Encyclopedia of Life

How’s this for a goal? Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about all life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. All key information about all life on Earth? That’s a lot of information. There are 1.75 million documented species on Earth. So far, they have about, umm, 25 more-or-less … Continue reading Encyclopedia of Life

Making Filtering Decisions

I just finished listening to the “Multimedia” episode of the Web EdTech Podcast. At one point in the conversation, John Rappold and company were discussing web filtering in the schools. They struggled with the question of what types of content should be blocked by the web filter, and who should be making those decisions. In most school districts, when teachers disagree with the filtering decisions, … Continue reading Making Filtering Decisions

Eschew the RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America considers you a criminal. They sue people for sharing music online, sometimes using questionable legal tactics. They also consider it illegal for you to copy music from a legally-acquired CD to a computer or MP3 player. If you run a radio station, you have to pay licensing fees to play commercial music on the air. That’s a 180-degree change … Continue reading Eschew the RIAA

Securing Mobile Data

It’s been a while since we have had a high-profile news story about stolen laptops. You know the story. Some company or government agency or organization had some laptops that contained social security numbers or financial records or credit card numbers or confidential medical information. These laptops were stolen or misplaced or they mysteriously disappeared. The organization notified the affected people whose data might be … Continue reading Securing Mobile Data

Every Dog

Monday was “Read Across America Day.” Pro-reading events took place all over the country. I participated by reading a story to a group of children in North Carolina. My children are attending a big event at Kent State tomorrow, where they’ll listen to stories, make bookmarks and other crafts, and have their pictures taken with the Cat in the Hat. Tuesday was “National Grammar Day.” … Continue reading Every Dog

My Very Educated Mother

Back in the dark ages, when I was a kid, there were nine planets. Mr. McClain, our science teacher, taught us a mnemonic to remember them. “My very educated mother just served us nine pizza-pies.” Lots of kids learned this mnemonic, though some mothers served other P-foods. Other mothers showed their kids nine planets instead. Still, it helped us learn the order of the planets … Continue reading My Very Educated Mother

Snow Day

I’ve always thought of snow days as a gift. I never really count on them. There’s no guarantee that we’ll have any in a given year. I always assume we’re going to have school. Then, when they come, it’s a pleasant surprise. Truth-be-told, it shouldn’t make that much difference. I don’t work directly with students anymore, and I have to work on snow days. Except … Continue reading Snow Day