Monthly Archives: July 2008

One-A-Day: Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m going to start trying again to write comments on the reading I’ve been doing over the last six months. It hasn’t been quite one-a-day, but there’s a lot of books and articles in my backlog to talk about. Pathfinders … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Africa, Books, The Mixed-Up Bookshelves | 4 Comments

Information about Information Technology

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I got tagged to fill out a meme about five “guilty pleasures” on my iPod. My iPod is a pretty chaotic little beast and I don’t really use playlists much, so to some extent each time I listen to it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy | 4 Comments

Software Bleg

Posted on July 28, 2008 by Timothy Burke

So. I’m thinking of seriously rebooting my rather shambolic note-taking, research and organizing practices, and I want to think consciously for a bit about what kinds of software or IT solutions out there fit my habits as well as some … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 17 Comments

It’s All Part of the Plan

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Timothy Burke

So. The Dark Knight? Great. Though my wife hated it, I think maybe because she expects her superheroes to triumph in the end and thus found the film too psychologically relentless and unpleasant. —————– [spoilers to follow] If you’re deeply … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Culture | 6 Comments

The Thing That Matters

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Timothy Burke

The planned timetable for American withdrawal from Iraq doesn’t tell you much about either Presidential candidate, though I grant you there’s a meaningful difference between McCain’s declaration that we could stay for a hundred years and Obama planning to leave … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 5 Comments

The Revolution of Letting Go

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I’m a little late in my remarks on Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, but it’s the thought that counts. It has been fascinating to watch Mandela’s name becoming the synonym for the best combination of political power and ethical commitment, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics | 9 Comments

Some Cattle to Go With the Hat

Posted on July 16, 2008 by Timothy Burke

The rising cost of petroleum is doing more work on behalf of environmental sustainability than many campaigns designed to promote virtuously green or sustainable lifestyles. When sustainability means substantially lowered costs, or consists of a simple alignment between two kinds … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia | 5 Comments

The Manufacture of Culture

Posted on July 15, 2008 by Timothy Burke

You know, we worry too much about the Punch-and-Judy show of political blogging, not to mention the quiet, relatively cobwebbed corner of the Internet occupied by self-declared academic blogs. If you want a look at what blogs are really for, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Consumerism, Advertising, Commodities, Food | 10 Comments

Mad Science

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Timothy Burke

I heard a compelling segment on This American Life over the weekend. It was a profile of a self-taught electrician and engineer named Bob Berenz who had become convinced that Einstein was wrong, specifically in his formulation of “E = … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Production of History | 20 Comments

Why Some Learning Games Continue to Suck (Games + Learning + Society Liveblogging)

Posted on July 11, 2008 by Timothy Burke

This isn’t a reaction to the panels I’ve attended at the meeting: they had some educational or learning games that I thought were terrific, smart, well-designed, and educationally effective. It’s more a reaction to some of the games I saw … Continue reading →

Posted in Games and Gaming, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 3 Comments