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Some time ago, the GenTech boys reported on uStream, a browser-based service for video broadcasting. In this field report, Mark and Steve talk again with Ben Grey, a fifth-grade teacher in Illinois, about how he is planning to use the service in his classroom (we delve a bit into other aspects of educational technology as well).

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome - please post your thoughts or questions below.

Technorati Tags: GenTech, podcast, technology, ustream, ben grey, education

Sometimes you have a few people over for wine, sometimes you have A LOT. This cool little gadget, known as the “Double Pourer” is an amazing tool for any host who wants to shorten their prep time so they have more time to mingle (and this gizmo will be such a huge conversation starter!). A plastic film that gets folded into the spout, the Double Pourer is one of those simple little inventions that makes you wonder why you didnt think of it first.

AND, if you haven’t checked out this English website BOUF.com yet, YOU MUST. Lots of inventive and unique items for home and entertaining.

Check out the Double Pourer in action at bouf.com

A group of Buford 8th graders walked the halls of CHS yesterday, trying to get a feel for how their next four years of education are going to be like. Poor souls. And they visited just in time to learn of the new bell schedule for next year, which I’ve reprinted here:

So there you have it. We’re still at two lunches, we still get out at 3:30… Very anticlimactic. I’ve spoken to a few teachers recently, and they’ve already started to put in “requests” for their classes to be either block or “singleton.” Just like I’ve said before, teachers that liked block scheduling are pissed, and half of those who like meeting every day are going to be pissed as well anyway.

There is a diary posted here that is a rehash of a thread that has been percolating in the Staunton area blogs for the last few days.  I am not promoting it to the center column, because it is almost prurient in its efforts to sensationalize something that is at most a marginal question.  But it is at least somewhat newsworthy, just as a train wreck can be newsworthy.

In the 24th Senatorial District, which includes Augusta, Highland, Greene, Waynesboro, Staunton, and parts of Rockingham, Rockbridge and Albemarle (3 precincts), incumbent Emmett Hanger is being challenged by Scott Sayre.  Sayre is a hard-line conservative.  Hanger is conservative, but he also believes that a state government has a duty to provide a balanced budget that includes a source of funds for its programs.  That realistic view of the world has caused him to be targeted by the "baby-and-the-bath-water" crowd in the Republican Party; Sayre is one of them.

Sayre and Hanger are faced off in a primary on June 12, and whatever semblance of Republican brotherhood may once have existed is certainly long gone.

A group of bloggers who support Hanger have put out some posts on their blogs trying to draw attention to the fact that a Mary Brandt Sayre, whom they say is Scott Sayre's wife, had a DUI in Rockbridge County in 2003 and another DUI in Staunton in 2006.  Online records confirm those convictions, though the case numbers cited by the diaries are wrong.

The point that is of some interest to Democrats is that the Republicans are not merely debating policy vociferously -- they are getting viciously personal as well.  And historically, the candidate whose supporters have so completely alienated the supporters of the other candidate may find his primary victory to have been Pyrrhic.  I love the image of the "circular firing squad," though given the nastiness, it may be more appropriate to speak of a circular bomb-throwing party.

On top of the intra-Republican furor, there is other news on the 24th -- David Cox is running as a Democrat.  Cox ran for the 24th House District seat two years ago, and lost to Ben Cline.  He is a retired minister, moderately liberal. 

To make things more interesting, there is a Libertarian candidate as well.  Arin Sime describes himself as both a "conservative libertarian and a Goldwater Republican." He summarizes his positions succinctly: "I am pro-life, pro-gun, pro-school choice, pro-farmer, pro-property rights, pro-small business, anti-eminent domain abuse and anti-tax hikes. In short, I believe in keeping government as small as possible, and I trust the average citizen over the average bureaucrat." Sime owns a software development consulting firm and is a 1997 graduate of UVA. He is a member of the Jefferson Area Libertarians, the Virginia Civil Defense League, and the NRA. 

