As part of a course I’m teaching on “Digital Storytelling,” I’m going to make a video in which I show my students how to code a branching story in Scratch. My daughter will provide the visuals. Here she is photographing her model of Bag End. We bought just a few actual Lord of the Rings…
Watch A Trailblazer Become An Inspiration With Two Sentences. I’ll Never Look At This Iconoclastic Cancer Patient The Same Way Again. Watch An Introverted Late Night Host Become A Legend With Six Words. You Will Roll Your Eyes When You See What A Bullied Holocaust Survivor Found. You Won’t Really Understand What’s Happening In The…
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…
RT @Historiator: “@dancohen: Finally upgraded to OS X 10.9. It feels like a Borges story about OS X 10.8.” @MikeArnzen @DennisJerz Similar:Tweet: Came around the corner and saw my kids huddled on…Came around the corner and saw my kids h…TweetsMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer…
RT @Rhymestyle: First leaked photo from the set of Star Wars Episode VII http://t.co/xji8x9J5zL Similar:Parallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureProto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek…
The passing agonies of the everyday are shared quickly and easily — texts about a disappointing grade, photos of a roommate’s overflowing garbage, tweets about the heat in a dorm room. The instantaneous nature of the complaints can give the impression that only an immediate solution will do. And some students relying on their phones,…
The opening of “The Odyssey” describes Odysseus as polytropos, a man “much turned” and “much turning.” He makes much happen, and much happens to him. When I selected “The Odyssey” as the first text for my English 101 course at San Quentin Prison, I worried about the choice. It’s a difficult work for readers of…
RT @Historiator: Nicely balanced, real-time post mortem on last night’s Twitter event. @DennisJerz @PhilKomarny @magawelek http://t.co/IwQ0… Similar:Former student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks has c…AcademiaMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsI asked…
RT @PhilKomarny: @Historiator @DennisJerz @magawelek Glad that it ended with some donations to @AidforAfrica justinesacco.com Similar:Parallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesRT @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from …TweetsTweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a Vulcan…For an anatomy project,…
Okay, students… who loves group projects! Let’s hear it for group projects! (Crickets… crickets…) Okay employers… who puts “Ability to work in a team” at the top of a Forbes Magazine list of 10 skills employers say they seek in new hires? Employers: (cheering wildly) We do! We do! Here are the 10 skills employers say they seek,…
The call had come in on one of the top secret lines inside CONAD that only rang in the case of a crisis. Grabbing the phone, Shoup must have expected the worst. Instead, a tiny voice asked, “Is this Santa Claus?” “Dads pretty annoyed,” said Terri Van Keuren, Shoups daughter, recalling the legend of that…
Well, it’s cheerful unless you touch something red AND DIE. Similar:Okay, freshly downloaded app…Okay, freshly downloaded app, If you are…CybercultureThe Man Who Photographed GhostsThis review of a book about early photog…AestheticsAdding details to a clip-art silhouette, for a project that will be released in a day or t… An important but small detail in a B…AestheticsTime…
I made a cheerful maze game in Scratch. It’s cheerful unless you touch something read AND DIE. scratch.mit.edu/projects/14908… made w/ Scratch Similar:Maybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A MILLION spam comments.Not kidding — 254,460 spam comments in …CybercultureDesert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksFormer student: "I…
RT @Historiator: Please note @PhilKomarny @magawelek @VissatMaureen “@HistoricalPics: All this technology is making us antisocial. http://t… Similar:Juror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureYes, I do feel rather awesome right now.Lost brand-new earbuds. Reached in pocke…PersonalOverheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaHabits for happiness:…
“He likes Lord of the Rings, Star Wars *and* Star Trek!!” — my nerdling daughter, eyes shining, about a new friend. Similar:Chess tournament.PersonalSamaritan Snare (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 17)(Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generati…DramaEats, Shoots & LeavesWhat’s your comma IQ? Mine just so happe…AmusingPracticing with materials and geometry. The lamps and chair require hundreds…
What do Peskin and Astington recommend for fostering constructive learning? Reading fiction. “Dramatic tension in stories is created when the various characters have disparate knowledge with regard to the action. This may be through error: The reader knows that Romeo does not know that Juliet lies drugged, not dead. Or it may be through deception:…
In the same way the Arkenstone is buried under tons of coin, poor old Bilbos tale is buried under easily 45 minutes of chases, captures, narrow escapes, more escapes, melees and other heroics, often comically-staged with acrobatics, and sometimes gruesome with orc-beheadings. —Boing Boing. Similar:Traces of ScribesBook historian Irene O’Daly notes that t…AcademiaTook the whole day…
Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story. So, for example, in The Matrix franchise, key bits of information are…
It’s not that hypertext went on to become less interesting than its literary advocates imagined in those early days. Rather, a whole different set of new forms arose in its place: blogs, social networks, crowd-edited encyclopedias. Readers did end up exploring an idea or news event by following links between small blocks of text; it’s…
No time to play with this, but looking forward to it very much. Version 3.8 of WordPress, named “Parker” in honor of Charlie Parker, bebop innovator, is available for download or update in your WordPress dashboard. We hope you’ll think this is the most beautiful update yet. —WordPress › WordPress 3.8 “Parker”. Similar:NASA's Perseverance lander…