Irked by a reporter who told him he seemed to be “off his game” at a Beijing public appearance, President George W. Bush sought to make a hasty exit from a news conference but was thwarted by locked doors. — Locked doors thwart Bush’s bid to duck question (Reuters | MyWay) In Bush’s defense, that was…

Think Like a Player!

From the beginning of any playthrough of the game, the author knows what things happen when, why they happen and what they mean. They even know things that don’t appear in the game at all. By contrast, the player knows only what they’ve seen so far, plus anything they guess or speculate (which may well…

Attack of the Career-Killing Blogs

But in another sense, academic blogging represents the fruition, not a betrayal, of the university’s ideals. One might argue that blogging is in fact the very embodiment of what the political philosopher Michael Oakshott once called “The Conversation of Mankind”?an endless, thoroughly democratic dialogue about the best ideas and artifacts of our culture. —Robert S.…

I'm back!

I’m back! (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Last Friday afternoon, my site went down. Trying to access the homepage yielded a message that the owner of the site should contact billing@[ISP]. I assumed that there was a mix-up in terms of paying our ISP for the next year of hosting, but our billing people say that we paid…

Martha the Coelophysis (dictated by Peter Jerz, age 7)

Once upon a time, in the Triassic Period, there were four hatchlings in a coelophysis nest, down deep in a stone cave, in the desert (wet season). The four hatchlings were Jonathon, Larry, Joseph, and the youngest one was Martha. They were coelophyses. They lived with their mother and father. But being a baby coelophysis…

Lab: Court Reporting

The driver of the police van starts to pull out, momentarily blocking your view of Ide and the protestors. The two young men behind you come forward for a closer look. “Did Tony just give her the finger?” asks the young man in the sweatshirt. “I don’t blame him,” says the second young man. As…

David Jump!

—David Jump! (David Denninger) A student of mine posted a clever little video that includes some simple but very cool effects. Not much in the way of narrative or character development, but the whole thing made me smile. See David Jump!.

Needed: a change of focus

For decades, the debate was very much focused on UFOs, sightings and abduction stories. Alien visitors turned into a modern myth. In an age when our other beliefs and ideologies were fading away, we could at least believe in UFOs. Most scientists, annoyed as they were, simply chose to ignore it. Then some bright people,…

A journalist's lessons

By studying journalism, you carry with you tools for assessing arguments, and a dogged determination to find the truth in yourself and in others. I love this work, but it is work. Living up to the standards of this difficult, competitive field is taxing. I have a long, long way to go. —Amanda Cochran —A…

'Body of Copernicus' identified

A computer-generated reconstruction of the man’s face bears a strong enough resemblance to portraits of Copernicus to convince the scientists. —‘Body of Copernicus’ identified (BBC) See Wikipedia for more about Copernicus , the 16th-century priest whose astronomical hobby provided evidence to support the theory that the sun was at the center of the solar system. This…

Let’s Plagiarize!

Here’s where it gets fun: after students’ small groups put some thoughts up on the board, we read through the Writing Program’s Statement on Plagiarism out loud, and discuss it, making sure everything’s clear about the policy. And then I hold a plagiarism contest. —Mike Vitia —Let’s Plagiarize! (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’m home in Greensburg, still…

A Debate Between Jan Cannon-Bowers and Marc Prensky

Serious Games Summit DC 2005, Day 2A Debate Between Jan Cannon-Bowers and Marc Prensky (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Do we need instructional design in serious games, or is making a good game enough? This debate is part of an ongoing turf battle within the serious games movement. As is generally the case with conference liveblogging, these are…

Paul Marino: Machinima: Using Games to Change Filmmaking and Instructional Video

Serious Games Summit DC 2005, Day 2Paul Marino: Machinima: Using Games to Change Filmmaking and Instructional Video (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Executive Director, Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences Author of The Art of Machinima The presentation was a brief introduction to a demonsration of clips, many of which I’ve seen, so it wasn’t as immediately informative…