Saturday, January 15, 2005

 

Sat., Jan. 15, 2005 - Quotations

---------Forwarded Message--------
Date Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 2:49 AM
Subject: [Refdesk site-of-the-day] ThinkExist.com

ThinkExist.com
http://www.thinkexist.com/
This site presents more than 90,000 quotations by over 11,000 authors. Features include 'Top Quotations' and 'New Quotations.'

-----
Refdesk Home Page: http://www.refdesk.com

 

Sat., Jan. 15, 2005 - Irish Potato Famine

---------Forwarded Message--------
Date Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 4:42 AM
Subject: S.O.S. -- Help for Busy Teachers (Site 06): Irish Potato Famine

Sites of the School Days
a weekly update to
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators on Discovery Channel School
http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Site 6

The Irish Potato Famine
http://www.irishpotatofamine.org/

...a content-rich site which provides information and primary source material for students dealing with the Irish potato famine; this teacher-created site is a great example of the use of Flash and other technologies to create a usable learning environment for students

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit this and previous Sites-of-the-School Days by going to
http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/sos.html
and clicking on an entry!



 

Sat., Jan. 15, 2005 - Dance-Kids / Young-Dancers


--------Forwarded Message--------
Hi! It's Saturday, September 25, 2004 and time for Electives at ClickSchooling --
today, Visual & Performing Arts!
Recommended Website:
Dance Kids
http://www.dance-kids.org/

This website seems to be designed with kids ages 4-9 in mind (but parents of older kids and teens should read through to the end). It's purpose is to share information and fun activities about dance. When you get to the site you will meet your hosts, two animated children named -- what else? -- Fred and Ginger. Click on the door to enter the site. A new page opens with an animated screen. Simply roll your cursor over the pictures to see what's available or -- EVEN BETTER -- just click on any picture and a new screen opens. That screen contains a menu at the top of the page from which you can navigate the site and it offers an assortment of activities themed around dance including:

Games: Interactive, dance-themed games like word-searches and puzzles.

Dancing Globe: Learn about dance customs in different countries. Currently there are just a few countries to explore, but more will be added in the weeks to come.

Dance Stories: Read a few original stories about a child's experience in dance school.

Dance Gallery: Through photos and brief text examine some of the many forms and styles of dance.

There are quite a few other dance-themed activities as well -- and there is even a referral service for parents looking for dance classes for their children.

You say you have a teenager who loves dance? Then do check out the sister-site called Young-Dancers.org. It contains information on careers in dance, how to do certain trendy dances like hip-hop, interesting quotes by famous dancers, a quiz to test your knowledge about dance and much more. The direct link to the site is http://www.young-dancers.org/.

Diane Keith
for ClickSchooling
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved
http://www.Homefires.com

 

Sat., Jan. 15, 2005

Taken From:
More New This Week Jan. 13-19, 2005
Librarians' Index to the Internet

Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States
Chart, updated yearly, indicating what copyrighted works are in the public domain, or when they will enter the public domain. Author is the Director for Instruction and Learning in the Instruction, Research, and Information Services Division of Cornell University Library and serves as the Intellectual Property Officer for the Cornell University Library.
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm
Subjects: Copyright Public domain (Copyright law) Intellectual property

Marmota Monax (Woodchuck)
Fact sheet on this mammal, which is also known as the groundhog. Includes a description of the woodchuck, behavior patterns, food habits, and related material. Discusses woodchucks as a source of entertainment (jokes, Groundhog Day, movies). Part of the Animal Diversity Web from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Marmota_monax.html
Subjects: Woodchuck
[NOTE: Home page previously posted. – Phyllis ]

Treasures of the Library: Writings of Maimonides
To commemorate the 800th anniversary (December 2004) of the death of philosopher Moses Maimonides, the Jewish National and University Library presents a collection of digitized manuscripts and early printed editions of his works. Requires download of free DJVU Viewer software.
http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/mss/html/rambam_l.htm
Subjects: Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204 Judaism Philosophy, Jewish People

U.S. Department of State: Sudan
Background information and updates about Sudan, including documents and statements related to peace accords between the north and south regions and the conflict in the western region of Darfur. Includes photos and audio clips. From the Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
http://www.state.gov/p/af/ci/su/
Subjects: Sudan
[NOTE: Home Page: Information about countries under the Bureau of African Affairs
http://www.state.gov/p/af/ci/ - Phyllis ]

**********************
Copyright © 2004, Librarians' Index to the Internet, http://lii.org . All rights reserved.




Friday, January 14, 2005

 

Fri., Jan 15, 2005 - Teaching Shakespeare / Literature Bibliographies

Teaching Shakespeare
http://www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/bibs/shakespe.html

"Greetings. The following materials are intended to provide an introduction to Teaching Shakespeare. They were assembled from the World Wide Web, ERIC Database, and a variety of other bibliographic resources. Instructions for acquiring the full text of the ERIC records are presented at the end of this file."

**************


From:
The Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication is an
information repository of the Indiana University School of Education.

Bibliographies: Complete Listing
Alphabetically arranged
http://www.indiana.edu/~reading/ieo/balpha.html

Bibliographies by category
http://reading.indiana.edu/ieo/bcata.html




 

Fri., Jan 15, 2005 - Shakespeare in the Classroom

Taken From:
Today's Tech news - Oct. 25, 2004
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/hotsites/2004/2004-10-25-hotsites.htm
USA Today Web Guide Hot Sites
10/25/2004 - Updated 11:05 AM ET

Shakespeare in the Classroom
http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/

Over the centuries, teachers have worked to introduce their charges to the works of the Bard. Some efforts went so far as to clean up Shakespeare's racier passages, but the teachers who have contributed lesson ideas and plans to this site have something a little less censoriffic in mind. Parents and teachers can find out here how to introduce the kids to some of the greatest stories in the language, and lovers of Shakespeare will enjoy these refreshing approaches to the work as well. — HSS

Copyright 2004 USA TODAY


 

Fri., Jan 15, 2005

Taken From:

======== The Scout Report ==
======== October 15, 2004 ====
======== Volume 10, Number 41 ======

Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture [Macromedia Flash Player,
RealPlayer]
http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/

