Question #7 - How many things are there in the solar system?

The Solar System. Start counting!

When I was at school the solar system consisted of the sun and 9 planets. The third planet had a moon, so that was 11 things. And if that was it, this would be so much easier, but it's not. There aren't even 9 planets any more, there are 8. The ninth planet was demoted to dwarf planet status and several other dwarf planets have been discovered since then. There are comets, asteroids, moons/satellites and of course the things that we have put out there.

Nothing To See Here.

I have been keeping this blog for almost a year now. To this date there has been little over 1300 views of the blog page. Of all of the viewers, less than 0.01% of them have interacted with the blog in any way. None have commented on any of the posts, most of the interaction has been been sharing of various posts on other websites such as Google+ or Facebook. Maybe the things that I'm writing about are just not that interesting to anybody and that is why nobody deems it worthy of comment. Maybe my writing style isn't very pleasing and most readers don't make it to the end of my posts. There is one post here that has not had a single view at all. It's the one about Street Fighter IV. It's only going to be interesting to somebody who has an interest in Street Fighter or video games anyway. I had previously posted that very same piece on a gaming website before it was posted here and it exploded with reader comments but here nobody is interested. I still keep writing stuff and posting it here though. My Mother once told me that there is little point in writing if nobody is going to read it. That writing is a form of expression with which to open up debate which in turn grants access to opinions of others that may be different from your own given that they are formed from a different perspective and therefore allowing you to see the same thing from a perspective that you may not have been able to consider before. It is a learning experience. So, given the lack of discourse; why do I continue to write this stuff?

Star Wars, Angry Birds Style.

When I had first seen reports of Angry Birds Star Wars I had thought that it was perhaps a joke or maybe just some fan art or something. I didn't look into it any further to see if it was true as it did not hold my interest enough to warrant investigation. Little did I know at the time of how wrong I was.
The Bear likes to play Angry Birds on Starbucks iPhone occasionally. He plays the free trial version of Angry Birds for the iPhone since there is no way that I am paying money for it! One occasion just a couple of weeks ago The Bear asked if he could play Angry Birds but Starbuck was on her way out to work so she suggested that he play on my phone instead. I didn't have Angry Birds on my phone so I decided to download it from the store. Since my phone is an Android phone the full game of Angry Birds would be free. I knew that The Bear had enjoyed playing Angry Birds Space on Granny Sue's iPad so I searched for the Angry Birds Space game on the Google Play store. I found it with no problem but I also found Angry Birds Star Wars on the store right next to Angry Birds Space. My reaction to discovering that Angry Birds Star Wars was a real game downloadable from the store and not a joke as I originally thought was one of both amusement and dismay. I asked The Bear if he wanted Angry Birds Space or Star Wars. He chose Angry Birds Star Wars.

The School Bell.

It's Wednesday 12th September and I'm on my way to pick up The Bear from school. He started school just last week and is very excited about his new school. He likes his school uniform and his school bag and books and p.e. kit. Today will be the second time that I have collected him from school. I have had to take half a day off from work to be able to pick him up. I took him to school for the first time last week on Thursday. For the first 2 weeks he is attending only half days in order for him to become accustomed to the new environment of actual schooling. At first I found this to be bizarre as I was of the opinion that if he is going to school then he should just go to school and get on with it from day one but my opinion quickly changed after the walk to school with him on that first day.

Disposable Monday #2

Another Monday morning and I find myself waking up alive regardless of how hard I wished last night. Dragging myself out of bed to face the world on a Monday again does not get any easier. The Monday morning blues is almost tangible, as if it were a thick fog that I can't see past. The normal morning routine seems so much harder and putting on shoes to leave the house is almost enough to cause actual physical pain. Once they are on, I pause for a moment to allow opportunity for actual lightning to strike or perhaps a meteor. Neither happens so I grab my keys and go. The walk to the bus stop feels like wading through waist deep water all the way. Maybe I need one of those great motivational quotes to turn my frown upside down.

Schools Get in The Game. (originally published 03/06/2009)

Brock delivers his seminar

“Ok, it’s time to submit your school reports. Did everyone play Mario Kart at the weekend? Good. Let’s begin with group discussion, what is the premise and objective of the game?”
This may sound a little strange but for one Minneapolis teacher video games have become learning tools for his class of sixth to eighth graders.  Brock Dubbels of Seward Montessori in Minneapolis designed his ‘Video Games as Learning Tools’ class to span a three week period, requiring children to create detailed multimedia presentations from video games played in groups. He explains that the children are not just learning from the games content but also gaining key skills from playing and studying the games. Dubbels, who has a background in cognitive psychology, goes on to say “It connects to their lives. Research shows that children want to perform where they have competence.” Brock Dubbels spreads the word with training seminars and online courses designed to show other teachers how his three week course works.