Selected by mrscienceteach

• 
  Sox and Pinstripes

• Yankees Reunite with Marcus Thames

  Vince Mercandetti

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:15 pm

  Brian Cashman seems content on the "throw it at a wall and see what sticks" approach towards left field this offseason. With that in mind, signing Marcus Thames certainly wasn't a decision coming "out of left field".   In the late 90's the bigger corner outfield was always the Yankees' weakest position. Names like Ricky Leedee, Shane Spencer, Chad Curtis, Darryl Strawberry and Tim Raines were all primarily in the mix, but none of them had any sort of legacy or staying power out there.   That's why the amount of stress and chaos associated with the…

• A look at Boston's 20 non-roster spring training invitees

  Jeff Louderback

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  This is a time of anticipation. The Super Bowl is over, and Truck Day is nearing. This Friday, the truck containing equipment for Red Sox spring training will depart from Fenway Park en route for Ft. Myers. Pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 18. Though another snowstorm is on the way, spring training is around the corner, as is the promise of warmer weather, sunshine, the pop of a fast ball meeting the catcher's mitt and the crack of a line drive rocketing off a bat.Another sign that baseball is about to begin is the announcement of the list of non-roster players invited to spring…

• In memory of the true founder of Sox and Pinstripes

  Vince Mercandetti

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:59 pm

  It was 115 years ago today that this blog was founded. OK, I wasn't born yet, Jeff still had a few years to go before he was birthed and the internet, along with computers, had also yet to be created, but nevertheless this blog does not exist without February 6th, 1895. That was the day Babe Ruth, the greatest player to ever exist, was born.Many like to debate whether "The Babe" was the best hitter, but it is really of little effort to try. There is no other player responsible for starting the game's best, biggest and most heated rivalry, and there is no player who could…

• The Andrew Bynum Theory

  Vince Mercandetti

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:49 pm

  Sundays in February are the most relaxing days of the year for me. There is no baseball yet (and trust me even with spring training games I have an idea of how the Yankees are doing), football is over after the Super Bowl (regardless of when the Pro Bowl is scheduled), hockey has not yet reached the postseason (that’s when I truly zero in on a day to day basis) and the NBA is at the point of the season where the Knicks are mathematically eliminated so I lose all personal investment in NBA teams. Well, almost all of it. Generally, Sunday is special because I’m guaranteed not to work, and…

• Nine Rules for Dating a Red Sox Fan

  Jeff Louderback

  30 Jan 2010 | 9:59 pm

  Brimming with the giddiness that only a new relationship brings, you are a woman who has met an interesting guy. This one has potential, you surmise. Nice guy. Decent looking (at least he has his hair and his teeth, so that's a plus). Engaging sense of humor. His idea of a dinner date does not involve the value menu at Mickey D's or the Grand Slam at Denny's. Early on - likely on the first date - he utters five words (or six if he doesn't use a contraction). "I'm (or I am) a Red Sox fan."Chances are, the admission caused you no reason for alarm. Perhaps…

• 
  The Joy of Sox

• Workout Videos

  6 Feb 2010 | 6:07 pm

  Two video reports on off-season workouts: WEEI has Dustin Pedroia and NESN has Jason Varitek.Rob Bradford, on FY:Pedroia had noted how heavy his legs felt throughout much of last year, vowing to alter that sensation in '10. ... "I just felt slower last year," Pedroia says. "That's something I wanted to change. Now I feel a lot better."Redsox.com's "Around The Horn" looks at the 2010 outfield.Over at BR, look at how consistent the percentages of 2-, 3-, and 4-run victories have been over the last 110 years.

• Non-Roster Invitees

  6 Feb 2010 | 11:46 am

  The Red Sox have invited twenty players not on the team's 40-man roster to spring training:PitchersRandor BierdFernando CabreraKris JohnsonCasey KellyAdam MillsEdwin MorenoJoe NelsonBrian ShouseJorge SosaKyle WeilandCatchersLuis Exposito Gustavo MolinaInfielders Lars AndersonYamaico NavarroAngel Sanchez Gil VelazquezOutfielders Zach DaegesRyan KalishChe-Hsuan Lin Darnell McDonald

• Not Much Guessing About Roster

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:37 am

  The 25-man roster for 2010 is -- barring injury -- pretty much set.The only big question marks are the final two spots in the bullpen. Daniel Barbarisi (ProJo) and Peter Abraham (Globe) take a look at the candidates.And the Truck leaves a week from Friday.Also: Shitty news at Chez L-sock.

• Howard Zinn (1922-2010)

  27 Jan 2010 | 5:12 pm

  A great American died this evening.[Civil disobedience] is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is the numbers of people all over the world who have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government ... Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem.

• Wakefield Feels Great, But Rotation Spot Not Guaranteed

  27 Jan 2010 | 7:51 am

  Tim Wakefield says he is fully healed from back surgery and he believes he can be a full-time starter.Last year I was on my way to pitching 200 innings [108.2 at the ASB] and then due to circumstances beyond my control -- I didn't hurt my shoulder, I didn't hurt myself pitching, I hurt my back swinging in interleague -- it didn't happen. ... I think I've earned the right to be a full-time starter and go from there.Even if Wakefield is healthy, there are still five other possible starters -- Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lackey, and Clay Buchholz.Jeremy Hermida avoided…

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  NYT: Education

• What Have You Been Taught About Sex and Abstinence?

  By HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:36 am

  Student Opinion | Does sex education affect students' decisions about sex?

• N.C.A.A. Fails to Stop Licensing Lawsuit

  By PETE THAMEL

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:08 pm

  A district court judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit headed by Ed O’Bannon and arguing that athletes should be compensated when their images are used.

• National Briefing | New England: New Hampshire: Dartmouth Announces Layoffs

  By TAMAR LEWIN

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Dartmouth College announced Monday that it would lay off 38 non-teaching staff members this week and “a similar number” in April.

• News Quiz | February 9, 2010

  By NICK CORASANITI

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:30 pm

  See what you know about the news of the day.

• A 'Dance of Beauty and Death'

  By KATHERINE SCHULTEN

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:13 pm

  6 Q's About the News | What makes driving through the Kabul Gorge a "complicated dance of beauty and death"?

• 
  Dangerously Irrelevant

• Video - Online learning

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:24 pm

  Here’s a 10-minute video I helped make that advocates for P-12 online learning. Created by Intermediate District 287 in Minnesota, which heads up the Northern Star Online collaborative, the video features Mike Smart, 2007 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, and a number of other Minnesota educators and students. The video will be used for educational and policy advocacy purposes with community members, parents, administrators, and legislators. Here’s my favorite statement I made in the video (at 7:20): One of the things I think we have to ask ourselves as school leaders is ‘What’s our…

• Many service jobs will become globalized piece work

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:18 am

  I’m reading a fantastic book right now: Futurecast, by Robert Shapiro. In the section on globalization, Shapiro notes that the first waves of globalization primarily affected manufacturing. Millions of American jobs were 'offshored' in the 1970s and 1980s as global companies set up factories overseas instead of here in the U.S. For all of the current rhetoric about ‘Benedict Arnold’ corporations that offshore jobs, they essentially have to since their competitors are doing so. Few companies can survive in a hypercompetitive global economy when they’re paying labor rates 5 to 25 times…

• Video - The Class

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  Here’s the latest educational technology video that’s making the rounds. I know a few professors like this! “If you are here, why are we Skyping?”

