When I talk with people about my life as a prison teacher, I like to start off with information that makes them doubt that their tax money has been well spent. For example, I usually lie and say that the most important characteristic of a prison teacher is the ability to drink large quantities of coffee. That really isn’t true. Coffee drinking is actually only the second most important ability. It is necessary, because it adds to a relaxed atmosphere, that is conducive to learning. More important is an ability to listen.
I try to keep up this deception, until my audience is totally dismayed. Then I typically end by saying that only about 20% of the inmates at our prison ever end up in prison again (recidivism). This contrasts with 52% in USA. The incarceration rate per 100 000 is 75 in Norway, 707 in USA. Of course, we pay more for each inmate. In Norway it is about USD 90 000 per inmate per year. In USA it is between USD 35 000 and 65 000 (depending on the state) per inmate per year.
A typical inmate has experienced an abusive childhood. S/he (for we have all varieties of sexes at our prisons) may also be abusive, at least outside of prison. So lots of time is spent on anger management. This costs money, as does education.
The reason I am bringing this up is to mention one specific inmate, and one of the small percent who had numerous stays in prisons. I can’t remember the precise details now, but he had attended something like fourteen different schools in a period of six years, before he somehow managed to escape the oversight of the educational authorities.
He was failed, not only by his parents, but by the entire social welfare system. It was my job to teach him math, science and related practical skills. It was with him that tobors were born. Tobors are very simple machines. They are so simple, that even people without an elementary school education, can make them. Making and operating a tobor involves six different jobs.
However, before one can actually make a tobor, one needs a client – somebody, anybody, who needs a tobor to do something. It was usually very convenient for me to take on that role myself.
To work with tobors, the students (yes, there was usually more than one, most frequently six) and I would leave the prison and head off to a place called a Newton Room, at the local science centre. Here we would work with Mindstorm kits, and lego blocks, for a day.
Job 1: Designer.
The first job of the tobor designer was to find out what the client needed. This can be provocative. Because, one is trying to look beyond what the client wants, or says he wants. This was usually done by having the designer ask questions and sketch solutions. So yes, drawing, was one of the practical skills that had to be learned. In fact, this job was so important, it was usually started a week or more before I even mentioned tobors.
Kurt Hanks and Larry Belliston have written Rapid Viz: A New Method for the Rapid Visualization of Ideas, Third Edition. It would be an exaggeration to say that I actually used the text-book in the classroom. As many people know, books can be daunting, if not frightening. So, while I might leave the book lying around in the off-chance that someone might actually pick it up, I almost always presented its content orally, along with a few strategically photocopied pages.
One characteristic of a tobor, is that it needs to sense its environment. So it usually is equipped with one or more sensors. Then, again, it has to actually do something when something is sensed, so it needs parts that could actually do things, like move. These parts are called actuators. Deciding which parts to include, and where they go, is all part of the designer’s job.
Job 2: Builder
The first tobors were made using lego blocks, and all sorts of other components found in Lego Mindstorm kits. Some of the components were sensors, others were actuators, but most were just mechanical/ structural components.
Usually there was some sort of deviation between what was drawn, and what was made. This is normal. In building a prototype, a drawing is just an approximation to a solution. It needs real world input to transform itself from a concept into a meaningful product. A prototype is just another waypoint, leading to a product that can be manufactured. Even then, that product will be continuously improved.
It is at this point that I try to expand the student’s vocabulary with the term iteration. One dictionary defines it as “a procedure in which repetition of a sequence of operations yields results successively closer to a desired result.” Unfortunately, the numerous big words used in dictionary definitions, quite often get in the way of someone actually understanding something.
Job 3: Electrician
Being a tobor electrician is very simple, especially if one is using a Mindstorm kit. There are a few wires that have to be put in place between a central control unit, and a sensor or actuator. These are idiot proof, in that it is impossible to put them in incorrectly.
Job 4: Programmer
Programming a mindstorm kit is easy. It is almost impossible to do something wrong, because one is following a template. Programming a tobor typically takes a few minutes.
Job 5: Tester
The last job of the day, before the real fun begins, is to test out the tobor, to make sure that it works as designed. Most often this involves making adjustments to the program. Sometimes, mechanical components may need to be assembled differently. The term iteration, is used more and more frequently, and the performance of the tobor becomes progressively better.
Job 6: Operator
This job involved using the tobor to actually do the job it was designed, and made for. Since it was tested before this, it usually works – except when it doesn’t.
With up to six inmates each working on their own tobor, there is a lot of opportunity for people to co-operate. One person might have a good idea, and within a few minutes that idea has diffused to the entire group. I am reminded of the Men’s Shed movement. Men are most comfortable talking not face to face, but shoulder to shoulder. See: http://usmenssheds.org/home-page/
A tobor ready for action.
Dreams
Abuse dulls, and a childhood filled with abuse dulls so intensely, that it makes living almost meaningless. What I always hope for, in the inmates I am working with, is that they will become passionate about something, anything. It might not be a tobor, or robot, as many people call them, but that is not important.
When someone becomes passionate, they can begin to dream. In a nutshell, that was my job. No, not teaching math or helping them build tobors, but helping people to become passionate dreamers!
Colossus was the world’s first digital, electronic, programmable computer, although it was programmed by switches and plugs and not by a stored program. It was constructed at Bletchley Park, England in 1943-4. It was designed by research telephone engineer Tommy Flowers (1905-1998), assisted by William Chandler, Sidney Broadhurst and Allen Coombs; with Erie Speight and Arnold Lynch developing the photoelectric reading mechanism.. Twelve machines were built, which were used for military (decryption) purposes during World War II.
