The Learn Tracker
...life-long learning: structured, organized, searchable...

My name is Edward Tanguay.
I have a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, a Masters in Education, and am currently working as a web developer in Berlin, Germany.

I watch over 200 college-level MOOC lectures per year in subjects such as history , psychology, science, religion, art, philosophy, and IT development in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian, and record my notes here.
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Peruse my collection of 275
influential people of the past.
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Contact Me via E-Mail:
edward [at] tanguay.info

Learning Activity by Month:

The primary goal of this Learn Tracker project is to build a web site which serves as one place to record the notes of everything that I am learning from MOOC classes, to foreign languages, to useful code examples and technical how-to notes, so that I not only have an overview of what I have learned, but can search and recall these notes at any time.

The secondary goal of this Learn Tracker project is to work together with companies, universities, and MOOC providers to build software that allows employees, students, and learners to record what they are learning in an efficient way so that it serves not only as (1) a record of what they have learned, but also (2) a place for them to review and search what they have learned.

Since January 2013, I have watched and recorded notes on over 300 MOOC lectures from over 30 different courses in both English and French, and have watched and recorded notes and flashcards on over 50 foreign language videos in Italian, French and Spanish. (I am curently still adding notes I took from 2013 and plan to be caught up by the end of January 2014.

May 2016 Learn Certificate
Watched and took notes on 14 college lectures:
Learned 3 vocabulary words:
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Learned about 3 people:
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Corrected 15 misspelling:
comraderie, androgenous, Minneanapolis, Portugese, convertable, cohoots, medicinily, liason, graineries, tentical, meterorites, personel, benefitted, essense, absense
Recorded 116 Flashcards from MOOC lectures:
  • A mockery or a painful shame (FRENCH)
                        
  • Man is a rope stretched between the animal et le surhumain (FRENCH)
                        
  • PR. son sens est (FRENCH)
                        
  • They abandoned the regions (FRENCH)
                        
  • With these words (FRENCH)
                        
  • Without realizing that (FRENCH)
                        
  • a being destined to remain what it is (FRENCH)
                        
  • a little poison here and there (FRENCH)
                        
  • and he winks (FRENCH)
                        
  • as it appears in Nietzsche (FRENCH)
                        
  • completely reununciation of will (FRENCH)
                        
  • created something above them (FRENCH)
                        
  • failure (FRENCH)
                        
  • flock (FRENCH)
                        
  • goes voluntarily into the mad house (FRENCH)
                        
  • he does not intend to remain himself (FRENCH)
                        
  • he met with scorn (FRENCH)
                        
  • his own transcendence (FRENCH)
                        
  • hoping to create a sort of disgust (FRENCH)
                        
  • make us similar to (FRENCH)
                        
  • of varying degrees of deepening (FRENCH)
                        
  • on the abyss (FRENCH)
                        
  • only the strong are (FRENCH)
                        
  • requirement (FRENCH)
                        
  • suppose to rely on (FRENCH)
                        
  • that it arouses others (FRENCH)
                        
  • that suspiciously looks like a new kind of gospel (FRENCH)
                        
  • the ebb of this great flood (FRENCH)
                        
  • the movement which tends to supersede (FRENCH)
                        
  • the renunciation of the will (FRENCH)
                        
  • the rist to humanity is (FRENCH)
                        
  • this prologue demonstrates (FRENCH)
                        
  • to take on the demands of life (FRENCH)
                        
  • too painful (FRENCH)
                        
  • who can no longer despise himself (FRENCH)
                        
  • will burn (FRENCH)
                        
  • will fail (FRENCH)
                        
  • Apart from this youth being able to possess these qualities (SPANISH)
                        
  • He became an artist (SPANISH)
                        
  • In this portrait (SPANISH)
                        
  • Let's go back to the whole picture (SPANISH)
                        
  • On the screen (SPANISH)
                        
  • Perhaps the most important development is (SPANISH)
                        
  • The strokes appear to have been applied vehemently (SPANISH)
                        
  • Thus they used to do these kind of pictures (SPANISH)
                        
  • To be painted with a brush in hand (SPANISH)
                        
  • With this way of doing it (SPANISH)
                        
  • a few sessions (SPANISH)
                        
  • a golden age of pleasure (SPANISH)
                        
  • a large sketch (SPANISH)
                        
  • a self-portrait (SPANISH)
                        
  • accurate (SPANISH)
                        
  • an artist whose qualities (SPANISH)
                        
  • are expressive in themselves regardless of what they represent (SPANISH)
                        
  • are not separable (SPANISH)
                        
  • as if her presense was necessary (SPANISH)
                        
  • background clouds (SPANISH)
                        
  • became his followers (SPANISH)
                        
  • becomes (SPANISH)
                        
  • bound in time before their punishment (SPANISH)
                        
  • brush strokes (SPANISH)
                        
  • but it's important to clarify (SPANISH)
                        
  • from the Emperor (SPANISH)
                        
  • had an enormous influence (SPANISH)
                        
