The human population has swelled so much that people alive today outnumber all those who have ever lived, says a factoid whose roots stretch back to the 1970s. Some versions of this widely circulating rumor claim that 75 percent of all people ever born are currently alive. Yet, despite a quadrupling of the population in…
“To use the Minute Paper,” Angelo and Cross write, “an instructor stops class two or three minutes early and asks students to respond briefly to some variation on the following two questions: ‘What was the most important thing you learned during this class?’ and ‘What important question remains unanswered?’ Students then write their responses on…
Here’s the dirty secret that you’ll never see printed in a publisher’s glossy promo material: Every textbook on the market is a crashing bore to read. All the publishers will assure you that they’ve added special features designed to attract today’s young people and that the prose is lively and engaging. Yeah, right. The colorful…
—Darth Vader being a smartass (YouTube) Similar:Q-Less (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 6) Shenanigans with Vash and QRewatching ST:DS9 In the teaser, Bash…DesignThe Nth Degree (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 4, Episode 19) Barclay Evolves Rewatching ST:TNG Engineering schlub …MediaBeard Typeface GuideChristian Goldeman felt compelled to mat…AestheticsAnother 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel. Trying to add…
I took one of Jill’s classes two years ago and got addicted to blogging. I still keep it up although I don’t write as much anymore, partly because of what Elin said I think: it’s too separated. Facebook, flickr etc. connects, and are more “chill out” places where it’s ok to simply goof around and…
—XYZZY Awards 2006 (IF Wiki) The XYZZY Awards are the Oscars of the Interactive Fiction community. I’m usually watching the kids on the weekend when the awards ceremony is held, but I always enjoy reading the transcript. The winner of Best Game is The Elysium Enigma. Similar:The Case Against Reading EverythingRight now, I’m teaching “American Lit…
You Can Never Have Too Many Cabinets (Half-LIfe 2 Mod) (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) (Although that is probably too many ovens.) The kids are in bed, my wife is watching TV, and I’ve got a few hours to fiddle with Hammer on a Saturday Night (well, it’s a bit past midnight now, actually). Soon I’ll go up…
Performing a morality play – especially one penned in the Middle Ages – might not seem too appealing to an average college theater student. Dr. Terry Brino-Dean, associate professor of theater and director of the Seton Hill University theater program, has come up with a way to give “Everyman” — a medieval drama that deals…
Chess pastry cutters handmade in brass by Biggles to celebrate the first year of Ms Sophie Sarin’s “Thursday Chess Club”. Each piece can be made into biscuits. Not only do you have the satisfaction of taking a piece, but you can eat it as well! —Edible Chess (Biggles) They are advertised as “one of a kind”…
Politicians and other moral crusaders frequently create “folk devils,” individuals or groups defined as evil and immoral. Folk devils allow us to channel our blame and fear, offering a clear course of action to remedy what many believe to be a growing problem. Video games, those who play them, and those who create them have…
Anyone, she wrote, “has the right to free speech. No one has the right to be employed at a newspaper. That is a privilege.” She continued: “At the Collegian, we hold our staff members to high standards and require them to act professionally on and off the job, particularly when they are representing the Collegian…
I sometimes wonder if half the fun of action games isn’t pretending to be a kid again: you can run and run and never get tired. Also, jump down the stairs without worrying about a sprained ankle. —Andrew Plotkin —Review: Myst Online: Uru Live (Zarf) That was just a parenthetical comment, but its the reason I…
Today we harness the masses for everything from choosing the next pop star on American Idol to perfecting open source software and assembling Wikipedia articles. But perhaps the most widespread and vital uses for group input online are in scoring systems. In addition to eBay feedback, these are the customer ratings that Amazon.com and Yahoo…
Caring is easy. Keeping students engaged and operating at full capacity over a two-hour block is difficult. Serving every student the highly specific smoothie of success and failure — just enough success to encourage them, just enough failure to challenge them — is difficult. —Dan Meyer —Career Crisis #2 (of 2) (DY/DAN) A response to the…
I recently crushed the dreams of about 400 high school students. I was asked to give them career advice, and so I told them to stop believing that they can achieve anything they want simply by wanting it. “I Believe I Can Fly” may be an uplifting song, but it’s a stupid life philosophy. You…
Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it’s unfortunate that the correlation is there. The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he’s done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes…
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides that “[no] provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider,” and that “[n]o cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local…
—Pictaps (Roxik.com) Thanks to the Flash power of Roxik’s Pictaps, I can draw an effigy of the great Captain Kirk, and make him dance! Dance, captain dance! Your puny phasers are no match for my superior intellect! Bwahahaha! Man, it’s been a long day. Similar:William Shakespeare’s Star WarsBecause apparently I am not already nerd…AestheticsHow to Lie…
[…] ‘So in the church-yard she was laid; And, when the grass was dry, Together round her grave we played, My brother John and I ‘And when the ground was white with snow, And I could run and slide, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side.’ ‘How many are…
The British people have a different type of English language. In some ways it’s the same as yours, but in other ways it’s quite strange. Learn here how to communicate with British people. You may have heard some British people talking in movies. The men are the posh baddies who often drink to much; the…