Unfortunately for Cox, the district is pretty Republican, voting 62% Allen, 56% Kilgore and 65% Bush.  But if Sime is running to Hanger's right, and Cox can get traction, there might be room for a surprise.

As of March 31, Hanger had $144,457 on hand, Sayre had $67,203, Sime had $23,103, and Cox hadn't even announced. 

This video is absolutely hilarious.

Thousands of people have claimed to seeing something at Loch Ness over the years — some say it’s a monster, others say it’s dinosaur, and still others say it’s an alien creature from a world light-years away that traveled to our Earth and, for whatever reason, decided to hole up in Loch Ness and never [...]

MacPorts hit two milestones this week:

• For the first time, we have the complete GNOME Platform in our ports tree. Check it out. Now to get the complete GNOME Desktop in our ports tree...
• MacPorts has more than 4000 ports in its ports tree!

Well.

Last week, as I hoped, I worked 20 hours, 4 hours each day.

This week I’ve already worked 21 hours, so I get tomorrow off. (Yay!)

And: I just turned in a (still not terrific, but complete) draft of my 4th chapter. (I am so glad to be able to set that aside, finally, and turn to the next chapter. I was getting really sick of it.)

One more “researched” chapter to go. And one “concluding” (a.k.a. comparative and speculative) chapter after that.

I’m not done, but — I’m getting closer. Whew!

Today was a little wonky: I’ve been overworking some this week, in the interest of getting the chapter done by the end of May (that is, TODAY), and I feel it. I fell off my bike twice today, for stupid reasons (ouch); I’m getting a cold (sniff); I tried to get too much done today and ended up late, twice, to appointments (d’oh)… it all adds up to me being a bit unbalanced.

Time to take a day off! That would be tomorrow. Yay!

It just keeps getting better from an unschooling/interest-led point of view! Children Can Perform Approximate Math Without Arithmetic Instruction Science Daily — Children are able to solve approximate addition or subtraction problems involving large numbers even before they have been taught arithmetic, according to a study conducted at Harvard University, by researchers from the University of

That said, even lackluster gameplay couldn’t stop the aforementioned Guadaritas from making it a most-excellent Wednesday. Strawberry, lime, whatever — I love you all.

	Cavalier goalkeeper Kip Turner (15) runs a clear after a save in the third quarter of Virginia’s game against Syracuse, Saturday, March 3, 2007. (Click for a larger version: 137K.)

Virginia goalie Kip Turner is selected by the Boston Cannons as the second pick in the MLL draft. Barring trades, Turner will join fellow former Cavaliers John Christmas, Matt Poskay, and David Jenkins in Beantown.

Virginia midfielder joins Turner on the Cannons, selected by Boston as the first pick of the third round (21st overall). Updates to follow.

It had the makings for the best Wednesday ever: double helpings of jumbo margaritas at Guad, multiple cases of beer, and tickets for a show that evening — but along the way, Mario Party 8 made its way onto the schedule. As the latest installment in the Mario Party series and the first version to grace the Wii, MP8 is… well… it’s a Mario Party game. That’s not a totally bad thing; drinks were drank and doled out by all. Yet the game isn’t the slam-dunk winner it could’ve been: there’s a noticeable lack of polish throughout, game mechanics are especially clunky in certain games, and you’re still forced to watch the same damn animations over and over and why the hell isn’t there a way to skip those fucking text prompts by now?!!?! You’re skating on thin ice, Nintendo.

Less than an hour north of C-ville, Culpeper's old downtown has plenty of character. It even has its own trolley. On the corner of North Main and East Davis, The Frost Cafe seemed like the perfect place to grab a bite. Other customers seemed to be enjoying the malts. I chose the pulled pork BBQ sandwich with cole slaw. Both were excellent. They are made on site, but the waitress couldn't tell me much about the ingredients. "The mexicans make it," she said. The Frost Cafe is more proof that if travelling down 29, it pays to pass by the fast food chains along the highway.