• Grading student projects: Separating content from delivery

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:33 am

  I am a big fan of student choice. When students work on projects, I think that they should have as much choice as possible regarding both the topic and the delivery. Choice increases student buy-in and ownership. Teachers allow choice of topics, not delivery When teachers and I talk about integrating technology into their lessons, I encourage them to try and build in more choice for students. Most teachers already allow students to choose topics of study, at least some of the time. For example, students are allowed to pick a historical figure, select a mystery book, decide what they sculpt…

• "Just tell me what to do"

  dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)

  6 Feb 2010 | 7:26 am

  Seth Godin wrote today that: People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: "If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe." I think another big reason is that most people spent at least 12 years of their life being deeply socialized in the “just tell me what to do” model. We know that schools strongly emphasize compliance in the name of order and discipline. We know that the fact-regurgitation model that still dominates schooling mostly leads to the student mentality of…

• 
  Weblogg-ed

• Transformative Technology? Really?

  Will Richardson

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:40 am

  So I ran across this Smart Ease of Use video in the course of one of our threads in a PLP cohort and I have to say, I can’t seem to shake it. I mean, maybe I’m missing something here, but if this is a vision of “transformative” technology, we’re in some serious trouble. Worse, if this marketing piece actually does the job and creates sales of Smart boards, we’re in even bigger trouble. Is this really a vision of classrooms and learning that we aspire to? Is it all about being “easy”? And what does it say when the manufacturer of one of the most…

• EduCon 2.2

  Will Richardson

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:31 am

  If I could put in a few phrases what I took away from this year’s Educon experience it was this: Stop complaining. Be the change. Love your students and do well by them. If that includes technology, so be it. And it was those first two that stood out, for me at least. I heard variations on those themes more in the last two days than the first two Educons combined. Maybe it was because there were more people this year. Maybe because we’re finally getting tired of talking about change, about waiting for something or someone else to change. Or maybe because when you get into a room…

• No Choice

  Will Richardson

  21 Jan 2010 | 5:18 am

  (Cross posted to the PLP Network blog) One of my favorite things that Sheryl says when she talks about the challenges that schools face right now is that this generation of kids in our schools is the first not to have a choice about technology. Most of us grew up in a time when technology was an add on, and for many of us, we still see it as a choice, especially in education. (Just the other day I was at a meeting of about 25 school leaders and teachers to discuss how social learning tools can be infused into an inquiry based curriculum and only one person was using technology to take…

• Change Congress

  Will Richardson

  20 Jan 2010 | 4:51 am

  It’s no secret that Lawrence Lessig is one of my heroes in the way that he takes on meaningful efforts to change the world for (what I think, at least) good and his ability to articulate those efforts in compelling ways. It’s also no secret that over the past year I’ve become more disillusioned with the government here in the US. Mostly it’s a frustration about how nothing changes (or will change), how money is the motivator for everything that happens, and how much it feels like we have lost the best of our democracy to special interests. I was a huge Obama supporter;…

• No More High School–Play Along

  Will Richardson

  14 Jan 2010 | 6:18 am

  So this might totally fall flat on its face, but I’m wondering how all you  out there who are deeply invested in social learning spaces might respond to this unlikely but hopefully compelling scenario: Imagine for a moment that high schools as educational places vanish from the earth. How would you go about educating the 14-18 year olds in your lives? What resources, programs, strategies, assessments would you use? Or what would we need to create in order for them to become “educated” in the current sense? What would that world look like? Could it even be done?

• 
  The Fischbowl

• Cory Doctorow Discussion Ustream Archive

  Karl Fisch

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:34 am

  Well, the technology worked fairly well for our Skype discussion with Cory Doctorow today. The audio on Skype wasn't perfect, but we could hear fairly well. And it froze up a couple of times for about 10 seconds, but then started transmitting again. We also lost the ustream once, which is why I've embedded two ustream archives below.Part 1 (about 17 minutes) is the first part (amazingly enough) of our discussion. We actually start about 3 minutes into the recording, as I hit record before we actually got started just to make sure I didn't forget. Then Part 2 is obviously the remaining portion…

• Discussing Little Brother with Cory Doctorow

  Karl Fisch

  29 Jan 2010 | 7:43 am

  Anne Smith and Maura Moritz's ninth graders are currently finishing up reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. Previously they read 1984 and their task is to look at both books and answer the questions:What have we learned - or what have we not learned - over the past 60 years [from Orwell's time to the present]? What does our future hold for us?This has been a fascinating unit to observe. Anne and Maura have brought in additional folks to speak to different aspects of each novel. They brought in our Western Civilization teachers to help our students understand what was going on in the 1930's…

• The Best (?) of The Fischbowl 2009

  Karl Fisch

  24 Jan 2010 | 11:03 am

  As I have the previous three years (2008, 2007, 2006), this is the post where I try to pull together some of the most interesting blog posts from my blog in 2009. These are not necessarily fantastic posts, but should give readers that are new to the blog a place to start to get a feel for what this blog is all about.I posted 88 times in 2009, down sharply from 141 in 2008, 148 in 2007 and 199 in 2006. This is my 624th post since beginning in September of 2005.Here we go.January (10 posts)Best: Take Me to Your Leaders(s)Honorable Mention: I Just Want to Say One Word to You:…

• 2010 AHS Faculty Dance Video

  Karl Fisch

  22 Jan 2010 | 1:48 pm

  As I've said several times before, we take a break from the regularly scheduled content of this blog to bring you the 2010 AHS Faculty Dance (performed at our Winter Pep Assembly).It might not show up in AYP, or help us get Race to the Top dollars, but I think this is still a huge part of what a learning community should look like.

• Learning 2.0: You Are Going, Aren't You?