When thinking about the Volunteer State, many people's minds may immediately
turn to the accomplishments of President Andrew Jackson or the far-reaching
impact of the massive public works project that resulted in the formation of
the Tennessee Valley Authority. Interested parties can learn about these
aspects of the state's history and culture, along with many other facets of
the state, at this fine site which is the digital version of The Tennessee
Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Originally released in 1998 as a large
print volume, the Encyclopedia was placed online in a searchable format in
2002. Here visitors can browse through more than 1500 entries, along with
500 additional images and some audio and video files as well. For those
interested in looking at the material by themes, they will be pleased to
learn that the materials are also divided into categories, such as medicine,
sports, county history, and industry. [KMG]


The Harvard Classics and Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction, 1909-1917
http://www.bartleby.com/hc/
[NOTE: Previously posted. - Phyllis ]

At the turn of the 20th century there was increased interest in bringing the
benefits of a liberal arts education to the general public. A number of
prominent leaders in the field of education, including such personages as
Charles W. Eliot (who was the president of Harvard), edited various works
that were thought to stand as representative as the best and most valuable
writings down through the centuries. One such legendary set was the 50-
volume, "Five-Foot Shelf" of books and then the 20-volume Shelf of Fiction.
Published originally between 1909 and 1917, The Harvard Classics and the
Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction comprised much of what was (and is) great
in the field of literary endeavor. The people at Bartleby.com have placed
the entire set online for the general public, along with the special volume
of lectures originally composed for the set that introduce the reader to
some of the primary themes of these works. On this site, visitors will find
various works as the pensive observations offered by Marcus Aurelius in his
Meditations and Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops To Conquer. Additionally, the
Shelf of Fiction section contains such important works as Vanity Fair by
Thackeray and two short stories by the celebrated French author Guy de
Maupassant. [KMG]



Streaming West: Railway activity westwards through Kansas, 1860-1890
[pdf]
http://wt.diglib.ku.edu/

The popular images of westward expansion throughout the United States in the
middle of the 19th century include frequent invocations of the "iron horse",
or the railroad. The federal government gave huge incentives (such as
massive land grants) to a number of railroad companies in the decades
following the Civil War, and these companies made good on their promises to
bring the railroad through tiny villages, military outposts, medium-sized
towns, and large cities across the Great Plains. Any users interested in
seeing some of the first-hand visual documentation of these events will want
to take a look at the Western Trails online exhibit created by the Kenneth
Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas (with generous support
from the Institute of Museum and Library Services). Here visitors can view a
monograph that describes the building of the first railroad bridge across
the Missouri River in Kansas City and first-hand accounts of trips taken
abroad the Union Pacific Railroad and the Kansas Pacific Railway, among a
number of compelling historical documents. [KMG]


African Art, African Voices [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibits/africanart/

This website created by the Philadelphia Museum of Art complements an
exhibition that "surveys the artistic achievements of just a few of the many
cultures of sub-Saharan Africa" organized by the Seattle Art Museum, using
artifacts from its African collections. The largest section of the Web site,
African Voices, features interviews with African artists, art historians and
others, focusing on particular aspects of African cultures. For example,
Hannah Kema Foday, a Mende woman from Segbwema, southwestern Sierra Leone,
now living in New York city, speaks about Sowei masks and initiation for
girls into womanhood. The other two sections - African Art in Motion and
Contemporary African Art, show the expressive use of figures in African
sculpture and the work of modern African artists, living in Africa and all
over the world, respectively. [DS]

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2004.
http://scout.wisc.edu/


 

Fri., Jan 15, 2005 - PBS/NOVA



Taken From:
******************************************
PBS Teacher Previews: January 16-22, 2005
******************************************

Nature: "Silent Roar: Searching for the Snow Leopard"
TV> PBSOL> MARC> Elementary / Middle / High School
Sunday, January 16, 20058 - 9:00 pm

Only a privileged few have ever seen a snow leopard -- the powerful and mysterious predator of the Himalayas. Telling the story of this most elusive creature is one of the last great challenges in wildlife filmmaking. This remarkable program, representing three years of hard work, accomplishes the impossible when a legendary filmmaker sets out to film a legendary cat. (CC, Stereo, DVI, 1 year)

Learn more about life on the edge of the world at the companion Web site.
http://www.pbs.org/nature/snowleopard
(Available January 13, 2005)

****************************

NOVA: "Supersonic Dream"
TV> PBSOL> MARC> High School
Tuesday, January 18, 20058 - 9:00 pm

NOVA tells the story of the world's first operational supersonic airliner. Revisiting the thrill of its maiden flight of 1969 and the tragic Paris crash of 2000, "Supersonic Dream" is a unique and colorful aviation saga, drawing on rare behind-the-scenes footage and including interviews with Concorde fans such as Henry Kissinger and David Frost. (CC,Stereo, DVI, 1 year)

Download the teacher's guide at the companion Web site.
http://www.pbs.org/nova/concorde

[NOTE: See teaching guide from NOVA at the end of this posting. – Phyllis ]******************************************

SOCIAL STUDIES
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Part one of two
TV> PBSOL> MARC> High School
Monday, January 17, 20059 - 11:00 pm

This film by Ken Burns tells the story of Jack Johnson -- the first African-American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports. It chronicles his struggle, in and out of the ring, to live his life as a free man. Part One follows Jack Johnson's remarkable journey from his humble beginnings in Galveston, Texas, as the son of former slaves, to his entry into the brutal world of professional boxing, where, in turn-of-the-century Jim Crow America, the heavyweight champion was an exclusively "white title." (CC, Stereo, DVI, 1 year)

Start your own PBS Program Club and talk about why you think boxers represented a symbolic hero to Americans.

http://www.pbs.org/jackjohnson



Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Part two of two
TV> PBSOL> MARC> High School
Tuesday, January 18, 20059 - 11:00 pm

Part Two begins in 1910 when Jack Johnson was on top of the world, the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World; the most famous -- and the most notorious -- African-American on earth. But forces were gathering in America to try to stop him.(CC, Stereo, DVI, 1 year)

Download a lesson plan about the history of interracialmarriage in the context of Jack Johnson's life.

http://www.pbs.org/jackjohnson

***************************
Auschwitz:
Inside the Nazi State"Beginnings" and "Orders and Initiatives" (part one of three)
TV> PBSOL> High School
Wednesday, January 19, 20059 - 11:00 pm

