I spent yesterday morning and afternoon running around San Francisco with my friends David and Kim looking at apartments for rent. It was elluminating for me to learn about different neighborhoods, their varying amenities, deficits, and personalities. As a veteran of various hard-fought battles in New York to find the mythical "perfect apartment," I was…
Snorkeling in the Sink
I'm telling this story because (1) it's awesome, (2) it makes me feel better and (3) I don't think my oldest friend David will mind. So I was recounting to David how I had my little freak out when I tried scuba diving for the first time a few weeks ago in Bali. He said…
Review of SocialCam for iPhone4: Can’t Save Video Files Locally?
Here's a quick mini-review of SocialCam, the new video sharing mobile app from the makers of Justin.tv, that came out a week or so ago. Generally it's great, and does what it says it will do with no fuss or difficulty. My main quibble with the otherwise excellent service is that you don't have the…
SMALLLab at MacArthur DML Conference: Games that Teach STEM Skills to Kids
One of the neatest exhibits I saw at the MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Conference this past week in Long Beach was a series of interactive learning games created by the SMALLLab group at Parsons. They have a bunch of neat simulations and games they created to teach various science, math and engineering principals…
The Museum of Jurassic Technology: The Finest Fake Science Museum in the World
After hearing rave reviews from several friends of mine, I finally got to check out the Museum of Jurassic Technology yesterday in Los Angeles. What a strange and wonderful place. Essentially a large art installation, the Museum of Jurassic Technology uses the artifice of a natural history museum to showcase a seemingly random collection of…
Connecting Digital Learning Theory and Practice at MacArthur DML Conference
I'm currently in Long Beach, California for the MacArthur Foundation-sponsored Digital Media and Learning Conference. The DML is a three day gathering of about 500 academics, educators, nonprofits, techies, and funders focused on "fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and practice." I.e. the event is intended to get folks who…
Learning “Urban Contemporary” with Loose Change Dance Company
Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking a class with Eric Fenn, choreographer of the innovative "urban contemporary" dance troupe Loose Change. Combining house, popping, waving, and breaking with modern dance, martial arts and ocassionally, swing, Loose Change has been a pioneer in the dance fusion movement for 20 years. I've long been a fan…
Pics from My Trip to Bali
In retrospect, I should have taken my digital SLR for my first tript to Bali. Doh. But overall I'm pretty happy with how my pictures came out taken just with my iPhone4. Of course, it's a gorgeous tropical island, so it's easy to take a good shot. Just shoot a lot and edit later. But…
Living the Good Life in Bali
I just got home from a really lovely and restful holiday in Bali, a long-due vacation. I met up there with my friends David and Kim, who were in the last week of their yearlong round-the-world trip that I have been enviously following online. We were joined by Dave and Kim's other friends Karen, Orley…
Hip-hop Meets Nutcracker in latest LXD Dance Piece (video)
Just when I had pretty much given up on the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers project, they come out with this totally charming and wonderful short video, "Matched". Striking visuals, amazing dancing, and well-filmed — just what drew me to the franchise in the first place before the poor writing and acting nearly killed it for…