You could hammer a nail into a wall or something but why not hammer a nail and turn it into a tiny sword? That’s right. It’s a completely silly exercise that could also be a half-commentary on creating useless objects but it also looks like a lot of fun to actually do too. Plus, it makes for a nice drink stirrer.
“Growing up on the Reservation, the only show in town was movie night in the church basement,” director Neil Diamond says in the opening of the documentary Reel Injun. “Raised on cowboys and Indians, we cheered for the cowboys, never realizing we were the Indians.”
The advertised $150 $140 price for this Seagate 5TB External was already a great deal. Getting it for $130 is that much sweeter. [Seagate]
Mozilla isn’t just rethinking its choice of default search engines in Firefox; it’s overhauling the search bar itself. An upcoming version of the web browser will let you search a specific site with one click. If you want to find an ancient Twitter u…
As some of you guys might have heard, Mozilla recently entered into a partnership with Yahoo in which it will see Yahoo become the new default search engine for the browser. However it seems that Mozilla doesn’t want to cut users off completely from other search engines that they might be more familiar with, such as Google or Bing.
This will arrive in the form as shown in the screenshot above where there will be one-click buttons for various types of search. As you can see, the default search engine will be Yahoo, but at the same time for those who want to try their luck using Google or Bing will just need to type in their query and click either the Google or Bing button.
There will also be shortcuts to various services such as Amazon, eBay, or Wikipedia. Say for example you want to buy a book from Amazon, so typing in the book’s title or author name and clicking Amazon will take you to Amazon directly, as opposed to searching for it and clicking the link which is a two-step process.
Of course for Chrome one could always type Amazon’s URL followed by the TAB key to search within the website, but there is a chance that this is a feature that not many people might be familiar with, or perhaps there are other features of Firefox that one might prefer over other browsers. In any case this new feature is expected to be released in Firefox 34 which at the moment is still in beta.
Mozilla’s Firefox To Get One-Click Search Buttons In Upcoming Build , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: NY Gov. Cuomo blames meteorologists for his failure to prep for deadly Buffalo snowstorm; Arrests in Canada protesting another tar sands pipeline; You’ll never guess who is now the world leader in deforestation; PLUS: Those lefty treehugger hippies at the World Bank warn extreme weather will be the ‘new normal’ by 2050 … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Solar and wind energy start to win on price vs. fossil fuels; Giving thanks for climate heroes big and small this thanksgiving; White House threatens to put brakes on alternative biofuels; EPA orders pollution upgrades on big TX coal plants; White evangelicals believe extreme weather disasters caused by End Times, not climate change; Neither rain nor snow nor heat sways views on climate science… PLUS: Leaked: The Oil lobby’s conspiracy to kill off California’s climate law… and much, MUCH more! …
‘Green News Report’ is heard on many fine radio stations around the country. For additional info on stories we covered today, plus today’s ‘Green News Extra’, please click right here to listen!…
Every time I go to London, I spend a disproportionate amount of time at its National Gallery. Not out of a sense of obligation, but out of sheer love and amazement for all its art treasures. You name it, it’s there – all my Art Gods: Leonardo, Rembrandt, Vermeer…
The new documentary by Frederick Wiseman, “National Gallery,” allows us to spend three leisurely hours strolling through its galleries, gazing at iconic paintings of Old Masters, and listening to museum docents talking about all these treasures.
The camera also takes us behind the scenes to observe the slow, meticulous process of restoration of paintings by museum conservators. It’s impossible not to admire the huge amount of patience that is so essential to their craft.
With the help of the camera, we “spy” on museum curators and various officials debating the issues and logistics of everything that makes great museums run so smoothly. But, here is my small bone to pick with this otherwise luxurious armchair trip through the nooks and crannies of The National Gallery. Some of these people talk and talk and talk… they are very knowledgeable, but, being concise is not necessarily their strength. It’s as if Mr. Wiseman felt it would have been disrespectful to edit the slightly verbose communication among all these museum professionals.
In spite of being an atheist, I often find myself having a good time in Churches and Temples wherever I go. Just give me impressive architecture and good art, and I am a happy to be there and to observe any ceremony taking place inside. That is definitely the case every time I go to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, here in LA.
Last weekend, I went there with my Fine Art of Art Collecting Class, to meet with well-known Los Angeles artist Simon Toparovsky, whose life-size bronze Crucifix graces the Cathedral’s main altar. It’s been a decade since this sculpture was installed, and the dark red patina on Jesus’ feet has completely disappeared, as a result of worshipers kissing and touching its feet.
The timing of our visit coincided with the recent opening of Simon Toparovsky’s exhibition, “Vessels and Channels,” which occupies three Cathedral side chapels. Each chapel serves as a stage for elaborate installations, mixing photography and sculpture, with multiple references to Christianity and the mythology of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Some of the sculptures on display are rotating, its shadows slowly dancing across the walls. In one installation, we are confronted by what looks like a prison wall covered with vines. A small barred window is at eye level. You peer into the window and discover a beautiful landscape – a glimpse of freedom composed by the artist’s hand and imagination.
Smooth, nice, polished treatment of the bronze surface is not what Toparovsky is aiming for in his art. The textures of his sculptures are rough, as if slightly “tortured,” and that’s what makes his works feel so real, so appealing in their imperfection.
During the consecration of the Cathedral in 2002, we Angelenos were pleasantly surprised with the rather daring artistic choices made by the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Other artists besides Toparovsky commissioned to create works for the Cathedral were John Nava, Lita Albuquerque, and the late Robert Graham. One wonders if exhibitions of their art at the Cathedral might be in the works.
To learn about Edward’s Fine Art of Art Collecting Classes, please visit his website. You can also read The New York Times article about his classes here.
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Edward Goldman is an art critic and the host of Art Talk, a program on art and culture for NPR affiliate KCRW 89.9 FM. To listen to the complete show and hear Edward’s charming Russian accent, click here.
The job of teacher is vastly different today than it was a decade or a generation ago. School districts, schools, and communities have had to adjust and adapt to new educational demands and new expectations. Despite this, teacher preparation today is still largely the same as the preparation teachers have received for generations.
This is a disservice to schools, students, and teachers themselves. The research is clear that having a great teacher is the single-most important element of learning for children, particularly those in high-need schools. Yet we have resisted making the changes needed to ensure that prospective teachers have the academic preparation, clinical experiences, and mentoring necessary to become those excellent teachers.
The new draft teacher preparation regulations from the U.S. Department of Education are an important step toward addressing many of the deficiencies in current teacher education programs. The priorities they outline largely reflect lessons learned by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in working to transform STEM teacher preparation. And these priorities are essential to strengthening teacher education programs to meet the future needs of schools and students alike.
From our work in states like Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation knows that such change must come at the state level. From the governor’s office to the legislature, the SHEEO to the state board, improvement requires full buy-in at the state level, with leaders owning the process.
Transformation also requires meaningful data collection and application. It means data on what programs teachers come from and how long teachers stay in the profession. It means data on how novice educators view their preparation once they become teachers of record. It means data from employers on whether new teachers are meeting expectations. And it means data on student learning outcomes, data that can accurately show what teacher prep programs are most effective and what they are doing to ensure student learning and academic progress.
From our experiences over the past seven years, such transformation is not easy, but it is well worth the investment of time and effort. Today, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation partners with 28 universities to ensure a strong pipeline of excellent STEM teachers for tomorrow’s classrooms. Those who have already been named Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows will touch the lives of more than 1.5 million students over a 15-year teaching career. And as shown in states like Indiana, the vast majority of our teachers — more than 70 percent — stay in the profession past five years.
Some in teacher preparation will voice concerns with these proposed regulations, taking issue with how to get the necessary data systems in place or with whether existing accreditation models are sufficient to meet these goals. They will ask for more time to examine the issues or to scrutinize every idea or turn of phrase in this draft document.
All of us involved in teacher education should look for ways to strengthen these regulations and improve the teacher prep process. But let us be clear: we need real action now. Our colleges and universities have waited far too long to transform these programs to meet the needs of both today and tomorrow. We cannot afford to wait as another generation of teachers passes through programs that are lacking. In the states where Woodrow Wilson has worked, we have seen a real hunger — from state leaders, from school districts, and from colleges themselves — to enact the sort of changes needed. We must act together — and swiftly — to change the very fabric of teacher education nationwide. These regulations are the first step toward achieving that.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Prosecutors said Tuesday they can no longer support a homicide charge against a special-education teacher who had been accused of killing her severely disabled daughter by neglecting her.
A new indictment unsealed at the Westchester County courthouse alleges only child endangerment against Nicole Diggs and her husband, Oscar Thomas, of Yonkers. Diggs’ 8-year-old daughter, Alayah Savarese, died in 2012. Because of complications at birth, Alayah could not walk, talk or eat and had cerebral palsy and seizures. Prosecutors said Alayah did not receive proper nutrition or medical treatment.
The original indictment, alleging negligent homicide, was dismissed in September because of faulty grand jury testimony, including a detective’s suggestion that the girl’s $2 million trust fund was a motive in her death. The fund was created when a malpractice lawsuit was settled.
Judge Barbara Zambelli told prosecutors then that they could seek a new indictment. But Assistant District Attorney Audrey Stone said Tuesday that before they went to a second grand jury, “We determined that certain facts had changed. That process led us to the conclusion that the charge of criminally negligent homicide was not an appropriate one.”
She did not detail what had changed. The district attorney’s office would not comment.
Diggs’ lawyer, Arlene Popkin, and Thomas’ attorney, Michael Rubin, would not comment outside the courtroom.
Diggs, 32, and Thomas, 29, married after Alayah’s death. They each pleaded not guilty to the endangerment charge, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison upon conviction. They each would have faced up to four years if convicted of negligent homicide. A court conference was scheduled for Dec. 9.
In support of the previous indictment, prosecutors said the girl was often left unattended and was frequently kept home from school, depriving her of physical and occupational therapy.
They never alleged a motive, but Popkin has said they implied it was the money. Even if convicted of negligent homicide, Diggs would not have been automatically disqualified from inheriting the trust fund because intent was not an element of the crime.
Winter is upon us, and in fact it seems like it’s arrived early. That means flight delays and cancellations. Here are some tips to make your air travel easier when the flurries start flying:
1. If at all possible connect, if must connect at all, via a warmer weather airport such as Phoenix or Dallas rather than Newark, Chicago, etc. and if you’ve already booked be proactive and see if you can change your connection via an airport less likely to get socked in. Get ahead of the storm.
2. If your flight is severely delayed and you don’t want to go, or it’s canceled, you can ask for a full refund. Airlines often offer to allow you to change your flight to when the weather clears but if there’s no point in making the trip, get a full refund instead.
3. Arrive at the airport super early… if your flight is affected, there’s a better chance you might get on an earlier flight or a different connection (if connecting).
4. Track your flight on Flightaware.com … I find their flight tracking and alerts more reliable than the airlines’ data.
5. Severe weather events are the best times to pay for a one-day airline lounge pass. It’s more pleasant to wait, and the rebooking lines are shorter than in the terminals.
6. If you didn’t buy travel insurance, check your credit card. People don’t realize it, but many credit cards, especially those issued by Chase and Citi, offer free compensation for weather delays and cancellations–they will cover hotel expenses up to the maximum allowed and any non-refundable hotel and other reservations. More on this here and here.
7. Although the first flights of the day mean you have to wake up super early, and they tend to operate with fewer delays, there’s no guarantee that early flights won’t be snowed in as often as later ones.
8. Sometimes it pays to combine transport modes. If Boston or New York are socked in and Washington isn’t, maybe take Amtrak south and leave from there.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
