Why I don't read the newspaper...

Today I got up as usual to begin my day with a cup of coffee and the news.   I'm finishing now, but the paper is still in the driveway.  My reading is far broader and more interesting than it was in my paper-based days.  So, what's the drill?

I start with a look at my email accounts.   This brings me up-to-date on friends, but also includes newsletters I've subscribed to as well.   All of this is specifically tailored to me.   My email also includes all of those coupons that would have been in my print edition, but now there is no need for clipping.   I simply move them into a specific folder (or have a filter already set that does this) and they are available on my phone when I arrive at the store.

Next, it's off to my RSS feeds.   I'm now using feedly.com to read my 30 or so subscriptions.  These bring me the most up-to-the minute information about competitive cycling and curling (not covered in my paper),  local news from that paper in the driveway, news about current hobbies such as genealogy, lots of tech stories, and stories recommended by trusted friends and colleagues.

Finally, it's off to Google news.   This great service allows me to see all the news but select the vehicle most appropriate for any given story.   I can read international stories from the BBC, entertainment stories from E! Online, hot topics from the Huffington Post, financial news from Bloomberg and on and on.   By right-clicking on each interesting headline and opening the stories each in their own tab, I have much more news than I ever got in my papers from a much richer spread of presentations and opinions.

Good morning!

First day of fall and it's a beautiful one.   As seems to be usual at the equinox, we were treated to a heavy rainfall last night.  I don't know if there is any scientific reason for this or even if it is statistically accurate, but it seems so to me.   The skies were clear and sun was out today.   That made it a perfect day for geocaching.

Geocaching is really the perfect combination of things that enjoy and motivate me.    First, the hidden caches take you to lovely parks and other outdoor venues like this one I found today in New Garden, PA.

Second, the technology is intriguing.   I'm now using iCaching on my Mac to organize the database of caches after downloading from Geocaching.com.   The app on the iPad and iPhone now enable searching for nearby caches, locating the exact spot, and logging the success or failure right from the field.  This is so much easier than the various scraps of paper needed when I started this hobby in 2004.

Third, there is the lure of keeping up stats and setting different goals.   Geocaching.com has greatly improved the reporting so I now can know the distribution of caches with regard to difficulty and terrain, which days of the week I'm most likely to find a cache,  the list of states and countries where I've located caches, and many more.

As of today,  I have 1612 caches in 19 countries and 22 states.   I didn't realize  know I'd been in 19 countries!

Catching up on math

One of my regrets is that I never was able to master calculus as an undergrad. I changed my major from chemistry to political science when I ran head-on into Calculus I. Later, when I bought an Apple ][+ in 1978, I discovered what I really should have been doing and studying -- computer programming. I did program professionally for about 10 years but probably could have done a lot more with a stronger math background.

So, today I have time and there are plenty of resources. I've recently started using Khan Academy videos and programming to start my quest. The whole thing appeals to my short attention span and the game aspects of acquiring points along the way. The mastery tasks allow me to make progress and refresh my memory of lots of long forgotten facts about geometry and trig. I especially like the ability to access a quick hint or dip into a longer Youtube video along the way.

I also took a look at some of the other subject areas and found them to be less appealing. For example, the economics material consists mainly of videos and open-ended questions. The MOOCs I've participated in seem much more useful for this kind of subject matter.

Now the question is how long I stick with the math!

What shall I do today?

Now that I've been retired for almost a full year, I'm quite used to the question "So, what are you doing with yourself?" My answer is almost always "Whatever the heck I want...every day!"

That really is what I've been doing, but it's not a satisfying catalog of the various ways my time is now filled to overflowing. So, once again I've decided it might be fun to reflect on some of the things I've been spending my time on by starting a new blog. Over the years, I've left the Internet littered with dozens of blogs and wikis. This will be more of the same but this time only for my enjoyment and whoever else stumbles by.

I'm keeping my old location at www.udel.edu/sine with the professional endeavors and setting up at this new location. The last few times I set up new blogs I used WordPress, either at edublogs.com or on a local implementation. I love the platform but I thought it would be a good chance to revisit blogger, where I've found several of the blogs I left behind but also some pleasant surprises in the new things they've added since I was here before.

So here goes my first entry with a goal of 200 words per day on whatever I choose each day!