Gotta Keep Reading – Ocoee Middle School

Suggested by a colleague. If only we could get our students this excited about our summer reading titles!  Similar:We are in a golden age for journalismMost handwringing about the state of jou…BusinessLeftovers from the food my colleagues brought in to bribe/reward those few students who sh… Leftovers from the food my colleagues b…AcademiaDo you get…

The Silver Lining

A fan-produced Kings Quest sequel is shut down. What a way to treat your brand’s most loyal followers. Recently, however, ownership of the Sierra IP changed hands and became the property of Activision. After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not…

The Internet Bible: The Fall of Eve

Via Similar:The Geekling Worked a Shatner/Nimoy Tribute into GodspellMy geekling daughter, who in Willy Wonka…AmusingCan't upload photos to Facebook from my MacBookI spent 30 minutes trying to upload abou…CybercultureThis morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage of crowds circling a mosque in Mecca. For m… CultureOn Stephen Hawking, Vader and Being More Machine Than HumanIn…

Doyle Redland Says Goodbye

I’m still mourning the loss of Herman T. Zwiebel.  And now this? Similar:A Tribute to a Journalism FavoriteAs my news writing students work on seve…AestheticsThe only snow alert you'll ever need.AmusingStar Wars: The MusicalThe Walls are Closing In   It’s all …DramaThat one ungraded assignment is an early submission due Jan 2. I’m all set…

"By Their Sidewalks You Will Know Them"

There are no sidewalks where I live, but if there were, my sidewalk, and my conscience, would be clear. Here’s the first stanza of a five-stanza poem by TImons Esaias. Originally there were eleven CommandmentsMoses, perhaps confused by the unfamiliarsnow, ice, and sidewalk,botched one, and left it out. Similar:These Fake Local News Sites Have Confused…

The ABCs of Adventuring

Thanks for this find, Mark Sample (via Twitter). The ABCs of Adventuringby Admiral Jota, Dylan O’Donnell, G. Kevin Wilson, and Dan Shiovitz.A is for Adventure, the first of them all;B is for Brass lantern, so you don’t take a fall.C is for Compass, an unseen one you keepD is for Drinking, eating and sleep.E is…

What Makes a Great Teacher?

Gripping story of an effort to use data to predict teaching excellence. As Teach for America began to identify exceptional teachers using this data, Farr began to watch them. He observed their classes, read their lesson plans, and talked to them about their teaching methods and beliefs. He and his colleagues surveyed Teach for America…

Why Google Has Become Microsoft's Evil Twin

Google Buzz combined the openness of Twitter with the “whoo-hoo look at me!” aspects of Facebook. The result? A total face plant. —PC World Similar:In Defense of DistractionIf you’re a fan of lifehacking, you’ll a…Culture1 small shirt for a man, 1 giant leap backward for women: ColumnIdea for a scientist pull-cord doll: “Fa…AestheticsMy Review of…

Critical Code Studies Working Group — Colossal Cave Adventure Annotation

This week, I’ll be facilitating a week-long collaborative annotation project, as part of the Critical Code Studies Working Group online conference, on the source code to Crowther’s original Colossal Cave Adventure (a classic text-only computer game from the 1970s). According to Donald Knuth, designer of the “literate programming paradigm,” Colossal Cave Adventure is the “ur-game…

Happy V-Day: Valentines for Journalists

Valentines for Journalists. Similar:The Random Pulp Science Fiction Title Generator from Cornelius Zappencackler's DERANGE-O-L…From Thrilling Tales (where the future i…AmusingContext matters. Trump called MS-13 gang members “animals,” but critics say he was talking…There are many, many legitimate, evidenc…CultureAP reporter’s mistake: Did the punishment fit the crime? Reporters have been sometimes fired …EthicsPerspective | After Hannity’s…