Tell yourself, I am rejecting these thoughts about school because they’re not productive. I’m choosing to replace them with the thought that when Monday morning comes, I can trust myself to know what to do, so I don’t need to think about it right now. Then distract yourself by doing something more enjoyable, and dismiss…
Finished reading my 11yo “The Castle of Llyr,” the 3rd in the high-fantasy series that inspired 80s Disney “Black Cauldron.” Very engaging. 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-…GovernmentIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s been nice knowing you, iPad3, but…TweetsParallel…
A quick trip over to Net Applications reveals that Windows XP is still the second most-used operating system among all visitors to the more than 40,000 sites the company tracks worldwide (around 160 million unique visits per month). Its share of just under 30% or so stomps that of Windows 8, at just under 7%;…
“Predicting the success of literary works poses a massive dilemma for publishers and aspiring writers alike,” Choi said. “We examined the quantitative connection between writing style and successful literature. Based on novels across different genres, we investigated the predictive power of statistical stylometry in discriminating successful literary works, and identified the stylistic elements that are…
English Professor Suddenly Realizes Students Will Believe Literally Anything She Says onion.com/1dA4WPR via @TheOnion Similar:Tweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a Vulcan…For an anatomy project, my #geekling mad…TweetsWhat kids do when Dad won't hand over the iPod So I’m not being selfish… this is …EducationJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureRT @PhilKomarny: A…
RT @heatherfro: The number of my nonacademic friends who think #mla14 is a conference about MLA formatting is amazing. Nonacademic friends, you’re the best Similar:In Defense Of Metaphors In Science WritingWe live in an elegant universe. The c…CultureJudge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksAnd the girl has succeeded in…
I’ve maintained this blog since the spring semester of 1999, though at the time I considered it an “annotated list of links.” Updating it meant editing the HTML by hand. Like Crichton’s dinosaurs, blogs have evolved into everyday things that we may not recognize as the powerful, conspicuous giants they once were. Blogs have evolved…
Ever wonder what the PC games of 2012 would be like if they were text adventures? Of course not, no one in their right mind would ever wonder that. In related news: I wondered that! So, rip out your GeForce GTX 680, plug in your dusty 10″ CRT monitor, and stuff your programmable eight-button mouse…
RT @chronicle: Humanities programs are teaching students to deconstruct technologies, not just texts: chroni.cl/1dpCosi Similar:My Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureParallel structure in writing: Use it!These comic panels cover the issue well….HumanitiesTweet: Came around the corner and saw…
You text your girlfriend: “I know we made a reservation for your bday tonight but wouldn’t it be more romantic if we ate in instead?” If she replies, we could do that Then you can ring up Papa John’s and order something special. But if she replies, we could do that. Then you should probably…
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RT @elongreen: This, from 1922, is the greatest headline in the history of @nytimes, or any other paper. http://t.co/7rUTiXSBXd Similar:Former student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks has c…AcademiaHabits for happiness: tips for looking on the bright side of lifeHabits for happiness: tips for…
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…
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…
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.
In an alternate universe George Lucas never made Star Wars because he was able to get the rights to Flash Gordon. See, that was Lucas’ original intention, and he even went to meet with King Features Syndicate, who held the rights, to talk with them about making a movie based on the classic comic strip…
Classic video games from the 1970s and 1980s have been put online by the Internet Archive and can be played within a web browser for nothing. The collection has launched with games from five early home consoles, including the Atari 2600 and Colecovision. The games do not have sound, but will soon, the Internet Archive…
Teens also don’t seem to care that Facebook is more technically sophisticated than other platforms. Miller believes that the last straw for most teens is a dreaded friend request from a parent. “It is nothing new that young people care about style and status in relation to their peers, and Facebook is simply not cool…
Ultimately, I got sick and tired of both groups trying to tell me how to live my life. The deaf culture advocates tell me I should fling away my [cochlear implant (CI)] and make my home within the community. The CI advocates tell me that I should give up using [American Sign Langauge] and become…
Some good tips on what to say about your English major during a job interview, and some realistic advice about English grad school. English majors choose a major that not only challenges them intellectually but gives them pleasure. They love to read and think that reading matters. Or they hope to be writers and have…