The Little Girl from the 1981 LEGO Ad is All Grown Up, and She’s Got Something to Say

Great article featuring the little girl from the 1981 Lego ad. What’s the problem with girl LEGOs? Why is everyone against pink? ask many parents. I’ll let Rachel Giordano answer that question: “Because gender segmenting toys interferes with a child’s own creative expression. I know that how I played as a girl shaped who I…

Yes, this is my 11yo daughter yodeling on stage.

http://youtu.be/reyclH7zuHI Similar:The Nth Degree (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 4, Episode 19) Barclay Evolves Rewatching ST:TNG Engineering schlub …MediaSparklecleaver the PonyswordCorrections – December 30 – NYTimes.com….AmusingSame photo, two different interpretations.This is why I spend time teaching my jou…PersonalSnape and Ginny at the Hogwarts Club event.PersonalSeton Hill students Emily Vohs, Elizabeth Burns, Jake Carnahan-Curcio and Carolyn Jerz in…

Girlhood 2014

They don’t even seem to want to watch Frozen. Instead they are playing Animal Jam. Similar:Some new locations for my #neovictorian #steampunk personal project. Created in #blender3d…AestheticsJustin Bieber and the Beatles: They both liked to rhyme the same words.A good example of a computer-native, dat…CultureThe Future of College Is Facebook Meme GroupsInteresting to see how…

Don’t Help Your Kids With Their Homework

Greater parental involvement in school (serving on committees, checking the kids’ homework) does not correlate with greater academic achievement. I wonder how these findings would relate to homeschooling. The theory was that more active and invested mothers and fathers could help close the test-score gap between middle-class and poor students. Yet until the new study,…

LEGO turned itself around by analyzing overbearing parents

[C]hildren play to get oxygen, to understand hierarchy, to achieve mastery at a skill, and to socialize. The patterns were simplified into four categories: under the radar, hierarchy, mastery, and social play. —LEGO turned itself around by analyzing overbearing parents – Quartz. Similar:'Our worst nightmare': New legal filings detail reporting of Rolling Stone's U-Va. gang…

Letter Grades Deserve an ‘F’

In a points-based grade book, the student at the top, Zoe, might assume she’s doing great, but according to the standards-based grade book, she (and the teacher) can see that Zoe is not proficient in an essential skill she needs to move forward in her writing education. Conversely, Pierce’s points-based grade would be lower than…

Digital Storytelling: an Efficient and Engaging Learning Activity

A digital story is essentially any combination of a spoken narrative and a number of visuals, perhaps with a soundtrack – along with new technologies to edit and share the story. Although the concept of digital storytelling is closely linked to the use of new technology, we shouldn’t forget that it is always the story…

Versu’s Epilogue: How an Interactive Fiction Pioneer’s 15 Year Project Ended Up in Limbo at Linden Lab

However there’s a particularly sad tale tied up in Versu’s fate (literally) and it’s why you won’t find me applauding this clean up any time soon. Versu was co-developed by acclaimed interactive fiction writer Emily Short, and for over a year most of the stories she’s made have been strictly for Versu. The unfortunate result…

DOJ Enters Into Landmark Web and Mobile App Consent Decree

Under the consent decree cite to http://www.ada.gov/hrb-cd.htm, H&R Block must undertake a number of stringent requirements including:Make its web content conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 level AA by January 2015.Make its mobile apps conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 level AA by January 2016.Appoint a Web Accessibility Coordinator…

xkcd: Types of Editors

xkcd: Types of Editors. Similar:CNN Reports On The Promising Future of the Steubenville Rapists, Who Are Very Good Student…Excellent analysis of the emotional impa…CultureAnother 10 sq cm of details for a #steampunk control panel. Just background eye candy, not…AestheticsClosing the Door on the Video Store Era (with tweets) · chutry · StorifyNow that Blockbuster Video…

This is what an “umm” looks like

This image, of the audio waveform from a sound clip in Audacity, shows a little “umm” right in the center, surrounded by the larger waveforms of legitimate, fully-voiced words. One reason I enjoy working with audio is I can make myself sound very articulate by carefully snipping out all the vocalized pauses in my speech.…