Author Archives: infophile

C.H.I.P. — The super tiny computer that only costs $9 [@Kickstarter] | Mashable #makerspaces @nextthingco

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If you thought the $35 Raspberry Pi 2 was a small and cheap computer, think again. Next Thing Co.’s open-source C.H.I.P. is an even smaller barebones microcomputer that only costs $9.

Like the Raspberry Pi, C.H.I.P. can be used in a variety of ways. Connect the necessary parts — a keyboard, mouse, and a display — to it and it becomes a personal computer. Otherwise, you can hack it into a retro games emulator, or robot, or whatever you can dream up. Next Thing Co. encourages users to learn how to code and make things with C.H.I.P.

Next Thing Co. is currently crowdfunding C.H.I.P. through a Kickstarter campaign. At the time of this writing, the project has successfully reached its $50,000 funding goal with 29 days to go. The first C.H.I.P computers are expected to start shipping in December.

READ MORE: C.H.I.P. — the super tiny computer that only costs $9 | Mashable

Female Scientists Told to Get a Man to Help Them With Their Paper | Jezebel

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This just in from the land of great sexism: two female scientists had a manuscript rejected by a peer-reviewed journal because they didn’t ask a man for help. An unnamed peer reviewer for the journal PLoS One suggested that Drs. Fiona Ingleby and Megan Head find male co-authors—any men at all—for a paper they’d written, in order to make sure they weren’t leaping to “ideologically biased assumptions.” READ MORE: Female Scientists Told to Get a Man to Help Them With Their Paper | Jezebel

Watch a Japanese Craftsman Lovingly Bring a Tattered Old Book Back to Near Mint Condition | Open Culture #bookmaking #bookbinding #books

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In the above episode of the Japanese documentary series, The Fascinating Repairmen, Tokyo-based book conservator Nobuo Okano brings over 30 years of experience to bear on a tattered, middle school English-to-Japanese dictionary. This is not the sort of job that can be rushed…

…He spends four hours just turning and pressing its battered pages—all 1000 of them—with tweezers and a tiny pink iron.

READ MORE: Watch a Japanese Craftsman Lovingly Bring a Tattered Old Book Back to Near Mint Condition | Open Culture

Google wants you to download your web search history | Engadget #search

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Wondering what you were searching for online a few years ago? You now have a (relatively) easy way to find out. Google has quietly trotted out an option to download your entire search history. So long as you searched using your Google account, you’ll have a permanent record.

via Google wants you to download your web search history | Engadget

MinecraftEdu Takes Hold in Schools | School Library Journal #minecraft #education

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There aren’t any express objectives or any real way to win in Minecraft. It’s a “sandbox,” in gaming speak—offering free play without a specific goal and currently used by more than 18.5 million players, with some 20,000 more signing up every day. Users may choose between Creative Mode, in which they can build using unlimited resources by themselves or with friends, with no real danger or enemies, and Survival Mode, where they fend off enemies and other players and fight for resources and space. They can trade items and communicate using a chat bar. Modifications (or mods) can add complexity by creating things like economic systems that let players buy and sell resources from in-game characters using an in-game currency system. These downloadable mods can also add computer science concepts and thousands of additional features.

MINECRAFTEDU

Minecraft’s worlds and possibilities are truly endless—and increasingly, so are its educational adaptations for school use. Available on multiple platforms (Apple, Windows, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Raspberry Pi, iOS, Android, Windows Phone), the game’s flexibility and collaborative possibilities make it a favorite among devotees of gamification.

“Minecraft is like LEGOs on steroids,” says Eric Sheninger, a senior fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education. “Learners of all ages work together to ultimately create a product that has value to them,” he adds. “The simple interface provides students in the classroom with endless possibilities to demonstrate creativity, think critically, communicate, collaborate, and solve problems.” A Swedish student research study also showed that collaboration in Minecraft provided a more immersive problem-solving experience than group LEGO building.

via MinecraftEdu Takes Hold in Schools | School Library Journal.

Stories For All (Diversity & Inclusion) | First Book #diversity #books

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Although the First Book Marketplace is for educators (to purchase books and educational materials at low prices for children in need), the resource highlights books for children and youth that showcase topics of diversity and inclusion. You can explore books by themes that include African American Interest, Asian American & Pacific Islander, Global Stories, Immigrant Experience, Latino Interest, LGBTQ, Muslim American, Native American, Religion and Special Needs & Abilities. Browse the themes to discover books within each interest area. There are also resources recommended for other topics and themes such as STEM and Me & My Feelings, etc. 

“Through the Stories for All Project™ First Book strives to provide all kids with diverse books that act as mirrors and windows. Kids feel valued and validated when they see their own experiences reflected on the pages of books, and they develop curiosity and empathy when they read about experiences different from their own. To help your kids grow as both readers and global citizens, [view] our ever-expanding selection of diverse books.”

Brooklyn Author Recreates Borges’ Library of Babel as Infinite Website | Flavorwire

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Reading this article, it struck me that the website Jonathan Basile has created would be a great premise for an MLIS student’s research paper on multimedia literacies. Or at least continue to inspire others to create online and/or virtual worlds based on ideas and settings as described in fiction.  

“When it was proclaimed that the Library contained all books, the first impression was one of extravagant happiness,” wrote Jorge Luis Borges in his classic of philosophical fiction, “The Library of Babel.” One of the most revered stories-as-thought-experiments ever committed to print, Borges’ fiction posits the Universe as a library (“composed of an indefinite and perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries”) that contains every possible text. This intellectual vision, at once playful and poised, has stirred authors (like Umberto Eco and Terry Pratchett) and philosophers (W.V.O. Quine and Daniel Dennett) alike for more than 75 years.

And now it exists! Recently, Jonathan Basile, a Brooklyn author and Borgesian Man of the Book, taught himself programming so that he could recreate Borges’ Universal Library as a website. The results are confounding.

READ MORE: Brooklyn Author Recreates Borges’ Library of Babel as Infinite Website | Flavorwire.

▶ Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: Launch #Trailer | BBC One | YouTube #adaptations

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Exciting! I’m at a halt halfway through the book…watching the trailer has given me new motivation to finish it. More information at the BBC One Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell website. The series will air on Space in Canada and on BBC America in the United States.

via ▶ Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: Launch Trailer | BBC One | YouTube.

Not Taking Risks Is the Riskiest Career Move of All | HBR #careers

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Not taking action has costs that can be as consequential as taking risks; it’s simply less natural to calculate and pay attention to the “what-ifs” of inaction. In today’s marketplace, where jobs and job categories are being destroyed and invented at an accelerating rate, I’d argue that the riskiest move one can make is to assume that your industry or job is secure.

READ MORE: Not Taking Risks Is the Riskiest Career Move of All | Harvard Business Review

Dropbox Teams With Microsoft To Allow Anyone To Edit Documents Online | TechCrunch

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From April 9, 2015.

Microsoft and Dropbox are expanding their already close partnership with the reveal of a new integration that will now allow consumers to edit their Microsoft Office files, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents, in Dropbox using Office Online via the web.

Previously, many of these edits would have taken place using Microsoft Office’s desktop applications – which also meant that you would have to be at a computer where the software was installed. The online option makes the service more flexible, as you can edit your files from any computer, including a borrowed machine or a shared computer, like a business center’s kiosk PC, for example.

To use the new feature, you’ll click the “Open” button when you’re previewing the file on the web, Dropbox explains, and then you’ll have the option to edit the file from your web browser using Office Online. The option is available to Dropbox for Business customers who have an Office 365 license as well as Dropbox Basic and Pro users, and those who are on the free tier of Office Online. The only requirement for using the free tier of Office Online is creating a free Microsoft account, the company says.

READ MORE: Dropbox Teams With Microsoft To Allow Anyone To Edit Documents Online | TechCrunch