Here's a post about the newest National Geographic bee champ, via Barbara. The official site. And then there's a post about a homeschooled Scripps National Spelling bee finalist, via the Thinking Mother. Here's the official site. Another blog post about the subject can be found at HE&OS. The bee is happening tonight, so I don't know who'll win--the suspense! Update: I just found out about

Last night, AC played a sold out show at the Satellite Ballroom. That such a following exists in central Virginia came as a surprise. In their live show they have a tendency to repeat a short musical idea until it morphs into something completely different and eventually the next song. Hypnotic tribal psychedelia never sounded so good.

Although I don’t want to look quite so ohh I don’t know could it be gay!!!

Although I don’t want to look quite so ohh I don’t know could it be gay!!!

So we're now runners. I know, it's pretty shocking to me, too. To find a race that fit our schedule, we ended up driving all the way to Richmond. We were looking for a race that fit some basic criteria: easy, fun, flat and for a good cause. That's how we found ourselves at 7:30am on a Saturday lacing up the shoes at Innsbrook for the Central VA Autism 5K Run/Walk. There were a lot of people there, and most of them looked eerily in shape. Many of them, however, were running through the parking lot in short bursts, arms pumping and knees high in what appeared to be some kind of pre-race ritual; there was, however, very little stretching going on. Also interesting for me was the abundance of lycra in flamboyant colors [why wouldn't you wear neon yellow sleeveless lyrca, really?].

Of course the worst fashion accessory we saw was not clothing but man's best friend. The dogs
in their own strollers were somewhat cute and almost understandable. You want to walk with the dog, it's a race the prohibits dogs on a leash, and so you find a legal and reasonable compromise. OK. But the dog in the BabyBjorn carrier was over the top. Seriously, a woman carrying a toy dog, the dog's legs flailing out in front of it while looking like it's wearing a fancy Swedish diaper, was too much. It was silly looking and frankly embarrassing for the dog.

About 900 people participated in the event, with many more in attendance to watch and cheer. The race started off with a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by a mother of an autistic child. What was fun about that moment, however, was that the race organizer announced that there was no flag, so instead we should all "kinda turn towards that way and pretend there's a flag over there." During the song I couldn't help but think that this was just like Francis Scott Key would have wanted it.

After the anthem, we headed over to the starting gate. There a man wearing a full body cycling suit complete with sponsor patches [and again, why not?] yelled for people to move to the back. After getting no response from the crowd, he then stated that "unless you run a five minute mile, move to the back of the line." And that got things moving right along as a bunch of people moved to join us in the back of the line.

And then we heard the loud beep and we were off...more coming later...

How can a query like "SELECT * FROM tbl WHERE col IS NULL" return a row where the column has a (non-NULL) value? Read on to find out.

In the first Republican Presidential debate, the candidates were asked if there was anyone who did NOT believe in the theory of evolution.  Sam Brownback was one of 3 who said that he did not. 

Now he has an op-ed piece that is seeking to explain/obscure what he meant.  http://www.nytimes.c...

And as best I can determine, what he means is "I believe in intelligent design."  Or, as I prefer to think of it, "Creationism lite."  And in saying this, he commits many of the errors of analysis that are characteristic of "intelligent design" proponents.
One fundamental problem with his logic can be found in the following paragraph:

There is no one single theory of evolution, as proponents of punctuated equilibrium and classical Darwinism continue to feud today. Many questions raised by evolutionary theory — like whether man has a unique place in the world or is merely the chance product of random mutations — go beyond empirical science and are better addressed in the realm of philosophy or theology.

The most passionate advocates of evolutionary theory offer a vision of man as a kind of historical accident. That being the case, many believers — myself included — reject arguments for evolution that dismiss the possibility of divine causality.

"Intelligent design" advocates are fond of saying that "there is no single theory of evolution," and they like to hold up the dispute between those who suggest a theory of punctuated equilibrium as proof that "evolution" isn't something that is agreed upon by scientists. 