Colossus, the world’s first electronic, digital, programmable computer build 1943-4, and on display at The National Museum of Computing, at Bletchley Park, England.
A colossus machine used massive amounts of electrical energy (8.5 kW) compared with a today’s devices (sometimes less than 50 W), but it was able to undertake massive amounts of computation – for its day, the value of which far exceeded its electrical consumption. 272 women (Wrens) and 27 men were needed to operate ten machines.
Fast forward to today. My aspiration for the Internet (and computing in general), is that it will (help) transform the World, by allowing everyone, including the poorest, access to vital information on numerous topics, including but not limited to: weather and climate, health, nutrition, education, appropriate technology, assorted innovations, ethics and art. We must treat all people as equal citizens with dignity, welcome in a digital world that is still in the process of being created. We must forge peace, not wage war!
The New Colossus
The world anno 2019 does not need an old colossus. Big data, and the information that derives from it, fuels the world. A new colossus is needed, server farms, that can provide data and information to everyone. Unfortunately, the major technological firms are less interested in supplying data, than they are in collecting it, especially personal data.
The new colossus has an energy challenge. For every watt needed to run a server, half a watt is needed to cool it. Selecting a location for a server farm can be as important as selecting a processor, to achieve energy efficiency. Iceland is a preferred location, not just because of its cold climate all, but also because of its cheap and carbon-neutral geothermal electricity. Fibre optic cables connect it to North America and Europe. Other prime locations are in Canada, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. At the most well regulated sites, waste heat from servers warms residential, commercial and even factory buildings, compensating their computing usage.
A modern server farm, at Visa Data Centre, Baskingstoke, England
An Aside
It is in this spirit that the words of Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) are repeated. She wrote them in 1883 to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. In 1903, her sonnet was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal’s lower level:
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Devices
Computer is an inappropriate term to describe personal devices used to access and manipulate data. These devices seldom compute! Several equipment manufacturers produce devices for the poor of this world. Often, these are referred to as phones, but larger devices, such as tablets, laptops and desktop machines, are also provided. One of the most important device categories was the netbook, that emerged in 2007 and died in 2012. The netbook did not simply appear, but was part of an evolution that had a past and has a future.
eMate
Miniaturization has always been important for computer development, and I have always been attracted to small computers. One of the first of these was the Apple eMate 300. It had a 172 mm diagonal screen ( with 480 x 320 pixel resolution), 16-shade grayscale display with a backlight, stylus pen, keyboard with about 85% the size of a standard keyboard, infrared port and standard Macintosh serial/LocalTalk ports. Its rechargeable batteries lasted up to 28 hours on full charge. It used a 25 MHz ARM 710a RISC processor. It was first introduced on 1997-03-07. While I waited patiently for it to come to Norway, it was discontinued less than a year later, 1998-02-27.
The eMate was not a netbook, but an inspiration. While the Internet existed, it was nothing like it is today. Public and commercial use of the Internet began in mid-1989. By the end of 1990, Tim Berners-Lee had created WorldWideWeb, the first web browser, and had built all the tools necessary for a working Web: the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), tHTTP server software, the first web server and the first Web pages (they described the project). By 1995 many of the components that characterize the current concept of the Internet had been developed, including near instant communication by email, instant messaging, telephony (Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP), two-way interactive video calls, discussion forums, blogs, social networking, and online shopping sites. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbit/s, 10-Gbit/s, or more. About the only thing missing were ordinary people, and internet speeds beyond what a dial-up modem could provide.
While ADSL was available in Norway from about 1998, we were only able to obtain it in 2004. Norway was a rich country at this time, so one can only imagine what was happening (or more correctly, not happening) in the poorer regions of the world. Even then, we lived almost at the limit of what could be provided through the copper wires of the telephone system. After using it for fourteen years, we have now progressed to fiber broadband. We have chosen 50 Mbps, but could have chosen anything up to 1 Gbps, if we had wanted to pay for it. We didn’t.
Apple Newton eMate 300. Photograph: Ryan Schultz 2005-03-19
OLPC
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is known for its innovation in producing a durable, cost- and power-efficient netbook for developing countries, it is regarded as one of the major efforts to encourage computer hardware manufacturers to create low-cost netbooks for the consumer market. Seymour Papert (1928 – 2016) provided the pedagogical inspiration with his version of constructionism, encouraged the use of computers by young children, to enable full digital literacy. Nicholas Negroponte (1943-) was chief promoter of the project, starting in 2005 at the World Economic Forum, at Davos, Switzerland.
OLPC XO-1 original design proposal
Netbooks
A netbook is a category of small, lightweight, inexpensive laptop computers. These are legacy-free, meaning that they use USB ports to replace bulky components such as floppy drives and device-specific ports. This allows machines to be more compact.
The first real netbook was a Asus EEE PC 700. Originally designed for emerging markets, the 225 × 165 x 35 mm device weighed 922 g. By today’s standards it was very primitive, with a 178 mm diagonal display (800 x 480 pixels), a keyboard approximately 85% the size of a normal keyboard (yes, the same as an eMate 300), a 2, 4 or 8 GB solid-state drive and Linux with a simplified user interface.
I was immediately attracted to the Asus EEE PC 700, the world’s first netbook, launched 2007-10-16.
Between 2009 and 2011, netbooks grew in size and features, and converged with smaller, lighter laptops. At this point, the netbook’s popularity fizzled as manufacturers tried to add features to prevent netbooks from cannibalizing their more profitable laptops. Peak Netbook, at about 20% of the portable computer market, was reached in early 2010. After that, netbooks started to lose market share. In 2011 tablet sales overtook netbooks. The netbook era ended in 2012 when netbook sales fell by 25 percent, year-on-year. Asus, Acer and MSI announced they would stop manufacturing their most popular netbooks in September 2012. At the same time, Asus announced a focus on their Transformer line.
