Inside View

The Pandemic Made Me Read Better

ONE OF THE BIGGEST revelations of this era of social isolation is that when people follow rules of social distancing they often rediscover vitality close at hand. In my case, social isolation has encouraged me to read more.

I haven't read more of Facebook but I have scrolled deep into Instagram's grid--the place where I find more words than images. I also read several pages deep into two of my curated lists on Twitter. And I spend more time--much more time--reading content I've paid to see through The Atlantic, The Irish Times, The New York Times, Tipperary Live, and the Washington Post.

My first two hours with @RoamResearch

I USED A TIMER to allow myself two hours for my first hands-on routine with Roam Research, a note-taking and personal knowledge management service that I used to produce this InsideView.ie blog post. I'm confident that if I could save at least 15 euro a month by focusing my note-taking inside Roam because I could reduce my annual consumption of Moleskine journals (see samples in my photostream below). I'm still going to use pen and paper for some of my sketchnotes but the recurring tasks were always more efficient using a template. During my two hour stint with Roam, I created several of those templates and I linked them to the left hand panel (seen above) that displays when Roam launches.

Teaching Lessons in Social Capital

I AM A BELIEVER in the value of social capital. I wish I was better at cultivating it, especially during the post-COVID era when face to face meet-ups have become preciously rare. It's a thought shared by Bill Thompson during the 2020 running of #audiomo and one I talked about in my own podcast below the fold.

Interacting with Tadhg

I STARTED THIS run of text while deeply involved in back-to-back emergency remote teaching. I needed a place to keep text separate from Zoom-equipped laptop while connecting to students outside (above). This is what I wrote for a rundown with Tadhg Briody.

@firemanrich We're experimenting with @taperealapp #socialreality

THESE DAYS OF SOCIAL DISTANCING have made me more eager for real connections so the arrival of the TapeReal App on our well-used iPad piqued my interest.

I made a video tape from our sitting room couch. If you listen, you can hear the sound of our proximity alarm barking.

Set Piece from a Locked Down Semester #clonmeldigital

SPRING SEMESTER 2020 enjoys historic standing as the time traditional academics pivoted dramatically into an emergency remote mode. Fortunately for me, I had 20 students near the finish line of the "Emerging Trends and Technologies" module who could produce a set piece that will enjoy critical appraisal whenever anybody looks back at what might be possible through a distance education collaboration of students.

Another Chilling ICU Story h/t @jameshamblin @katlwells

DOCTOR HANDSOME aka James Hamblin (the Preventive Medicine doctor above) and Nervous Nelly aka Katherine Wells (executive producer of many creative things) join me many mornings as I walk our Bedlington Terrier on a tightly constrained two km radius of our home in Ireland. I listen to their prescriptions for Social Distance, because their podcast from The Atlantic seems to drop into my podcatcher around sunrise many mornings just as our dog announces it's time. This morning, I reinforced my prejudice against being admitted to the hospital for something as critical as COVID-19. Actually, I became more acutely aware of underlying conditions that erode my health.

Sunday Reads are Best Long Reads

I'm rarely disappointed when the same long reads appear in both my podcatcher and my blog reader. I recommend a long read from both The Daily and Audm about astronomy and extrasolar planetary science. Few astronomers have contributed to exoplanet research as mightily as Dr. Sara Seager of MIT.

You can hear the brilliant story about The Woman Who Might Find Another Earth" by subscribing to The Daily on all good podcast networks.

Sara Seager

 

Planning for a World without an Office Water Cooler

ONE OF THE BIGGEST concerns I have about being locked out of work is losing any sort of internal communications. Since we cannot meet casually around a coffee dock or chat at a table in the canteen, I'm trying to use apps (in the screenshot) that give me meaningful online pulse points.

Listen to "Planning Better Home Screen Newsfeeds E494" on Spreaker.

As I write this, I realise I have no watering hole for staff communications. We have no listserv, no online commons area. More than ever, we need to leverage Microsoft Teams.