Airing during the 60th anniversary year of the death camp's liberation, this three-part series is a chronological portrait of history's greatest mechanized mass murder site, focusing on the people involved and the evolution of their goals and decisions. The first segment details why Auschwitz was chosen as a concentration camp site. The second examines how the Nazis formulated a system that would mechanize mass exterminations.(CC, Stereo, 1 year)

Download extensive teaching guides, biographies and maps foruse in the classroom.
http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz
(Available January 12, 2004)
******************************************

BLYTHE BENNETT'S RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE WEEK
Seeing
WWW>Elementary / Middle / High School
Interact with the numerous activities at the Exploratorium related to light and how the eye interprets images. The Disappearing Act is a really interesting example of camouflage.Try the optical illusion exhibits to move "bricks" to see how your eyes distort reality and how other patterns result inerrors in perception.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/seeing/exhibits
[NOTE: Previously posted. - Phyllis ]

******************************************
Copyright 2005 PBS Online.
***********************************

--------Forwarded Message--------
Date Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 5:28 PM
To: NOVA Bulletin
_________________________________________________________
Next on NOVA: "Supersonic Dream"

http://www.pbs.org/nova/concorde/

Broadcast: January 18, 2005
(NOVA airs Tuesdays on PBS at 8 p.m. Check your local listings as
dates and times may vary.)

Between 1976 and 2003, the fastest, highest flying, and most elegant
way to travel between Europe and the U.S. was aboard the
British-French Concorde, a marvel of aircraft engineering that had
to battle protestors, politicians, and nervous accountants to earn
its place in aviation history and also win the hearts of an adoring
public, including many who could never afford to fly it. In
"Supersonic Dream," NOVA explores the mystique of this technological
wonder of the world.

Here's what you'll find online:

Inquiry & Interview

Shock Treatment
Can engineers silence the sonic boom, paving the way for
next-generation supersonic planes?

Flying High
Retired captain Brian Calvert reminisces about the joys of
piloting Concorde.

Interactive & Slide Show

Anatomy of Concorde
On this detailed cross section, examine the features that
enabled it to fly faster than sound.

Innovative Aircraft
Blackbird, Concorde, SpaceShipOne -- see planes that broke the
mold in the history of aviation.

Also, Links & Books, the program transcript, and the teacher's guide.

http://www.pbs.org/nova/concorde/




Thursday, January 13, 2005

 

Thurs., Jan. 13, 2005 - Marco Polo / Captain James Cook

Taken From:
Thursday, October 28, 2004 5:05 AM
Homeschool Learning Network Newsletter
Week of 10-24-04: Explorers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Travels of Marco Polo
A comprehensive site on Marco Polo's life and times divided into short easy to read sections with nice illustrations.
http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/marcopolo.htm


BBC: Captain James Cook
A great site with lots of information about Cook, his ship the Endeavor, and several multimedia presentations on Cook's life and times.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cook_james.shtml
[NOTE: Other pages from this site previously posted. - Phyllis ]


A Curious Variety of Mazes and Meanders
This site is devoted to Cook's life and accomplishments and includes a section of fictitious stories that grew up around Cook and his crew.
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/cookmenu.htm

***************
© Copyright Home School Learning Network, 2004. All Rights Reserved.


 

Thurs., Jan. 13, 2005 - Explorers

Taken From:
Date Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 5:30 PM
Subject: Education World Weekly Newsletter Vol. 8 Issue 40

Explorers
http://www.educationworld.com/holidays/archives/discover.shtml
http://db.educationworld.com/perl/browse?cat_id=5490
From Columbus to Cousteau...Education World spans the globe in search of great sites, lesson plans, and new ways to explore the world of the Discoverers! There are 397 entries in this category.

===================================
Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/

 

Thurs., Jan. 13, 2005 - Family History Initiative

U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative
http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/

Taken From the site:
My Family Health Portrait
Americans know that family history is important to health. A recent survey found that 96 percent of Americans believe that knowing their family history is important. Yet, the same survey found that only one-third of Americans have ever tried to gather and write down their family's health history.
Because family health history is such a powerful screening tool, the Surgeon General has created a new computerized tool to help make it fun and easy for anyone to create a sophisticated portrait of their family's health.
This new tool, called "My Family Health Portrait" can be downloaded for free and installed on your own computer.
The tool will help you organize your family tree and help you identify common diseases that may run in your family.
When you are finished, the tool will create and print out a graphical representation of your family's generations and the health disorders that may have moved from one generation to the next. That is a powerful tool for predicting any illnesses for which you should be checked.

 

Thurs., Jan. 13, 2005 - African American sites of interest


Taken From:
Date Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 5:59 PM
From: Leslie Kahn
To: CJRLC

Subject: Newark Public Library celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday

We heavily use our Newark Public Library webguide for sites of African American interest; this source is at http://www.npl.org/Pages/InternetResources/SubjectGuides/africanamerican.html and the 2005 edition is about to be posted.
[Shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/5c3e7 ] [NOTE: 2004 edition previously posted. - Phyllis ]

As you probably know, The official theme of African American History Month, 2005, as announced by The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, is The Niagara Movement, Protest Reborn, 1905-2005. Sources of information about this assembly of prominent Black leaders include:

Niagara Movement
http://www.niagaramovement.com/blogger/movement.html <http://www.niagaramovement.com/blogger/movement.html>
Contributions of W.E.B. DuBois and Mary Burnett Talbert in opposing segregation.
"The Niagara Movement Declaration of Principles." (1905 principles behind African American Niagara Movement). In The American Reader, available in the General Reference Center database of InfoTrac SearchBank, on the Internet & Electronic Resources page at www.npl.org.

W.E.B. DuBois Address to the Nation
http://www.wfu.edu/users/zulick/341/niagara.html <http://www.wfu.edu/users/zulick/341/niagara.html>
"The morning breaks over blood-stained hills. We must not falter, we may not shrink. Above are the everlasting stars." Delivered at the second annual meeting of the convention, in 1906, DuBois called for the right to vote, to sit anywhere in public accommodations, to associate freely with people of any race or class, to enjoy equal protection under the law, and to obtain the education received by white people.




