The computer was how I wrote! My attachment was dangerous as it now threatened to derail my progress on numerous projects, not the least of which was a manuscript I hoped to finish editing by the end of August. Losing time seemed impossible. I had to push through and figure out a way to adapt,…
PDK Question (n=500) “Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?” Results: 37% Favor 55% Oppose 5% Neither Favor or Oppose 2% Don’t Know/Refused Adjusted Question (n=500) “Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose any school, public or private, to…
Jenny Jenny, you should know better; This is not just another Greek letter. It’s a term that relates two important parameters; If you know the circumference, you can find the diameter. Jenny, you need this number; You should keep it in mind. Jenny, plug in this number: Three point one four one five nine. (Three…
1. Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always been dead. 2. They don’t remember when “cut and paste” involved scissors. —Mindset List for the Class of 2009 (Beloit College) Always worth a read. Similar:After Halloween where do all the pumpkins go? Now we knowIn the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jonathan…AmusingWatching Shakespeare With Your KidsMy retired…
When I watched “Sesame Street” in the ’70s, the human cast and the Muppets were quirky adults who didn’t talk down to me with baby voices. Now the human cast gets almost no airtime, and the show is dominated by Elmo, Baby Bear and, now, Abby Cadabby — preschoolers enamored by their own adorable stupidity.…
Still Tweaking Comment Filter (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Evan Reynolds and Josh Sasmor have both reported that the comments they tried to post got rejected… my apologies. Yesterday and today are mostly taken up with university and committee meetings, so I’ve had very little time to maintain the blog… it will all work out eventually, though. Similar:Colorful…
A euphemism like “decision-based simulation” maybe, but rarely a “game.” To many, video and computer games represent an adolescent diversion, a parental annoyance that thwarts homework, chores, and all things productive. So when FAS and others stump for games as an educational or training tool, they begin by stating the problem: “You oversee a very…
Rescue workers and staff at the Debelis Corporation used cocoa-butter to thin out the chocolate and pull him free. —US man survives chocolate ordeal (BBC) Thanks to Rosemary, who notes the final line: “The accident involved dark chocolate. “ Similar:Slate: "Police Erupt in Violence Nationwide" | Notice how writing style frames a story? Gr…The ongoing protests…
Those discovered before 1900 would be called simply “planets” while a new sub-category of “plutons” would be introduced as a compromise between those who want to banish Pluto from the planetary club and those who want its status maintained. The move would result in three new “pluton” planets being created along with Pluto: Pluto’s moon,…
I am a very visual and active learner. I draw circles around words or phrases, highlight pertinent passages, make marginal marks and notes, or draw small doodles so I can visualize a concept. I make arrows that connect similiar ideas, draw stars next to passages that I hope I’ll be able to find again, or…
Once upon time, in a galaxy exactly like this one, hard-core gamers spent hours staring at screens of tiny text and laboriously typing commands to move characters to the next level. That era — approximately 1979 to 1985 — marked the golden age of interactive fiction, when games commonly consisted of text adventures tailored to…
Comments are Back (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) Let the commenting recommence! I had to disable all my comments due to an ongoing attack, which I’m able to manage now, thanks to some expert guidance and unbelievable patience from Will Gayther, my former UWEC student who built this inidie blog software. He designed it in such a way…
Get into the action of creating words with falling letters in WORDTRIS. Letters drop from the top of the screen, and you must form words horizontally and vertically. When the words form, the letters disappear, and the pace begins to quicken as you complete levels. As the letters continue to descend, look out for the…
Among the video news releases uncovered were an item on ethanol plants aired on a Louisiana station that was created by a public relations firm on behalf of Siemens AG, a corporation with a financial stake in the construction of ethanol plants. In another case, a Boston station edited and re-voiced a video segment produced…
—Crisis in the Middle East: Mapping the Conflict (Truth Laid Bear) While the computer-generated flyovers do help give me some sense of geography on those rare occasions when I watch TV news, I’m really never satisifed unless I can click, click, click. Try out this map — it’s really very useful for making sense of the…
In science, feeling confused is essential to progress. An unwillingness to feel lost, in fact, can stop creativity dead in its tracks. A mathematician once told me he thought this was the reason young mathematicians make the big discoveries. Math can be hard, he said, even for the biggest brains around. Mathematicians may spend hours…
Within a year of birth, boys and girls also prefer different toys. Boys prefer cars, trucks, balls and guns. Girls prefer dolls and tea sets. Although evolution has clearly not had the opportunity to mould a preference for tea sets, there is evidence from another species which suggests that human infants might be predisposed to…
A zoo in the Netherlands plans to set up a webcam to help its orangutans form long-distance relationships with potential mates in Indonesia. —Dutch plan orangutang web dating (BBC) Thanks for the link, Rosemary. Similar:Earth With RingsSure, Saturn’s rings are cool, but the E…AestheticsCreating Games for JournalismWe as journalists can learn a lot from v…CybercultureVideo Tips…
Amazon used to be a large river in South America – but that was before the world wide web. This month the web is 15 years old and in that short time it has revolutionised the way we live, from shopping to booking flights, writing blogs to listening to music. Here, the Observer’s Net specialist…
Just over 60 percent of respondents were able to name Bart as Homer’s son on the television show “The Simpsons,” while only 20.5 percent were able to name one of the ancient Greek poet Homer’s epic poems, “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” Asked what planet Superman was from, 60 percent named the fictional planet Krypton,…