This Book Had No "E"s!!

Crazy!

Harry Potter and the Final Book Title!

Go here to read the latest about the final Harry Potter book.

I'm excited because I've been tracking with Harry since Year One.

Head on over to Mugglenet.com to learn more than you could ever possibly want to know about Harry and all the books and movies.

Dinosaurs for Sale! Anyone Want A Raptor?

We've all seen Jurassic Park and thought how equally cool and bad it would be if someone could create dinosaurs from old DNA. Does THIS put us one step closer?



image from http://www.narain.com/gecko/

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been home nursing a vicious cold for the last several days, so forgive me for not being there.

I had some time to think as I wandered the medicine aisles of Walmart and sat in the doctor's office I remembered that we had a day of thanks rapidly approaching, and I was so busy (and/or sick) that I hadn't thought about it.

I am thankful I have a place to live and sleep.
I am thankful for email.
I am thankful for a wonderful job teaching.
I am thankful for my beautiful, loving wife and my two amazing children.
I am thankful for those little plastic things on the ends of shoelaces.
I am thankful for this sore throat, because it helps me know that something's wrong with my body and needs to be fixed.
I am thankful for scraped knees, broken hearts, and tough situations that made me who I am today.

What are you thankful for?

Podcasting Resources 101

First, download Audacity and the Lame encoder. Yeah, it's totally lame, but totally worth it.
(The Lame encoder enables Audacity to export sound files as Mp3s).

Here's some advice on using Audacity to master your podcast levels.
Newsforge Article.

I'll post more as I learn more.

I'm home sick today, so I'm going to make at least one short podcast to show I can do it.

Here's a visual tutorial in the pdf format that can be used to get started in recording.
A Brief Tutuorial of Audacity.

At the bottom of this website are a few cool Quicktime Movies for some basic functions in Audacity. Check 'em out.
That Website.



Here's a GREAT podcast on the process from someone who didn't have any experience in the process. Also on this site is a link to the actual podcast.
The Website.
The Podcast.



These Podcasts had video (in the form of animated Powerpoints I believe) and gave the whole process, from recording the podcast to getting it published in iTunes. A must listen for any new podcaster hoping to get their show heard:

Pod-O-Matic


To record direct from an XLR type mic (the ones people use to sing or talk to an audience) you can now use THIS amazing device! A USB to XLR converter. I love technology! Love it.
Soundtech Lightsnake

The Lightsnake at Musician's Friend: 10 ft. for $39.
Another thing that does that as well: M-Audio's Fasttrack. $99 at Musician's Friend

Yes, I AM Obsessed With Small Hairy-Toed Hobbits!

Really, when I first heard that they were making Lord of the Rings into a movie series I jumped up and cheered.

I had a similar reaction when I heard that The Hobbit was being made into a movie as well.

Here's the latest scoop.

A Move Is Comin'

So, it looks like we will begin relocation of our classrooms in December. Get ready, people. Boxes everywhere. Hard hats. Construction.

In the meantime, login to Webgrader and make sure all of your grades are what you think they are. Grades close out tomorrow.

Don't be caught unaware!

Thanks for a great 1st quarter.

The Hobbit!? With Peter Jackson Directing?!!

My hope and dream is that Peter Jackson will direct The Hobbit.
Here's the latest scoop.

After School Scene & Kidz Online Dot Org

Would someone tell me if you find anything cool here? I thought it looked interesting and stumbled upon it in class next week.

I think we may be checking this site out next week.

http://www.afterschoolscene.com/

Here's the other site that also looked like it had potential:

http://www.kidzonline.org

Darfur: A Modern Genocide

Have you ever heard the term genocide? A simple definition would be the attempt to wipe out an entire group of people. We have a modern genocide going on right now in Darfur.

Here's an article of someone who saw this genocide first-hand.

There are many organizations doing something about this. What can YOU do? Check out savedarfur.org to find out.

Even Myspace (love 'em or hate 'em) is joining the fray with a concert to raise awareness on October 21st. Here's the link: http://www.myspace.com/rockfordarfur