Required Books Recommended: buy Amazon’s Kindle versions, available via the iPad Kindle App. (You are, however, free to purchase a paper version instead, and if you want an ebook but prefer a different ebook reader, you are welcome to seek out other editions.) The AISN is for Amazon’s Kindle edition; the ISBN will help you…
What started out as random green cubes turned into some kind of shrubbery. I spent too much time fiddling with the bushes. They’re good enough. I’ve cleaned up the Griffin’s eyes, and added some camera motion so we zoom in on his face. His wings waggled back and forth too much last time, so I…
According to a color-picking test at synesthete.org, these are the colors my daughter perceives when she sees or thinks about letters and numbers. As you can see, each time the test flashed a random letter or number, she didn’t always adjust the sliders to find the exact same colors. For one item (I forget which)…
She tells her students to begin by writing a one-sheet description of the project. This description will not be perfect or final, but it will set the filmmaking process into motion. Briefly sketch your themes, story, characters, and the filmmaking style you would like to use. (A good way to start choosing a style is…
This was my 9yo today. She doesn’t get into fights with other kids, just with us — about going to bed, or getting up, or drinking out of a cup with a creepy pirate on it, or doing any lesson other than theater or art. Beyond throwing an eraser or stuffed animal in huffy anger,…
The content is great, but I’m really blogging this because I’m tickled by the writing. Kickstarter is off-the-showroom polished in this regard – the web pages are clean without being sparse, sharp without being oblique, informative without being overwhelming. It feels like french-kissing a Nicholas Felton chart while Edward Tufte snaps photos for his personal…
For educators who are interested in both computers and writing, interactive fiction games (aka text adventures) offer exciting possibilities. This workshop introduces the interactive fiction programming language Inform, which uses a syntax that resembles ordinary English. Here is a sample of Inform 7 code: The Hotel Lobby is a room. A buffet table is in…
In our homeschool household, we do lessons year round. Knowing that she would have to finish her lessons before I took her to a party today, my daughter got up before the rest of the house. When I came into the kitchen to get myself breakfast, I found her like this, on the last chapter…
The particular nature of drone warfare is also a contributor to the higher stress levels. While the number is very small, officials who conducted the study said they did encounter a handful of pilots who suffered symptoms of PTSD — post-traumatic stress disorder — directly linked to their experience running combat operations. Unlike traditional pilots…
When Bartos took over Principles of Instructional Technologies at Seton Hill last year, she revamped the course that taught use of computer programs like Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint in classrooms. “It’s because of the evolution in technology — we really had to,” said Bartos. “I address right in my class that there’s a strong…
“When someone goes into music, they have a different set of values and perspectives than someone with an engineering degree or a political science degree,” Reed says. “ConAgra likes that diversity. They like that you’ve got people with very different orientations coming in and they feel it adds energy and perspective to the work force.”…
Here’s a quick run cycle, with some background detail thrown in for testing purposes. Similar:Why Photojournalism Matters World Series: Chicago Tribune & th…AestheticsCreating Games for JournalismWe as journalists can learn a lot from v…CybercultureWhy Do People Share Fake News? A Sociotechnical Model of Media EffectsVerrit, like Snopes, Politifact, and a h…CultureA young father sold his…
My daughter saw the Nyan Cat video, and then opened a rock-painting gift from a secret Santa. The result was inevitable. Similar:Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Definitive Oral History of a TV Masterpiece The show was awash in quick, smart wis…HistoryTeaching myself the #Unity3D game engine. Each step requires a lot of focused attention. I……
Before I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer a year and a half ago, I rather jauntily told the readers of my memoirs that when faced with extinction I wanted to be fully conscious and awake, in order to “do” death in the active and not the passive sense. And I do, still, try to nurture…
Okay, that’s enough work for one evening. I added a skeleton I had already created for another project, and I added new rigging for his wings and tail. I still need to add the fancy stuff, like having the eyes follow a target, having the limbs move automatically to follow the placement of the feet…
After another couple of hours of work, I’ve added the Griffin logo and a tail (trust me — it’s there). I’ve improved the lighting, and added some very subtle ambient occlusion (the inside of his beak and the inside of his eyes are shaded more realistically). I could probably do a better job differentiating such…
Correlation or Causation? – Businessweek. Similar:Liberal Arts Classes Could Teach Neil deGrasse Tyson a Thing or Two about the Path from Da… Your mileage may vary, but I immediate…BooksReport: Many U.S. Schools Can’t Afford Mannequins, Human Urine For Art Classes“It’s sad, but my students don’t even ha…AestheticsExplore Geotagged Wikipedia Pages as a Text Adventure GameFor…
Holy ray-tracing, Batman, it’s a Blender 3D update! I have not had the chance to try out Blender 2.61, which features an ocean simulator, motion-tracking, and real-time ray-tracing. blender.org – Blender 2.61. Similar:Defiant (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 9) Riker visits DS9, and it's he who's …Rewatching ST:DS9 After an overworked…Empathy"Cool" Rosetta Mission Scientist…
To celebrate yesterday’s on-time submission of final grades, I spent part of last night and much of today working on this Blender 3D model of our school mascot, the Griffin. Similar:Wood pile stacking animation (Blender 3D)For a medieval project, I wanted a wood …AmusingI've completed my second set of 25 #neovictorian control panels, which…
I just posted the latest musical theater education packet, written by my wife, as she aims to make the most of our home-schooled children’s participation in Stage Right Greensburg’s student theater production. 1.10) Narnia, once a utopia or paradise, has become a sad, cold dystopia under the Witch’s rule. Read & discuss other examples of…