Wednesday, January 12, 2005

 

Wed., Jan. 12, 2005 - UNIVAC


--------Forwarded Message--------

Date Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 9:37 AM
To: nethappenings
Subject: In '52, huge computer called Univac changed election night

From: "Maney, Kevin"
Date: October 27, 2004 2:44:06 PM EDT
Kevin Maney www.kevinmaney.com

In '52, huge computer called Univac changed election night
http://tinyurl.com/5qk8f

There was another election season, back in 1952, when a presidential contest seemed too close to call, America worried it was vulnerable to attack, and a single company dominated computing.

Those circumstances set the stage for the election night dramatics of the Univac - perhaps the most significant live TV performance ever by a computer. It might just be technology's equivalent of the first Elvis appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Except parents didn't worry that computers were going to destroy the moral fiber of the nation's youth, which shows you how much parents know.

In a few hours on Nov. 4, 1952, Univac altered politics, changed the world's perception of computers and upended the tech industry's statusquo. Along the way, it embarrassed CBS long before Dan Rather could do that all by himself.

The Republican candidate was Dwight Eisenhower. The Democrat, Adlai Stevenson. Polls showed them in a dead heat.

Their most pressing issue: an epic global struggle between democracy and communism. The Korean War had begun two years before. Joseph McCarthy's Red Scare was in full swing, aimed at alleged communists. Several nations were testing nuclear bombs. In Denmark, George "Christine" Jorgensen had the first sex-change operation.

No telling which of those most horrified Americans.

Computers were the stuff of science fiction and wide-eyed articles about "electric brains." Few people had actually seen one. Only a handful had been built, among them the first computer, Eniac, created by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1940s.

By 1952, Eckert and Mauchly had joined Remington Rand and finished another computer, which they called Univac. They had only that one.

IBM was racing to build its Univac-beater, dubbed the 701. For 30 years, going back to mechanical punch-card machines, IBM had lorded over computing to a degree Microsoft can only dream about. The 701 was due to be unveiled in January 1953. IBM CEO Thomas Watson planned a public relations bacchanal.

In summer 1952, a Remington Rand executive approached CBS News chief Sig Mickelson and said the Univac might be able to plot early election-night returns against past voting patterns and spit out a predicted winner. Mickelson and anchor Walter Cronkite thought the claim was a load of baloney but figured it would at least be entertaining to try it on the air.

Eckert and Mauchly sought help from a University of Pennsylvania statistician, Max Woodbury. He and Mauchly wrote one of the first algorithms for computing, working at Mauchly's house because Mauchly had been blacklisted as pro-communist. "John wasn't allowed into the company anymore," says Mauchly's widow, Kay Mauchly Antonelli.

On election night, the 16,000-pound Univac remained at its home in Philadelphia. In the TV studio, CBS set up a fake computer - a panel embedded with blinking Christmas lights and a teletype machine. Cronkitesat next to it. Correspondent Charles Collingwood and a camera crew setup in front of the real Univac.

As polls began to close, clerks typed the data into the Univac using three Unityper machines, which punched holes in a paper tape that would be fed into the computer.

By 8:30 p.m. ET - long before news organizations of the era knew national election outcomes - Univac spit out a startling prediction. It said Eisenhower would get 438 electoral votes to Stevenson's 93 - a landslide victory. Because every poll had said the race would be tight,CBS didn't believe the computer and refused to air the prediction.

"Mauchly was at home getting telephone calls all the time about what washappening," Antonelli says. "All he could say was, 'Sit tight, we've done the best we could.' We sat there all night in front of the TV set with bated breath."

"It was essentially a live demo, on national TV," says Jim Senior, historian at Unisys, the computer giant that traces its roots to Remington Rand and Univac. "That took a lot of daring."

Under pressure, Woodbury rejiggered the algorithms. Univac then gave Eisenhower 8-to-7 odds over Stevenson. At 9:15 p.m., Cronkite reported that on the air. But Woodbury kept working and found he'd made amistake. He ran the numbers again and got the original results - an Eisenhower landslide.

Late that night, as actual results came in, CBS realized Univac had been right. Embarrassed, Collingwood came back on the air and confessed to millions of viewers that Univac had predicted the results hours earlier.

In fact, the official count ended up being 442 electoral votes for Eisenhower and 89 for Stevenson. Univac had been off by less than 1%. It had missed the popular vote results by only 3%. Considering that the Univac had 5,000 vacuum tubes that did 1,000 calculations per second, that's pretty impressive. A musical Hallmark card has more computing power.

The public latched onto the Univac's performance. In 1952, people were as intrigued by computers as we are by SpaceShipOne. Stories ran on newspaper front pages. "Univac" suddenly became a generic term for those blinking electric brains. Much to IBM's disgust, when IBM introduced the 701 a few months later, people referred to it as "IBM's Univac.

"In the public's mind, the Univac was the new leader in computing. And by 1956, the TV networks all used computers and predicted results early, changing the dynamics of Election Day.

And where has that gotten us? Back to a presidential contest too close to call, a nation worried it is vulnerable to attack, and a single company dominating computing.

How did that happen?

*********************
Net Happenings, K12 Newsletters, Network Newsletters
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/index.html

**************************


 

Wed., Jan. 12, 2005 - Web Pioneers

---------Forwarded Message--------
Site of the Day for Monday, October 11, 2004

Web Pioneers
http://web.archive.org/collections/pioneers.html

Today's site from the "Internet Archive Wayback Machine" offers a nostalgic
look at a number of early websites, some of which went on to become
household names and others which have slowly subsided into obscurity.
Gentle Subscribers may enjoy this trip down memory lane to olden days
online.

"This special Wayback collection pays tribute to the websites that shaped
the character of the net in the early years: irreverent, Star Trek
obsessed, visionary. Many of the websites featured in this special Wayback
collection were already on the web by 1993 or even earlier, a full three
years before we began archiving the net. They were the early settlers -
the web pioneers. ... So have a seat in our little time machine and take a
look at the web the way it was before Webvan, Pets.com and eToys changed
everything." - from the website

The site targets the year 1996, the first year of the Internet Archives,
with sites such as The Internet Movie Database, Amazon and the premiere
search engine of the time, WebCrawler. Yahoo in '96 was almost as crammed
with links as it is today. Not only are the home pages available for
viewing but many of the links have been stored in the archive as well.