  Karl Fisch

  17 Jan 2010 | 7:38 pm

  Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (2010 Edition) is fast approaching on February 20th - have you signed up yet?Let's review:Registration costs . . . $0Lunch costs . . . $0Sessions cost . . . $0Learning opportunity . . . priceless.We're about to hit the 100 mark in terms of registrants, well on our way to the 140 to 160 we've had the previous two years, and the session descriptions are now posted. You can attend physically or virtually, as we'll be streaming the sessions. While most folks will be from Colorado, you're all invited, and we have folks coming from Nebraska, Pennsylvania,…

• 
  Bud the Teacher

• The Week in Tweets for 2010-02-08

  bud@budtheteacher.com (Bud Hunt bud@budtheteacher.com)

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:15 am

  My beloved Prius will hit 99,000 miles today. It's not quite four years old. #Idrivelots # Cleaning my desk. Combined height of my two "to read" piles – 9.25 inches. That does not include my Instapaper account. # Has anyone written the definitive "Why YouTube Access for Students Doesn't Violate CIPA/eRate Requirements" post? # Just spent forty minutes working through some cognitive dissonance. http://twitpic.com/10wh4c # It's a Mac. It's a PC. Aw, who cares? Just get me to a browser. # @njtechteacher So worth it. When necessary. in reply to…

• The Week in Tweets for 2010-02-01

  bud@budtheteacher.com (Bud Hunt bud@budtheteacher.com)

  1 Feb 2010 | 5:15 am

  Good Monday, tweeps. Spending the morning in meetings. Then another one in the afternoon. And some email in the middle. # Turns out I like getting a paper on the nook. Just wish it was the Rocky. # ISTE tells me that I was wrong. Their "crowdsourced" keynote didn't self-nominate. His father, who nominated him, shares his name. # Forgive the error. # @msstewart Nah. The loss of advertising did the Rocky in. And bankrupted the group that publishes the _Denver Post_. in reply to msstewart # @wmchamberlain I can't say. But it appears that the nomination didn't violate that…

• SLA Isn’t THE Promised Land. (Emphasis on the THE.)

  bud@budtheteacher.com (Bud Hunt bud@budtheteacher.com)

  26 Jan 2010 | 9:42 pm

  I tweeted a possible title for this post out earlier tonight, and hurt some feelings.  Understandably.  My apologies – that wasn’t my intention, and sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain.  I have nothing but the highest respect for the Science Leadership Academy and my friend and colleague Chris Lehmann.  I think he’d agree with me on what I’m about to say.  We’ll see, I guess. This weekend, 500 or so folks will descend upon Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA for the third Educon conference.  It’s a wonderfully neat school, with a…

• I Am Not a Gadget (But I do like poetry)

  bud@budtheteacher.com (Bud Hunt bud@budtheteacher.com)

  25 Jan 2010 | 9:17 pm

  Jaron Lanier, in his new book You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, writes: Every save-the-world cause has a list of suggestions for “what each of us can do”: bike to work, recycle, and so on. I can propose such a list related to the problems I’m talking about: Don’t post anonymously unless you really might be in danger. If you put effort into Wikipedia articles, put even more effort into using your personal voice and expression outside of the wiki to help attract people who don’t yet realize that they are interested in the topics you contributed to. Create a…

• The Week in Tweets for 2010-01-25

  bud@budtheteacher.com (Bud Hunt bud@budtheteacher.com)

  25 Jan 2010 | 5:15 am

  Horse. http://twitpic.com/yob6o # When did these come back? http://twitpic.com/yod4r http://twitpic.com/yod50 # @ktenkely All are home and resting. Thanks. in reply to ktenkely # Recovery day. Lucky. # Aw, nuts. (See previous RT.) # Starting my work week at a DLC team meeting at Hygiene. Great way to start the week. # Hygiene team will be building a "webliography." Fun word. # @jennar Theres will be. Looks like it's an established term. Even in Encarta's dictionary. in reply to jennar # @andrea_r My apologies. Pinged you earlier but I didn't see your situation. I'll…

• 
  apophenia

• Upcoming Mary Gray talk on on "Out in the Country: Youth, Media & Queer Visibility in Rural America"

  zephoria

  28 Jan 2010 | 2:50 pm

  It used to be the case that all of the queer youth living in rural America ran away to the city to find others like them. The Internet has dramatically changed this. More and more, rural queer youth are building out networks of other queer rural youth, helping generate a rural queer identity. Think about what this means for the health and safety of queer youth. Think about what this means for the future of tolerance. It is with great pleasure that I will be hosting Mary Gray at Microsoft Research on February 10 to discuss her latest book: "Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer…

• Public by Default, Private when Necessary

  zephoria

  25 Jan 2010 | 9:48 am

  This post was originally written for the DML Central Blog. If you're interested in Digital Media and Learning, you definitely want to check this blog out. With Facebook systematically dismantling its revered privacy infrastructure, I think it's important to drill down on the issue of privacy as it relates to teens. There's an assumption that teens don't care about privacy but this is completely inaccurate. Teens care deeply about privacy, but their conceptualization of what this means may not make sense in a setting where privacy settings are a binary. What teens care about is the ability to…

• whose voice do you hear? gender issues and success

  zephoria

  19 Jan 2010 | 5:42 pm

  Growing up, I loved to debate. With anyone. My debating tone used to drive my mother batty because she thought I was yelling at her. Exasperated, I would often bark back that I was simply debating. Over the years, I realized that my debating tone is one of such confidence that people believe me to be stating facts, not opinions. My mother interpreted it as yelling; my classmates interpreted it as arrogance. I also began to realize that it was the same tone as that of my male peers. I never apologized for my opinions, never deflated them with "I may be wrong but I think..." I asserted.

• Facebook's move ain't about changes in privacy norms

  zephoria

  16 Jan 2010 | 5:55 pm

  When I learned that Mark Zuckerberg effectively argued that 'the age of privacy is over' (read: ReadWriteWeb), I wanted to scream. Actually, I did. And still am. The logic goes something like this: People I knew didn't used to like to be public. Now "everyone" is being public. Ergo, privacy is dead. This isn't new. This is the exact same logic that made me want to scream a decade ago when folks used David Brin to justify a transparent society. Privacy is dead, get over it. Right? Wrong! Privacy isn't a technological binary that you turn off and on. Privacy is about having control of a…

• Race and Social Network Sites: Putting Facebook's Data in Context

  zephoria

  29 Dec 2009 | 1:05 pm

  A few weeks ago, Facebook's data team released a set of data addressing a simple but complex question: How Diverse is Facebook? Given my own work over the last two years concerning the intersection of race/ethnicity/class and social network sites, I feel the need to respond. And, with pleasure, I'm going to respond by sharing a draft of a new paper. But first, I want to begin by thanking the Facebook data team for actually making this data available for public dialogue. Far too few companies are willing to share their internal analyses, especially about topics that make people uncomfortable.