  • have known (SPANISH)
                        
  • his success is a result of his art (SPANISH)
                        
  • in a corner of the picture (SPANISH)
                        
  • in an environment of abundant spring (SPANISH)
                        
  • in the foreground (SPANISH)
                        
  • in the lower right corner (SPANISH)
                        
  • is based on a description (SPANISH)
                        
  • lacking in defintion (SPANISH)
                        
  • let it dry (SPANISH)
                        
  • like this one (SPANISH)
                        
  • liverly (SPANISH)
                        
  • look at the upper-left corner of this painting (SPANISH)
                        
  • next to him (SPANISH)
                        
  • nor the interpretation that he gave it (SPANISH)
                        
  • opened new paths for them (SPANISH)
                        
  • other items such as armor or a sword. (SPANISH)
                        
  • painted his face (SPANISH)
                        
  • patrons (SPANISH)
                        
  • perhaps Tiziano wanted to compete with this painting (SPANISH)
                        
  • ram (SPANISH)
                        
  • rather than hide the brush strokes (SPANISH)
                        
  • reminds us (SPANISH)
                        
  • satyr (SPANISH)
                        
  • seem to say to us (SPANISH)
                        
  • skins him with a knife (SPANISH)
                        
  • so full of energy (SPANISH)
                        
  • surprised (SPANISH)
                        
  • that both he and his contemporaries (SPANISH)
                        
  • that do not match what they describe (SPANISH)
                        
  • that falls to the ground attracts the attention of a dog (SPANISH)
                        
  • that the artist is saying (SPANISH)
                        
  • that was hanging in the same room as this (SPANISH)
                        
  • the client wanted to wear (SPANISH)
                        
  • the creek (SPANISH)
                        
  • the desired image (SPANISH)
                        
  • the gods (SPANISH)
                        
  • the main contributions (SPANISH)
                        
  • the pleasures that derive from (SPANISH)
                        
  • the tool that works (SPANISH)
                        
  • thus increasing the impace of what he paints (SPANISH)
                        
  • to conceal traces of their work (SPANISH)
                        
  • unfinished (SPANISH)
                        
  • unfocused (SPANISH)
                        
  • very spontaneous (SPANISH)
                        
  • was a sign of favor (SPANISH)
                        
  • wears a chain around his neck (SPANISH)
                        
  • which brings together men of high birth rank (SPANISH)
                        
  • which ranges from (SPANISH)
                        
  • who decided to capture them (SPANISH)
                        
  • who had defeated him (SPANISH)
                        
  • who positioned themselves (SPANISH)
                        
  • with great painters (SPANISH)
                        
