Annette Vee posted a very helpful resource on code studies. With the recent uptick in the “everyone should code” movement, it seems that everyone’s now talking about computer programming as a new form of literacy. The terms by which people refer to the concept vary, but the central idea is shared: computational literacy; computational thinking;…
Will the need for a separate scribe tribe of programmers continue through the twenty-first century, or will the skill set of an educated person soon include programming fluency? I think that as programming becomes increasingly easy (which it will) and as the need to show rather than explain becomes important (which it will) and as…
Similar:The Decline and Fall of the English MajorThis essay is yet another reminder of ho…AcademiaSarah Polley: ‘It took me years to see how responsible Terry Gilliam was for my terror’The little girl from Adventures of Baron…CultureWhat Is Gamergate, and Why? An Explainer for Non-GeeksI’ve been following the frustrating slow…Current_EventsDeSantis-backed bill would make it easier to…
And yet I’m asked: why? why do writers even bother writing verse nowadays when it is a dead form and nobody reads much of anything anymore anyway? And the answer is that our job is to pay attention. and besides, poetry is there, too, there in the advertising jingle and the twitter feed and the…
WHY have we been told that salt is so deadly? Well, the advice has always sounded reasonable. It has what nutritionists like to call “biological plausibility.” Eat more salt and your body retains water to maintain a stable concentration of sodium in your blood. This is why eating salty food tends to make us thirsty:…
I’m generally ambivalent about the whole “LinkedIn experience,” but if it wants to inspire confidence, the company should devote the same amount of attention it currently places on badgering its members on tightening its security. —LinkedIn: now officially the most annoying of all social media | Loren Steffy | a Chron.com blog. Similar:In August, 2000…
In an age when the concept of “separation of church and state“ was unthinkable, the Corpus Christi Play was an integral part of the religious, economic, political and artistic context of life in medieval York. —York Corpus Christi Play Similar:There’s Something Off About LED BulbsWhen I’m stressed, or I feel life is spi…AestheticsPennsylvania is one of…
Interesting collection of reflections on the status of cyberpunk, that branch of science fiction devoted to the exploration of dystopian networks and augmentations and hacking and information, rather than galactic empires, huge space objects, aliens among us, etc. It Evolved Into Birds: Ten Science-Fictional Thinkers On the Past and Future of Cyberpunk Similar:Another student matinee.…
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, ‘This,’ said I, ‘requires an extra dram of milk, my favorite pour.’ To the icebox I aspired, motivated to admire How its avocado pigment complemented my decor. Then I grasped its woodgrain handle – here I opened wide the door; – Darkness there, and nothing more.…
And there was much rejoicing. The journals of the Modern Language Association, including PMLA, Profession, and the ADE and ADFL bulletins, have adopted new open-access-friendly author agreements, which will go into use with their next full issues. The revised agreements leave copyright with the authors and explicitly permit authors to deposit in open-access repositories and…
I certainly tell my literature and video game students that they’ll have to study texts that they might not choose to pick up on their own, and I remind my journalism students that part of their job is to find what is important and make it interesting to the reader. I deliberately teach my “new…
By 2015, all food and beverage products that are advertised, promoted or sponsored on the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Radio Disney, Disney.com and Saturday morning programming for kids on ABC-owned stations (Disney owns ABC) will have to meet the company’s nutrition criteria for limiting calories and reducing saturated fat, sodium and sugar. Many…
I was at a “serious games” conference several years ago. During a crowded seminar, where I found myself seated on the floor because there were no open seats, one of the industry types was frowning because an educator kept speaking critically of testing. “If you don’t test,” asked the pragmatic businessperson, “how can you assess?”…
I’d argue that what’s happening is that we’re becoming like the mal-formed weight lifter who trains only their upper body and has tiny little legs. We’re radically over-developing the parts of quick thinking, distractable brain and letting the long-form-thinking, creative, contemplative, solitude-seeking, thought-consolidating pieces of our brain atrophy by not using them. And, to me,…
Similar:Forgive and Remember: How a Good Boss Responds to MistakesI’m thinking about risk. When my twee…BusinessProgress (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 15) Kira befriends a stubborn squatterRewatching ST:DS9 Dax and Kira are ch…CultureYou didn’t make the Harlem Shake go viral—corporations didI never found “Harlem Shake” videos to b…BusinessEats, Shoots & LeavesWhat’s your comma…
This is how my parents finish their Argentine Tango routine. My mother says, “I’d like to get up now.” My father looks down at her. “Oh, you would, would you?” Similar:If I am not a pedagogical god, at least my marking app has no ungraded submissions. PersonalAugust Wilson Trifecta (Two Trains, Ma Rainey and Fences on…
I love this story! Mr. Ackerman — Please excuse Tyler… he was with me!” Obama wrote on 11-year-old Tyler Sullivan’s behalf. The Rochester boy skipped school Friday to attend Obama’s visit to a Honeywell factory in Golden Valley with his dad. President Obama writes sick note for 11-year-old Minnesota boy (VIDEO) – NY Daily News. Similar:The…
My daughter shared the role of Alice this weekend (she played “Small Alice”). On one night, she also doubled as the mouse, for a different Alice. Similar:Dozens of Colleges’ Upward Bound Applications Are Denied for Failing to Dot Every II’m not saying that the Upward Bound kid…AcademiaSo peaceful and majestic. Another outing with my son.Personal'We're…
I love the obscure Prufrock reference win this Washington Post story: So as the motorcades come and go, are they talking of Marco Rubio? via Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs or a powerful global cabal? Similar:Apparently Facebook Doesn't Know Me Very WellI’m actually rather happy at the thought…AmusingPost Gazette Corrects Headline of Seton…
Similar:Ian Bogost Has Won a HuffPo Badge for his Anti-Gamification Comment on HuffPo Daniel Donahoo: Gamification in Educ…AmusingWho Watches the Watchers (ST:TNG Season Three Episode 4) Rationalist, talky mythbustingRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….EthicsParents Dedicate New College Safe Space In Honor Of Daughter Who Felt Weird In Class Once“When our Alexis felt weird after hearin…AcademiaThat's…