Technology is a great thing for education, right? But teachers are increasingly finding that students who can get lecture notes and course materials online are giving up going to classes. This is good for learning?
Tag: 01.17.06
Building Boom Threatens Books
The beloved library at Trinity College Dublin has discovered that the city’s torrid building boom is damaging its books. “The university has discovered to its dismay that a quarter of a million books, many of them irreplaceable and dating from the earliest days of print, have been damaged by building dust. The new Ireland is thus having a detrimental effect on the old, since this side-effect of Dublin’s extraordinary building boom will cost millions to put right.”
Fame As A Dead Body
Chuck Lamb wanted to be famous. But “his dream was stalled until last month, when he realized that anybody could play dead. By posing as a corpse on the Internet, he thought, perhaps he could win a role as a lifeless extra on ‘CSI: Miami.’ He took two days to build the Web site, then waited for someone to notice. It was a short wait. Deadbodyguy.com received 300,000 hits in its first three weeks. There were 530 hits from Uruguay, 6 from Iran. In two hours, the site received 2,000 hits from Spain. ‘I’m huge in Spain,’ he said.”
The Barbican’s Excellent Year
London’s Barbican Center has had its best year at the box office in a decade. “‘Turnover for 2005 was up 10.25% on the previous year, with box office takings nearly hitting £11 million by the end of December. The centre also enjoyed its most successful Christmas period since 1995.”
Paper-Thin – Computer Screens You Can Roll Up
In just a few years we’ll be reading on thin flexible paper-like screens. “The display, which currently has the resolution of a normal computer screen — 100 pixels per square inch — and four levels of gray scale, could help usher in durable, paper-like screens that can be attached to small electronic devices such as mobile phones and then rolled up and tucked away when not in use.”
Denver’s New Opera House Gets Acoustic Tweaks
Denver’s new Ellie Caulkins Opera House opened last fall. But “because of the tight construction schedule for the Caulkins Opera House and the need to have it ready in time for the 2005 fall season, the paint was barely dry when the hall opened. The first significant tests of its acoustics came during public performances.” They’ve so far proven disappointing, so “tweaks” are being made.
Philadelphia Orchestra Adds Colorado To Its Annual Summer Schedule
The Philadelphia Orchestra is adding Vail, Colorado to its list of annual summer residencies. “The orchestra has struck a deal to become a resident orchestra at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival starting in 2007. The deal with the Vail festival, whose artistic director is flutist Eugenia Zukerman, runs three years. The orchestra will play six concerts each summer starting in early July.
WB Network In Freefall
The WB network is in dire straits. This season its audience has dropped by eight percent. That follows a drop of nearly 10 percent last season. It’s now behind former last-place network UPN, and the network is cutting staff.
Wholphin’ It Up With A New Magazine
Wholphi is a new magazine. But not a traditional magazine with old-fashioned pages. It comes in the form of a DVD crammed with features. Why might it work? “We’re sick and tired of words — endless words marching one after another in horizontal line after horizontal line in paragraph after paragraph in article after article in magazine after magazine. In other words, we’re sick of reading. We long to join the rest of our fellow Americans sitting on the sofa with beer and Doritos, basking in the glow of a TV screen. And now Wholphin enables us to do just that.”
Talk About Unreality Shows – “The Next Prime Minister”
It’s a Canadian TV show in which contestants try to convince former Prime Ministers they have what it takes to run the country. “The contest has already received hundreds of video submissions from Canadians aged 18 to 29. The show, set to be taped in Toronto on Jan. 30 and airing Feb. 4, will have the former PMs picking a winner from the top five finalists. Policy goals are a big criteria in the contest, but how well the contestants sell themselves to the former PMs is said to be the point of the show. The winner gets $50,000 in cash and a six-month paid internship in both the public and private sector.”