harmonicaman

Oakland Charter School Replaces Curriculum with Angry Birds NOVEMBER 6, 2011 | ISSUE 1 An Oakland, CA charter school has taken the unorthodox approach of replacing an entire curriculum with a single five-hour class that allows students to work their way through the popular video game Angry Birds . Principal MaryAnne Bray, of the Oakland Academy of Arts and Sciences, explained Tuesday that, “ Angry Birds encompasses so many teachable properties that we believe students will come away from... Read Full Story

Many of the people who come to me for virus cleanup make the same comment: “I have no idea how this happened!” To the untrained professional this might sound like these people are covering up for the fact that they are embarrassed about having a virus, as if the only way they could have contracted one was by visiting questionable web sites. But I happen to know better. There are MANY innocent ways to pick up a computer bug and what I’m going to write about here is currently one of... Read Full Story

I used to think other people had all the good luck. Not anymore! I received this fortuitous email below today from a Mr. Peter Lee, who so very kindly thought of ME when he needed to share his wealth. Maybe it's just my lucky day or maybe he trusts my last name, but either way it really doesn't matter. What matters is, my financial future is secure. Check out his generous offer AND my reply. Someone is gonna be rich... Read Full Story

Oh I know, I hear the talk behind my back... "he used to blog so much more" "he used to be so funny" "it's just so sad" Please don't judge... I have reasons... exculpations... I HAVE SEMI-PLAUSABLE EXCUSES! For example: 1. I use one of these netbook computers during my commute and the miniature keyboard makes my hands cramp up. 2. The only free time I have to blog is on the train, and I'm pretty sure the tracks for the line I ride were laid in the late 1800s. Therefore, the... Read Full Story

Then there's the woman who sat down directly across from me on the train this morning, even though there were 3 other empty sets of seats immediately around us. And when I say "directly" across from me?... I don't mean in the seat kitty-corner across, I mean the seat directly across from me. You know, knees-to-knees . "Good morning!" she beamed. And then things just got weird from that point on. Ok, weird -er . For the next 3 minutes this overly comfortable train lady proceeded to... Read Full Story

Magic. That's how I remember Christmas when I was a little boy. Every season filled with a warm, familiar routine that felt comfortable... exciting... magical. Maybe it was the promise of presents or maybe it was the music and decorations, but whatever it was, it left these memories with me for eternity. Magic. Glass choir angels floating on cotton ball clouds on the TV console. Packages sprinkled with pine needles under the tree. Blurry bulbs glowing through frosted windows from the... Read Full Story

Once upon a time I was a famous blogger. Well, at least in my mind. And at that time I belonged to a very special community of bloggers of all varieties. There were humor bloggers, daddy bloggers, photography bloggers, mommy bloggers, cat bloggers, bra bloggers (no really), and even cartoon bloggers. And, as every one of you who blogs or has blogged knows, the greatest thing about blogging is the friendships you build. While I was experiencing my 4 years of fame, I “met” a quirky guy... Read Full Story

Holy canolli… it’s been a long time! But the last time we did this you all left a ton of excellent questions so I have a ton of excellent answers! Let’s get right to it, shall we? I’ll start first with this one left by my dad Bill on Facebook, after wondering why it has taken me so long to write a blog post. * * * * * Dear Mr. Know-It-All, Five weeks (to win a game of) solitaire. How many weeks to write a new blog? - Bill Dear Bill, Believe it or not, every post published... Read Full Story

I'm trying. Really I am. But I had no idea my job was going to be so hard. IBM actually expects you to work. Like all day and stuff! Can you imagine? And by the time I get on the train to come home, the only thing my brain wants to do is play solitaire (btw, have any of you ever won the 4-suit level of Spider Solitaire? Is it even possible?) Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure I'll get back to writing again soon. It's just going to take a little more time to get into a routine. That, and a... Read Full Story

Ok, I thought I was going to be able to write every other day like I used to in my glory days of blogging, but alas... life continues to get in the way. For one thing, I was supposed to have all this time on the train FIVE days a week to do whatever I wanted... you know - read, rite (no, not rithmetic) or just listen to music. But fortunately I am already working from home 2 days/wk which means I've now lost 2/5 of my reserved blog time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'd much... Read Full Story