• 
  Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » K-12

• Infinity Project: Engineering Education for Today’s Classroom

  curiouscat

  24 Jan 2010 | 4:57 am

  The Infinity Project is a national middle school, high school, and early college engineering curricula. The math and science-based engineering and technology education initiative helps educators deliver a maximum of engineering exposure with a minimum of training, expense and time. Created to help students see the real value of math and science and its varied applications to high tech engineering – The Infinity Project is working with schools all across the country to bring the best of engineering to their students. The Infinity Project curriculum is a complete, year-long course…

• Presidential Science Teaching and Mentoring Awards

  curiouscat

  10 Jan 2010 | 12:36 pm

  Related: President Obama Speaks on Getting Students Excited About Science and Engineering – Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring – Fund Teacher’s Science Projects – $12.5 Million from NSF For Educating High School Engineering Teachers Remarks by President Obama on the “Educate to Innovate” Campaign and Science Teaching and Mentoring Awards, January 6, 2010 To all the teachers who are here, as President, I am just thrilled to welcome you, teachers and mentors, to the White House, because I believe so strongly…

• President Obama Speaks on Getting Students Excited About Science and Engineering

  curiouscat

  23 Nov 2009 | 1:59 pm

  The President announces the “Educate to Innovate” initiative, a campaign to get students excited about pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Quotes from President Obama from his speech – (see webcast above): “As President, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering.” “Now the hard truth is that for decades we’ve been losing ground. One assessment shows American 15-year-olds now rank 21st in science and 25th in math when compared to their peers around the world.” “And…

• Learning Design of Experiments with Paper Helicopters

  curiouscat

  11 Oct 2009 | 5:59 am

  Photo showing the helicopter test track by Brad Dr. George E.P. Box wrote a great paper on Teaching Engineers Experimental Design With a Paper Helicopter that can be used to learn principles of experimental design, including – conditions for validity of experimentation, randomization, blocking, the use of factorial and fractional factorial designs and the management of experimentation. I ran across an interesting blog post on a class learning these principles today – Brad’s Hella-Copter: For our statistics class, we have been working hard on a Design of Experiments project…

• Test it Out, Experiment by They Might Be Giants

  curiouscat

  2 Oct 2009 | 7:02 am

  Put It to the Test is one of the songs on the great new Album and animated DVD from They Might Be Giants: Here Comes Science. Are you sure that thing is true, or did someone just tell it to you. Come up with a test. Test it out. Find a way to show what would happen if you were incorrect. Test it out. A fact is just a fantasy unless it can be checked. Make a test. Test it out. A fun song on fundamentals of experimenting to the scientific method. Related: Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants – posts on experimenting – MythBuster: 3 Ways to Fix USA Science Education –…

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  Science teacher

• The Business Roundtable teaches biology

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:30 pm

  Vision: A quality science education fosters a population that...applies scientific knowledge and skills to increase economic productivity.2009 NJ Core Curriculum Content StandardsI am a science teacher, and occasionally a good one. I am certified by the state of New Jersey (Liberty and Prosperity), and paid by the Township of Bloomfield, which was bought from the Yancetaw Indians. Our first public school opened in 1758.This makes me a government agent.Prosperity (from our state motto) keeps getting confused with economic productivity, which smells like part of the Business Roundtable's…

• Thomas Hardy, science teacher

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:48 am

  I’m reading The Mayor of Casterbridge again—it has long been my favorite novel, though I only read it every decade or so. This is my first time reading it in my 6th decade.Thomas Hardy sees things, obvious things, I fail to see. That's why I read fiction.***Yesterday I wandered out into the our version of Snowmageddon to look for crocuses. (That we’re now referring to snowstorms in Biblical terms fit for the National Prayer Breakfast makes me shudder.)I didn’t find any crocuses, but I did see a patch of gold under the ice of the pond. I waited long enough to see it slide ever so…

• Assistive technology for southpaws

  6 Feb 2010 | 11:02 am

  I'm not a fan of SMART Boards™ for a few reasons, not the least of which is my left-handedness.Left-handers push words when we write. It's not a natural motion, and the SMART Board™ takes southpaws back to the fountain pen days, when our hand would smudge the not-quite-dry ink.When I write on a SMART Board™, my hand blocks the light. As I continue, my wrist, then my forearm block the light.Many left-handers can write backwards, though most may be unaware of this. If you're lefty, try it for a few minutes. You may amaze yourself more than you already do.Some of us can write backwards…

• Creo ergo sum

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:03 am

  I'd argue that school should be less about thinking, and more about creativity. In schools, creativity often means pulling out the crayons and posterboard and letting them draw.Barry BachenheimerBarry Bachenheimer lights up a room--he's energetic, charismatic, and bright. I've been to two of his presentations, and know he likes to tweak folks into thinking.A couple of days ago he tweaked me in his response to my last post."Drawing with crayons" is to creativity what punching calculator buttons is to thinking. Both are tools. (I'd argue that creativity is a subset of thinking, but it's…

• Gatto got it

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:06 pm

  Schools were designed by Horace Mann and Barnas Sears and W.R. Harper of the University of Chicago and Edward Thorndike of Columbia Teachers College and other to be instruments for the scientific management of a mass population. Schools are intended to produce, through the application of formulas, formulaic human beings whose behavior can be predicted and controlled. John Taylor GattoNYC's Teacher of the Year, 1989If public education truly created a thinking citizenry, it would be outlawed.Arne wants CEOs to run schools. Arne wants 15-year-olds to save the economy. Arne grasps desperately at…

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  EurakAlert!: Education

• Autism Speaks presents the top ten autism research findings of 2009

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  (Autism Speaks) Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization has released its annual list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year, documenting progress towards the discovery of the causes and treatment for autism spectrum disorders. In 2009 clinical and epidemiological research together with advances in gene discovery and effective treatments combine to shape the future of autism research for 2010 and beyond.

• New international satellite observations help assess future earthquake risk in Haiti

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science) Analyzing images captured using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) by Japan's ALOS satellite before and just after Haiti's earthquake on Jan. 12, University of Miami scientists are making new discoveries. The images show that the earthquake rupture did not reach the surface--unusual for an earthquake this size. More importantly, the images confirm that only the western half of the fault actually ruptured this time. Scientists are interpreting the data to establish the probability of another large quake in the next 20-30…

• Center for Science Writings presents: "Are We Born to Wage War?"

  7 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  (Stevens Institute of Technology) The Center for Science Writings at Stevens Institute of Technology will present the talk, "Are We Born to Wage War? If Not, Why Do We Do It?" by Brian Ferguson, on Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

• Frank Semcer is first to be honored with Stevens' Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  (Stevens Institute of Technology) In recognition of his pioneering vision and business savvy, Micro Stamping chairman Frank Semcer will be the first recipient of Stevens Institute of Technology's newly created Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

• Informatics experts contribute to special Health Affairs edition on e-health in the developing world

  4 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  (American Medical Informatics Association) Five articles, whose lead or senior authors are nationally known informatics leaders and members of the American Medical Informatics Association, appear in the February 2010 issue of Health Affairs and provide a glimpse into the future of health care delivery in an increasingly information-driven era of health care in the developing world.

