The Great Geek Manual

How Gaming Is Changing the Classroom:

By the time she’s 21 years old, a student will play nearly 10,000 hours of video games. But can kids play their way to learning? An increasing number of educators are recognizing that students aren’t responding to old-school lectures, and they’re looking to engage the gamer generation by bringing gaming into the classroom.

Since 2009, an entire school, New York City’s Quest to Learn, has used gaming-based learning principles to help students achieve. Instead of sitting kids in front of a screen all day, the school uses a gaming curriculum centered on systems-thinking. It helps students learn history and math by adopting the behaviors and habits of, for example, real historians or mathematicians. To top it all off, the students are also learning how to design their own games.

Via: GOOD

Biology

List Universe shares a thought-provoking run down of Top 10 Signs Of Evolution In Modern Man.

The New Scientist looks back at the Weirdest newly discovered animal species of 2008, including the bone-breaking horror frog.

General Science

The New Scientist counts down the Seven new wonders of the World.

Wireless power could spell the end for cable tangles.

Wired counts down the Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2008.

Internet

ABC News reports on one group attempting to keep Mom and Dad off Facebook.

Ars Technica counts down the Most Viral Stories of 2008.

Microsoft estimates that over Four hundred thousand Computers are Infected with Fake Antivirus software.

Psychologist finds Wikipedians grumpy and closed-minded.

The year in IPv4 addresses: almost 200 million served – Less than a million billion IPv4 addresses left.

Politics

The ACLU is desperately attempting to draw American’s attention to the so-called “Constitution Free Zone” that has been proposed by Congress. If you live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders, you ought to sit up and take notice, you’re about to be served up to law enforcement European-style.

Robotics

Honda unleashes 49-foot-tall Asimo robot on the world… Holy shit, the reign of the giant robots is upon us. Japan is likely going to give us a huge “We told you so.”

Software

Microsoft Watch speculates as to Who Leaked Windows 7.

The Secret Origins of Clippy: Microsoft’s Bizarre Animated Character Patents – Why is Microsoft obsessed with using cartoon characters to present user help?

Space

Obama is serious about Getting back to the Moon, and fanboys everywhere are abuzz with the excitement of living through a second rocket age.

The outpouring of Geek Love for the dearly departed Gary Gygax has been overwhelming, and this weekend, the tributes kicked into overdrive. They were everywhere on the internet, and, surprisingly, a few even appeared in more traditional media.

The New York Times, in particular, posted a funny flowchart in tribute to the Dungeons & Dragons creator, along with a light-hearted obituary-like article. Read the article >>

Wizards of the Coast has posted a short video tribute to Gary, in which designers and authors of the D&D game.

There has also been an excess of tribute videos posted to YouTube.

A number of comics have paid tribute as well, including Dork Towers, Goblins, GU Comics, and The Order of the Stick.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

Friday, a twister utter demolished the downtown Greensburg, Kansas, killing at least nine and injuring sixty. The aftermath looks like something straight out to a post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie. The Wichita Eagle has posted a series of amazing aerial photos, taken Saturday morning, depicting the devastation.
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Head on over to Popular Front to make a virtual snowflake now! The more snowflakes you make, the more money Popular Front donates to the Salvation Army. Their goal is four million virtual snowflakes, but the offer expires with the new year, and they’re still a million shy! So, make virtual paper snowflakes and relive your childhood for a good cause. It doesn’t cost you a thing, so hurry!

Speaking of Keyboards. I need to mention the Capsoff Keyboard contest!

The premise behind the contest is simple. The design of the modern keyboard is hopelessly out of date. Specifically, the Caps Lock key has become superfluous. This contest invites entrants to submit an original design for a new keyboard standard. All of the entries are subject to rejection by the site’s moderator, but after acceptance, entries are openly voted on by visitors. The winner receives the donated prized money, which is currently up to $241.71.

The deadline is nearing, but it’s not too late to check out the inventive designs that have already been entered or to cast your vote! My design can be found at: http://capsoff.org/mdkb:pipedreamergrey (hint, hint). I’m admittedly biased, but I think that it is the most logical layout submitted yet. You can read the rationale behind each decision I made in the design on the site, but I’ve posted a preview below.

Of course, my entry is by no means the only design worth your vote. http://capsoff.org/competition:all is a list of all the entries. Some are radically different from current commercial keyboards, while others only suggest subtle alterations. Check them out. Maybe they’ll inspire a last minute entry of your own.

Note: My blog’s theme isn’t very conducive to large graphics.
Right click on the image and select “View Image” to see a full sized version.