I’ve been using Google’s gmail and reader apps for some time now. They’re easy to use and very reliable. So, I’m very happy to see that Google has done it again with a Calendar App. I just learned about this on Slashdot a few minutes ago, so I haven’t been able to fully test it, but it appears to have an easy MS Outlook import feature and gmail integration. I’m sure I’ll be putting this thing to good use, because I don’t have Outlook at home (and it’s a pain juggling those appoi

eSchoolNews has a great interview with David Thornburg, award-winning futurist, author, and consultant. Here’s a tantalizing snippet from the article: The student-to-computer ratio in American schools has been frozen at 4 to 1 for the past three years. During that time, the price of technology has dropped by a factor…

Here’s an exciting bit of news–Google has bought out Upstartle, the company responsible for Writely Web Word. Mat Tschirgi and I have been using Writely extensively to collaborate on our graphical adventure game book. While it’s not quite as effective as Microsoft Word, it gets the job done–though I’ve heard complaints that its files aren’t quite as clean and web friendly as some folks would like. Anyway, I’m very interested to see what innovations Google will bring to the program.

Since my parents were coming to bangalore today on 28/10/05, I went to pick them up form the Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station (BNC - refer indian rail). The train prashanti express (8563) was running 1 hr late by scheduled time. As a good citizen I wanted take a platform ticket (3 INR). To my surprise I couldn’t found any counter. I asked one Tea vendor who directed me to a Ticket Vending Machine. For Instance I was pleasenlty surprised to see such a machine in India. I went to subscribe one ticket for me and observed some grafitti on the board which says “please put three one rupee coins only, do not drop 2 rupee coins”. I groped my pockets for change of one rupee coins. I found two 2 ruppe coins in my pant packet. For the next 10 minutes I ran here and there seeking to exchange my 2 rupee coins for one rupee coins. Everyone saidwe don’t have one ruppe coins. I was irritated by this machine so much that i wanted to argue with the station officer. i could not find any officer over there. I sat quitely for another 10 min, then I found a woman selling flowers. I think she is a tamilian. I pleaded her for change and she stopped to check. she said i have 3 one rupee coins only. I was glad with the exchange rate It got. Finally I made it to the platform.

The SWCA Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2006 Tutor Award. This award is presented annually on a competitive basis to a student (undergraduate or graduate) or staff member who works in any capacity in a writing center at an educational institution in the Southeastern region. The SWCA Tutor Award recognizes the outstanding contributions of a student or staff member to her/his writing center, the SWCA, and/or the writing center community more generally. Significant contributions may include one or more of the following: peer tutoring, center administration, tutor training, campus workshops, writing center innovations, or other relevant work. The Awards Committee seeks to recognize the leadership, commitment, and overall excellence of a student or staff member in writing center work. The winner will be recognized with a plaque and a check for $250 at the SWCA conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, February 16-18, 2006.

The SWCA Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2006 Achievement Award. The SWCA Achievement Award is presented annually on a competitive basis to a writing center director (or other leadership or supervisory position) at an educational institution in the Southeastern region for his or her outstanding service to the SWCA. Research and service contributions to the nominee’s writing center and the writing center community will also be considered. The winner will be recognized with a plaque and a check for $250 at the SWCA conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, February 16-18, 2006.

Read the handbook….

Because the thread on the CC drifted into creativity, I thought this might be of interest. The researcher began her work at Harvard and has been expanding it for almost a decade:

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/flaherty/

In The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain (Houghton Mifflin, January), neurologist Alice W. Flaherty explores the hows and whys of writing, revealing the science behind hypergraphia. Why is it that some writers struggle for months to come up with the perfect sentence or phrase, while others, hunched over a notepad or keyboard deep into the night, seem unable to stop writing?

From the website What’s Web 2.0?:
How Do We Define Web 2.0?
Submitted by Will Pate on June 6, 2005
One of the reasons What’s Web 2.0? was started was the difficulty in defining exactly what Web 2.0 is. Is it a series of technologies, methodologies or best practices? We could use your help in […]

From the George Lucas Education Foundation Edutopia News: Teachers find cool uses for Apple’s ubiquitous music player… by Cheri Lucas "It’s a sleek, sexy must-have for the MP3 set, but Apple’s iPod–a digital music player in fancy dress–is more than just a gadget for tuning out nagging adults. With the…