Wander to the site for a little web retrospective at:

http://web.archive.org/collections/pioneers.html

A.M. Holm



 

Wed., Jan. 12, 2005 - The Internet at 35

--------Forwarded Message--------
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 22:28:45 -0700
From: Sybil Finemel
Subject: GEN:Internet's 35th birthday
Sender: School Library Media & Network Communications


From CNN:
Thirty-five years after computer scientists at UCLA linked two bulky
computers using a 15-foot gray cable, testing a new way to exchange data
over networks, what would ultimately become the Internet remains a work in
progress.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/08/29/internet.birthday.ap/index.html


Sybil Finemel
Library Director MLIS.CIO.
Los Angeles CA
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Wed., Jan. 12, 2005 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.



Taken From:
Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 11:58:20 -0500
Subject: [LM_NET] HIT: MLK sites
Sender: School Library Media & Network Communications
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU

Time.com Photo Essay
Martin Luther King in His Own Words
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/mlk/


Paula Shipley du Feu
Gulliver Academy
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
--------------------------------------------------------------------

[NOTE: The Time.com Photo Essay is also linked on the following site. – Phyllis ]


---------Forwarded Message--------
Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:46:27 -0800Subject: [LM_NET] Martin Luther King sitesSender: School Library Media & Network Communications
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU

I compiled a list of sites about MLKJr at
http://visalia.k12.ca.us/library/collaboration/martinlutherking.htm
<http://visalia.k12.ca.us/library/collaboration/martinlutherking.htm>
Also sites for African American history month at http://visalia.k12.ca.us/library/collaboration/afamhist.htm
<http://visalia.k12.ca.us/library/collaboration/afamhist.htm>


George PillingVisalia Unified School District

--------------------------------------------------------------------
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
--------------------------------------------------------------------


Tuesday, January 11, 2005

 

Tues., Jan. 11, 2005


Taken From:
ResourceShelf
E-Mail Reminder
Week 186
October 21, 2004
http://www.resourceshelf.com

ISBN
Get ready for the new ISBN
http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/ISBN.html
"The new 13-digit ISBN has been approved and plans are underway to transition to the new number industry-wide, world-wide by January 1, 2007. Find out how the expansion of the ISBN from 10-digits to 13-digits will impact your business and operations" A Librarian's ISBN FAQ.
[NOTE: Other sites previously posted re: the 13-digit ISBN. – Phyllis ]


Congrats and Kudos
Web Directories
BIOME Gateway Now Contains to More than 25,000 Entries
http://biome.ac.uk/
BIOME: The Hub for Internet Resources in the Health and Life Science and a member of the Resource Discovery Network now contains more than 25,000 "hand-selected and evaluated, quality Internet resources." Congratulations to the BIOME team. ResourceShelf is a big fan of your site and all of the other RDN subject gateways. If you've never visited the RDN, you should! [NOTE: Previously posted. - Phyllis ]

Birds--United States--Ecology
Source: National Audubon Society
State of the Birds USA 2004
http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/
"This report sums up the status of 654 bird species native to the continental United States according to the country's four major types of natural habitat--grass, shrubs, trees, and water. Urban habitat, which is increasing more rapidly than any other type, is also included; the ability of birds to adapt to it has become a major factor for their survival.... 'The State of the Birds' paints a disturbing picture. Almost 30 percent of North America's bird species are in 'significant decline."
See press release: Audubon "State of the Birds" Report Reveals America's Birds Are in Trouble
High-resolution bird images http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/birdpics.html
[NOTE: Other pages from Audubon.org previously posted. - Phyllis ]


ResourceShelf is Compiled and Edited by
Gary D. Price, MLIS
Gary Price Library Research and Internet Consulting gary@resourceshelf.com

Contributing Editors
++++++++++++++
+ Shirl Kennedy, MLIS
+ Dan Giancaterino, MLIS
+ Steven Cohen, MLS
++++++++++++++

*************************************

Taken From:
ResearchBuzz #306 -- October 21, 2004
http://www.researchbuzz.com/
*********************************************

** New Search Engine -- Exalead
http://beta.exalead.com/search

I'm not sure why the top of the page says 1 billion pages and the bottom of the page says 302,533,532 Web documents, but I'll go with it. The search engine is called Exalead and it's available at http://beta.exalead.com/search .

A search for "fred" found a little over 1.4 million results, while Gigablast finds a bit over 3 million with the same search, so I'm more inclined to go with the 300 million page figure. I like the results page, lots of information but not too busy. The left side of the page has terms related to the search, related categories (linking to DMOZ listings), the research results sorted by geographic location, and the search results sorted by document type. The middle of the page has the listings themselves (title, snippet, URL, size, and sometimes index date) and the right side of the page has screen shots of the sites. If you look at the top of the screen you'll see three screen icons. One is for results without screen shots, one is the default view, and one is for screen shots only without verbiage.

Generally I do not like pull-down menu, advanced search screens, but this one is okay. Search options on the advanced search include file type, language, country, searching by date, and domain search. There's also an option to search using regular expressions as well as an option to search using automatic spelling, phonetic search, and approximate spelling.

I liked the relevance of the results in the searches I did, and I like the options and large amount of information on the results screen. Looking forward to the database expanding; worth a look.

**********************************************

** SORA Project for Bird Information
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora .

See, see, THIS is the kind of stuff that should be included in Google Print! Archives of six ornithological journals, three of them encompassing over one hundred years' worth of material -- argh argh argh. The SORA Project is available at http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora .There are six journals here -- the Auk (1884-1999), The Condor (1899-2000), The Journal of Field Ornithology (1930-1999), The Wilson Bulletin (1889-1999), Pacific Coast Avifauna (1900-1974) and Studies in Avian Biology (1978-1999). All of those except the Journal of Field Ornithology are browsable; North American Bird Bander is denoted as "coming soon."The collection is searchable by keyword, author, and title, and can be limited by a year range. A search of all issues for "ruby throated" hummingbird found 653 results. Results are listed by relevance and include relevance score, author, title of article, and abstract (abstracts can be very extensive.) Articles are available in PDF or DJVU formats. Very, very, very extensive.