Chromebooks
Chromebooks are in many ways the new netbooks. They are laptops and tablets running Linux-based Chrome OS, used to perform a variety of tasks using a browser, with most applications and data residing in the cloud (read: servers run by major corporations) rather than on the machine. They were first introduced by Acer and Samsung in June 2011.
In 2013, Chromebooks became the fastest-growing segment of the PC market. While current Chromebooks function better offline than before, they are still dependent on an Internet connection to function optimally.
Netbook sized computers, including Chromebooks, offer several distinct advantages. First, their compact size and weight make them appropriate in compact work areas, such as cafes and classrooms. Second, the size makes them easy to carry and transport. Third, they are low priced. They are fully capable of accomplishing general tasks: word processing, presentations, Internet access and multimedia playback.
In North America, especially, schools have limited budget to provide computing resources. This has led to a rise of tablets, including iPads. Yet, Chromebooks provide a more complete hardware solution, such as a full-size keyboard. There has been a transition away from tablets to Chromebooks, so that almost 60% of school computers are Chromebooks. However, the most important factor for success in education, has little to do with the physical machine, it has to do with the human resources need for large-scale deployment. Chromebooks save IT (information technology) workers time!
An Acer Chromebook 11. This is the same type of machine that was purchased 2018-11-16.
Our Computers
It is not my job to support computer manufacturing companies so that they can reward executives with excessive salaries and bonuses. Thus, I want to avoid purchasing expensive computer equipment, and stick to minimal products. For example, much of our server equipment is purchased used, and I am a proponent of single board computers, such as the Raspberry Pi.
Here is a history of our netbook related computers since 2010, with comments.
An Asus EEEbox 1501p was purchased 2012-10-28 as a media centre. It ran assorted versions of Linux Mint, through its life. Unfortunately, it always ran hot, and developed heating issues that required repair. It was replaced by an Asus Tinkerboard, a Raspberry Pi clone, that was purchased 2017-03-31.
Since my employer supplied me with a laptop, I never felt that I needed a second one. Thus, I used an 2010 Acer Aspire tower for 6.5 years, until it was replaced with an Asus VivoMini VC65 desktop in 2017. Both of these were used at a height adjustable desk.
When I retired at the end of 2016, and handed in my workplace laptop, I used Trish’s retired Asus, a U31F 13.3″ laptop originally purchased 2011-02-13 with an i3 core, 4 GB RAM, a 500 GB HDD, running Windows 7, before it was modified to run Linux Mint. Trish retired this machine because it was running hot, and the battery needed replacement. On 2017-05-15, I decided not to replace the battery, but instead bought an Asus Vivobook E402SA. This was not a good decision. While this new machine came with Windows 10, it was a direct decendent of the Asus EEEbook. Linux Mint was installed on the machine, but it never worked correctly. The screen would freeze, and the machine would have to be powered off and restarted. This could happen up to several times a day. It stopped working entirely in September 2018. Undoubtedly my worst computer purchase ever.
An Acer Chromebook 11 was acquired on 2018-11-16. This version allows Linux apps, such as LibreOffice (for word processing, presentations and spreadsheets), Mozilla Firefox web browser and Thunderbird mail server to be installed. In addition to its role as a workhorse, it was also purchased so that I could gain hands-on experience of Chromebooks, as a concept. The main problem with the machine is that the currently installed version of Firefox, ESR (Extended Support Release), will not play audio, although it will display video. It will be uninstalled, and replaced with other versions, to see if there is one that works.
Most people do not need high-end devices. By opting for machines with modest specifications, modest machines will continue to be made.
Appendix: Asus
Former Asus CEO Jerry Shen attracted my attention in 2007 when he created (what I regard as) the first netbook, the Eee PC, in 2007. Shen is now off to lead a new AIoT (AI = artificial intelligence; IoT = internet of things, often referring to smart home applications) startup, iFast.
Wikipedia describes Asus as “a Taiwanese multinational computer and phone hardware and electronics company headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its products include desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, networking equipment, monitors, WIFI routers, projectors, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage, multimedia products, peripherals, wearables, servers, workstations, and tablet PCs. The company is also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Asus is the world’s 5th-largest PC vendor by 2017 unit sales.”
On 2018-12-13, slashdot.org wrote about Asus chairman Jonney Shih announcing a comprehensive corporate transformation involving the resignation of CEO Jerry Shen, a new co-CEO structure, and a shift in mobile strategy to focus on gamers and power users. There will be more ROG Phones and fewer ZenFones. During his 11 years as CEO, Shen oversaw the launch of the PadFone series, Transformer series, ZenBook series and ZenFone series. It may seem a worrisome development, but the place abandoned by Asus will undoubtedly be taken over by other companies who see the merits of supplying devices to people with lower incomes.
The McLellans have a history of buying Asus technology including numerous laptops, NAS (Asustor = Network Attached Storage), home theatre desktop (EEEBox), Tinkerboard single board computers, repeaters, etc. Of course, we also have family members who use Apple products exclusively, and another family member who uses Chinese developed products such as Lenovo computers and Huawei phones. Even I am forced to admit that my latest purchase was an Acer, after a difficult year of owning a Asus Vivobook.
Skarnsund is a Norwegian strait connecting the Beitstadfjorden with the outer section of the Trondheimsfjorden. It is 5-kilometres long and 0.5-kilometres wide, located in its entirety in the municipality of Inderøy. It is most noted its strong tidal current and maelstrom. Recreationally, it is world-famous in Norway, for its fishing and scuba diving.
