Backup!
Stolen laptop contains cancer cure data | CNET
"Shin and husband Ralf Jankecht, a professor of cell biology at Oklahoma University, are leading cancer researchers at the school. Sunday, they made a quick stop in Oklahoma City on their way back to the lab, according to the local News 9. That's when someone smashed the window of their car and made off with a 13-inch white MacBook in a dark orange computer bag.
"I'm devastated and I feel so guilty," a tearful Shin told News 9.
The pair is now offering a $1,000 reward for return of the computer, no questions asked. "Thief, it is OK. Everybody makes mistakes," reads a flyer that's been posted in area pawn shops."
Computer History
Museum looks at 2000-year history of the computer | Macworld
""Many times, people coming to the museum have very basic questions: 'How did that computer on my desk get there? How did that phone I've used for so long get so smart?' " said John Hollar, CEO of the museum. "It's an exhibition that's primarily aimed at a non-technical audience, though there's a ton of great history and information for the technical audience as well.""
Take a look at the Museum site here: http://www.computerhistory.org/visit/
“29 Years of Shuttle Launch Videos” | Free Technology for Teachers
Free Technology for Teachers: Ascent - 29 Years of Shuttle Launch Videos
"Ascent is an incredible video, produced by NASA engineer Matt Melis, documenting 29 years of space shuttle launches. The video is narrated by Melis and another NASA employee, Kevin Burke. Not only is the footage spectacular, but you also learn a lot about the technical aspects of shuttle launches."
Tech 911
Google Launches Site for Teaching Tech to Your Parents
"Ever go home for the holidays and find your parents asking you to help them with “techie tasks” like uploading photos to the Internet?
You’re not alone. A bunch of folks over at Google find themselves in this situation nearly every time they visit their families around this time of year. That’s why they’ve launched TeachParentsTech.org, a “tech support care package” that’s meant to help kids teach parents about computer basics."
“Real face of education” – China Daily
What's creativity?
Real face of education - China Daily
"China's education stresses textbook knowledge rather than a fundamental understanding of subjects. Both teachers and parents look at education with an eye on fame and success. For them, a successful education means entering a prestigious school and getting high grades on tests, while neglecting the fact that education also plays a crucial role in nurturing a healthy and complete personality."
(Via Scott McLeod)
“Teachers as Makers” – O’Reilly Radar
"Making" can lead to informative writing...
Teachers as Makers - O'Reilly Radar
"When I began talking with folks from the National Writing Project last year, we hit on the idea that getting teachers to see themselves as makers was a great way to encourage making in schools. Thus, the goal of this workshop was to provide a gentle introduction to making for about 50 teachers. There were about eight stations with a variety of projects. Without too much in the way of preliminaries, the teachers sat down and started making. They talked to each other while working (or playing, as I might prefer to call it) and they helped each other. The projects were not simple but they were fun. The teachers were making drawbots and brushbots, flickering mood lights, stop-frame animation, bottlecap jewelry, and bracelets that functioned as snap-circuits."
Once "making" is finished...
"They participated in a writing exercise, documenting the process that they followed to make something. This exercise in technical writing is also a good way to reflect on your own learning process and think about how others might benefit from what you had learned. As I said to them, Tim O'Reilly and I were technical writers and this is what we did that helped us start a publishing company. We wrote about what we learned to do ourselves."
#
"Octothorphe" sounds like a good robot name...
"The term octothorpe was coined by engineers at Bell Laboratories in the early 1960s, who wanted a name for one of two non-number function symbols on the first touch-tone keypads (the other was the *, which they called a sextile). It didn't catch on, and the # key became famous as an ineffectual way of interacting with the robots who work at your bank."
(Via Coudal)
Don’t be surprised…
"Don’t be surprised when kids do extraordinary things. Be surprised when adults are surprised. I expect that children can use computers in deeper more thoughtful ways than school traditionally asks of them. Cute may be a subset of ‘good,’ but is a poor substitute."