The Crackberry-addict-in-chief warns graduates about a bunch of different, non-Crackberry gadgets, that are bad, apparently because they aren’t Crackberries. “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations — none of which I know how to work — information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than…
The task is simple: in eighteen minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needs to be on top. —Marshmallow Challenge Kindergartners regularly beat business school graduates, in part because the suits spent time jockeying for…
Clearly Facebook has taught us some lessons. We want easier ways to share photos, links and short updates with friends, family, co-workers and even, sometimes, the world. But that doesn’t mean the company has earned the right to own and define our identities. It’s time for the best of the tech community to find a…
I spend a lot of time asking students to keep bias out of their writing, and I remind students that the adjectival form of “bias” is “biased.” But it occurs to me that I haven’t really spent that much time explaining what bias is, or talked about the numerous different ways that people can be…
Facebook’s increasing breeches of user trust have even spawned a new term, “zuckering,” as in “That user-interface totally zuckered me into sharing 50 wedding photos,” inspired by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who once used private Facebook data to access email and other accounts of classmates while at Harvard. —NBC Bay Area
The data suggest that 80 percent of professors, with little variance by age, have at least one account with either Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, LinkedIn, MySpace, Flickr, Slideshare, or Google Wave. Nearly 60 percent kept accounts with more than one, and a quarter used at least four. A majority, 52 percent, said they used at…
Today in class, I caught the same student texting three times, within ten minutes. I used nonverbal responses and slowly escalated, in order to keep my reaction from interrupting the flow of the class discussion. Yes, we want to treat students like adults; yes, whatever was distracting her may really be serious; yes, she has paid…
I sometimes ask my students to do a “media fast,” in which everyone tries to give up whatever is getting in the way. The last time I assigned the “media fast,” I had noticed that I would often ask my older son read a book to my younger daughter, as a way of keeping them…
Google says users will be able to buy digital copies of books they discover through its book-search service. It will also allow book retailers–even independent shops–to sell Google Editions on their own sites, giving partners the bulk of the revenue. The company would have copies on its servers for works it strikes agreements to sell.…
Roger Ebert recently posted this thoughtful essay, which is ostensibly about film criticism, but is also about how an intellectual activity benefits culture at large when the talented amateurs get access to power that was once the privilege of elite professionals. Another thing not everybody knows is that some of the best critical writing on…
A form I just got from the Academic Affairs office, as part of Seton Hill University’s plan to provide iPads to its faculty (along with all full-time students). This is just my roughest first draft. What do you think? What would you do with iPads in the classroom? If you wish to…
My highly dramatic daughter is not likely to achieve kolinahr any time soon, but we can all wish that she live long and prosper on the occasion of her First Communion.P.S. My wife said I could post this photo as long as I also posted a “normal” one. (See below.)
War is peace, ignorance is knowledge, and Apple is open. Oh, the fun one can have with search-and-replace. Here’s the doubleplusfun Hoopty Rides found: Before: Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely…