I love you all.

An email from an old professor at Tech:

Dear ACIS 3314 Students,

My family's worst fears were confirmed a few hours ago. My daughter, Austin Michelle Cloyd, was one of the victims in Norris Hall. She would have been 19 years old next Tuesday. My family hurts deeply for the loss of our precious baby. We ask that you pray for us and for the rest of the Virginia Tech community that has suffered so greatly. At this point I don't know how or where our class will continue. The guest speakers scheduled for April 25 and April 30 may carry on, but in a different location. Expect to receive an email from Professor Brown or an announcement on Blackboard about this.

If we don't meet again, your final assignment from me is perhaps the most important lesson you will learn in life. Go to your mother, father, brothers and sisters and tell them with all your heart how much you love them. And tell them that you know how much they love you too. Go out of your way to make good memories. At some point, these memories may be all you have left.

May God bless you all,

Bryan

a Felix birthday

Felix!
Originally uploaded by tokyohanna.

It was so good. We drank a lot (champagne included). We also told some QUITE interesting stories about classmates. If you're reading this, hey, we may have talked about you. Nothing bad though, don't worry :) It was Felix, his friend Jaime, Kristen M, Amy N, Kate and myself @ Highline in the Meatpacking District. Delicious. We wish you all could have been there.

16 April

Happy Birthday Felix!

Vanguards

Newcomers who are changing New Orleans


Editor's note: Susan Roesgen is a CNN correspondent based in New Orleans. She has more than a decade of experience covering New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

I'm tired. This town is tired. Tired of waiting. Tired of the run around from the insurance guy, the FEMA guy, the Small Business Administration guy, pick your guy. We're too worn out to be fed up. It's like, whatever.

The people who keep track of things like worn out New Orleanians did a survey. They found that about half the people who've made it this far after the hurricane are seriously considering throwing in the towel. The big indignities -- like crime -- and the little indignities -- like the hole in the street that won't ever get fixed -- are just too much. We survived the hurricane because we said we'd never leave New Orleans, but honestly, other cities are starting to look pretty darn good.

Lucky for us, reinforcements have arrived. Bright, well-educated, and eager. We could hate them if we had the strength. Instead, we're glad to see their new ideas and new energy, and they say they're here to stay. Here are a few:

Pastor Ray Cannata from New Jersey. He turned down a cushy job in San Diego to take over a Presbyterian church that was down to just 15 members after the storm. Ray's real world philosophy -- "God is messy; a Christian's job is to go where the pain is" -- and his real world work ethic -- the church has gutted more than two hundred houses -- is winning new converts. The congregation is at a hundred now, and growing.

John Alford, whiz kid from New York. Harvard MBA grad. Where is he today? Trying to hire teachers to reopen a flooded New Orleans school. He fell in love with the city's jazz and food, but says the schools here are "a horror." His goal is to start with one fifth-grade class to help spur a new wave of smart kids in what's left of one of the shabbiest school districts in the nation.

Sherrita Bishop. Criminology degree from the University of New Mexico. Did the tourist thing in New Orleans a month before the hurricane, then waited for the water to go down so she could come back and strap on a gun. She's one of the first 30 new police recruits since the storm. Why? "I don't know why," she says. "I just found a niche. I want to do what I can to help people."
Who are these misty-eyed idealists? Locals call them the new "vanguard." Tim Williamson, a New Orleans native, founded a company that matches investors to budding entrepreneurs. He says the newcomers will change the city.

"They believe that New Orleans is one of the greatest challenges in their lifetimes. How could they sit back and go to New York, Boston, Atlanta, when they have this grand opportunity in New Orleans?" he says.

Their "grand opportunity" may be the city's salvation.

alligatoroo

life was so simple then

Dear Future Me:

Its like PostSecret, but notes that you send to your future self.

futureme.org

i've been licking my screen all morning

this test REALLY works. it WILL NOT work unless you put your tongue on the screen.

"We've been licking our screen all afternoon and still can't figure out the insane new technologies behind the Barbarian Group's latest addition to the Milwaukee's Best Light microgames site. All we know is the T Scan 2000 Biometric Taste Analyzer knows us better than we know ourselves. Simply place your tongue on the screen and click the box to scan the science stuff in your mouth. It'll let you know if you have a man's taste and dispense the prescription: a cold beer. If it doesn't work the first time, fiddle with the settings a bit to adjust the Zone Recursivity or Moisture Threshold. If you've got a tough time keeping your tongue on the screen and finding the button to click, call a friend over. And for heavens sakes wipe the monitor before he or she has a turn."

