Recently in Web/Tech Category

i have despammed this website.  you know, i would like to point out that years ago, spam was only a pantry problem. that issue of opening the pantry, seeing it on the shelf because it migrated there with some fruitcake some insane person gave you during the holidays, that was the only time people encountered spam.

now, i have it on good authority, and that authority being one person i met from hawaii, that hawaiians love spam.  bless them for taking one for the team.  maybe, they would like to take care of website spam problems for us too.  i mean, why else is hawaii a state, if not to take care of spam problems for the rest of us.

so.  i won't lie.  i love the iphone.  d@mn is it like the most awesome thing ever.

you know what i love about it?  that i can watch movies on it.

you know what else?  that pushing daisies comes out on dvd soon.

what does that have to do with the iphone?  i will make sure that it is on my iphone so i can watch the shows at will!

i <3 my iphone

one of the things i love is a good zombie thriller.  one of the other things i love is a good comic book.  and my third love is the internet.  imagine what would happen if you joined all three of them into one thing... yep... you guessed it... JOYGASM.

i present to you: kristy versus the zombie army!

now i know that i am seriously biased since i am a french teacher.  but seriously, how can i not find these kids charming and adorable?  huh?  how?  also, the girl in the green dress is totally amélie's virgin-birth love child.  seriously.  and i am not saying this just because white people like multilingual children... this is cute.




to see the other videos from other levels, check out the link at actfl.

well.  sorry leah, but your site has been banned from the hospital as offensive.  i love it when places do this.  dooce is not offensive.  neither is eka.  but thingsmyboyfriend says is.  girl is not.  lainey is clearly not offensive since her sister works here... can we say favoritism? : )  asofterworld is safe and unoffensive as is postsecret. 

hmmm.  does any of this make sense to you?  i think some of those sites are much more controversial than dear little leah.  sorry leah, you are far to sweet.  yet girl does not worry the catholic philosophy of the hospital internet administrators.  hmmm.  maybe the catholics have gone sex progressive... but are still anti- living with your boyfriend...

i love this phenomenal charity.  i hadn't heard about it until this evening watching 60 minutes.  but in my mind, what better way to help than to teach, and to give the world to children in underdeveloped countries.

one laptop per child.  it's a start, and a good one, in my opinion.

you know you are desperate to chat with your husband when you go to the macdo to get some free wifi.  oh yes.  i am that desperate.  but he is nowhere to be found.

as of late, i have had to think of where i stand on a few issues.  as we all know, i teach for a living.  i love my job.  a lot.  but when it comes to my students, i am forced to answer questions and take a stand on several matters that are becoming more prominent within the classroom, including mine.

i need to give you some background information so you understand where i am coming from and where the students are coming from.  first, if you have never taught, then you may not know that teaching students at the university level dates you faster than anything else.  having children freezes you in time with your children as the distance remains a constant.  teaching only makes you older year after year, as the gap increases.  this was further brought up and emphasized by david warlick's keynote address about the flat classroom.

this is only validated with language.  they speak a different language than i do.  and i am constantly forced to update my language and learn theirs and i force them to reciprocate.  i think it only fair.  but the students are also learning to live in a way that my contemporaries and i never did.  they live in a very connected world.  with cell phones, laptops, ipods, wifi, etc.  they text message, they blog, they im, they email, they facebook, they myspace, they hook-up, and they phone.  they do all of these things at the same time.  and they do these things during class.

this is the dilemma:

so, while i was in france, the old laptop died on thomas and i received a frantic phone call that went as follows:

what do i do?

buy a new laptop.

which one?

i don't know.  which one do you like?

well. there is the one that is the exact same, or the newer model with all the bells and whistles.

then get that one.

it is really expensive.

i don't care.  you need a laptop.

are you sure?

yes.

ok.