorite weblogs via my aggreagator on a daily basis. The new small schools in NYC have just been announced so here’s my explanation of where I’ve been during the past few months. My school proposal was finally approved and we’ll be opening our doors in September 2004 with 100 ninth grade students. I’m thrilled, exhausted, and eager to move forward to September. An incredible amount of work has gone into this since last fall but we’ve really just crossed the starting line. Our first task is to sprint… [Brooklyn BloggEd]

Congratulations Joe…