0529WarmUp

Kavya Shivashankar, a 13-year-old student from Olathe, Kansas, whose parents migrated to the United States from India has won the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee 2009 final.

The word that clinched the $US40,000 prize money and winners’ trophy for Kavya was “laodicean” – meaning lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.

How are you at spelling?

Try your luck @ http://www.spellingbee.com/

and

http://www.learner.org/interactives/spelling/

and

http://www.quia.com/pop/13123.html

Good luck and leave a comment!

dmac

0528WarmUp

Ever wonder what it would be like to be Stan Lee? Now, you can also create your superhero in own comic strip.

Check it out @ http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/

and

http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/index.php

Leave a comment!

dmac

0527WarmUp

One of the hottest apps in technology today is Twitter!

What is it? http://suewaters.wikispaces.com/twitter

Learn more about how to use it @
http://www.harbornecomputers.co.uk/~teachertraining/twitter/index.html

Some do's and don'ts @ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345283,00.asp

and

http://www.computer-colleges.com/blog/2009/100-tips-to-be-a-smarter-better-twitterer/

Sign up for an account and check it out @ http://www.twitter.com/

Happy tweeting!

dmac

0526WarmUp

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a big time movie director? Spielberg, Scott, Truffaut??

Create your own online animations @ http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html

and

http://j3.juniornet.net/movie/movielauncher.cgi?method=make&source=J2-MAMV-FP

Leave a comment!

dmac

0521WarmUp

Ever dream of being a NASCAR driver?

You need to check out the semi-official NASCAR website @

http://iracing.com

Leave a comment!

dmac

0520WarmUp

NASA just finished working on the Hubble telescope and it's better than ever.

Check out what they did @ http://www.nasa.gov/topics/shuttle_station/index.html

Leave a comment!

dmac

0519WarmUp

Did you discover your nerd-dom a few warmups back? Now you can be a dork too!

Visit some websites that cater to the dork-crowd:

http://dorkbotboston.com/
and
http://www.instaforms.net/labs/
and
http://www.noisenight.com/
and
http://transition.turbulence.org/upgrade/
and
http://people.csail.mit.edu/jrb/cc/

Leave a comment!

dmac

0518WarmUp

What's the best way to get students interested in computer science?

Let's try:

Alice @ http://www.alice.org/

and

Scratch @ http://scratch.mit.edu/

How about:

Squeak etoys @ http://www.squeakland.org/

Move on to Small Basic @ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/devlabs/cc950524.aspx

Then you're ready for Visual Basic @ http://www.microsoft.com/express/

Some of your classmates are already studying VB.

Maybe next year, you'll be one of them!

Leave a comment!

dmac

0515WarmUp

What's a personal headsup display?

Do you need one?

Check it out @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heads_up_display

and

http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/sdp/sdp09/wolf

What's Wikitude? What does it have to do with a PHD?

Check it out @ http://www.mobilizy.com/

Leave a comment!

dmac

0514WarmUp

One of the most hardworking and unsung heros of graphic design is the use of typography(a personal favorite-I'm sure you've never even noticed it!)

What is typography? Look it up @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography.

What is a font? Look it up @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font

What is a typeface? Look it up @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typeface

Look at an example @ http://www.houseind.com/fonts

Leave a comment!

dmac

0513WarmUp

If you liked yesterdays Grok, you'll want to read more on CGI special effects @ www.thegnomonworkshop.com

Leave a comment!

dmac

0512Warmup

Ever wonder how CGI experts create their special effects?

Take a look at a spectacular website offering tutorials, advice, hints and software for creating visual effects @ http://www.videocopilot.net/

Leave a comment!

dmac

0511WarmUp

The Google for Doodle 4 finalists are in!

Read about the history of the Doddle @ http://www.google.com/doodle4google/doodler.html

Read the rules @ http://www.google.com/doodle4google/index.html

Look at the prizes @ http://www.google.com/doodle4google/judging_prizes.html

Look at the winning entries @ http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html

Vote for a winner @ http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html

Leave a comment!

dmac

0508WarmUp

The new Star Trek is coming out today!

Read about the new Star Trek movie @ http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/11/abrams-previews/

Read about the Top 10 Lines Never Before Said in a Star Trek Film @ http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/05/leonard-nimoy-cracks-10-star-trek-jokes-on-letterman/

and

http://www.joost.com/094yhul/t/Top-Ten-Lines-Never-Before-Said-In-a-Star-Trek-Film

Read about Klingons @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klingon

Learn how to say something in the Klingon language @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klingon_language

and

@ http://www.kli.org/tlh/phrases.html

What's Borg? What's Romulan? Look it up @ http://www.travelphrases.info/languages/startreklanguages.htm

Live Long and Prosper!

dmac

0507WarmUp

You're a geek!

Really?

What does it mean?

Look it up @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek

Still think you're a geek?

Here's 64 things you should know!

http://laptoplogic.com/resources/64-things-every-geek-should-know

Leave a comment!

dmac

0506WarmUp

Think you know how to build a pc?

Read all about it @ http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

Leave a comment!

dmac

0504WarmUp

Robots, robots, robots--they're everywhere! http://eneve.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/robots/

Look at some pictures @ http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/robots.html

How about sending one into space? http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/

Or sending one into battle? http://www.tatrc.org/website_robotics/bear.html
and http://zerosix.wordpress.com/2007/06/14/skynet-alert-robot-bear-to-rescue-wounded-soldiers/

Or listening to punk music? http://blog.neoco.com/2008/07/04/robots-trained-to-love-punk-music/

Leave a comment!

dmac

0501WarmUp

On Tuesday, there was a major incident on the beach.

Read the following article @ http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2009/04/30/grapevine_alerts_hordes_to_skip_class/

Leave a comment about the use of social networking and it's effect on this situation.

dmac