The beach is located in the small beige area near the top right side of the map on Skarnsund. Cliff Cottage is located towards the bottom (perhaps 1/5 of the way up) on the right side of the map just where the road to Vangshylla bends to the right. Our driveway is also featured on the map at this point.
Today’s walk took us to a beach on the eastern shore of Skarnsund, about three kilometers walking from our house. There are three cottages at this beach front location. If supplies are to be brought in, the only practical way is by boat. The walk is far too steep and narrow to be of much use. With temperatures just below zero, it was cold enough for any mud on the pathway to freeze, which actually improved the grip, compared to mud that can be experienced when the temperature is above zero.
The first half of the walk features a path is more than wide enough for two people to walk beside each other.
Then the pathway becomes narrower, and steeper. This photo is taken looking backwards and upwards. A rope provides psychological comfort.
There is a bridge, for lack of a better word, near the bottom of the trail. The black line provides potable water, hopefully.
Depending on perspective, this is the first or last tree one encounters on the trail.
The beach at low tide, with markers showing where boats can be brought ashore.
Foundation walls of a Naust – a Norwegian boathouse.
The wood could do with a bit of paint, and the hinges probably could use some oil. The corrugated steel roof is good for another century of hard use.
Oak leaves indicate the presence of an oak tree,
It is Sunday, 2018-12-02 at 12:50. Sunrise was at 9:32, sunset at 14:37. This is almost as high as the sun gets in the winter. Skarnsund bridge, with Ytterøy in the backgroud. Ytterøy means outer island, in contrast with Inderøy which means inner island.
Welcome to Straumen, the administrative centre of Inderøy municipality, Trøndelag county, Norway. It occupies 1.33 square kilometres (330 acres), and has a population of 1 642 people (2017).
Inderøy, and Straumen in particular, is known as the Pearl of Trondheim’s Fjord. Needless to say, it was the village’s 19th century residents who inflicted this title on the world.
A view of Straumen from the east.
Straumbru, Straumen Bridge, crosses Børgin Fjord at its narrowest point.
Most residents in Straumen have a view of the sea.
Old Sakshaug church
Old Sakshaug Church dates from 1150-60, and is one of two medieval churches in the municipality.
Straumen, from the museum which is beside Old Sakshaug Church. New Sakshaug Church, from 1881, is to the right in the photograph. A new organ has been recently installed. While the sound quality has not been commented on, local residents are keen to report that this is the largest organ in old Nord-Trøndelag county.
Shopping
A pathway goes under highway 755. This building complex has a shopping mall on the lowest level, and apartments on the two upper stories.
E@ internet cafe, Marens bakeri and Jostu’, a shop featuring locally made products, are all part of Flyndra, the inter-municipal organization started in Inderøy that provides employment for those who otherwise would have difficulty finding it.
Euronics sells electrical appliances. One of two local banks is located to its left.
Sodd, a meat soup served on special occasions has been made in Inderøy since 1938. It is currently made in this building.
The local vet, a second bank, an electrical installation company all operate from this building. It was originally build in Steinkjer (20 km away) but was de-constructed and re-erected in Straumen. This required a bylaw change. Prior to this all building were required to have gabled roofs.
Shell is still selling diesel and gasoline. Here one can see the only gabled roof Shell station in Norway. Built to conform with local bylaws.
This mural is on the rear of the local Co-op grocery store. On the right is Reodor, yet another operational unit of Flyndra, for people with special needs. The name comes from Kjell Aukrust’s idiosyncratic character , Reodor Felgen (English: Theodore Rimspoke), who has become synonymous in Norway with Rube Goldberg type contraptions. The reason this is being mentioned, is that I won the naming contest with that name.
Services
The municipal medical centre, complete with non-standard light pole. The upper story is a gym.
The municipal hall, previously the medical centre, before the new one was built.
A combined junior and senior secondary school with cultural centre. The most unusual aspect of it, is that while Inderøy municipality is responsible for the junior secondary schools, Trøndelag county is responsible for the senior secondary school.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, presents Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s theory that people are happiest when they are in a state of flow, which is a state of total absorption. In this state, a person is intrinsically motivated, goal-oriented, but seeking challenges that increase their overall happiness.
In Csíkszentmihályi‘s model, there are seven other states, but these are all in some way inferior to the state of flow.
At the prison where I worked as a teacher, my primary focus was to encourage flow. Prison sentences can be long, and unbearable. Allowing inmate students to immerse themselves into a topic, most often has a positive effect. In particular, I found that it was easiest for inmates to enter a state of flow through creative activities. The actual creative field was not important. For some it was through music, for others it was artistic painting. Drama and theatre were often used. Woodworking, knitting, ceramics were other areas. This does not mean that every inmate I was in contact with was able to flow.
One group that did not seem to benefit from this approach were those diagnosed, or more often suspected of being, sociopaths. These people had their own manipulative agenda that could be mistaken for educational activity, but was anything but.
One does not have to work very long at a prison to realize that inmates learn more working in a hobby room, than they do reading in a classroom. It has been documented, for example, that delinquent behavior can be significantly reduced in adolescents, if they are given the opportunity for two years of enhancing flow through such activities. (See: Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihályi, M. (2001). The concept of flow. In Handbook of positive psychology (pp 89-105). New York: Oxford University Press.)
The Norwegian prison system has seen the positive impact that flow in creative areas has on inmates. Many prisons provide inmates with the opportunity engage creatively. Bands and theatre groups are actively encouraged. In November and December, inmates are given the opportunity to use the hobby room to make Christmas presents for their loved ones.