"Punctuated equilibrium" is the piece of evolution theory that argues that the state of nature may go along for millenia with very few changes in the species, and then -- all of a sudden -- there is a big flurry of changes in many different species at more or less the same time.  For example, if the dinosaurs and plants were getting along just fine for thousands, or even millions of years, there would be no evolutionary advantage to change.  Equilibrium will have been attained.  But then a comet hits the earth and causes dust to be scattered throughout the atmosphere, and the planet suddenly gets colder for a hundred years or so.  Warm weather species die off, and the remaining species now have a biological advantage that they can exploit.  Suddenly there mutations that help species deal with the cold are rewarded, and new variants emerge.  And those of us looking at the geological record millions of years later will see a profusion of new species emerging all at once -- the equilibrium has been punctuated by a period of intense change, after which another equilibrium is attained.

This is a variant of evolutionary theory, but it does not argue that evolutionary theory is wrong.  The best known proponent of punctuated equilibrium was Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, a prominent supporter of evolution.  The dispute comes down to debating whether to travel to Charlottesville from Washington by driving slowly without stopping or whether to drive fast, but to stop for lunch.  Either way, you still get to Charlottesville. 

So when Brownback and others say, "there isn't even one unified theory of evolution," he's just flat wrong.  There is disagreement on some details, but not on evolution itself.

Brownback argues:

It does not strike me as anti-science or anti-reason to question the philosophical presuppositions behind theories offered by scientists who, in excluding the possibility of design or purpose, venture far beyond their realm of empirical science.

Brownback distorts the scientific conclusion.  The scientific conclusion on "intelligent design" is NOT "Evolutionary science disproves any possibility of intelligent design."  The scientific conclusion is rather the opposite -- "Evolutionary science proves that intelligent design is not necessary to explain the world as it exists, and there is no evidence to suggest that there has been intelligent design."  To a scientist, there is a very clear difference between saying, "X does not exist," and saying, "There is no evidence to show that X exists."

Of course, one problem with "intelligent design" is that it is not capable of being tested.  A scientific thought becomes accepted if it is offered as an explanation of things not yet observed, and then evidence is found to back up that thought.  But to "test" intelligent design requires that someone say what exactly the thought is.  If Brownback's thought is that "Six million years ago God took a subgroup of primates, left them in an isolated ecosystem so that they could develop on their own into a new species that we would recognize as humans," that is at least a thought that can be investigated.  We could look for evidence that had happened.  And if we found evidence -- either in the geological record or in DNA analysis -- then we would be able to say, "we have tested that thought, and we can confirm parts of it."  And then we might find other evidence, and we could confirm other parts of that.  That's how Darwinian evolution came to be accepted. 

But no one has yet stated the "intelligent design" thought with sufficient specificity to allow it to be tested.  Scientists, therefore, have no choice but to say, "Whatever 'intelligent design' might be, it isn't science."

Finally, Brownback suggests that an understanding of the scientific realities behind the theory of evolution is inconsistent with a belief in a God.  His ultimate statement is this:

Man was not an accident and reflects an image and likeness unique in the created order. Those aspects of evolutionary theory compatible with this truth are a welcome addition to human knowledge. Aspects of these theories that undermine this truth, however, should be firmly rejected as an atheistic theology posing as science.

Many scientists who understand evolution to be a scientifically valid way of explaining how our earth has come to be also profess a belief in a higher power.  Most evolution scientists who profess a belief in God would, I suspect, say that their view of God is not as a master puppeteer, willing and able to alter genetic code on a whim.  If that is the irreducible core of Brownback's belief in God -- that God is willing and able to alter genetic code on a whim, and that if you don't believe that then you are an atheist -- then Brownback will never win the support, or even the understanding of, scientists.

On the morning drive show for Richmond (VA, US) radio station WRVA, listeners were saddled with the burden of listening to me miss chances to restate the “Not Lazy and Dumb” message. Thanks to Jimmy Barrett, the morning host for WRVA, and his staff, I was invited to comment on whether dyslexia was a “fig [...]

