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:When a Textbook Plagiarizes Your Student's WorkIn a few days…

''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:Things That Will Freak out Every OCD PersonA good collection. I’m only linking to i…AestheticsListening to the Text: The Medieval Speech BubbleFrom a culture…

Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin

—Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin (Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories) Via boingboing. Similar:xkcd: Types of Editorsxkcd: Types of Editors.AmusingSondra's Garden: Butterfly Release Honors Dr. Lettrich (Seton Hill University)”Every good lesson plan has a culminatin…AcademiaRUN. HIDE. FIGHT. Surviving an Active Shooter Event – English – YouTubeDepartment of Homeland Security-funded v…CultureFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg strides past fettered drones at…

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:We're Teaching Books That Don't Stack UpOur provost sent this link to English fa…AcademiaI didn't exactly set out to achieve this goal, but it's not hard to do the minimum to keep…EducationWhy Audiences Hate Hard News—And Love Pretending OtherwiseA reminder that polls that ask people to…CultureWhat Part of “No, Totally” Don’t…

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…