People who have experienced flow feel focused on what they are doing; ecstasy; great inner clarity, knowing what needs to be done, and how well they are doing; knowing that the activity is doable, that their skills are adequate for the task; serenity; timelessness – thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by the minute; intrinsically motivated.
Flow experiences lead to growth. It is working to master an activity. To maintain this state, increasingly greater challenges must be sought out, resulting in skill improvements, personal growth and feelings of competence.
Flow has a documented correlation with high performance in the fields of artistic and scientific creativity, teaching, learning and even sports. It encourages persistence and achievement, lowers anxiety and raises self-esteem.
Sometimes, inmates need to move beyond art. For example, at one time I had a older herder as a student. He had actually signed up to study at the school because he wanted to avoid working in the pallet factory. In our conversation it turned out that he had a computer, but didn’t know how to do anything with it, except surf the net!
The prison has access to any number of text books, on almost any subject. Yet, they are of very little help, when a sizable minority of potential students are functionally illiterate. Even, if an inmate can read, it doesn’t mean that a textbook will be meaningful. The herder was taught how to use Microsoft Office products, based on his one and only consuming interest – herding. He was able to write texts about it, with graphics showing it, in Word. He was able to make PowerPoint presentations. Most importantly, he was able to model his herd, using Excel, where he could see the economic consequences of different decisions.
The herder was only in prison for a short time. Soon after he left, another herder was imprisoned. He had obviously been in touch with the first one, because he came to the school and asked to learn Excel, so that he too could model his herd.
Mathematics is often difficult to teach in a conventional secondary school, because students, even in the same class, are at different levels, and have different abilities and interests. At a prison school, this is also the situation. However, by focusing on the individual and – in particular – by giving individual, rather than group, instruction, some inmates can have surprisingly high learning curves in mathematics. They frequently surprise themselves. The key is to help that person unlearn those past approaches, that result in mistakes. Once these have been successfully unlearned, more appropriate problem solving techniques can be learned and developed.
Not all school administrators appreciate this focus on flow. Some are particularly keen on increasing the number of exams inmates pass. In their eyes, it improves school statistics, and makes the school look better. These administrators don’t seem to be aware that most inmates do not have the prerequisites to pass exams. Throughout their entire lives, most have been betrayed: at home, at school, by social workers, and by society in general. Inmates need to have positive school experiences, before they are able to study more rigorous subjects, and pass exams.
While there are many exceptions, the majority of criminals do not engage in criminal activity during their working hours. It is their leisure hours that are the problem. That is why it is so important to help inmates develop all consuming hobbies. If they are spending their time after their release restoring a Harley-Davidson CVO Street Glide, then they won’t be spending their time discovering the best way to break into your house.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row. ISBN 0-06-092043-2
Miswanting
Originally this weblog post was titled Miswanting. This theme seemed to be driving in two different directions simultaneously, so it was split into two sections: Leisure followed by Flow. Soon, I realized these would have to be published as two separate weblog posts.
While working on Leisure, it became apparent that it was going to be easier to operationalize my thoughts, by working on a specific example. So, rather than writing more generally about leisure, I decided to focus on Christmas, and what I regard as the festive season’s most serious challenge – its lack of structure and moderation.
This split into two posts, left me with a few paragraphs that didn’t fit in either location, the introduction to miswanting. Here it is, reworked as an afterthought.
Miswanting is thecoveting of somethingthatonemistakenlybelieveswillmakeonehappy. For a short introduction to the term, see: https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2004/04/pelham.aspx
Miswanting wealth. Typically, people covet money. Yes, one needs a minimum of it in this post-modern world, and far too many people have insufficient quantities. Money in excess can lead to other challenges, that can be just as numbing as poverty.
Miswanting leisure. People also covet leisure, and renounce work. It is a bad choice. It turns out that almost everyone is happier working, than engaging in leisure activities! Yet, they imagine that leisure will make them happier.
People are happier in structured situations, where they have specific operational goals, than they are in less structured situations, where they are out to have fun. They are less depressed, they have less anxiety issues, they have more confidence, and they feel more alive!
Please save me from leisure. The worst punishment I can imagine is being a passenger on a luxury cruise ship. I have nothing against the sea, but would prefer to work with the wind to make passage on a sailboat, rather than rely on fossil-fueled engines on some monster vessel. I would prefer to work as a crew member, rather than to be pampered as a paying guest.
Even though I am retired, I treat five (or even six) days of the week as work days. I may not put in as many hours as in my younger years, but I show up for work with an agenda, and a schedule. My goal is flow.
In a few weeks the festive season will be upon us: this conjoined event stretches from Christmas to New Year’s day, or – for some – Hanukkah, which starts and ends even earlier, from sunset, 2018-12-02 to nightfall, 2018-12-10.
Thomas Nast, 1881 Merry Old Santa Claus, the iconic image of Santa Claus
The social costs of this festive season are extraordinarily high. There is a peak in drug offenses, drunk driving and other forms of anti-social behavior. Traffic accidents increase, not just because of increased drug and alcohol consumption, but because people are driving tired.
Another challenge with Christmas is that people attempt to buy happiness, through expensive gifts. These do not make people feel any better, but can put people into debt.
Overeating is another factor that has a negative impact on health. While in many countries suicide rates are at their lowest in December, mental health issues peak. Once Christmas is over, there is a sharp rise in suicides, often peaking on New Year’s day. Excessive eating and drinking combined with inadequate exercise erodes physical and mental health, including but not restricted to insomnia, depression and stress.
If that is not enough, then the Christmas season signals a time to file for divorce, or in other ways end relationships, including friendships.
Perhaps the best introduction to an American Christmas is Penne Restad’s Christmas in America. (Oxford University Press, 1995).