• 
  YouTube: Education

• Fareed Zakaria on Education: NEWSWEEK & YouTube

  NewsweekVideo

  26 Jan 2010 | 3:37 pm

  Fareed Zakaria on Education: NEWSWEEK & YouTube 1/26/10: In preparation for President Obama's first State of the Union address, NEWSWEEK International Editor Fareed Zakaria discusses the problems facing US high schools and middle schools and answers citizentube users' questions on controlling education costs. Questions from users: "What do you think about having general religious classes in middle school and high school?" -Eric Clausen, Florida "What do you think about adding an hour to the school day" Tristan, Utah "How can we control the cost of…

• Carey Mulligan gets An Education

  itn

  31 Oct 2009 | 1:06 am

  Carey Mulligan gets An Education Carey Mulligan, Emma Thompson and Dominic Cooper star in a coming-of-age drama set in the 1960s. . Follow us on twitter at twitter.com From: itn Views: 3426 8 ratings Time: 03:03 More in Entertainment

• An Education Review: Rotten Tomatoes Show

  Current

  16 Oct 2009 | 10:20 am

  An Education Review: Rotten Tomatoes Show Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox join forces with bloggers, comedians, students and citizen critics to review "An Education." For more from the Rotten Tomatoes Show: rottentomatoesshow.com For more about movies from Current current.com From: Current Views: 3522 30 ratings Time: 03:09 More in Entertainment

• An Education Trailer HD

  AllMovieHD

  9 Oct 2009 | 4:26 pm

  An Education Trailer HD An Education From: AllMovieHD Views: 54405 79 ratings Time: 02:23 More in Entertainment

• Carey Mulligan: 'An Education' controversy?

  ew

  6 Oct 2009 | 1:01 pm

  Carey Mulligan: 'An Education' controversy? Buzzed-about star on reactions to her film, in which a 16-year-old schoolgirl falls for a man in his early 30s From: ew Views: 6702 38 ratings Time: 04:35 More in Entertainment

• 
  tweenteacher.com

• Is Education a Mudslide?

  heather

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:03 pm

  “It’s like trying to stop a flow of lava with a Scott’s paper towel. It’s been this way for years!” The lady who said this wasn’t talking about education, but she could very well have been. The lady in question is my mom who took this picture of the view from her home office.  She looks out on a hillside opposite her side of a rustic canyon in Los Angeles. In case you can’t tell, it’s a photo of workmen slapping tarps onto a hillside that has been threatening to bury Laurel Canyon Blvd for quite some time. Somehow the view reminds me of…

• I’ll Take that Education to Go: Individualization vs. Standardization

  heather

  21 Jan 2010 | 2:42 pm

  We live in a world of double-decaf-non-fat-lattes-with-room. We live in a world that is slowly beginning to customize everything from our coffee orders to our spa treatments. But it won’t just stop with luxury items. Some teachers complain about the effort that differentiation entails, that need to offer rigorous curriculum for a wide range of learners. But just you wait: individualization is coming just around the corner, where students will be able to order up their own education, their own schedule of classes to go. And those schedules won’t be limited to what’s only…

• How do we “Fix the Schools?”

  heather

  10 Jan 2010 | 9:23 am

  Ellen Berg, my colleague in The Teacher Leaders asked this very simple question the other day. I had so much fun in answering and I believe so deeply in the power of this simple question that I wanted to share my comment and throw the question out to my readers. I believe in teachers, and I believe that the only way schools can be “fixed” is to have our voices at the table. And just as many times science has its infancy in science fiction, perhaps the answer to this question lies in educational-fiction first. So think about it. Pretend budget isn’t an issue. Pretend there…

• LA Times Article: Bailing on Schools Doesn’t Fix Schools

  heather

  7 Jan 2010 | 9:27 am

  So a colleague of mine commented yesterday on my article “Is TFA a Volunteerism Succubus?” David Cohen (fellow member of The Teacher Leaders Network and creator the ACT ning) said the following in response to my article: “…They won’t invest in deeper structural improvements, won’t risk the political fallout of admitting that poverty matters in school performance, and have become cheerleaders for the quick and cheap fix.” So this got me thinking about an article I saw in yesterday’s LA Times. The LA Times reported that in an attempt to get…

• Is TFA a Volunteerism Succubus?

  heather

  6 Jan 2010 | 8:51 pm

  The New York Times recently published an article, which shares an analysis of the post-service Teach for America corps and their subsequent level of civil service. To those involved in TFA, the findings were somewhat cringe-worthy. To the rest of us, however, they were not so shocking.(...)Read the rest of Is TFA a Volunteerism Succubus? (555 words) © heather for tweenteacher.com, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: civil service, education, New York Times, Teach For America, TFA Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

• 
  New Scientist

• New black hole simulator uses real star data

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:51 am

  A new interactive program that uses data from more than 100,000 stars reveals the spectacular light show you'd see if you wandered close to a black hole

• What the LHC could find at half-power

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:22 am

  Next week engineers will begin preparing the machine to run at half its maximum energy – so what can a half-power collider find?

• Today on New Scientist: 9 February 2010

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:00 am

  Today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: the hunt for the world's missing whales, how bright the stars really are, and how to make your food more filling

• Airliner landing gear not fit for all emergencies

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am

  An investigation into an airliner brought down by ice in its fuel tank has thrown up a design problem that may affect many aircraft

• Complex smells make food more filling

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:41 am

  Food that incorporates more complex aromas appears to make you feel more full

• 
  Livescience.com

• Loud Music Linked to Pounding Headaches

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:59 am

  Listening to one or two hours of music every day was associated with a pounding headache, study finds.

• World's Smallest Solar-Powered Sensor Runs Almost Forever

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:43 am

  A tiny solar-powered sensor, smaller than Abe Lincoln's head on a penny, can supply almost perpetual energy.

• Olympic Medals Made from E-waste

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:41 am

  Medals for Vancouver Winter Olympics made from metal extracted from e-waste.

• The Dangers of Third-Hand Smoke Revealed

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:09 am

  Nicotine absorbed on surfaces reacts with chemicals in air to produce harmful carcinogens.

• Emerging Tech Could Make Tomorrow's Cars Safer

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:51 am

  Exploring how emerging technologies and advanced materials will make tomorrow's cars safer.

