Shaking Things Up

Inkshedding was first developed by writing teachers Russ Hunt and Jim Reither in the 1980s. You can find all kinds of information about it online. Of course, as with any popular teaching technique, many different practices now fall under the name of inkshedding, as instructors have personalized it and made it their own. Dan’s version…

Under Fire, Soldiers Kill Blogs

Milblogs published by authors with “boots on the ground” received little attention from officials in the early days following the Iraq invasion in 2003, when the phenomenon of blogging was less known. But since then, Pentagon scrutiny has increased.–Xeni Jardin —Under Fire, Soldiers Kill Blogs (Wired) Similar:I didn't ask for the AI icon on my Kindle…

''Kairotically Speaking'': Kairos and the Power of Identity

I’ll return to my analysis of Kairos as a project identity later. But first I’d like to consider one other aspect of Jerz’s critique–attention to audience. Kairos’s design (referring to Issue 5.1), Jerz says tongue-in-cheek, “has drastically improved,” making it “no longer an easy target.” The only mention of audience in Jerz’s critique is when…

Math vs. vampires: vampires lose

Efthimiou sup­posed that the first vam­pire arose Jan. 1, 1600, around the be­gin­ning of a cen­tu­ry dur­ing which some of the first im­por­tant mod­ern writ­ings on vam­pires ap­peared. The re­search­ers es­ti­mat­ed the glob­al pop­u­la­tion at that time, based on his­tor­i­cal re­c­ords, as 537 mil­lion. As­sum­ing that the vam­pire fed once a month and the vic­tim…

Allen’s Revenge: Exposes Underage Sex Scenes in Opponent’s Novels

Webb’s novels disturbingly and consistently — indeed, almost uniformly — portray women as servile, subordinate, inept, incompetent, promiscuous, perverted, or some combination of these. In novel after novel, Webb assigns his female characters base, negative characteristics. In thousands of pages of fiction penned by Webb, there are few if any strong, admirable women or positive…

Tetris – From Russia With Love

—Tetris – From Russia With LoveBBC | Google Video) I didn’t have time to watch more than the first few minutes of this documentary on Tetris, but it looks really good. Similar:The girl performed musical commercials for a fund-raiser in the Laurel Highlands (and she …The girl performed musical commercials f…CultureA support sloop on deck…

Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin

—Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories) Via boingboing. Similar:Students who grew up with search engines might change STEM education foreverThe headline is oddly STEM-specific, but…CybercultureWhy I Resist Web Redesigns (And Maybe You Do, Too)Words many of us never want to hear: “It…AestheticsVerification HandbookOne of journalism’s most treasured clich…Current_EventsFather copes with toddler son's cancer…

Fantasy Congress

We The Creators of this site, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish Fantasy Congress for the United States of America. In this game, we…

Wishes

—Wishes (Despair, inc :( ) Similar:Franz Joseph and Star Trek’s Blueprint CultureIn 1977, when I was about nine, I saw th…AestheticsIntimations of MortalityPlato, Montaigne, Pascal—those were the …CultureAP reporter’s mistake: Did the punishment fit the crime? Reporters have been sometimes fired …EthicsStudent journalist experiences the 'trickle down' of hostility toward the pressMy own students haven’t described…

Thinking that Goes beneath the Surface

A month in hyper-space can scatter the brain. Traditional books offer readers respite from hyperactivity. The book’s definitive, closed, linear argument lets mind and sensibility enjoy moments of inner harmony. Linear text offers the kind of contemplative thinking that goes beneath the surface. –Heim, Electric Language: A Philosophical Study of Word Processing. New Haven: Yale…

A Place to Read

A place to read? How many students come to scholastic grief because they never find one? Last year the daughter of a friend flunked out of a huge state university because, she claimed, she could never actually read anywhere. The dorm room? Her roommates were all fun and games. The library? Far too noisy. In…