The celebration of Christmas is not an old tradition. It was not even a holiday until the middle of the 19th century. In the United States, the American Civil War combined with urbanization and industrialization helped to promote it as a means of creating social unity. Prior to this, people of different denominations followed traditions brought with them from Europe. With improved communication and transportation, there was a greater awareness of ethnic and religious pluralism. At the same time, there was increased political and economic tension between regions, and groups. Soon Darwinism and science were challenging religion.
This 19th century Christmas gradually transformed itself into a family gathering that merged faith with commercialism. Yes, people may attend church services, but it was not the church, but the house that was the focal point of the holiday.
Christmas trees were in use by 1832. By the 1850s, Christmas was fully entrenched in Northern cities. After the Civil War, it captured the South.
Christmas tree ornaments emerged about 1870, with imports from Germany. While there were some Christmas cards in the early 1850s, demand exploded by about 1875. These soon replaced the more traditional Christmas letter.
Christmas gift-giving had its origins in the 1870s. Part of this was related to problems of extreme economic inequality that threatened social relationships. Thus, many of the gifts were charitable.
The American Christmas is incomplete without Clement Moore’s An Account of a Visit from Saint Nicholas in the 1820s. Here is the spirit of Christmas in the persona of Santa Claus, with fur-trimmed red suit, sack of toys, reindeer, sleigh and home at the North Pole.
Christmas dinner is so notable that it warrants its own Wikipedia article. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_dinner
So how should Christmas be managed to avoid its negative aspects? The answer is to build more work-like attributes into it.
Activities should be planned, and scheduled. People should know what is happening, and what they personally are expected to do.
In the build-up to Christmas, people can be asked to design Christmas cards, to write an annual Christmas letter and/ or to plan meal menus. They should also use their skills to design and make decorations and presents. To reduce costs, guidelines can be given that make these more appropriate. For example, gifts are to be made from re-purposed materials.
Alcohol is not part of a normal work week, and (for me) there is no reason why it should be part of a leisure event, such as Christmas. Avoiding alcohol is yet another way to reduce costs, and to ensure relationships endure. To prevent meals from expanding waistlines, there should be calorie limits in place, and moderate quantities. At Cliff Cottage, the permanent residents weigh themselves daily. Some people make their weight publicly available, while others keep it private.
When families get together to celebrate, there should be fixed times to arise, and to head off to sleep. There should be opportunities for exercise, and opportunities for every individual to be alone. Child-minding should be an activity distributed among the adults.
While there may be a desire to spend some time listening to music, or watching a film, moderation is also a key here. In fact, it could be more fun to sing, or perform musically together, rather than to listen to someone else’s efforts. Perhaps, the entire family could have fun making a video, rather than watching someone else’s.
Let us all make Christmas fun again, but putting structure and moderation in place during Christmas, 2018!
This weblog post is inspired by Friday’s shopping trip to Jula and Clas Ohlson, two Swedish equivalents of a hardware chain store, in Steinkjer, about 30 km north-east of Cliff Cottage, Vangshylla. On this shopping trip, I ended up buying a number of LED lighting components, not for any specific purpose but for playful learning. There was one impulse purchase, five meters of string lights with sparkly effect!
This is the walkway on the entry level of Cliff Cottage with Trondheim Fjord in the distance. String lighting illuminates the driveway, with 480 LED lights. Two hundred and forty string lights have been temporarily placed along the walkway, to brighten up November, while bags of insulation patiently wait to be fitted into the floor of the attic.
Lighting the stairway
According to my timeline, sometime in 2020, the house will be have a new main stairway. I intend to make it myself, using solid oak. It is difficult to buy hardwood, especially in rural Trøndelag. My solution will be to buy solid oak kitchen counter material which comes 26 (H) x 600 (D) x 2 400 (L) mm ( or about 1″ x 24″ x 96″) , and to cut it into suitable pieces, four treads to a countertop. Materials will cost me about NOK 4 000 (USD 500). Getting someone to make a stairway would cost at least five times that price. Here is a link to what I am thinking about. Biltema can be translated as “car theme”, and is the same in Swedish and Norwegian. It is yet another Swedish chain, even more dominated by male customers, than the two chains previously mentioned.
Before, I start building a new stairway, I want to experiment with lighting. Yes, there will be lighting from above, but I am particularly interesting in lighting each tread, so that old people can distinguish the nosing, and avoid falling. On the two bottom-most treads, I intend to drill holes and fit 4mm (Christmas) lights into them, at about 50 mm intervals. On the next two treads (three and four from the bottom), I intend to fit 100 lm spotlights, one on each side of each tread. If I come across new ideas, I will try them out as well, trying to put the most controversial closest to the bottom.
A Work in Progress
I have no intentions of living in a “finished” house. While the timeline for major improvements stretches over four years from 2018-01-01 to 2021-12-31, the intention is to allow continuous improvement, and to have the house serve as a laboratory in three areas: 1) smart house (computer control using sensors, actuators and communications components), 2) energy reduction with an emphasis on solar thermal energy, 3) assistive technology, including adaptive and rehabilitative devices for the elderly, as well as the general population.
Lighting – The Theory
A lumen (symbol lm) is a measure of the total amount of light visible light emitted by a source in any particular direction.
Lux is a measure of illuminance, how much light there is on a given surface area. One Lux (lx) equals one lumen per square meter.
