Scrooge Is My Brother

My daughter delivered the opening “Marley was as dead as a doornail” speech as the narrator in the Stage Right! homeschool production of A Lyrical Christmas Carol. My son played Scrooge. The show was great. During the bows, I was already pretty misty-eyed when my daughter threw her arms around Scrooge and proudly announced, “He’s…

“What irrational person would argue against your claim that hoe is a Gothic punk?”

Dictating student feedback, I said “Would a rational person argue against your claim that Poe is a Gothic poet?” My Mac typed: “What irrational person would argue against your claim that hoe is a Gothic punk?” Similar:Girlhood 2014They don’t even seem to want to watch Fr…CultureHave you been "workslopped" by a bot?If you have ever…

Senior Tech #1: How To Master Texting

It’s funny because it’s true. Senior Tech #1: How To Master Texting Similar:Google Stops Scanning Student Gmail Accounts for Ads Google said Wednesday that it stoppe…AcademiaMcCain: Dictators 'get started by suppressing free press' “If you want to preserve democracy a…CultureJournalism In The Service of Democracy: A Summit Of Deans, Faculty, Students And Journalis…This morning in…

What kinds of local stories drive engagement? The results of an NPR Facebook experiment

  We looked at every story we geotargeted during the months of July, August, and September 2012, focusing on the ones that the localized NPR Facebook following liked, shared, and commented on at a high rate. From this group of successful stories, we identified similarities which allowed us to create nine distinct content categories. We…

What Could Have Been Entering the Public Domain on January 1, 2012?

Current US law extends copyright protection for 70 years after the date of the author’s death. (Corporate “works-for-hire” are copyrighted for 95 years after publication.) But prior to the 1976 Copyright Act (which became effective in 1978), the maximum copyright term was 56 years (an initial term of 28 years, renewable for another 28 years). Under those…

I’d Pay to See This

Fan Video Win Similar:Adam Bard shaves off half his hair and beard on opposite sides for unique driving licence …Something I might want to do one day, be…AestheticsA day after using an apparently altered hurricane map, Trump defends his Alabama claimIt was Mr. Trump who used a black Sharpi…Current_EventsTell Me a Smart Story: On Podcasts,…

Distributing Candy at Holiday Parade

Similar:Really enjoyed Prime Stage Theater’s video presentation of Mockingbird.Obviously I would have preferred to see …AestheticsIndiscretion #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 4, Episode 5) Kira teams up with a rival to tr…Rewatching ST:DS9 New-to-me episode i…EmpathyI had already created the little utility craft on the lower left, but this weekend I expan…PersonalToo Short a Season (TNG…

Results of the 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition

 The 18th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition has ended. Congratulations to Marco Innocenti, whose “Andromeda Apocalypse” took first place! The top three games were: Andromeda Apocalypse, by Marco Innocenti Eurydice, by Anonymous Guilded Youth, by Jim Munroe The winners of the Miss Congeniality contest were: Guilded Youth, by Jim Munroe Escape From Summerland, by Joey Jones…

At Age 11, I Named the Curiosity Rover

Wonderful story! I still remember that chilly December day, sitting in science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and decided to get a TIME for Kids magazine off of Mrs. Estevez’s bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article…

What a 21st-Century English Major Can Do: Screencast Demo of an Inform 7 Text-Adventure Journalism Game

Have I mentioned lately that I have some really awesome students? Here’s a narrated screencast, presenting a progress report on a term project that involves programming in Inform 7 to create a text-adventure game designed to teach student journalists how to cover a campus event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKxPi3L6aDs This is what a 21st-century English major can do,…

Popcorn Maker

I’ll have to look into this. Popcorn Maker. https://popcorn.webmaker.org Similar:R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) Full Play (via Zoom)All 3 acts and the epilogue to R.U.R. (R…BooksA #steampunk control panel in context. #blender3d #design #aesthetics #blender3dartAestheticsR.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) Artistic Prosperity TrailerWe rehearsed and recorded a Zoom recordi…ArtWhy Marlon Brando’s Streetcar Co-Stars Couldn’t Stand Him Williams’ last…

One Man, One Computer, 10 Million Students: How Khan Academy Is Reinventing Education

  It’s a prototypical Silicon Valley ethos, with one exception: The Khan Academy, which features 3,400 short instructional videos along with interactive quizzes and tools for teachers to chart student progress, is a nonprofit, boasting a mission of “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere.” There is no employee equity; there will be no IPO;…