Why Don't Nerd Blogs Go Viral?

Sorry, not going to answer this one. Seemed rhetorical anyway...but here's trying!

In addition to Khan Academy, here are a few other great online educational resources.

(URL list via Rachel Swaby of Wired)

ENGINEER GUY

http://www.engineerguy.com

CONNEXIONS

http://www.cnx.org


ITUNES U

www.apple.com/education/itunes-u

GOOGLE CODE UNIVERSITY

www.code.google.com/edu


MOMA’S MODERN TEACHERS

www.moma.org/modernteachers

PBS TEACHERS

www.pbs.org/teachers


YOUTUBE EDU

www.youtube.com/edu

The Age of Exploration

In search of the Indies.

In which I generate a list of things on the Internet that don't make sense.

Wherein this lady sings like an 80's Cher-opatra in quasi-Nadsat argot.

Kopat?

Now Let's Just Hope They Don't Become Self Aware

I found this video about Siftables a while ago, but just figured out how to code video for this blog and still think these things are really cool; I would love if this is the direction human/computer interfacing is going. For computers to be able to communicate with us through physical actions beyond point and click is a pretty amazing concept; if they can understand the difference between "pour" and "stack," learning physical empathy like "hug" vs. "punch" may not be far behind. Maybe. Either way I want a set, mainly because, as I'm sure was this guys original intention, they definitely have untapped potential to be a really fun drinking game. Its also crazy to think how fluent and comfortable our kids will be with computers if these are these Legos of the next generation. Just watch it already. Enjoy.

Lazy Poem Post #2

Yet again, I punish myself for neglecting my blog by forcing myself to publish yet another of my questionably publishable poems. Be gentle.

the last two nights

I spent the last two nights breathing steam
Careening past the outer trees in the lower field
Where I got lost that once watching stars
I remember fireflies, and remember not remembering
Seeing them until a moment at dusk
When all of a sudden we were surrounded.
Maybe they were there all along, darkened
Like a thousand lights of a city under siege
Waiting for a lull or a breeze
To catch your hair and make us watch
Until we lost them against the fading
Light where it sank blinking between
Branches and leaves.

No leaves now. Grass is somewhere, buried.
We could dig that landscape, but now we’re bundled
Padded and separate, bouncing off each other
Into opposite corner pockets.
And though it might be quieter now,
Muffled, with drifts piling,
I glance and still see shaded by your coat
The moon of a smile, so I settle
Into our step, the familiar bob and weave.
I can roll with the punches, I think
Until this all melts
Down around me like an old coat
Melts and flashes again.

Stay Classy, 'Merica.

So I realize that lately I've pretty much been using this to put up articles from my new job and haven't been doing much original writing, but I was late night Stumbling last night (yeah, I do that) and came across an article in the Huffington Post that seriously disturbed me. I wouldn't say frightened me, because despite how ridiculous all the retaliation against Obama right now may be, I'm still, perhaps naively, not yet ready to jump on the Keith Olbermann bandwagon and say that this sort of rampant bad taste in protesting led by Glen Beck and other such newspeople will lead to "domestic terrorism." I'm not that scared...yet. But I do believe he makes some very good points, and the article does present some evidence to support his theory (see picture of man holding a sign that suggests Obama be...waterboarded?) By the way, I was going to put that picture up, but decided against it, because I think that is only contributing to the problem, and here I'll get to my point. These people, who come up with signs like those found on that article, do not care so much about the issues that they are fighting so strongly for as they do about simply having some sort of issue to fight for. As with anything, by giving it press you are perpetuating the idea, not necessarily an opinion about it. Especially on the internet, images and media content are so readily separated from text that even a site like the Huff Post, which is obviously against such protesting, can serve to merely propagate the images alone, and the messages in them. But I digress. There is obviously blame to be had on both sides; while I smirked conspiratorially with author John Wellington Ennis' quick-witted comments after each picture, those are as unproductive as the methods of the protesters themselves, if maybe slightly more informative. That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with his feeling of frustration and outrage with these people. I must say, all of this town hall yelling and such seemed like passing news, something quirky and slightly funny, but nothing more harmful than the joy of the inevitable local color that is a product of our town hall system. But a sign that is a digital composite of Hitler, Obama, and ...the Joker? Now that takes some hate. And a lot of time, time that I think should be spent perhaps writing viable counter-proposals and phrasing coherent arguments. It looks like since the ultra-liberals got their turn with Bush, all the people who thought the "hate the president" shctick looked fun but were on the wrong side of the party line are finally getting their chance. And although I count myself in on those who publicly defamed our late president for his many apparent failings, perhaps now we are reaping what we've sown?

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Smaller Banks Get A Break

New legislation may mean good things for small town banks.

It’s Tough Times, But Your Local Bank Might Have an Advantage

"With all of the new rules that have been placed on large holding companies in the last few months, the traditional advantage experienced by larger banks has been shrinking. Of course, your local mom-and-pop banking institution isn’t going to directly compete with a global lender like JP Morgan Chase or Bank of America, but there are distinct differences that allow these smaller lenders to offer some products at rates that larger banks wouldn’t dare to in this current financial climate..."

Read the full article on My Bank Tracker