Earlier this week, @naval (CEO and co-founder of AngelList) asked a question on Twitter: "The challenge of the next decade is not Artificial Intelligence, but Human Intelligence. Can we retrain the workforce as knowledge workers?"" At the heart of his question is an interesting observation. As automation and artificial intelligence replaces manual jobs, how do we retrain people in the new knowledge economy where information handling and management is in high demand? I thought I would share some experiences, observations, and recommendations based upon when I did this previously in my career. Back in 2004 I was peddling my wares as a journalist, writing for the tech press. I was living in the West Midlands in England and heard about a new organization in nearby Birmingham called OpenAdvantage. The premise was neat: open source was becoming a powerful force in technology and OpenAdvantage was set up to provide free consultancy for companies wanting to harness open source, as well as individuals who wanted to upskill in these new technologies. At the time in the West Midlands lots of industry was being automated and moved out to Asia, so lots of Midlanders were out of jobs and looking to retrain. This required, by definition, retaining the workforce as knowledge workers. OpenAdvantage was funded by the UK government and the University of Central England, had a decent war chest, and was founded by Scott Thompon and Paul Cooper (the latter of which I met when he heckled me at a talk I gave at a Linux User Group once. 🙂 ) So, I went along to their launch event and wrote a piece about them. Shortly after, Paul and Scott invited me back over to the office and offered me a job there as an open source consultant. I took the role, and this is where I cut my teeth on a lot of open source, community, and working with businesses. We had crazy targets to hit each month, so we ended up working with and training hundreds of organizations and individuals across a wide range of areas, and covering a wide berth of open source... What job did the writer take with OpenAdvantage? - not enough information - Linex user - automation expert - open source consultant
open source consultant
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My daughter was away at college preparing for her final exams and nursing boards. I knew that my daughter's cat, who has been part of our family since my daughter was in second grade, was dying of a fast growing cancer. I couldn't tell my daughter because I didn't want to upset her and take her mind off her studies and impending graduation. Once our Vet determined that there was nothing further that could be done she showed me how to give pain meds and fluids at home to keep her comfortable in hopes that she would live long enough to allow my daughter to say goodbye after her graduation. The entire week I stayed with our cat around the clock. She had completely stopped eating and drinking and was slowly dying before my eyes. She slept most of the time except when I had to put the needle in between her shoulder blades to give her fluids. Then she would cry quietly and look at me with pleading eyes. Her breathing was becoming so shallow that I had to get close to her and listen to see if she was still alive. After a week of this I began to realize that the most unselfish thing I could do for this beautiful creature was to let her go. I wrapped her in her favorite blanket and and drove her to our Vets office after they had closed for the day. She was so skinny and frail but when I held her close she still purred. I thanked her for the 14 years she had been one of my daughter's closest companions and I held her as she took her last breath. I was afraid my daughter was going to be angry with me when I told her that i made the decision with out giving her time to say goodbye. She was sad but understood that I did the kindest thing I could have done for her kitty. What was the daughter's reaction to the cat's death? - She was sad but understood. - She was angry . - not enough information - She thought it was unkind .
She was sad but understood.
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To be honest, people don't usually ask me this. Instead, they want to know things like "How do I keep my mother from falling?" or "What should I do? My grandfather's been falling." After all, falls are a scary thing. Most people know that falls are dangerous for older adults. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that one in five falls causes a serious injury such as a broken bone or head injury. Fear of falling can also seriously affect an aging adult's quality of life and sadly, can keep a person from being active and thriving. So, many seniors and family caregivers are interested in fall prevention because the risks are so great. And the good news is that although it's not possible to prevent all falls, it almost always IS possible to take actions that will reduce the chance of a bad fall. If you want to learn more, you're in the right place. In this post, I'll cover: * How understanding why aging adults fall can help you keep an older parent or yourself safer, * Why personalized fall prevention plans work better than relying on general fall prevention tips, * The four-step process I use to help older adults prevent falls, * A practical example showing you how to use these steps to avoid falls yourself. First, understand why older people fall There are many reasons that aging adults fall. Most older people will be falling due to their own unique combination of reasons. So how, exactly, should YOU go about reducing fall risk? Now, you can and should try to implement the general tips that are often listed in most fall prevention resources: exercise, medication review with the doctor, vision checks, and home safety reviews. But if you really want to help an older loved one avoid falls, I recommend you learn to better understand why he or she, in particular, might fall. Why can fear of falling significantly affect an aging person's quality of life? - that can keep them from running marathons - not enough information - that can keep them from being active and thriving - that can keep them from eating enough to be strong
that can keep them from being active and thriving
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My mom has been married three times, (nothing against her) and the first two times ended up a total mess. My dad, the first one, ended up just being a shot gun wedding. He was abusive and too young to be married with a child. They got divorced shortly after. A couple years later she met a man named Rob. He was fun, loving, kind, great with me, everything she had been looking for. They dated for.. a few months I think? Maybe a year. Then they got married and we moved to Texas. They were married for 5 years and she was just as miserable those 5 years. He was mean, he lied about everything, he was addicted to porn and stole from his job. He was controlling and wouldn't let anyone else handle money. It was a rough house to grow up in and hard on my mom as she tried to keep me from the abuse. Eventually he cheated on her with one of her best friends and she kicked him out. I didn't even notice he was gone for a week because he was so absent in my life. He apologized, turned into the man she first met and they tried again. He again cheated on her and she left him again, that time for good. They ended up finalizing the divorce a year later. I remember her telling me that she confronted him about his change of character and he had told her "Everyone puts on an act at first." As if it was a normal thing. He had depression and I believe he wanted everyone to be just as miserable as he was. After they got divorced he had on and off again relationships, got a girl pregnant and got married, then she divorced him. He lived with his cousin for a while. The only stability he ever had was with my mom and I. I think that's why he wanted to leave. Stability meant he had to become an adult and he didn't want to have to take responsibility. When did her mom and dad get divorced? - Shortly after they were married. - Maybe a year later. - not enough information - A couple years later.
Shortly after they were married.
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