UPDATE: With a collective group of people. we finally figured it out but still a good joke to play on friends.

mikekarnj (3:02:30 PM): its triggered for timed responses
mikekarnj (3:02:43 PM): bc if u cheat and dont put your tongue down, you tap scan
mikekarnj (3:02:50 PM): when u put your tongue on, you hold it down
mikekarnj (3:02:59 PM): so if you hold it down, it works every time after the first time
mikekarnj (3:03:04 PM): bc the first time, everyone cheats

seriously?

http://wkstudio.typepad.com/studio/2007/04/rock_steady_cre.html

color me jealous. now that's a party.

Big Wheel Keep On Turning

San Francisco pretty much just kicks ass. After my Adult Easter Egg hunt a bunch of us walked the two blocks to the always tourist trappy Lombard Street where the 7th annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel event was to take place. It's a bunch of silly ass adults wearing crazy costumes who bomb down the crazy crooked road. That's it. It isn't sanctioned. It stops up all traffic for about an hour (they do three runs) and is pretty insane- they get those little wheels rolling. The one cop that was there pretty much just asked people to move out of the way of the Trolley.
Here is a link to a rather long video of the event.
http://www.sfist.com/archives/2007/04/09/big_wheel_keep_on_turning.php

I had trouble getting my hands on a big wheel (they were understandably scarce in the week preceding). Just a WTF or maybe Why The Hell Not kind of thing that makes living here always interesting.

Riddle

Brain stumper.
Who's been in more random movies than Luis Guzman?
Major roles do not count.



I'll send the winner beads from New Orleans.

End of the Week

Has anyone seen the Chapelle lost episodes? They are 'hilarious like Nick Cannon', funny.
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/chappelles_show/index.jhtml

Meet Zeus Jones.
http://www.zeusjones.com/

Quote of the Week.
'My answer is get out my car'
(Bet you can't guess what show that is from)


Song of the Week.
(This video is actually good)

What's your favourite cover song?

I've been listening to a lot of covers lately and would like to know what your favourite cover song is.

According to the Rolling Stone, the best cover songs are:

* Jimi Hendrix: Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower”
* Johnny Cash: Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”
* The White Stripes: Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”
* The Fugees: Lori Lieberman’s “Killing Me Softly”
* Eric Clapton: Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”

Here is one with Ben Folds doing Such Great Heights


And Mat Weddle doing an acoustic version of Hey Ya.

yes or no? yay or nay?

a little bird (named danny burke) heard that they were changing the name of adcenter...to the "brandcenter"...um, yeah, gross.

true or not true? what have you guys heard? what do you guys think?

Ok, so ideas trump polish.

Maybe this is systemic of my total abhorrence for presentation flourishes, especially those that are created in anything over three minutes, in anything ending in note or point (how topical!), but this is a really sweet example of an idea done simply, and done well.

http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

It's for a new book. Done by the author (probably?). No, I haven't read it.

Powerpoint Sucks

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/04/03/1175366240499.html


Anna Patty Education Editor
April 4, 2007

If you have ever wondered why your eyes start glazing over as you read those dot points on the screen, as the same words are being spoken, take heart in knowing there is a scientific explanation.

It is more difficult to process information if it is coming at you in the written and spoken form at the same time.

The Australian researchers who made the findings may have pronounced the death of the PowerPoint presentation.

They have also challenged popular teaching methods, suggesting that teachers should focus more on giving students the answers, instead of asking them to solve problems on their own.

Pioneered at the University of NSW, the research shows the human brain processes and retains more information if it is digested in either its verbal or written form, but not both at the same time.

It also questions the wisdom of centuries-old habits, such as reading along with Bible passages, at the same time they are being read aloud in church. More of the passages would be understood and retained, the researchers suggest, if heard or read separately.

The findings show there are limits on the brain's capacity to process and retain information in short-term memory.

John Sweller, from the university's faculty of education, developed the "cognitive load theory".

"The use of the PowerPoint presentation has been a disaster," Professor Sweller said. "It should be ditched."

"It is effective to speak to a diagram, because it presents information in a different form. But it is not effective to speak the same words that are written, because it is putting too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented."

The findings that challenge common teaching methods suggest that instead of asking students to solve problems on their own, teachers helped students more if they presented already solved problems.

"Looking at an already solved problem reduces the working memory load and allows you to learn. It means the next time you come across a problem like that, you have a better chance at solving it," Professor Sweller said.

The working memory was only effective in juggling two or three tasks at the same time, retaining them for a few seconds. When too many mental tasks were taken on some things were forgotten.

he has my eyes!

he has my eyes!
Originally uploaded by tokyohanna.

Saturday morning was very joyous for me - I bought a bicycle! It was from a guy named Carlos, at an East Village flea market. He is from Puerto Rico and I warmed to him immediately. Anyway, the bike is a boy, and I named him Tony. We bonded all day in McCarren Park and other parts o Williamsburg and Greenpoint. I'm excited for more of this bicycle weather. Who in NYC has one too? Tony needs friends.

Happy Friday

Eric Boyd and I have named him Herman.
He is totally bizarre looking and yet fascinating.