***************************
ResearchBuzz is copyright 2004 Tara Calishain. All rights reserved.




 

Tues., Jan. 11, 2005 - Animal Information / Bats


Busch Gardens: Animal Information Database
http://www.buschgardens.org/animal-info/index.htm
[NOTE: The Animal Info Books are online – Phyllis ]

******************************

Taken From:
Subject: Riverdeep's Classroom Flyer, Wednesday, October 6th, 2004
From Riverdeep: http://www.riverdeep.net/

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

ALL ABOUT BATS:
http://www.tlgrant.r9esd.k12.or.us/english1/vonlubke/bats/batpage.html
http://www.tlgrant.r9esd.k12.or.us/english1/vonlubke/bats/batstext.html

Learn all about bats first--how many species are there? What do they eat?
How do they find their way around at night? Develop a bat vocabulary.


Brenda Barron, Editor
classroomflyer@riverdeep.net
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

(c) 2004 Riverdeep. All rights reserved.



 

Tues., Jan. 11, 2005

Taken From:
======== The NSDL Scout Report for the Life Sciences ======
===== October 1, 2004 =======
==== Volume 3, Number 20 ======

Australian Museum Online: Fish Site-Student Stuff [Macromedia Flash
Player]
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/index.cfm

>From Australian Museum Online, this website offers a nice collection of
fish-related educational resources for a mixture of ages. The site addresses
fish dissection, different types of fish scales, and environmental
adaptations. Notably, the fish dissection sections include clear, diagramed
images to aid students in the dissection process. The site also contains a
15-image Fish Collection tour, and a fish memory game for the wee
ichthyologist. The student section links to other sections of the Australian
Museum Fish Site (reported on in the _Scout Report_, November 24, 2000)
including research updates, underwater movies, a pictorial identification
key, related links, and more. [NL]


State University of New York at Stony Brook: Marine Biology Web
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/mbweb.html

The Marine Biology Web, created by veteran marine biologist Dr. JeffLevinton of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a greateducational resource for both curious students and prospective marinebiologists. The Becoming a Marine Biologist page gives students frankadvice, and a realistic sense of what marine biology is and what marinebiologists do. This website contains a sizeable list of hyperlinked marinelabs, institutes, graduate programs, and undergraduate programs. A nice listof marine biology-related internships and courses are included as well. Thewebsite also features the useful MBREF -A Reference Source for MarineBiology Student Research. The site even links to a system that allowsvisitors “to obtain tidal predictions computed by CO-OPS for more than 3000water level stations.” [NL]
[NOTE: Marine Biology Links
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/marinebio/mblinks.html – Phyllis ]


Dinosaur Illustrations
http://www.search4dinosaurs.com/

Are you searching for images of dinosaurs? If so, then set your sights onDavid Goldman’s website of dinosaur illustrations. Mr. Goldman, a dinosauraficionado, has created a nicely organized site connecting visitors to animpressive online network of dinosaur artwork. The website hosts a diverseand extensive collection of dinosaurs including the Allosaurus, Hadrosaur,Oviraptor, Pteranodon, and over course the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex.Dinosaur illustrations can be located by alphabetic index, or by using thesite’s search engine. Illustration listings are accompanied by small,hyperlinked preview images that connect to the illustration’s Internetsource. The website also links to a collection of Panoramas, prehistoricanimal images, and paleontology book reviews appearing in _PrehistoricTimes_. [NL]


Arizona State University Photosynthesis Center: _Photosynthesis and theWeb:2004_
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/photoweb/default.html

Whether you are a science teacher, botany researcher, naturalist, or generalplant enthusiast, this publication will be of interest. Authored by LarryOrr (Arizona State University) and Govindjee (University of Illinois-Urbana), this article serves as a mini-review of photosynthesis-relatedwebsites. The publication addresses websites in seven categories including:individual researcher sites; K-12 educational sites; books and journals;comprehensive overview sites; and more. In the article the authors featurewebsites that they believe “epitomize the best the Web has to offer.” Thearticle also includes a brief history of the Internet, a short section aboutweb searching, hyperlinked references, and a capacious appendix of photosynthesis-related websites. [NL]

>From The NSDL Scout Report for the Life Sciences, Copyright Internet ScoutProject 1994-2003. http://scout.wisc.edu/



 

Tues., Jan. 11, 2005 - Tsunami Links (2)

----------Forwarded Message--------
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 07:58:32 -0600
From: SUBY WALLACE
Subject: [LM_NET] Tsunami links for kids
Sender: School Library Media & Network Communications
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU

I've put together a page for my elementary kids on educational links
about tsunamis. I've tried to keep things off that had too many
frightening pictures of the aftermath, but instead included animations,
charts, some before and after pictures of the land, vegetation,
shorelines, and other photos without bodies.
http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/dre/tsunami.html


Suby Wallace suwallac@columbia.k12.mo.us
Librarian/Media Specialist
Derby Ridge Elementary
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/

*****************************************
--------Forwarded Message--------
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 13:32:22 -0600
From: Mary Ludwick
Subject: [LM_NET] Tsunami Photo gallery site
Sender: School Library Media & Network Communications
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU

More images are available on the DigitalGlobe web site.
http://www.digitalglobe.com/tsunami_gallery.html
[NOTE: To view larger photo, click on “Download” – Phyllis ]


Mary Croix Ludwick, Librarian

--------------------------------------------------------------------
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/

*****************************************



Monday, January 10, 2005

 

Mon., Jan. 10, 2005 - Salem Witch Trials

Taken From:
DiscoverySchool.com Newsletter: Salem Witch Trials
Posted: 10-21-2004 06:33 PM


Salem Witch Trials: The World Behind the Hysteria
http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/
How did the village of Salem get caught up in the madness of the witch
trials? Enter a world very different from our own -- discover the fears,
struggles and beliefs of everyday people in Salem.

Also includes these links (and more…)

Famous American Trials: Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
Find a chronology of events, images, select trial transcripts and petitions,
biographies, excerpts from Cotton Mather's Memorable Providences, and more.
[NOTE: Other trials previously posted. – Phyllis ]

Map of Salem Village: Witchcraft Accusations
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~bcr/salem/salem.html
An interactive map showing the locations of the accused and the
accusers, as well as major roads, rivers, townships, and households.

The Salem Witch Trials 1692: A Chronology of Events
http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/
A brief timeline of the events of 1692 in Salem Village.