• 
  Wired: Wired Science

• A Peek at Wired’s Ultra Geeky Super Bowl Party

  Alexis Madrigal

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am

  SAN FRANCISCO — More than 100 million Americans watched Sunday’s Super Bowl, but here at Wired.com, a couple dozen of our readers can probably brag they had the strangest viewing experience. They were strapped up with sensors that measured their body’s physiological reactions to what was happening during the game and commercials. With the help of Boston-based research firm Innerscope, we converted Wired’s cafeteria into a makeshift sports bar complete with 6 HDTVs gathered from around the office and of course, Beer Robot and greasy pizza. Participants in the study had…

• Fastest Wings on Earth Show Extremes of Sexual Selection

  Brandon Keim

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:43 am

  With feathers that resonate at precisely 1,500 hertz, the male club-winged manakin is perhaps the bird world’s most perfectly tuned example of sexual selection. By pinning down the frequency, researchers have completed a long investigation into the bird’s sonic physiology and showed just how far some guys go to impress the ladies. “The fundamental anatomy of the wings has been completely reworked to play a sound for courtship,” said Cornell University ornithologist Kim Bostwick, who describes the wings in a paper published Monday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

• Stunningly Preserved 165-Million-Year-Old Spider Fossil Found

  Tia Ghose

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:11 pm

  Scientists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved spider fossil in China dating back to the middle Jurassic era, 165 million years ago. The fossilized spiders, Eoplectreurys gertschi, are older than the only two other specimens known by around 120 million years. The level of detail preserved in the fossils is amazing, said paleontologist Paul Selden of the University of Kansas and lead author of the study appearing Feb. 6 in Naturwissenschaften. “You go in with a microscope, and bingo! It’s fantastic.” The fossils were found at a site called Daohugou in Northern China…

• Audio: DIY Recordings of Awakening Sun

  Alexis Madrigal

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pm

  As the sun emerges from a long lull in activity, the star’s emissions in the radio band of the spectrum have also picked up. And from a shed on three acres of land outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft is making recordings of them available for download. “The Sun has become hyper-dynamic the past few days,” Ashcraft wrote on his website Sunday, along with links to four “specimens” of radio bursts, as he calls them. The sun is crackling with solar flares now as a very large sunspot continues to circle our star. The recent solar…

• Ultra-Precise Quantum-Logic Clock Trumps Old Atomic Clock

  Tia Ghose

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:13 pm

  Scientists have built a clock which is 37 times more precise than the existing international standard. The quantum-logic clock, which detects the energy state of a single aluminum ion, keeps time to within a second every 3.7 billion years. The new timekeeper could one day improve GPS or detect the slowing of time predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. “It could it be a real contender for the next frequency standard, or next timekeeper,” said physicist Chin-wen (James) Chou of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, lead author of a study…

• 
  NPR Topics: Science

• Math Professor Helps Uncover Art Fakes

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  Professor Daniel Rockmore is an art lover — and the chairman of the math department at Dartmouth College. He has united his two interests, art and math, to develop a program that analyzes pen strokes. The program gives art historians a new tool for detecting art forgeries, which are estimated to make up 20 percent of the worldwide art market.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• New Data Point To Huntington's Disease Hope

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  A study being published Monday offers hope for those with Huntington's disease. The Archives of Neurology has a report about a drug aimed at the serious cognitive deficits that people with Huntington's also suffer.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• Shuttle Heads To Space Station As Weather Clears

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:09 am

  Space shuttle Endeavour is now orbiting Earth after blasting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in Monday's early morning darkness. Weather problems had delayed what might be the last pre-dawn launch for the shuttle program, which is heading toward retirement.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• Scientist: Autism Paper Had Catastrophic Effects

  7 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  The prestigious British medical journal Lancet took a rare step this week: It retracted a 1998 paper that sparked a firestorm about potential links between vaccines and autism. That paper has been a bane to Dr. Paul Offit, co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. Offit tells host Guy Raz why he thinks the paper was a disaster for parents seeking answers about autism.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• Is It Time To Throw Out 'Primordial Soup' Theory?

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

  A group of scientists says the idea that life emerged from a prebiotic broth is past its expiration date.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

• 
  ScienceBlogs : Combined Feed

• Corrected by Dr. Paul Offit [Respectful Insolence]

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  About a month ago I wrote about how the grande dame of the anti-vaccine movement, Barbara Loe Fisher, is using the legal system to try to silence and intimidate Dr. Paul Offit. In it, I described an earlier lawsuit in which Dear Leader J.B. Handley sued Dr. Offit, and Dr. Offit ended up settling. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of taking Dear Leader's word for what the settlement was, and Dr. Offit has corrected me: Thanks to Respectful Insolence for the support in the upcoming lawsuit filed against me by Ms. Fisher. I would point out only that the details of the "settlement" with Mr.

• #scio10 aftermath: some thoughts on "An Open History of Science". [Adventures in Ethics and Science]

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am

  Here are some of the thoughts and questions that stayed with me from this session. (Here are my tweets from the session and the session's wiki page.) The session was led by John McKay and Eric Michael Johnson. John posted the text of his presentation and Eric posted his presentation a la YouTube. I'm going to take this as permission to skip doing a proper recap here. Instead, I'm going to write about the big ideas this session raised for me. First, I'm struck by how easy it is for those of us who were trained to do science to know very little about where scientific practices come from --…

• Creationists are *WEIRD* [erv]

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:00 am

  Look, I like weird people. Goth kids. Sci-fi geeks. Language nerds. Weird people are far more interesting than, say, the 'normal' people that get cast for shows like 'The Bachelor': Generic Human #231975, Generic Human #576930, Generic Human #750193, bleh. But theres a whole different level of weird, and that level is 'Creationist'. Example: Remember that guy, that Creationist that branded kids in his Ohio classroom? Had a whole system of weird signals and words and stuff he was brainwashing kids with? Yes, that was weird, but now weve reached a level of weird only Creationists can hope to…

• Predictable People are Predictable [Science After Sunclipse]

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:37 am

  Jeffrey Shallit calls our attention to the recent antics of Suzan Mazur, a journalist well-known among science bloggers for, well, getting everything wrong. The best parts of any conspiracy theory are those which sound reasonable upon a first hearing, and Mazur is no exception. Among the bits not addressed by Shallit, this was my favourite: Open-access scientific publishing, however, is proving useful to a degree in leveling the playing field so that independent scientists have a shot at being published and cited. Eminently reasonable — if you don't know anything about journals,…

• Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be [Pharyngula]

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:03 am

  People keep asking me for books on evolution for their kids, and I have to keep telling them that there is a major gap in the library. We have lots of great books for adults, but most of the books for the younger set reduce evolution to stamp collecting: catalogs of dinosaurs, for instance. I just got a copy of a book that is one small step in filling that gap, titled Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) by Daniel Loxton. It's beautifully illustrated, and the organization of the book focuses on concepts (and misconceptions!) of evolution, explaining them…

• 
  ScienceAlert - Latest Stories

• Back treatment goes too far

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Most people who see a doctor about back pain get expensive and unnecessary treatment, according to a new study.

