The vast majority of gamers know life is not a Doom level – these rules are merely simplifications and abstractions that streamline very complex actions for smoother gameplay. We know when someone is shot in the head they do not lose 20 hitpoints. Games are not an excuse for their worldview, but rather a useful…
Contestants had to stand with their hands behind their backs until a bell sounded and a message appeared on an overhead screen. The winner was judged on whoever’s message — checked for exact punctuation — reached the judges first. The text tests ranged from “faster than a speeding bullet…” and “what we do in life…
Olympus DS-50 Voice Recorder (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Two brand-new Olympus DS-50 voice recorders just arrived at SHU. I’ve ordered two DS-40s as well. My students have been learning podcasting basics with some older voice recorders, but the virtue of that older equipment is that it’s very easy to understand. The DS-50s are state-of-the art, but I…
It was six hours before opening night. Sarah Holdren, director of a Yale student production, had just entered the theater for a routine pre-performance errand when the man who runs the hall gave her an update: In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, a Yale administrator decided that she didn’t want any weapons used…
At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be “positive.” In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States…
Make the logo as big as you can Make the logo bigger, yeah! That logo isn’t big enough So make the logo bigger Bigger, bigger, make it big! Make the logo bigger! —Make the Logo Bigger (Burn Back) Awesome heavy metal spoof of a naive request that web designers hear from their clients all the time.…
While many teens post their first name and photos on their profiles, they rarely post information on public profiles they believe would help strangers actually locate them such as their full name, home phone number or cell phone number. At the same time, nearly two-thirds of teens with profiles (63%) believe that a motivated person…
Today many people find it strange that the biggest meal of the day once centered around noon, but it made great sense at the time. Artificial lighting such as oil lamps and candles were expensive, and provided weak illumination at best. So people went to sleep at sundown, because it’s difficult to work and eat…
Each day I walk into my own classroom. Each day I stand before students who have book bags that I would never dare look into, believing that ignorance is bliss. I don’t want to know who’s packing and who’s dealing. A stupid sentiment, I’m sure. But am I really any safer knowing what they carry?…
I Smell Pretty (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) This morning as I was getting ready to take my daughter to preschool, she told me that she sprayed my clothes with “pretty perfume.” I assumed she meant that she had sprayed the pile of dirty clothes near my bed, but my eyes have been watering all day because it…
There were a few minutes to spare near the end, but I decided to not ask students to share their opinions/feelings just yet, mainly because I didn’t want the class to be a lot of “well I heard?” Now that I’ve just watched the 10pm news and found out the student was an English major,…
i am in an abusive relationship right now have been in it for 7 months now. i dont feel the best. we allways fight he makes me feel like crap like i am nothing like everything is my fault. he promises me he ownt ever do it again this has happened over 20 times. and…
Every culture has its pathologies, and ours is self-reliance. From some mix of our frontier past, our Little House on the Prairie heritage, our Thoreauvian desire for solitude, and our amazing wealth we’ve derived a level of independence never seen before on this round earth. We’ve built an economy where we need no one else;…
The laws of Roombotics, published on iRobot’s website, are basic ethical rules governing Roomba conduct. The first law states that the device “must not suck up jewelry or other valuables, or through inaction, allow valuables to be sucked up.” The second law prescribes that Roomba “must obey vacuuming orders given to it by humans except…
Rumours that Chiang, 23, was the mass murderer swept across the world after links to his gun-obsessed blogs were posted on social networking website Facebook and similar sites. More than 180,000 people visited his sites, with many noting the similarities between him and the man described in accounts of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Some went…
Gamers like me have spent years railing against ill-informed parents and politicians who’ve blamed games for making kids violent, unimaginative, fat or worse. But now we’re in a weird position: We’re the first generation that is young enough to have grown up playing games, but old enough to have kids. So it turns out that,…
Erin Sheehan was one of four people able to walk out of her 9:05 German class in room 207 Norris Hall. —T.Rees Shapiro —Monday, April 16th 2007 5:27PM: Students react to the tragedy This item is too short, and needs some copyediting (that should be “peeked” where it reads “peaked”) but it’s the best eyewitness…
The Mercury News posted an Associated Press package that included a video news story, accounts from witnesses and a disturbing home-made cell phone video that recorded dozens of gun shots and angry and disturbed screaming, presumably from the gunman. Perhaps most troublesome was that whoever was shooting the cell phone video, actually moved toward the…
I may be nostalgic, but I’m not stupid. Today’s technologically superior, multi-million dollar monstrosities are, in almost every way, superior to anything that even the most creative guy could do in his basement on an old TI. But, without the full spectrum of gaming to be measured against, the games of the day really did…
On Sunday, April 15, Westmoreland County residents will remember the victims of Nazism by observing Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Memorial Day. —Interfaith Community to Observe Holocaust Memorial Day (National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education) I just got back from taking my nine-year-old son to this service, which was very moving. The service began in the Congregation…