Reading, writing and video games

Capitalizing on youthful passion for video games, school leaders hope to keep more kids in school by offering the chance to conceive, design, build — and sell — their own video game. “That’s what they love,” said David White, the school’s chief academic officer. “That’s the hook.” —Scott Elliott —Reading, writing and video games (Dayton Daily…

Blender Basics, 2nd Ed (pdf)

—Blender Basics, 2nd Ed (pdf) (Central Dauphin High School) Where was this book during the last 3 weeks when I was struggling with random half-finished tutorials? Thank you, James Chronister! Similar:Controlling behavior of HQ CEO hijacks what should have been a puff piece about popular HQ…A few minutes ago I heard about HQ for t…BusinessEmily Dickinson…

Experience Disney Without the Long Wait!

RideMax is a computer software program guaranteed to help you save time waiting in line at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. RideMax allows you to specify the attractions you wish to ride during your visit, then uses a sophisticated scheduling algorithm to order your attractions so that the amount of time you spend in line…

Summer Blogging Slowdown

Summer Blogging Slowdown (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’m going on a little family vacation, and won’t be back until Tuesday. We’re visiting my brother-in-law in New Jersey, and plan to visit Philadelphia, too. I hope this trip goes better than last year’s. Similar:Reading a Classic American Play to My Daughter BooksMerry Christmas 2022.PersonalCarnegie Science Center: Roboworld (and…

Knights of the Round Table — Star Trek TOS

—Knights of the Round Table — Star Trek TOS (YouTube) Amusing. Not side-splittingly funny, like that Bush/Blair mashup that was circulating last year. But still amusing. Thanks for the suggestion, Rosemary. Similar:Journalism by the Numbers (a pedagogical play in one scene) #math (Lights up on a college journa…CultureMy J-Term course on August Wilson doesn’t actually start…

Overheard at Soccer Camp

Angry mother to preteen girl: “Don’t ever tell me to shut up again. That’s totally disrespectful. Now go and fill your damn water.” Similar:In journalism, nuances such as "sources tell us…" "reportedly…" "it appears…" "confi…I don’t click on headlines that use word…CultureBranding Essentials for the English Major: 4 Examples of How to Re-package Your Skills…

Moving Past Survival

Although professors may hope to remove obstacles to success, innate personality and other environmental factors may influence learning more than what we are able to offer with the short number of hours we are in contact with students. Yet, there are some tactics that seem to encourage real engagement in undergraduate core classes: —Shari Wilson…

Hey! Who turned me in?

The 28-year-old, identified only as D.M., took a photo of his speedometer showing 170 km (100 mph) on a back road in northern Croatia and then put it on the Web site of his local municipality. Police found him three days later. —Hey! Who turned me in? (Reuters) Similar:You don’t hate millennials. You hate 21st-century technology.A…

Space Invaders

Qui ne se souvient pas du SPACE INVADERS, lun des premiers jeux vidéo — Aux commandes d’un vaisseau, il s’agissait de défendre la Terre contre des escadrilles d’envahisseurs venus de l’espace… Et bien, la plus grande partie de SPACE INVADERS de la planète a eu lieu le 24 juin 2006 au festival Belluard. —Space Invaders (notsonoisy.com)…

Maize: the final frontier

—Maize: the final frontier (ABCnet.au) A Star Trek cornfield maze. I’ll spare you the fanboy analysis, which would hinge on the fact that it looks like that’s the original series Enterprise, firing what looks like a phaser from the secondary hull (should be coming from the base of the saucer) at a Borg cube, but the…

”Uh…”

And yes, Liz’s face registers the shift between thinking Jon is sweet and deeply weird, but the sudden retraction of her hand from Garfield’s back seals the deal: she wants so little to do with Jon that even touching his cat feels wrong. —”Uh…” (Garfield: Permanent Monday) The world needs more daily critical analyses of Garfield…

People Power

Today’s peer-production machine runs in a mostly nonmonetary economy. The currency is reputation, expression, karma, “wuffie,” or simply whim. This can all sound a little like, well, ’60s-style utopianism. After all, Marx himself believed that the industrial proletariat would revolt against the bourgeoisie, creating a state where the workers own the means of industrial production.…

Muppet Wiki

—Muppet Wiki  (Muppet.Wikia.com) Too much information on the muppets. Way, way too much. Similar:A Tribute to a Journalism FavoriteAs my news writing students work on seve…AestheticsThe White House’s plan to colonize the moon, briefly explained: Putting humans on the moon… Political tensions alone could be a ma…BusinessThe College Fear FactorWhat happens in a literature discussion…