1. Coldplay, “The Scientist”
2. Etta James, “At Last”
3. Obadiah Parker, “Hey Ya”
4. Zero 7, “In the Waiting Line”
5. The Shins, “New Slang”

Sent in the depression slides today, and I think I can cross that one off of the list. Which is good, I suppose, because the diabetes guideline is moving much more slowly than I had anticipated. Maybe I just need to step away from it for a moment, I don't know. I really enjoyed an article on productivity and "wasted" time that Fred sent to me from today's New York Times. The notion that "

Brandon Hopkins just posted a spiffy video tour of his workspace. You’ll get to find out neat things about him, like his taste for raisinettes and his cool desk-cat.

He did this through a project started by Josh Dorkin - What Does Your Office or Workspace Look Like?. The idea is that we all have a workspace, so we can bond together by seeing where our friends work. Cool, right? Plus, if you tell Josh about your post, he’ll add you to the running list he’s building (free link!).

Without further ado, my workspace is here for all to see!

It’s actually made from elfa shelving. The brackets attach to the wall, then you put in the shelves (built by yours truly). This ensures my desk is high enough for my long stick legs.

Yep, that’s a season of Stargate SG-1 on the desk. Teal’c is the man!!

What’s in your wallet workspace?

| brandon hopkins, josh dorkin, workspace, stargate

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A few years ago, as a member of the Virginia Film Society, I attended Tuesday evening programs at Vinegar Hill. I always wondered about L’Avventura, the adjoining restaurant that takes its name from one of my favorite foreign films and Antonioni’s finest work. I never actually ate there, though. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. It finally folded last year.

Il Cane Pazzo opened with relatively little fanfare in the former L’Avventura space, much to my dismay. (Of course, a well-publicized arrival to a scene has disadvantages. I have not been hearing good things about Maya but will decide for myself.) I met its owner, Michael Fitzgerald, on one occasion this fall, and if his geniality and wit were any indication of the food, I thought I should go soon.* I can’t claim to be any kind of connoisseur of Italian cuisine, but the times I’ve eaten at “Pazzo” have been as enjoyable as they come. The menu is changed with enough frequency to keep one coming back, and it’s diverse to begin with. I enjoyed seeing half-size portions in addition to full-size entrees, and it’s reasonably priced to begin with. And it’s all served by hard-working waitresses who genuinely seem to like their jobs, and each other.

Unruly animals might be a trend in this city, because in Italian it means, “The crazy dog.” While I’m not so keen on the monkey across Water Street, I think this is charming in both languages.

No recommendations (”everything”) except for the espresso martini. As a big coffee-drinker, I think I was elevated to the highest echelons of caffeinated-alcohol bliss. Why isn’t it being entered in Artini?

* Writer’s note: there may be more owners. I couldn’t find out, and it’s not like I’m going to ask now…

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Severe and persistent–I have severe and persistent kidney disease, but no one ever calls it that.  Other than Medicare, the primary payer for dialysis, most kidney professionals have even stopped using the term End Stage Renal Disease as not patient friendly.  Treatment resistant–well, mine isn’t treatment resistant, I’m very lucky, I have managed to take a [...]

10 days to go. Hard to imagine this thing is finely upon me. I'm feeling pretty confident about the race -- I don't think there's really any doubt that I've prepared as effectively as possible. You always wonder if you should have done more, but I think Coach Debi hit it just right in what she has had me do, based on my fitness level at the start of the process.

And that's an important point. I know there are faster, stronger people out there who've done more preparation, but their bodies were already adapted to a high level of fitness. Mine wasn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. But I can say now, without a doubt, that I'm in very good shape.

At this point it's all about preparation and avoiding surprises on race day. So I'll be checking out equipment (like putting new pedals on my bike -- same brand and model, the old ones were just shot), making packing lists, printing up maps, etc. I'm a bit compulsive about this, but it's better to obsess a little now, so I don't have to panic later!

Ken

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