 

Mon., Jan. 10, 2005 - Outline of American History

Outline of American History

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/history/toc.htm

 

Mon., Jan. 10, 2005 - History Now / Gilder Lehrman Institute Summer Seminars

---------Forwarded Message--------
Posted: 12-22-2004 10:52 AM
[LIFE of Florida] History: Gilder Lehrman Institute - History Now online journal
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=78&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=9363

Subject: History Now

Read and Ponder the Fugitive Slave Law! Boston, 1850 (GLC 1862).
To see similar posters and broadsides from the Collection, click here
<http://www.historynow.org/12_2004/interactive.html>

History Now – Issue Two – December 2004
Looking at Slavery: Primary Sources
http://www.historynow.org/12_2004/index.html

The Institute is pleased to present the second issue of
<http://www.historynow.org/index.html>
an exciting new online journal for history teachers and students, now
available on the Web at www.historynow.org.
[NOTE: First issue previously posted. – Phyllis ]

HISTORY NOW features articles by noted historians as well as lesson plans,
links to related websites, bibliographies, and many other resources. In each
issue, the editors bring together historians, master teachers, and
archivists to comment on a single historical theme.

Don't miss the current issue of HISTORY NOW, which examines the
history of slavery in the U.S. through primary sources. Eric Foner takes a look
at the Reconstruction Amendments as social history, Douglas Egerton
analyzes the material culture of slavery, David Blight discusses slave
narratives, and Annette Gordon-Reed compares document-based history
with oral history.

Visit www.historynow.org and explore our lesson plans and interactive
features. Also, visit www.gilderlehrman.org
<http://www.gilderlehrman.org/>
for updates on our latest online exhibits, programs, and resources
for students and teachers.
*************
LIFEofFlorida.org
Learning is For Everyone, Inc.
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=139
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=78&frmView=ShowForum&ForumID=7
[Shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/32kvp ]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Taken From:
Date Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 3:03 PM
From: Gilder Lehrman Institute
Subject: Summer Seminars Reminder; New Document

A reminder: Summer seminar applications must be postmarked by March 18, 2005. Seminars are led by eminent historians and cover major topics in American history. They are open to high school, middle school and elementary teachers. To apply online, print out a seminar flyer, or see a complete list of topics, dates, and locations, go to: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/seminars1.html .

The Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars are designed to strengthen participants' commitment to high quality history teaching. Public, parochial, independent school teachers, and National Park Service rangers are eligible. These week-long seminars provide intellectual stimulation and a collaborative context for developing practical resources and strategies to take back to the classroom.

Seminars are tuition-free. In addition, seminars offer:
Stipends of $500
Books, room and board in college dormitories
In-service and new teacher credit
Deadline for Applications:

Applications must be postmarked by March 18, 2005.

Limited to thirty participants per seminar by competitive application. Preference given to new applicants. Questions? E-mail seminars@gilderlehrman.org or call Sasha Rolon at 646-366-9666.



 

Mon., Jan. 10, 2005 - Gilder Lehrman Institute (2)

Taken From:
Posted: 10-19-2004 10:57 PM
[LIFE of Florida] American History resource:
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=78&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=7691

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/index.html

************************

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
For Teachers and Students:
Modules on Major Topics in American History
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/modules.html

The modules cover more than twenty topics that correspond to the
major periods in American history and take into consideration the
history standards, both required and advanced, to which high school
students are held. Each module includes:

• a succinct historical overview
• learning tools including lesson plans, quizzes, and activities
• recommended documents, films, and historic images

Modules:
• The Revolutionary War
• The Constitution
• The New Nation
• The Jeffersonian Era
• The Jacksonian Era
• Pre-Civil War Reform
• Slavery
• Westward Expansion
• The Coming of the Civil War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction
• The Gilded Age
• The United States Becomes a World Power
• Progressivism
• Immigration
• World War I
• The 1920s
• The Great Depression
• World War II
• Postwar America
• The Tumultuous 1960s
• The Vietnam War
• America at the End of the 20th Century
• September 11th

*************
LIFEofFlorida.org
Learning is For Everyone, Inc.
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=139
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=78&frmView=ShowForum&ForumID=7
[Shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/32kvp ]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted: 10-19-2004 10:57 PM
[LIFE of Florida] Gilder Lehrman Collection Newly Discovered Documents:
The Plot to Kidnap or Assassinate George Washington
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=78&frmView=ShowPost&PostID=7690
____________________

Mutiny
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/docs_archive_mutiny.html
After George Washington and the Continental Army moved from Boston to New York in April 1776, a plot developed that has been billed as an attempt to either kidnap or assassinate the general and wreck havoc on patriot defenses in the city. The scheme developed when Tories in New York attempted to bribe American soldiers to switch sides. It was an eventful time in the Revolution; the British were regrouping in Halifax before sailing to New York, the invasion of Canada was in the process of falling apart, and independence was about to be declared. Fortunately, the affair was discovered and quickly snuffed out, ending on June 28, 1776 with the hanging of Thomas Hickey, a member of Washington’s personal guards. The plot was never close to reaching its lofty goals, but it did point toward disaffection in the Continental Army, and this letter from David Mason, second lieutenant-colonel of artillery, to his commanding officer Henry Knox, provides a fuller picture to the extent of the discontent.

Gilder Lehrman Collection

Current document is a letter from Robert E. Lee to his son
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/docs_current.html
"... we Cannot indulge in grief however mournful yet pleasing."
In this beautifully written letter, Robert E. Lee attempts to console his son on the loss of his son's wife. The letter demonstrates the tremendous emotion Lee felt for his family and offers a glimpse of the strength that carried Lee through the war.

Entire resource at:
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/documents.html
Archive of past documents
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/docs_archive.html

*************
LIFEofFlorida.org
Learning is For Everyone, Inc.
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=139
http://www.lifeofflorida.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=78&frmView=ShowForum&ForumID=7
[Shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/32kvp ]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sunday, January 09, 2005

 

Sun., Jan. 9, 2005

Taken From:
TOURBUS Volume 10, Number 28 -- 05 Oct 2004

--------------------
THE IG NOBEL AWARDS
---------------------
Surely you've heard of the Nobel Prize, which is awarded for great
achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace.
But have you heard about the IG NOBEL Prize? The Igs, which honor
individuals whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced"
are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative, and
take a good-natured poke at some remarkably goofy things done in
the name of science. This year's Ig Nobel Prizes, sponsored by the
science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research", were just
awarded at a gala ceremony on September 30th at Harvard University
and included:

--> MEDICINE: AW SHOOT! COUNTRY'S A KILLER

Researchers Steven Stack and James Gundlach had this crazy idea that
listening to country music just might be depressing enough to make
some people want to buy the proverbial farm. So they analyzed the
suicide rates of 49 metropolitan areas and found that indeed, the
more airtime devoted to country music, the greater the suicide rate.
The research doesn't mention anything about people killing neighbors
who play their country music too loud.