• Platypus survives bad habitat

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Researchers have found that the platypus is toughing out human changes to their habitat – some are even living in outer suburbs.

• Cell lockdown stalls disease

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Researchers have found a way to discourage cells from migrating around the body, which could fight cancer and autoimmune diseases.

• Bones reveal male moa rarity

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  Researchers have found that most male moas died young, probably because the larger female moas gave them a rough time.

• Obese feel powerless

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm

  A survey has found that severely obese individuals are aware of the risks of obesity, but feel powerless to change.

• 
  HowStuffWorks.com Daily Feed

• Top 10 Structurally Amazing Bridges

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Bridges move cars, trains, bikes and people, among other things. These 10 may even move your soul with their engineering ingenuity and beauty. So which 10 make the cut?

• What are the different types of vegetarianism?

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  There are many different reasons people become vegetarian, including religion, health and ethics. And the types of vegetarianism there are to choose from are just as diverse. Will you give up all meat, or just certain kinds?

• Fact or Fiction: Cellulite

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Cellulite -- and the dreaded cottage-cheese thighs it causes -- is a fact of life for women everywhere. What is cellulite, anyway? And, most importantly, how do you get rid of it?

• 10 Biggest Snowstorms of All Time

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Last weekend's major snowstorm in the United States' Mid-Atlantic region caused widespread power outages and Monday's closure of federal agencies -- and more snow is expected this week. How does this stack up to the biggest snowstorms ever?

• Today's Video - Untamed and Uncut: Bull Jumps Into Crowd

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  A bull gets up close and personal with the audience when he jumps over a barricade at a bullfight in Mexico City, Mexico. Watch this clip from Animal Planet's "Untamed and Uncut" to see what happens next.

• 
  Comics Worth Reading

• Don’t Forget to Enter to Win One Piece Book Set

  Johanna

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:07 am

  Our One Piece manga giveaway concludes tomorrow, so don’t forget to enter! Similar Posts: Contest: Win the Appleseed Ex Machina Two-Disc DVD Set § New Frontier DVD Contest Winners § Planet Hulk Winner § Two Cool Contests: Bite Me, 20th Century Boys § Win a Signed Batman Hoodie

• Del Rey Chibis: Yozakura Quartet 5, Minima! 4, Dragon Eye 7 and 8

  Ed Sizemore

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:34 am

  Reviews by Ed Sizemore Yozakura Quartet Book 5 Yozakura Quartet Book 5Buy this book by Suzuhito Yasuda; adapted by Nunzio DeFlippis & Christina Weir Del Rey Manga, $10.99 US After the major battles of volume 4, everyone is taking time to settle back into daily life. However, they don’t get long to rest before things get exciting again. Rin, the delivery girl for a popular ramen shop, is kidnapped by a mysterious figure. Yozakura Quartet continues to be an entertaining read. The central draw is the wonderful cast of characters that Yasuda has created. They are well-rounded individuals…

• Ristorante Paradiso

  Johanna

  7 Feb 2010 | 6:51 pm

  When I heard about the premise of this restaurant-set manga, I expected that I’d enjoy it, but unfortunately, it’s one of the rare missteps of the Viz Signature line for me. Nicoletta was abandoned at a young age by her mother, who went off to marry a man who didn’t want children. Now, Nicoletta has come to Rome to confront her and tell him the truth. Her unknowing stepfather owns a restaurant staffed entirely by older men in glasses. When one, Claudio, is kind to her, she wonders whether she’s in love with him. Things are complicated by Nicoletta’s mother…

• *Pluto Book 7 — Recommended

  Johanna

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  Ah, dear Pluto. What will we do when you’re gone? You’re well-respected, widely enjoyed, critically praised, and amazingly entertaining, but the next volume is your last. And really, where else can you go? There’s only one of the seven great robots, Epsilon, left on earth, and in this volume, he has his showdown with Pluto, the grand villain of the piece. Of course, since you’re created by Naoki Urasawa, there’s a lot more to his motivation than that, and the thoughts you raise about the nature of humanity, definitions of good and evil, and which actions are…

• Fangirls Make a Difference With Offensive Ad Copy

  Johanna

  7 Feb 2010 | 11:52 am

  Congratulations to the Fantastic Fangirls for making a small but significant difference when it came to a superhero t-shirt store online. The store had for sale a “Girls Rule” shirt, cut to fit females, featuring old-style illustrations of Marvel superheroes. However, the ad copy that went with the shirt was clearly aimed at men. … this cream colored, woman’s T-Shirt features purposely faded images of your favorite female Marvel comic book characters! Well, they’re your favorite, but your girlfriend (or sister) will actually be wearing the tshirt! HUZZAH! Hmmm… Can’t…

• 
  SUPERHEROES BASE

• Sideshow Collectibles G.I. Joe Flint

  BaseGuardian

  29 Jan 2010 | 12:40 pm

  Greetings heroes/citizen, another update of Sideshow Collectibles item from their G.I. Joe 12″ action figures series. The latest to be released on the 3rd quarter of this year Flint. The Exclusive version is still available now (30th Jan 2010 Malaysia time) for pre-order. It may not be around for a longer time, you better check [...]

• Gambit Premium Format Figure-Official Photos

  BaseGuardian

  24 Jan 2010 | 6:45 am

  Greetings heroes/citizen. Following my previous news about latest Premium Format Figure by Sideshow Collectibles, here are  the pictures of Gambit Premium Format Figure as usual there ia a normal version and the Sideshow Exclusive Edition, but the bad news is the exclusive version is now on waiting list.  From Sideshow Collectibles website; Gambit Premium Format [...]

• RHSW 01 02 03 Kamen Rider Double- Review

  BaseGuardian

  21 Jan 2010 | 7:37 am

  Greetings heroes/citizen, after I spent most of my toys budget on Hot Toys, today I ‘ll review 3 “wallet friendly” action figures from Bandai. From the mind of Ishinimori comes the legendary Kamen Rider series (a.k.a Masked Rider), one of the most popular Japan Tokusatsu series aired on TV Asahi Japan. The series started with [...]

• Gambit Premium Format Figure- Preview

  BaseGuardian

  15 Jan 2010 | 5:59 am

  Greetings heroes/citizen, after so long and frustrating wait, fans of  X-Men Premium format can now take a deep breath! Sideshow just announced the preview of The Gambit Premium Format Figure on their site. Pre-Orders begin January 22nd 2010, at 10AM PT You will NOT be contacted via email the same day that the [...]