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
JESUS IN SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION, University of Notre Dame
•
Benjamin was caught with stolen goods in his possession
•
Judah adopts the only position possible in the situation
•
he tries to create an affection for the father
•
yet Joseph's affection for his father needs no such encouragement
•
at the end of this speech, Joseph is emotional... view all notes
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Duke University
•
labor and motivation
•
what gets people to work
•
we often think it is mainly about money
•
we think more money leads to a higher amount of work
•
motivation... view all notes
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
HISTORY OF ROCK, 1970-PRESENT, University of Rochester
•
Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, and Janet Jackson
•
interesting connections between all four of them
•
Prince and Janet Jackson having their success in the second half of the 1980s
•
all of them big MTV stars
•
stars that depended much on the video dimension of music... view all notes
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
A HISTORY OF THE WORLD SINCE 1300, Princeton University
•
the British economy emerged over the course of the 19th century as the core of the core of an emerging capitalist world system
•
co-dependency between Britain and India
•
although India's participation in the system was not entirely voluntary
•
Indians because to resist the controls that the British imposed on the Indian economy
•
the reason why the controls were there because... view all notes
Vocabulary:
entrepôt, n. [EHN-treh-poh] a place where goods are stored or deposited and from which they are distributed ⇒ "Throughout the 19th century, merchant bankers played an increasingly important role in mediating the relationship between the supply of capital and demand for capital, and the most important entrepôt for capital was London."
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
INTRODUCTION AUX ÉTHIQUES PHILOSOPHIQUES, University of Geneva
•
l'homme n'est pas un être destiné à
•
1. demeurer ce qu'il est
•
2. se contenter d'être satisfait dans ses aspirations naturelles
•
mais qu'il est plutôt un être en tension vers son propre dépassement
•
la doctrine scientifique évolutionniste a eu le grand avantage de montrer que le mouvement qui tend au dépassement... view all notes
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
FROM GODDARD TO APOLLO: THE HISTORY OF ROCKETS, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
•
Archytas (428–347 BC) [ar-KEE-tus]
•
Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer
•
friend of Plato
•
was reported to have constructed and flown the first self-propelled flying device
•
we don't have illustrations of this device... view all notes
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
PHENOMENOLOGY AND THE CONSCIOUS MIND, Trinity College
•
we make assumptions all the time to make our way through a complex world
•
usually these assumptions are operating in the background
•
they shape things if we think about them or not
•
sometimes our assumptions are wrong
•
what we expect to experience and what we do experience can diverge... view all notes
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
SEXING THE CANVAS: ART AND GENDER, The University of Melbourne
•
Cleopatra (69-30 BC)
•
Cleopatra VII Philopator [Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ]
•
from here very early ages, she knew that she was royalty
•
her father was King Ptolemy XII
•
the latest in the line of Greek monarchs who had ruled over the Egyptians for about 260 years since the death of Alexander the Great... view all notes
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
WESTERN MUSIC HISTORY THROUGH PERFORMANCE, Curtis Institute of Music
•
the Baroque era
•
roughly from 1600 to 1750
•
it takes time and some distance to understand the boundaries of an era
•
the mid 18th century
•
so the Baroque era didn't receive its name until mid 18th century... view all notes
Vocabulary:
theorbo, n. [thee-OHR-bow] a plucked string instrument of the lute family with an extended neck and a second pegbox, developed during the late sixteenth century in Italy, inspired by the demand for extended bass range instruments for use in opera developed by the Florentine Camerata and new musical works utilizing basso continuo, i.e. the accompanying part of a musical piece which includes a bass line and harmonies ⇒ "Accompanying instruments could be lute, chitarrone, theorbo, harpsichord, organ, and even on occasion guitar."
People:
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
[loo-LEE]
  • Italian-born French composer, instrumentalist, and dancer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France, considered a master of the French baroque style
  • came from Florence to France in 1646 at the age of 14 to be the Italian tutor for one of the king's cousins, and became a French subject at age 30
  • appointed the court composer of instrumental music
  • charged with creating a new kind of French opera different than Italian opera, refined it with elegant ornamentation and created French overtures with their majestic rhythms
  • strict and known for instilling discipline in his orchestra, e.g. demanded uniform bowing in which all bows in a string section must move up and down at the same time
  • Lully's music is known for its power, liveliness in its fast movements and its deep emotional character in its slower movements
  • some of his most popular works are dance movements found in many of his works such as Armide or Phaëton
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
DESCUBRIENDO LA PINTURA EUROPEA DE 1400 A 1800, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
•
Tiziano (1488-1576)
•
fue uno de los principales pintores del Renacimiento italiano
•
a diferencia de Leonardo, Miguel Ángel, o Rafael
•
centró su carrera en Venecia y no en Florencia o Roma
•
tuvo una enorme influencia en artistas de siglos posteriores... view all notes
People:
Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516)
Italian Renaissance painter considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and coloristic style
  • is the best known painter of the Bellini family
  • was the brother-in-law of Andrea Mantegna
  • through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep, rich tints and detailed shadings
  • his sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titian
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
CHINESE THOUGHT: ANCIENT WISDOM MEETS MODERN SCIENCE, University of British Columbia
•
Laozi, in contrast to Confucius, wants us to return to the unhewn wood
•
Daodejin
•
the evils of the social elite
•
it is bad to have social stratification
•
Daodejin Ch. 75:... view all notes
Monday, May 30, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE, SOLAR SYSTEM, EARTH AND LIFE, University of Copenhagen
•
while solar systems are based on hydrogen and helium, they also also likely to include all the elements of the period table
•
many generations of dying stars have injected freshly synthesized matter into interstellar space
•
how can this widely scattered matter be used to form dense solar systems for planets
•
if the matter was evenly distributed throughout the universe, this would be a hopeless task
•
fortunately, due to the force of gravity, matter is concentrated in galaxies such as our own Milky Way galaxy... view all notes
Vocabulary:
chondrule, n. From the Ancient Greek χόνδρος, or grain, chondrules are round grains found in chondrites, which themselves are stony, non-metallic meteorites that have not been modified due to melting or differentiation of the parent body. Chondrules form as molten or partially molten droplets in space before being accreted to their parent asteroids. Because chondrites represent one of the oldest solid materials within the Solar System and are believed to be the building blocks of the planetary system, it follows that an understanding of the formation of chondrules is important to understand the initial development of the planetary system. ⇒ "Further out in the disc which is moving in a swirling motion around the star, we find millimeter to submillimeter-size silicate spheres known as chondrules, which seem to chrystillize from freely mobile molten droplets."
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
HISTORY OF ROCK, 1970-PRESENT, University of Rochester
•
artists who had success in the early years of MTV
•
"Second British Invasion"
•
because of the shortage of videos at the beginning of MTV, many groups benefited who may not have otherwise gotten much attention
•
because they came from England and because it was part of their usual marketing to prepare a video, they had one available
•
Bow Wow Wow... view all notes
Watched and took notes on MOOC lecture:
BUDDHISM AND MODERN PSYCHOLOGY , Princeton University
•
modular view of the mind
•
there is no chief executive in your brain
•
but many modules that take turns exerting dominant influence on your thought and behavior
•
this corresponds with the Buddhist idea of the self
•
that there is no self at the core that persists coherently through time... view all notes
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