--> PUBLIC HEALTH: UMM, YOU GONNA EAT THAT?

Thanks to Illinois high school student Jillian Clarke, you can scoop
up that piece of toast that fell butter-side down, and eat it without
fear. Clarke has once and for all validated the revered maxim known
as "The Five Second Rule" which states that if food falls to the floor
it's safe to pick it up and eat it within five seconds. Her research
shows that there is remarkably little bacteria on the typical floor,
and that women are MORE likely than men to invoke the Rule. Perhaps
Jillian's next project will put me at ease about pizza that's been
left on top of the fridge for 24 hours.

--> ENGINEERING: YOU'VE GOT A POINT THERE

You can tip your hat to the father and son team of Frank and Donald
mith for patenting the comb-over. In December of 1975, when the rest
of us were doing the Bump to the music of "Fly, Robin, Fly" the Smiths
were busy filing US Patent #4,022,227 which described "a method of
hair styling to cover partial baldness using only the hair on a
person's head."

You can read all about the IG NOBEL prizes and peruse the archives
of past winners here:

http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-top.html
-------------------


=====================[ Tourbus Rider Information ]===================
The Internet Tourbus - U.S. Library of Congress ISSN #1094-2238
Copyright 1995-2004, Rankin & Crispen - All rights reserved
Tourbus Website - http://www.TOURBUS.com
============================================================


 

Sun., Jan. 9, 2005

---------Forwarded Message--------
Site of the Day for Monday, October 4, 2004

Evolution and Analysis of the Toothbrush
http://www.asme.org/mechanicaladvantage/March2001/toothbrush.html

Today's site demonstrates just one of the things those mechanical engineers
delve into on their way to an engineering degree. Gentle Subscribers will
discover an instructive overview of the humble toothbrush on this single
web page from "Mechanical Advantage", a journal from the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers .

"The ... article on the evolution and analysis of the toothbrush was
written by Kyle Sembera, a mechanical engineering senior at Lamar
University, Beaumont, Tex., as a final assignment for an elective design
class. Sembera's toothy research project was inspired by course professor
P.R. Corder who, during a recent visit to the dentist, found himself musing
on the merits of modern toothbrush design." - from the website

The page presents a history on the origin of the toothbrush, dating back to
the Egyptian toothstick. Naturally, there are diagrams of the classic
toothbrush design and the modern toothbrush with its larger cross section
and reinforced and angled handle. Additional technical diagrams illustrate
the stress forces on each type.

Whisk over to the site for a nice little exposition on the toothbrush at:

http://www.asme.org/mechanicaladvantage/March2001/toothbrush.html

If the above URL wraps in your e-mail client, enter it all on one line in
your browser or use this TinyURL:

http://tinyurl.com/5qvka

A.M. Holm

 

Sun., Jan. 9, 2005

Taken From:
ENC Weekly Update for Math and Science Teachers (10/21/2004)

Architecture, Mathematics, and Sir Christopher Wren
http://www.enc.org/features/calendar/unit/0,1819,16,00.shtm
British architect Christopher Wren, who made his first attempt at designing buildings when he was 31 years old, could be called a late bloomer if he hadn't already done ground-breaking work in astronomy, physics, and anatomy. The Classroom Calendar entry Architecture, Mathematics, and Sir Christopher Wren (Grades 5-12)on his birth date, October 20, is a perfect time to explore links between mathematics and architecture, such as measurement, scale and ratio, perspective, and spatial relationships in two and three dimensions. The list of resources and ready-to-go activities included in the entry will support this exploration.


Chemistry Everywhere (Grades K-12)
http://www.enc.org/features/calendar/unit/0,1819,29,00.shtm
Chemistry Everywhere (Grades K-12) notes, "Chemistry is an integral part of almost everything we have or do." Web links, ready-to-go activities, suggested connections to other subjects, all provide a wealth of resources, enough for weeks ahead.


Free Newsletter Gives Students an Inside Look at Engineering Careers
http://www.jets.org/publications/petimes.cfm
JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) publishes a free email newsletter for teachers and their students who are thinking about becoming engineers. It profiles young engineers, reports on scholarship opportunities, compares salaries between different disciplines, and gives web resources with an emphasis on links for female engineers. The newsletter also features unusual science fair projects, classroom activities for teachers, famous engineers, engineering camps, and advice for teens. Registration is available at the newsletter web site. JETS is a nonprofit that provides resources for high school students interested in engineering careers.

Editor's note: The February Classroom Calendar (
http://www.enc.org/features/calendar/0,4076,2,00.shtm?ls=eu ) features nine entries on different engineering careers, with background on each specialty and many resources for the student who wants to investigate further.

*********
The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC)
http://www.enc.org

 

Sun., Jan. 9, 2005

----------Forwarded Message--------
Date Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 2:41 PM
Subject: Family First (9/13/04) - Unofficial Walt Disney Imagineering Page
http://www.familyfirst.com/the_unofficial_walt_disney_imagineering_page.html

The Unofficial Walt Disney Imagineering Page
http://www.imagineering.org/

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for the Walt Disney organization? Would you like to be an "Imagineer"? Are you curious what an "Imagineer" is? If so, then today's FamSite may be just up your alley.

It is called The Unofficial Walt Disney Imagineering Page. At this unofficial site, you can learn all the inside information about the empire that Walt and Mickey built, and Michael now oversees. Here you will learn (as I did) that the "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" ride has been torn down, and will be replaced by a Winnie the Pooh ride. There are links to other Disney sites, as well as a FAQ, books, rumors, a pin collection and art, among others. There is even a recruiting brochure to become an Imagineer.

Here is a site that gives an eye-opening look at the Disney Empire. It is not an embarrassing, tell all site, but one that spreads the true message of Walt. Have a nice stop here.

http://www.imagineering.org/

**********


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?