Kelly in Kansas

I finally had a chance to watch this HBO Production of FDR's battle with polio. Besides great acting by the major players, it focuses on a topic previously pushed to the side when examining FDR's life. One of the first TV miniseries I remember watching besides Roots was Eleanor and Franklin. So, I found it quite interesting that Jane Alexander, having played Eleanor in the 1970s, was now playing Franklin's mother. This also reminds me of the controversy surrounding the FDR Memorial and whether or not it portrayed FDR as disabled.

This is worth a read.

on the bike this morning - just before it really started heating up. Yeah!

I'm actually feeling like I'm experiencing a weekend. The only challenge is that the motor seized on the lawnmower - but I think I can get someone to fix it while I'm gone. And the grass is not growing as much with the recent heat. I also have some great neighbors that will help out.

Yesterday, the Devis Wears Prada was great! I thought it was going to have a cliche ending but it left you with some options of interpretation - which is always better than predictable. Meryl Streep is just outstanding.

I haven't ridden 12 miles on my bike out in the country like I did yesterday since last summer and I'm going to try to get one of those rides in today. But, first, Shadow and I will walk to the convenience store to get the Sunday papers. There is a tragedy hanging over a nearby community but there are a large number of resources being pooled to help everyone out - one of the great things about small towns in rural areas.

It looks like it will be another gorgeous day. It's amazing that mid-80s seems cools but it's all relative. I think my mind and my body will be ready to head to DC tomorrow. Of course, I'll have to stop here on the way to the airport.

It's official, I know a curmudgeon

We finished Project eHIKES yesterday with a celebratory lunch at a local Mexican place that also serves margaritas. It was great to get almost everyone together and most of us will be in DC all next week.

And, finally, the heat has broken. 85 actually seems cool after 114 degree heat index days.

It is actually starting to feel like sabbatical. I ensured that I did not have to spend the weekend grading so that I can actually get in some exercise without worrying about a schedule where I have to be cleaned up to face the world (if all I had to do was shower and shave like men! :-) ). I'm going to see this movie this evening with a friend. Should be fun.

Now out for a bike ride in the country before it does get a bit too warm.

We're already into the second week of our July institute - our final gatherings for Project eHIKES with a finale in Washington DC next week at the National Archives and, for some interested parties, the Library of Congress.

Paula was here last week and the teachers are still working on some great projects. I've asked them to add an assessment portion to some of them so that they can think through history-centric rubrics and checklists. This will not only help them think more in terms of authentic assessment - it's one thing to do new and different things - a whole other thing to properly assess them and also satisfy increasing demands focused on meeting state standards imposed from above. It will also be a tool for the methods class when I return from sabbatical.

The tedious paperwork from last month's work with Project Primary Sources is almost behind us. I finally had a chance to read their reaction papers/Teaching Improvement Grants and they are both insightful and moving considering that this was the first (and only) trip to NYC for most of them.

Via Tightly Wound:

When a 4-year old does it

It's annoying as hell, but when a grown man and alleged academic does it, I become enraged.

What am I talking about? Simple. Failure to accept responsibility for your actions.

Yeah, yeah. I realize I should be all jaded and "oh, but civilization has sunk so low what do you expect," yadda yadda yadda, but I refuse to go gently into this particular good night, dammit.

So let's get this straight. A year-long academic inquiry finds that a professor has plagiarized and fabricated substantial amounts of his research. The professor is fired. Who is at fault?

Why, the university of course! The public at large! The evil philistines who don't understand the greatness that is the professor! The evil political cabal who just wants to silence his brave dissent! Anyone, in short, except the psuedo-intellect in question, who--by the way--PLAGIARIZED AND FABRICATED HIS RESEARCH!

And he's gonna sue until they agree with him, golly gosh darn it!

Yeah, Ward Churchill again.

Via Tightly Wound:

When a 4-year old does it

It's annoying as hell, but when a grown man and alleged academic does it, I become enraged.

What am I talking about? Simple. Failure to accept responsibility for your actions.

Yeah, yeah. I realize I should be all jaded and "oh, but civilization has sunk so low what do you expect," yadda yadda yadda, but I refuse to go gently into this particular good night, dammit.

So let's get this straight. A year-long academic inquiry finds that a professor has plagiarized and fabricated substantial amounts of his research. The professor is fired. Who is at fault?

Why, the university of course! The public at large! The evil philistines who don't understand the greatness that is the professor! The evil political cabal who just wants to silence his brave dissent! Anyone, in short, except the psuedo-intellect in question, who--by the way--PLAGIARIZED AND FABRICATED HIS RESEARCH!

And he's gonna sue until they agree with him, golly gosh darn it!

Yeah, Ward Churchill again.

Human Trails In Cyberspace


Multimedia: Maps and audio charting human interactions in cyberspace


By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

Philadelphia

If the Internet is a new kind of social space, what does it look like?

That's a question of particular interest to social scientists eager to see what cyberspace might reveal about the nature of human behavior.

Researchers, after all, have long sought to map social groupings and interactions in the physical world. Now, with so much activity on computer networks, scientists can collect vast amounts of hard data on human behavior. Each blog points to other blogs in ways that reveal patterns of influence. Online chats can be tallied and parsed. Even the act of clicking on links can leave trails of activity like footprints in the sand.

"We're entering the golden age of social science," says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "We know more than we ever did about what's on people's minds."

While all that data could seem overwhelming, researchers are refining ways to visualize Internet activity. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a visualization may well be worth 10,000 data points.

At a conference this month at the University of Pennsylvania called "The Hyperlinked Society," a panel of academic and industry experts showed off their Internet maps and talked about the challenges of painting meaningful pictures of cyberspace.

Was just finishing long post on a great vacation when Firefox wigged out on me. I'm almost back to civilization - will be driving across northeast New Mexico, southeast Colorado, and all of southern Kansas tomorrow. I really miss Shadow!