Question #3 What Does e=mc2 Really mean?

Ah yes, e=mc2. Albert Einsteins theory of relativity. OK, lets stop right there. e=mc2 is not the theory of relativity. e=mc2 is a mass-energy equivalence equation that was used in one of the many papers published by Albert Einstein over a period of time on his theory of relativity that he was developing. The equation e=mc2 did not in fact appear at all in Einsteins first paper on mass-energy equivalence. It was written as a sentence "if a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by L/V².". Except it was in German. The formula went through many iterations by other scientists before Einstein refined it in 1946. To see where this equation fits into his theory of relativity though you need to know the full formula. 
Find out after the jump....

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?

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.

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.