tingilinde

units of measure

One of my favorite sites. A huge collection of units of measure.

 The test I use for sites like this is dex - a unit used mostly in astrophysics.  Hydrogen and helium accounts for most of the physical matter in the Universe (there is a larger amount of dark matter and dark energy, but that's another things entirely). Astrophysicists call any other elements 'metals' - the metallicity of a star is the fraction a star's mass made of of these metals.  These are expressed in decimal exponents with the Sun as the reference of 0 (10⁰ = 1 for the Sun)  - so a dex of -1 means the star has a metallicity of 10^-1, or a tenth that of the Sun.

 

 

a fine little story

Escape Pod is a scifi podcast that presents about a story a week - some from scifi greats and others from new authors.  This week's piece, The Semaphore Society, is by Kate Heartfield and is read by Christiana Ellis.  on a handicapped young woman ...  A printed version appears on the page, but go for the audio...

a tip of the hat to Jheri

 

awesome repository

The UCSB Cylinder Archive [ an ongoing project to digitize old cylinder recordings.  You can adopt a cylinder for $60.

 

fun for the young adults

and a few adults..

Sukie is a fan of Kory Merritt's work - specifically his latest"  The Dreadful Fate of Jonathan York

Her comments from a few months ago..

so if you have young readers on your list or just enjoy interesting illustrations, give it a whirl

 

 

a blog for readers

High quality writing is difficult to come by online.  Nancy recommends John V Fleming's Gladly Learne, Gladly Tech. blog.  I've read a few of his posts and agree with her - the man can write.

from a current affairs post:

Naked ladies to the front is the third greatest line in world literature, and one of the top ten military orders in world history along with Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes (1775), England expects that every man will do his duty (1805), and Damn the torpedoes—full speed ahead (1864).  

 

 

microphones for podcasting

Thinking about a podcast?  Marco Arment has an on-going microphone review section on his site. 

a hat tip to Jon

 

the machine stops

I came across this in a remembrance of Oliver Sacks by Atual Gawande:

Four weeks before Oliver Sacks died, I received a letter from him. In our all too brief correspondence, he never e-mailed. He wrote beautiful, longhand letters on heavy, cream-colored stationery with a blue fountain pen, the script slanting to the left. They were always peppered with cross-outs and insertions that gave a glimpse of his overflowing mind.

“I’m writing a piece on EYES—all sorts, from those of jellyfish and scallops and jumping spiders and octopi to our (vertebrate) eyes,” he reported. “I am also trying to write something about the (deadly) effects of ‘social-media’ when they absorb people, to the exclusion of everything else, throughout their waking hours.” He told of his delight in coming upon a century-old E. M. Forster short story called “The Machine Stops.” “Do you know it?” he asked. Forster, he said, had foreseen such possibilities.

I remember reading it in High School in English class - a class built around reading stories, short stories and poems about utopias and dystopias.  Written in 1909, it is now free of copyright and worth reading.   

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

audio 

 

 

 

the mystery of matter

A PBS history of science series ..  I haven't seen much, but what I've seen so far is excellent.  Higher quality available on iTunes.

a hat tip to Sukie

 

guest post on kory merritt by sukie

A guest post on Kory Merritt's children's books by Sukie:

 

_______

 

When I first found Kory Merritt’s work I felt just like I suspect I would have felt had I found Chas Addams early in his career.  I knew that I was watching the budding of genius.

 

Strong words?  Kory Merritt’s work is quirky, at times spooky without being too scary for grade school kids, and he can make even the most improbable characters multidimensional and endearing in his art work, wording, and plots.  Besides, he has managed to come up with many of the most amazing ice cream flavor names ever devised, and some of the strangest characters.  To see some of those characters just go to

 

lostsideofsuburbia.com

 

So, you can imagine how excited I was to learn that he has a young readers’ book nominated for the Kirkus  Prize!

 

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kory-merritt/the-dreadful-fate-of-jonathan-york/

 

 

 

Although I am a lot older than 14 and some of our relatives are younger than 11, we and they already have preorders for the book which will come out in early October.

 

So, if you enjoy moving characters with strange appearances, fun stories, and seeking unexpected hidden gems then definitely give _The Dreadful Fate of Jonathan York, a Yarn for the Strange at Heart_ a try!  

 

If you want to share info on a fun book with people who have children, classes, libraries, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, or others who are young at heart then pass along this post to them.  Feel free!  I do not mind being quoted about how marvelous Kory’s work can be and has been.  With a first issue of 5,000 copies I expect them to sell out fast and do not want to wait for the second printing so have already ordered, an action I recommend.

 

dealing with information overload

Dan Gillmor sent a notice of a media literacy course he's been working on.  A MOOC designed to help people manage information overload.  Free unless you want a certificate.

Course Syllabus

Week 1 – How media have changed; key principles for becoming an active user of media; and why media/news literacy is so important in a data-saturated environment. What it means to be a critical thinker.

Week 2 – Be skeptical of everything, but not equally skeptical of everything. Why judgement is so important. More on why we all need a personal credibility scale. We’ll look at the two-sides fallacy, understanding risk (statistical), social media and the velocity of information.

Week 3 – BS detection with Howard Rheingold. Slant vs. opinion; astroturfing and native advertising, where to find credible information.

Week 4 – Opening our minds: Escaping echo chambers and filter bubbles. Recognizing “confirmation bias” in ourselves, not just others. Seeking out opposing views and other cultural worldviews.

Week 5 – Literacy is also creation: Principles of creating media with integrity: Ownership of media, tools for creating media, legal and ethical issues in media creation, integrity in creating media.

Week 6 – Trust and reputation in a saturated media landscape. How media providers engender trust (or mistrust), fact-checking, transparency, community. How we in the audience can help our information providers be more trustworthy. Why we – audiences and information providers alike – need to adopt a “slow news” approach.

Week 7 - Next steps: How you can put all of this into long-term action; why you should be a media literacy advocate (and how to do it). Plus: resources for parents and teachers.