Sunday, January 31, 2010

A more entertaining way to watch water boil


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A more entertaining way to watch water boil

[YouTube Video]

Egg Watchers is a great concept. You just tell the system what size of egg you're boiling, whether or not the egg is refrigerator-cold, and how well-done you want it. Then, you're set up with a YouTube video that will end at approximately the same time your egg is done.


No more boring waiting around! For an 8 min. 30 sec. extra-large hard egg, I was treated to the delightful educational mockumentary above.


My only complaint: I'd love to see this concept expanded to a full-on YouTube-based cooking timer. I've got 15 minutes for this pasta to boil, how will the Internet entertain me?


Eggwatchers

(Thanks, Laura Browning!)

After 3 months, Newsday's web site gets 35 subscribers


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After 3 months, Newsday's web site gets 35 subscribers

In October Newsday (a Long Island daily paper that was sold for $650 million) began charging for online access. The price is $5 per week. In three months 35 people have subscribed.

The web site redesign and relaunch cost the Dolans $4 million, according to Mr. Jimenez. With those 35 people, they've grossed about $9,000.
In that time, without question, web traffic has begun to plummet, and, certainly, advertising will follow as well.


After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site



Lessig on Copyright and Culture: "Things could have been different"


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Lessig on Copyright and Culture: "Things could have been different"

For the Love of Culture, Google, Copyright and our Future. Astute and moving commentary by Lawrence Lessig, a love letter to the real-space library.
Whatever your view of it, notice first just how different this future promises to be. In real libraries, in real space, access is not metered at the level of the page (or the image on the page). Access is metered at the level of books (or magazines, or CDs, or DVDs). You get to browse through the whole of the library, for free. You get to check out the books you want to read, for free. The real-space library is a den protected from the metering of the market. It is of course created within a market; but like kids in a playroom, we let the life inside the library ignore the market outside.

This freedom gave us something real. It gave us the freedom to research, regardless of our wealth; the freedom to read, widely and technically, beyond our means. It was a way to assure that all of our culture was available and reachable--not just that part that happens to be profitable to stock. It is a guarantee that we have the opportunity to learn about our past, even if we lack the will to do so. The architecture of access that we have in real space created an important and valuable balance between the part of culture that is effectively and meaningfully regulated by copyright and the part of culture that is not. The world of our real-space past was a world in which copyright intruded only rarely, and when it did, its relationship to the objectives of copyright was relatively clear.

We forget all this today.



Thursday, January 28, 2010

New program combines technology, community service

New program combines technology, community service: "
Students at six schools from across the country are taking part in a pilot program that uses 'service learning' as a way to revitalize their schools and communities while gaining valuable 21st-century skills.
"

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Check out this post on Stepcase Lifehack

Greetings--

KJL thinks this will be of interest to you:

Butterflies in the Mind: Taking the Long View

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/butterflies-in-the-mind-taking-the-long-view.html

Enjoy.

--
http://www.lifehack.org

Necessity Was the Mother of this Phone Box Library

Here is a creative way to use an "outdated" space...

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Necessity Was the Mother of this Phone Box Library

A resident dreamed up the idea when the tiny village lost its phone box and mobile library in quick succession. But fortunately, a traditional red phone box has been recycled into the Westbury-sub-Mendip (population of approximately 800 in Somerset) Library, stocking a total of 100 books.



British Telephone has received 770 applications for communities to 'adopt a kiosk', and so far 350 boxes have been handed over to parish councils. Westbury-sub-Mendip Parish Council bought the phone box from BT in a national scheme for a token £1. More from the BBC...



...and yet another article from BBC Local.

Friday, November 27, 2009

School libraries key in teaching information skills

 
 

Sent to you by MediaMom333 via Google Reader:

 
 

via Technology4Teachers by on 11/20/09

When school media specialists and educators make an effort to become familiar with the social-networking web sites and technologies that today's students use each day, they can forge important learning connections with their students: That was one of the key messages to come out of the American Association of School Librarians' annual conference, held Nov. 5-8 in Charlotte, N.C.
Key words: educational technology, AASL, library media specialist, school library, school media center, 21st century learning


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

Milton Glaser on drawing and thinking

 
 

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via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 11/23/09


In this short video by C. Coy, designer Milton Glaser draws a picture of Shakespeare while talking about the ways that drawing helps him think and perceive: "for me, drawing has always been a primary way of encountering reality."

His ideas reminding me of cartoonist Seth's short essay for The Walrus called "The Quiet Art of Cartooning." Both Seth and Glaser are in agreement that your mind opens up on interesting ways while you draw. Teachers who prevent students from drawing and doodling while being taught a lesson are hindering their learning.


 
 

Things you can do from here: