Flower

I just saw that Linda Flower is in the optional reading for week 2! She was my prof for several classes at CMU. Small world! My CMU/Pittsburgh pride is overflowing at the moment with the Steelers on their way to the Superbowl... so I thought I'd share this interesting link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ&eurl=http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
A CMU student figured out a way to turn the Wii Nintendo remote into a "smart pointer" for any flat screen surface. Basically, this little gadget turns any projection screen into a "smart board" but for only about 40 bucks. Nice one! His website gives the instructions and the software out for free. Good stuff... and Go Steelers!

Week 1

I saw a woman using the new Sony Digital Book Reader on the train the other night. I have to admit, I was that creepy person leaning to read over her shoulder. It can hold between 80 and 160 full e-books (including graphic novels). Sony claims the new E-ink screen mimics real pages and is easier to read. As I understand it, you can search your collection by author, title, and date. You can save multiple bookmarks in different texts, take notes, copy and highlight, and combine notes from different texts. What does this mean for literacy? I can't imagine that the comfort of waking up and reading a good book in bed will be replaced with this digital format... but it could easily change the notion of what it means to have, or own, a library. I can imagine having all the texts I need for all my class in this one, little, light-weight device. (If all the textbooks and printed articles I've collected over the years were stored this way, it would certainly make moving apartments a lot easier). What will this mean for students? For learning? For authoring? The list goes on. I DO know that once I'm not on a student budget, I certainly want one!