Poems About Fathers

—Poems About Fathers (Poetry Foundation) Having a father and being a father, I found this page interesting. When my own daughter is a teenager, I might not like “Fifteen” as much as I do now. Similar:The Myth of the Unemployed Humanities MajorStudents who work their way up to leader…AcademiaIt's such a privilege to introduce these young…

Tools for Teaching Basic Programming Concepts

Tools for Teaching Basic Programming Concepts Alice and Scratch. Filing for future reference. Similar:Ok, never mind Dusgcxms2… buddy, you can keep your first place as far as I’m concerned. Ok, never mind Dusgcxms2… buddy, you…EducationIn December 2000, I was blogging about typeface snobbery, freedom in video game spaces, th…In December 2000, I was blogging about…

Will you, won't you… Blackwell's Quadrille

Will you, won’t you… Blackwell’s Quadrille (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) “Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?” — Lewis Carroll’s “Lobster Quadrille” I just tried to order an examination copy of a book from Blackwell Publishing, and when I got what looked like an error message on the final screen (or…

Shakespeare hates your emo poems

—Shakespeare hates your emo poems (Threadless) Interesting cultural phenomenon… sell a T-shirt, then create a website that lets customers upload photos of themselves wearing the T-shirt. The result turns the rebellious and snarky T-shirt designs into the uniforms of conformist consumer zombies. Similar:Combating Shakespearean shrinkage – Shakespeare & BeyondThe worst reaction to Shakespeare’s comp…CultureShirley Temple Black,…

The civil war in four minutes

—The civil war in four minutes (YouTube) Similar:Flannery O'Connor: "I am in a state of shock"There’s often a moment in a lit class wh…BooksThe super-rich ‘preppers’ planning to save themselves from the apocalypse This was probably the wealthiest, most…BusinessStapler jam during a midterm exam.My years of watching MacGyver definitely…AcademiaThis morning I awoke to YouTube’s live footage…

PLAY-PEN: Games Due for a Lit Course

Modern interactive fiction, much more than its technically limited earlier counterparts, displays an incredible range of literary influences, tributes and styles. For Sherwin’s part, science fiction is an inspiration, but the greater part of his text adventures’ efficacy comes from the unique and anarchic style of his characters’ dialogue. “I have been greatly influenced by…

Deleted Scenes

—Deleted Scenes (StarTrekHistory.com) An awesome collection of painstakingly-restored still shots and script excerpts, from scenes that were filmed but never aired. Similar:In August, 2002, I was blogging about ebook readers and email in teaching; how urban legen…In August, 2002, I was blogging about …AcademiaThine Own Self (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 16) Data gets amnesia…

A Fair(y) Use Tale

—A Fair(y) Use Tale (YouTube) Amazing demonstration of creative repurposing of Disney’s copyrighted material. Similar:â–¶ Taylor Mali on "What Teachers Make"I find that re-watching this every year …CultureMy 1951 day DuoLingo streak was fun, but… Ever since DuoLingo announced it…BusinessChatBot Helps Crack the Case of the Missing 45GBThe other day I got a last-minute reques…BusinessWhat It…

Mastering podcasts with Audacity

Open source software makes podcasting easy — too easy. Listening to a playlist of first-timer podcasts can leave your ears ringing from sudden changes in playback volume. The problem is audio mastering. Recording sound is simple, but mastering that sound — compressing volume differences, maintaining a decibel ceiling, and similar operations — is anything but.…

Why We're Doing This

We know that pro-am journalism can work only if people are persuaded to give their time, lend their knowledge, pool their intelligence. Those are donations, but not of money. Often they are more critical than money. To succeed in this, we have to persuade several hundred people to donate good work to one big story…

Objections to Turnitin

We should be jumping for joy every time a student plagiarizes, because that means our existence as teachers of composition is validated, as we have something to teach them – citation, research, the need for critical thinking. We should get down on our knees and thank the Internet for making it easier to plagiarize, because…

Who Isn't Afraid of Google?

In this strange, strange tale the Davids are the size of companies like Microsoft and Yahoo, rumoured to be discussing an alliance to take on the search leader. The list of detractors is longer than other search providers, though; privacy experts, advertisers, startups, and Hollywood executives are all frustrated with the company for one reason…

Mixed Reception

This activity is set in a research group that is developing an antivenom for spider bites. In the opening scene, Nelson Pogline, a talented graduate student, dies unexpectedly at a university reception. As a detective, you must use chemistry concepts to determine if this was murder and if so, solve the case. You can interview…