Activity
Lux
Direct sunlight
32 000 – 100 000
Daylight
10 000 – 25 000
Full moon
1
Kitchen/ workshop ambient
100
Kitchen/ workshop task
500
Dining/ living area ambient
50
Reading/writing
400
General task
300
Bathroom ambient
50
Bathroom task
300
Laundry
300
Sewing
500
Garage/ carport
100
Detailed task
1 000
Lighting Requirements
Here is a list of lighting requirements in lux for various household activiites. The list has been compiled without recording sources. There is considerable variation in what people need, and standard values will not suit everyone.
Ambient Room Lighting
1. What type of room is it? In this example, it will be assumed that the room is a kitchen.
2. Ambient lighting for a kitchen requires 100 lx.
3. What is the size of the room? For illustrative purposes, assume it is 4 000 x 3 000 mm (4 by 3 meters). This gives an area of 12 square meters.
4. To find the number of lumens, multiply the lux requirement from step 2 by the area from step 3: 100 lx/m² x 12 m² = 1 200 lm.
Dot, a dimable 450 mm ceiling light to provide sufficient ambient lighting in a kitchen.
Dot, a dimable 450 mm ceiling light to provide sufficient ambient lighting in a kitchen.
Model
36-7503-2
Energy class
A
Bulb type
LED
Power
24 W
IP class
IP54
Dimable
Yes
Lumens
1500 lm
Colour temperature
2700 K
Colour rendering index (Ra)
80
Lighting time
1.5 s
Temperature range
– 20 to +40 °C
Number of lighting cycles
15 000
Lifetime
30 000 h
Replacable light source
No
Task Lighting
1. Where is the task lighting? In this example, the focus will be on a kitchen counter top – the same one that the stairs were made out of, but this time used more conventionally.
2. Task lighting for a kitchen requires 500 lx.
3. What is the area where the task is taking place? The countertop measures 600 mm x 2 400 mm = 1.44 m², this could be rounded up to 1.5 m².
4. To find the number of lumens, multiply the lux requirement from step 2 by the area from step 3: 500 lx/m² x 1.5 m² = 750 lm.
I had hoped to find something equivalent at Jula, but found this set of downlights at Clas Ohlson: https://www.clasohlson.com/no/LED%20downlights/Pr365874000
As the specifications indicate, 4 downlights would be required to meet the task lighting needs of the countertop work area.
Downlights in a kitchen, but not quite how I would use them.
A month ago today, I wrote about construction at our house. See: https://brock.mclellan.no/2018/09/22/a-work-in-progress/
Fjellheim (Mountain Home) as it once was officially called, Cliff Cottage as we refer to it, was built in 1963, to replace a log house set up on the same site the previous year, that had burned down.
The new house was undoubtedly financed by Husbanken (The Norwegian Housing Bank) which set strict limits on most features of the house, including size and choice of materials. The original house was 10 meters by 9 meters, or 90 square meters (968.75 square feet for those wanting excessive precision, and non-metric units). In reality, the original house had almost twice that area because a lower floor occupies about the same area. Indeed, the main entrance to the house is on this lower level. The house is built on a slope, so that there are no windows on the lower level at the back of the house.
Norwegian Post-war domestic architecture.
After the second world war, Norway was poor, and had to rebuild after its German occupation. Even in the 1970s there were housing shortages, and the country engaged in a number of (short-sighted) short-cuts in its rebuilding efforts.
The original owner of our house had made provision for the house to be expandable towards the fjord. They added a 6 meter by 10.5 meter cement terrace extending out from the house. Underneath this was a walkway to the front entrance, a carport, and a storage shed.
When new owners purchased the property in the 1970s, they had different (and to my mind, inferior) ideas about putting on an addition, and built a 15 square meter structure behind the original in the early 1980s, with a deviating roof slope, and non-standard ceiling height.
We moved into the house as renters 1 March 1989, and purchased it 31 December 1990, after the death of the second owner.
Because of a sag in the concrete terrace above the carport, we had half of the terrace sawn out and removed. I then rebuilt the carport and walkway (and half of the terrace) using wood.
Cliff Cottage in October 2018, with new windows and horizontal siding. Prior to this incarnation, the house had vertical siding and some of the windows were considerably smaller. The concrete terrace was originally put in place to allow an expansion of the house towards Trondheims Fjord, behind the photographer. The parts of it covering the walkway and the carport were removed, and replaced with a wooden structure. In the living room there appear to be three large windows. In reality this consists of a large non-opening window, followed by a post supporting a knee wall in the attic. To the right of this post is a sliding door, first with an opening section, followed by a fixed section.
The Attic
A cold attic, with a knee wall on the left, a theoretical 150 mm of insulation between the floor joists, 0 mm of insulation between the rafters. Additional 36 x 198 mm joists have been placed at 90° to the original joists to avoid cold bridges. When the project is complete, these will be filled with 200 mm insulation. The white pipe will be providing cold input air to a wood stove in the living room.
In Norwegian, this style of attic construction is referred to as a kald loft, a cold attic. What this means is that the insulation is placed in the floor, between the joists, rather than in the ceiling, between the rafters. Theoretically, this means that the attic is as cold as the outside. This type of construction is no longer used, and in new builds with i-beam and other types of rafters, insulation is placed between them. Truss roofs have their own system.
The original insulation was supposed to be 150 mm thick. While it is sometimes that thick, much of the time it is only 100 mm. Sometimes it is even less. I found one area, normally hidden from view with stored materials, where tradesmen had removed insulation to put in a vent, and then not bothered to replace the insulation when they had finished. This problem was noticed only when stored items were moved, recently, into the centre of the attic. This is one reason why I want to do most, if not all, of the work myself.
The attic is effectively divided into three, by the two knee walls. The two outer thirds have had four additional 36 x 198 mm joists placed at 90° angles to the original joists to avoid cold bridges. These will be filled with 200 mm insulation. This takes up much of the space, but there is room at the edge for heating ducts that will supply the living room, dining area and bedrooms with “heat exchanged” filtered air.
