RT @chronicle: Humanities programs are teaching st…

RT @chronicle: Humanities programs are teaching students to deconstruct technologies, not just texts: chroni.cl/1dpCosi Similar:Proto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentParallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesYes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds.…

RT @arnzen: “The Ethics of Fiction Writing” by Ron…

RT @arnzen: “The Ethics of Fiction Writing” by Ron Hansen scu.edu/ethics/publica… @DennisJerz @ewazoo23 @NicolePeeler Similar:Yes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalAnd the girl has succeeded in getting me to wear t…And the girl has succeeded in getting me…TweetsShe doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does…

RT @elongreen: This, from 1922, is the greatest he…

RT @elongreen: This, from 1922, is the greatest headline in the history of @nytimes, or any other paper. http://t.co/7rUTiXSBXd Similar:Desert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksCarolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is a Campaign Against Twitter Ref…Fascinating use of social media. To be c…Current_EventsParallel Structure…

Supergiant and Hypergiant Stars Compared to our Solar System

To begin with, the terms “hypergiant” and “supergiant” are both a bit general. For the most part, these terms are loosely used to refer to the largest and most luminous (brightest and thus most energetic) stars in the universe. The exact term that one should use depends on the specific star that one is discussing…

Games as Text and K12 Social Studies

Rather than training students to identify and practice the strategies of rhetoric through reading and writing, what if a media existed (and the students regularly engaged in it) that communicated ideas, arguments, and points of view through its procedure, rather than in a linear set of carefully structured arguments? In this case, learning is at…

Jerz and Daughter Teach Scratch (Digital Storytelling Tutorial)

In the past I have posted tutorials for how to use Scratch to create a ball-and paddle computer game, but I let Carolyn create what she wanted to create. Rather than targets to shoot or puzzles to solve, she chose to tour a virtual environment, via a self-paced storybook. You move ahead by clicking the screen, and invisible buttons trigger animations.

This tutorial is a good introduction to how easy it is to make something interactive in Scratch.

Carolyn started with photos she had already taken of her Lego hobbit hole, added some simple programming to make a click advance to the next screen, and to make an invisible button trigger some animation.

In the video, she’s careful to run the program after every couple of steps, and she catches a few mistakes. When I point out that an interactive detail she coded would be hidden from a player who didn’t know where to click, she added a label that made sure her players wouldn’t miss the interactive bits.

Portrait of a Ten-Year-Old Girl

This thoughtful article demonstrates how to use colorful details to keep a reader engaged enough to absorb statistics and trends. What could be just an amusing slice of a Canadian girl’s life of carpools, playdates, and self-invention becomes a launching point for social commentary. The author does refer to herself, but deliberately, selectively; to serve…

My son showed me #PacificRim.

My son showed me #PacificRim. Liked the child actress in the flashback. Enjoyed the feuding scientists. The rest? Flashy, soulless CGI. Similar:Bacon Starry Night MemeI’ve no idea where the “Bacon Starry Nig…AestheticsApology of Socrates, By PlatoAristotle classified Plato’s work, repre…AestheticsIgnorance Meets an Invisible DisabilityI’m sure my young, healthy-looking frien…CultureAnd the People of the Book of…

Conflict Strategies for Nice People

Nothing to do with Christmas… just thinking about the upcoming group projects due in my online J-Term course. I should also probably re-read some Dale Carnegie, which I do every few years. Teams need conflict to function effectively. Conflict allows the team to come to terms with difficult situations, to synthesize diverse perspectives, and to…

What’s wrong with the way I talk?

Wife & daughter competing w each other to imitate brassy actress from Singing in the Rain. “Whaat’s wrong wit’ da way I taawk?” #pleasestop Similar:Me loving my birthday truck, c. 1971.  I adored this truck, and spellin…DesignAny pasta can become a pasta salad when the office microwave stops working!CultureSunny but cool. Great day for a…

Merry Christmas 2013

Similar:Slow flyby of a scout shop. Starfield backdrop; particle-based engine exhaust; hull uses a…More progress as I continue to level up …AestheticsSo long, Newsweek Reaction to the cover: – ‏Newsweek’s …BusinessIs this Wonka's factory, or the presidential picnic @setonhilluniversity ? PersonalI'm having scads of fun designing #steampunk control panels. #blender3d #blender3dart…AestheticsIf you like bloody, singing, punning…

Theory Trading Cards

This set of 21 Theory Trading Cards, published by AltaMira Press, is based upon the online trading cards which have been so popular at David Gauntletts website www.theory.org.uk. Being actual cards, these are two-sided and contain more information; and whereas the online cards were only an official set of 12, for the published version, 21 new…