• Hot Toys VGM: Albert Wesker- Review

  BaseGuardian

  9 Jan 2010 | 7:16 am

  Greetings heroes/citizen. “Every day, humans come one step closer to self destruction! I’m not destroying the world, I’m saving it!”, this is one of most memorable quotes from Albert Wesker. A power hungry yet brilliant character from the popular video game by Capcom, Biohazard (Resident Evil). Albert Wesker first appeared as a supporting character [...]

• 
  Comic Geek

• Comic Review: Detective Comics #861, “Cutter, Part 1 of 3″.

  Bretzke

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:28 pm

  Bat franchises are stepping on eachother’s turf and for once it seems that the ‘man has been upstaged in viciousness.  GCPD are aware now of the second crusader and have assigned her into their forecasts, no news on whether she gets her own signal though.  The bad guy has been done before (Remember Trueman?) but he’s certainly going to cut to the chase.  ZING! -Bretzke Detective Comics #861

• Comic Review: Sweet Tooth #6

  Scott

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:34 am

  Oh thank God. I thought there was just money in that bag. Gut wrenching and beautiful, though it’s getting redundant to say so. -Scott Sweet Tooth #6

• Comic Review: New Mutants #19, “Tinderbox”

  Bretzke

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:17 am

  New Mutants continues to bumble along within the scope created by the ‘greater’ (meaning large) X-Titles.  In an issue driven largely by end tying and interpersonal dialogue, the new reader will be largely lost.  Even seasoned readers will find one particular conversation bordering on insane considering the amount of ill will that was (allegedly) derived from previous issues.  Neither here nor there, and certainly not everywhere. -Bretzke New Mutants #19

• Comic Review: Deadpool Team-Up #896, “Good Buddies”

  Bretzke

  6 Feb 2010 | 11:17 pm

  That’s it, I am drawing the line in the sand.  Deadpool (the Title) is known for its over the top exaggeration and loony antics, but road train driving raccoons with biker gang affiliates, that’s too far.  Jumped the shark, then made soup out of it. -Bretzke Deadpool Team-Up #896

• Comic Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow (One Shot), “Goddesses and Monsters”.

  Bretzke

  5 Feb 2010 | 11:36 pm

  This checks the box as a ‘Whedonverse” book, but the overall impression is that of something superficial and vapid.  Willow has always been my favorite character and to have her given this lip service is troubling.  While not worthy of being burnt (at the stake?) the best thing about this issue is the cover. -Bretzke Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow.

• 
  PLoS Biology

• Using Structural Information to Change the Phosphotransfer Specificity of a Two-Component Chemotaxis Signalling Complex

  Christian H. Bell et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Analysis of the crystal structure of a phosphotransfer complex from the Rhodobacter sphaeroides chemotaxis pathway allowed reengineering of molecular recognition in a two-component signalling system.

• Paleovirology—Modern Consequences of Ancient Viruses

  Michael Emerman et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

• A Novel High-Affinity Sucrose Transporter Is Required for Virulence of the Plant Pathogen Ustilago maydis

  Ramon Wahl et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  A novel, high-affinity sucrose transporter identified in the plasma membrane of the plant pathogen Ustilago maydis is essential for fungal virulence and successful infection of maize.

• mRNA Secondary Structures Fold Sequentially But Exchange Rapidly In Vivo

  Elisabeth M. Mahen et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Self-cleavage assays of RNA folding reveal that mRNA structures fold sequentially in vitro and in vivo, but exchange between adjacent structures is much faster in vivo than it is in vitro.

• Living the Sweet Life: How Does a Plant Pathogenic Fungus Acquire Sugar from Plants?

  Nicholas J. Talbot

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

• 
  PLoS ONE Alerts

• Maternal Investment Influences Expression of Resource Polymorphism in Amphibians: Implications for the Evolution of Novel Resource-Use Phenotypes

  Ryan A. Martin et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Maternal effects—where an individual's phenotype is influenced by the phenotype or environment of its mother—are taxonomically and ecologically widespread. Yet, their role in the origin of novel, complex traits remains unclear. Here we investigate the role of maternal effects in influencing the induction of a novel resource-use phenotype. Spadefoot toad tadpoles, Spea multiplicata, often deviate from their normal development and produce a morphologically distinctive carnivore-morph phenotype, which specializes on anostracan fairy shrimp. We evaluated whether maternal investment influences…

• The Induction of Colitis and Ileitis in Mice Is Associated with Marked Increases in Intestinal Concentrations of Stimulants of TLRs 2, 4, and 5

  Clett Erridge et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) appear to be modulated by the interaction of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) derived from intestinal bacteria with their respective innate immune receptors, including Toll-like receptors (TLRs). We aimed to establish if intestinal concentrations of proinflammatory bacterial ligands of TLR2, TLR4, or TLR5 may be altered in murine IBD models, and to characterize which of the major bacterial groups may contribute to each signal. Methodology/Principal Findings PAMPs specific for TLR2 (lipopeptide equivalents), TLR4 (lipopolysaccharide…

• Engineering Clostridium Strain to Accept Unmethylated DNA

  Hongjun Dong et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  It is difficult to genetically manipulate the medically and biotechnologically important genus Clostridium due to the existence of the restriction and modification (RM) systems. We identified and engineered the RM system of a model clostridial species, C. acetobutylicum, with the aim to allow the host to accept the unmethylated DNA efficiently. A gene CAC1502 putatively encoding the type II restriction endonuclease Cac824I was identified from the genome of C. acetobutylicum DSM1731, and disrupted using the ClosTron system based on group II intron insertion. The resulting strain SMB009 lost…

• Identification of Differentially Expressed Proteins in Murine Embryonic and Postnatal Cortical Neural Progenitors

  Lorelei D. Shoemaker et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background The central nervous system (CNS) develops from a heterogeneous pool of neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPC), the underlying differences among which are poorly understood. The study of NSPC would be greatly facilitated by the identification of additional proteins that mediate their function and that would distinguish amongst different progenitor populations. Methodology/Principal Findings To identify membrane and membrane-associated proteins expressed by NSPC, we used a proteomics approach to profile NSPC cultured as neurospheres (NS) isolated from the murine cortex during a…

• An Empirical Method for Establishing Positional Confidence Intervals Tailored for Composite Interval Mapping of QTL

  Andrew Crossett et al.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

  Background Improved genetic resolution and availability of sequenced genomes have made positional cloning of moderate-effect QTL realistic in several systems, emphasizing the need for precise and accurate derivation of positional confidence intervals (CIs) for QTL. Support interval (SI) methods based on the shape of the QTL likelihood curve have proven adequate for standard interval mapping, but have not been shown to be appropriate for use with composite interval mapping (CIM), which is one of the most commonly used QTL mapping methods. Results Based on a non-parametric confidence interval…