In the center third of the attic, additional insulation will be added between the rafters. Because the room slopes, the effective thickness from 200 mm insulation is 250 mm. This provides a total of 400 mm of insulation.
The white pipe in the photograph will be providing cold input air to a wood stove in the living room.
CAD (Compuer-aided design)? Not so much. This sheet of paper provides the necessary information for me to rebuild the attic so that the house will be better insulated. In addition, it points out how I expect the heat exchanger to function, but with specifics left to the imagination. There are still a number of decisions to be made, including the entry point for fresh air (underground?), and the exit point for exhaust air (vented through roof?). Hot air will also be transported down to the entry level of the house, and exhaust air will be extracted from there as well.
Balanced Heat Recovery Ventilation
This illustration shows many of the features that I would like to build into a balanced ventilation system, including its placement in an attic. The ground heat exchanger shown here, will have to be a much more primitive affair, unfortunately. (Illustration: Kobraklb, Wikimedia Commons)
According to several sources, the ideal (read: cheapest) construction system for the installation of a balanced ventilation system is a cold attic. That is because there are few obstacles in the way of piping. The number and placement of new joists added in the attic, allows piping to reach the living room and bedrooms of the house, as well as rooms on the lower level.
In many cold climates, including Austria and Denmark, but not Norway, it is common for supply air to be transported underground in a pipe for some meters, so that heat from the earth can warm up the air. Typically, the pipe has a diameter of between 100 and 600 mm (4 to 24 inch), and slopes upwards towards the house so that any water drains out. There should be a MERV 8+ filter at the entry point, but even 1 mm insect netting will prevent many bugs and larger life forms from entering the pipe with the air. Smooth-walled pipe is preferred to prevent condensation and mold. These can be rigid or semi-rigid plastic, plastic-coated metal pipes or plastic pipes coated with inner antimicrobial layers. These are buried 1.5 to 3 m (5 to 10 feet) underground where the ambient earth temperature is typically 10 to 23 °C (50 to 73 °F) all year round in temperate climates.
While vendors of domestic heat exchangers delight in showing their units housed in kitchens and bathrooms, these are not ideal locations. Thus, the system planned for Cliff Cottage will be located in the attic directly above the main bathroom, which is located beside the kitchen.
Storage
I remember fondly ads for a moving company (Allied Van Lines?) who were keen to announce that they would keep other people’s junk away from your valuable possessions. Yes, it can be difficult to separate trash from treasure. Fortunately, most of the items in the attic only hold sentimental value.
Soon, there will six short, insulated doors, one in the middle of each storage area that measures 3 meters in length, by 1.8 meters in depth. Height varies from about a meter to 10 – 25 cm, depending on how it is measured.
The main challenge is being able to find something when it is needed. This is why the storage spaces will lettered from A to L. Each of the four people in our immediate family will be assigned two letter sections.
The new recycling station at Utøy in Inderøy municipality was opened for waste delivery on 18 September 2018. At the same time, the two older centers in Røra and Mosvik were shut down.
The recycling station is open Tuesday and Thursday from 12:00 to 19:00.
Site map
Inderøy Recycling Station is a state-of-the-art facility with ample space, efficient land use and easy and safe waste delivery. Hazardous waste and electrical/ electronic waste are delivered and stored under roof. Outside the recycling station, a 24-hour return point has been established, so cottage owners can deposit their waste when the facility is closed.
The official opening was Monday, September 17 from 11:00 to 14:00. Trish and I attended.
Program:
11:00 Opening with Mayor, Director of Innherred Renovation and students from Utøy School 11:30 Serving hot dogs, coffee and cake. Tours. 12:30 “Round and Round” a theatrical performance of Scenekompaniet. Kick off-theater against resource wastage, and for recycling! The recycling station is located at Røvika in Utøy, Utøyvegen 500. The address numbering system indicates that it is located 5 kilometers from the start of the road in Straumen.
Bins for various product groups
Inside (Hot dogs provided on opening day).
Window recycling, used as a stage during the opening.
Waste containers
Signage. In this case for appliances.
Outside the entrance, “Nothing is Garbage”, in the Trønder dialect
Containers for different categories of waste, for cottage owners
Soon I should be receiving those irritating annual appeals to donate to Wikipedia. This year I won’t be giving! The main reason is this article appearing in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/03/donna-strickland-nobel-physics-prize-wikipedia-denied
This week Donna Strickland was awarded the Nobel prize in Physics. In March, she was deemed too insignificant to warrant a Wikipedia article.
Donna Strickland, one of three people who earned a Nobel prize in Physics in 2018.
Wikipedia is yet another male dominated organization that needs to be disrupted. What this world needs now is gender balance. I would like to know what Wikipedia is doing to ensure that more than 16% of the site’s volunteer editors are female? Is the Wikipedia working environment making life inviting enough to encourage more female editors? Indeed, I would like to know more about gender bias in the criteria for notability, and why only 17% of entries dedicated to notable people are for women?
I will end this post by offering my congratulations to Donna Strictland for earning her Nobel prize.
Update
An reader was concerned about today’s blog and suggested I ” should actually look into the matter before starting rogue boycott actions. If [I] feel there isn’t sufficient coverage of a topic on Wikipedia, don’t complain about others not writing articles, start writing them yourself.”
In a conversation with this reader, it was pointed out that the issue was not about Strictland’s notability, but verification of this notability that was lacking. Verifiability is especially important for living people, since incorrect information can have serious consequences, and be difficult to correct. This reader also pointed out that the number of notable men is larger than notable women.
