So I went to a talk by Bill Buxton yesterday, which really lit a spark under me. He's a Human / Computer Interface guy, but yesterday was speaking more about what needs to change in the computer world than what he's done. I jotted down a couple of things he said that struck me. One of them is that he always writes as he reads, to help him remember and to link ideas. He showed a webpage on Everest where he's keeping track of all his books and readings on the subject. This is my attempt at a regular "academic log" that will help me organize my thoughts. Back to his thoughts: Always ask yourself, "does this design reduce or increase the complexity?" "I believe the future is in heterogeneous social networks." "We don't reward collaborative problem solving in education - we call it 'cheating'." "Don't waste time researching the inevitable (don't try to build a faster computer because it will happen even without you!)".