Google's giggle

A friend sent me this video, produced by Google, that is pretty funny. Check it out, and be sure to click on the "Try Gmail Motion" button at the end:

A new way to communicate
The mouse and keyboard were invented before the Internet even existed. Since then, countless technological advancements have allowed for much more efficient human computer interaction. Why then do we continue to use outdated technology? Introducing Gmail Motion -- now you can control Gmail with your body.

Sorry, I uploaded it and it was too small, so you don't really see the whole thing. Just click on the link below and you'll get the full effect!

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

SNAP! goes the pencil

This month, I'm presenting a series of workshops for students where I work. The topics were chosen by the students themselves, based on requests by students utilizing the tutoring center. We've got "Test Anxiety" (that was yesterday and again in a couple of weeks, because, really, who doesn't get a little anxious when confronted with a test?); "Procrastination and Time Management" (also offered twice this month, due either to its popularity or statistics on the pervasiveness of it on college campuses, or maybe both); "Oral Presentation Anxiety" (or stage fright), and "Note Taking and Memory Strategies".

I decided I would insert a video with a vivid description of what test anxiety feels like, rather than have the students suffer from "death by PowerPoint". In the regular, semester-long class I teach, I frequently use what 'back in the day' we used to call audio/visual aids, but heretofore will be referred to as 'multimedia'. I found a video that is short, to the point, and short. Really short. Less than one minute of freedom from the "death by PowerPoint".

It's kind of mean, really. I mean, these students came to the workshop because they were all a bundle of nerves to begin with. Of course they know what test anxiety feels like! Did I really find it necessary to shove their faces in it?

Why, yes indeedy, I did. After all, I want to be a "with it" kind of lecturer that uses a multitude of teaching approaches. (As an aside here, being referred to as lecturer is fine...however, I do enjoy being referred to at home as "Professor Mom" or "Dr. Mom", and yes, feel free to bow your head ever-so-slightly, yet reverently, or perhaps a very simple and elegant and, I might add, an almost imperceptible curtsy, like you were meeting the Queen Mum and all.)

So, that said, here's the video (it's short):

Test Anixiety from Eric Sims on Vimeo.

Guilt, guilty, guilty!

You've gotta watch this. Watch it all the way through, too. So funny (the teeth really got me giggling), sweet, and clever.



Courtesy of foodplot

Forget the tarradiddles, enjoy the flowers!

In an effort to have a much more positive weekend than this work week has been, I went out first thing this morning to enjoy my garden! Here are some photos. I especially like the photo of the flowers and the meyer lemon tree, which has been a delight, indeed. (You can't really see the entire tree, just a lemon in the picture below.)

Note to self for next year's planting: Cover the raised flowerbed with something after planting the bulbs, to keep the squirrels from digging up the bulbs. Suspiciously, although I planted over 100 bulbs, the entire center of the flowerbed is almost empty, thanks to the squirrels who, I suppose, were thinking they were digging up their buried treasure, but, were, in fact, digging up my bulbs! Oh well, worse things could have happened. Hope those damn squirrels enjoy gnawing on tulip bulbs.

Oh, my. I wonder if it made them sick? Also suspiciously, I haven't seen nearly as many squirrels out and about near my yard. But, then again, I'm usually not home during daylight hours. I don't actually want to poison the little fuckers (okay, well maybe just a teeny, tiny bit since they stole the majority of my bulbs). The circle of life and all.

Enjoy the weekend!

Springing up everywhere!

On a much lighter note, I hope to post some pictures of my lovely tulips and other bulbs that are bursting up in my garden. Daffodils? Already come and gone, but I did enjoy many, many bouquets (all outside, because one of the cats loves to munch on anything, and I mean absolutely anything! I leave before the sun comes up and I get home after the sun has set, so I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet. How, you might ask, do I know for sure the bulbs are blooming? A flashlight. There I was this morning, in the rain, at 5:00 a.m., checking out my gorgeous blooms. Stay tuned. Photos to follow tomorrow...I have the day off! Woo hoo! So, for today, here's a photo from one year ago, with my little spot of sunshine, otherwise known as Little Lady Luscious, and sometimes called Miss Zippy.

What we catch

A student popped into my office yesterday who had all sorts of reasons why he was not performing at optimum level in his science class. In his lengthy list of excuses, he reported that he caught a DV (domestic violence). I explained that one does not catch a crime like a cold or the flu; one commits a crime. The student agreed with me that he was responsible for his own actions.

In the very next breath and sentence, the student went on to tell me that not only had he caught a DV, but his father had also caught a DV, as well as numerous other members of his family. Although this student admitted he was determined not to repeat the actions of his father and relatives, he found himself doing exactly that.

And, you know, he's right, in a perverse, twisted way. DV is contagious. I dutifully washed my hands after I gave him a great big hug and sent him on his way.

The Basic Nature of Humankind

I've always been a big believer in the philosophy/world view that the basic nature of humankind is good, not evil. I'm beginning to wonder. Events around the world, along with my specific part of the world, lead me to question my previously held belief about people.

As tension and anxiety rise like steam off the sidewalk in a sweltering-hot, mid-summer thunderstorm, I'm watching people behave in a manner that surely would disappoint Miss Manners. How sad that we don't support each other in tough times. How sad, indeed.

C'est la guerre.