Stephen's Untold Stories

A classic battle!

The graph you are seeing is taken from the results of a survey done by David Warlick. David is the creator of the Class Blogmeister, and the survey was taken by some of the teachers who use that free blogging service. I encourage you to check out the rest of the results here.

I have spent a great deal of time in the past couple of years talking about blogging with teachers. I have always mentioned David’s service, and I truly hope that more teachers will sign up or at least try blogging in some way. Our students are going to blog on their own anyway, so why not use that as a teaching tool?

The one that I have used most often is Google Notebook, and I have been quite pleased with it. I will be trying out the Zoho Notebook when my summer classes start next week.

Here is the complete list

We just got Adobe Contribute at work today. I’m testing it now to see how easy it is to post to my blog.

Okay…that was incredibly easy. I think I’m going to really like this.

Little Sebastian and his mom are doing great!

This is all very cool, but those of us who know better realize that this is just another skill that the tigers have been working on in preparation for the day they will take over the world.

Link to complete gallery

No, I didn’t know all of them. How about you?

The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know.

“The words we suggest,” says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, “are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language.”

Here are a few:

• ziggurat
• quotidian
• tautology
• gamete
• moiety

Here is the complete list.

Parade in Washington D.C.

Original version here

I played in a tennis tournament up in Big Canoe this weekend, and the smoke had made its way all the way up to the mountains.

You’ll need to click each image for the larger size to get a real idea of how bad it was.

By the way…we lost in a 3rd set tiebreaker in the finals. We did have two good wins to get there, so it was a good weekend.

I guess it’s officially a weekly segment. Let’s get to it!

• WiMax Showdown in New Zealand
• EarthLink Wins Full Contract for Philadelphia Wi-Fi Net
• Boingo set to roam on FON’s worldwide WiFi network
• Mexico to get WiMax?
• Creative Offers Xmod Wireless Music System
• Avis Outfits San Francisco Rentals With WiFi
• Citywide Wi-Fi struggles to reach users
• Cities struggle with wireless Internet
• Short-range Wi-Fi meets citywide limits
• Mesh networks for the wireless masses, courtesy of Meraki

Thanks to Rick for this one!

Three Democratic and one Republican lawmaker on May 23 introduced legislation designed to ensure no child is left behind when it comes to technology.

Numerous education organizations hailed the new bill—H.R. 2449, the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act–saying it will make significant improvements to the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program as part of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Although specific funding levels have not yet been reported in association with the measure, ATTAIN will enable states and school districts to improve support for the educational needs of today’s students through the use of technology, ed-tech groups said.

Link to article

Who knew that cows like classical music?

On Hans Pieter Sieber’s Priegola dairy farm in Villanueva del Pardillo, Spain, the secret to success is not some newfangled technology or machine. Nor is it a time-tested technique or process handed down from generation to generation. Rather it is the dulcet, layered tones of classical music.

And not just any music.

Sieber exposes his herd of approximately 700 heifers to the famous chords, crescendos and cadences of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Link to article

I went to the Braves/Mets game on Tuesday, and took this photo from the stadium before the game. The reason it looks a little hazy is because of the smoke from the wildfires in south Georgia. It was much worse eariler in the day, and I’m glad it had mostly cleared up by the time we got downtown for the game. A lot of schools in the Atlanta area kept the kids inside for recess because it was so smoky.

Larger version here

Things did look much nicer in the stadium. The Braves won the game 8-1.

Larger version here

The Georgia Department of Education would like you input about the new graduation rule.

The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) is seeking input on revisions to the state’s Graduation Rule and will hold 16 public vetting session over the next three weeks.

“We are excited to receive input from our educators, parents, students, business leaders and the community at large,” State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox said. “This rule is a very important part of making sure our students are college and work ready when they leave high school.”

The Graduation Rule establishes the minimum academic requirements a student must meet in order to graduate from a Georgia public high school. A new Graduation Rule is needed to align with the state’s revised and improved curriculum, the Georgia Performance Standards. The new rule will be approved by the State Board of Education later this year and will go into effect for the freshman class of the 2008-2009 school year.

“We brought a lot of people to the table as we developed this first draft,” Superintendent Cox said. “Now, it’s time to hear from the general public and make any necessary changes before this becomes a State Board rule.”

Link to article (includes ways to send your comments)

Very funny! I hope the kitten will be okay.

Outstanding!!

Gmail upgraded the maximum attachment size from 10 MB to 20 MB. Gmail was quite forgiving and you could send more than 10 MB in some cases, but now it’s possible to send at least 20 MB in one message.

Of course, few mail providers will accept a such a big message, so it’s safe to send messages bigger than 10 MB to other Gmail accounts, to Yahoo Mail Plus or to other premium accounts.

Link to article

Quite intriguing. I can’t wait to see how it looks!

A government contractor that played a key role in the Internet’s birth will oversee efforts to redesign the network from scratch.

Many researchers want to rethink the Internet’s underlying architecture, saying a “clean-slate” approach is the only way to truly address security, mobility and other challenges that have cropped up since the Internet’s birth in 1969.

A new Internet could ultimately mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers, at a cost of billions of dollars. But any new network is likely to run parallel with the existing one for some time, with individuals and businesses gradually migrating over as they need more advanced applications.

Link to article

It looks like I’m making this a weekly thing, so why not call it what it is?

Another good week of interesting stories.

• WiMax gets a trial run in Warwick, England
• The WiFi alliance unveils its new 802.11n logo

• Atlanta’s public transit system wants wireless access on board
• SF Wi-Fi plan with Google and Earthlink shelved until July

Nicolas Negroponte’s famous endeavor will be featured tonight.

MIT Prof. Nicholas Negroponte’s dream is to put a laptop computer into the hands of every child as an educational aid. Lesley Stahl reports on his progress in Cambodia and Brazil. Catherine Olian is the producer.

Thanks to The AssortedStuff Blog for the heads up!

Very funny!

• Outfield – Ty Cobb.
• A great hitter, and he invented an awesome salad full of bacon and cheese.
• Designated Hitter: That guy from “The Natural”
• It was so cool when he broke that light and then ran in slow motion.
• Second Base: Billy Martin
• Only major league player to get in more drunken bar brawls than me.

Here is the complete lineup!