Today’s New York Times included a letter to the editor entitled “More people need to learn about the dangers of ‘fracking'”. I wonder if I’m the only fan of Battlestar Galactica who read this and thought it was about a rather different topic (even if not spelled in the generally accepted fashion). Also, for the benefit of refugees from the colonies who may be thinking of heading there, the New York state senate has passed a fracking moratorium. Just thought... Read more

There are a lot of apps for iPads that are useful for educational purposes, some of which I’ve already mentioned before. Dropbox lets you get your documents from other computers to your iPad in a very convenient fashion and maintaining the same system of organization that you have elsewhere. It also lets you share documents with others (e.g. what we may soon stop calling “handouts” as a result of this technology). It is certainly true that the iPad is not strictly speaking... Read more

Thanks to TheoFantastique for pointing out more than one interesting call for papers: the Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association has issued several calls for papers related to science fiction and fantasy. Singled out for specific mention as topics are the work of Josh Whedon and Doctor Who. The deadline for proposals is December 15th, for a conference in April 2011. Read more

Is this the direction church is headed? HT Jim West Read more

The National Center for Science Education shared this video of a debate including Bill Dembski, Ken Miller and Robert Pennock. The “CSI” involved is “Complex Specified Information” which Dembski talks about a lot in his arguments for intelligent design. But it is following the forensic evidence (in the manner of the other “CSI”) where it leads that supports evolution. And this post from Jerry Coyne indicates what a real, powerful, effective Christian witness can and should look like. Read more

I have been thinking about video games and education recently, and found myself wondering today whether there is a “Call of Duty” type of “first person swordsman” game depicting stories from the Biblical tradition. Obviously that might need to be “first person slingshotter” for one of the stories. But seriously, if there are games that might allow one to learn something about Biblical stories by playing them, much as one could learn something about World War II by playing first-person... Read more

Some resources came to my attention today: Via Ancient World Bloggers Group, an announcement about a new journal, New Knowledge Environments, described as “a peer-reviewed scholarly journal and open community archive for those engaged in exploring and understanding the nature of text-oriented communication in the past, present, and future.” Its inaugural issue is Research Foundations for Understanding Books and Reading in the Digital Age. Via Nick Norelli, I learned that Durham University is making doctoral dissertations and also peer-reviewed publications by scholars... Read more

This is the best answer there is to the claim made by Hurley on LOST that “Ewoks suck.” And it is worth watching for the brief sermon by Billy Dee Williams alone! HT SF Signal Read more

I could have called this a “Quote of the Day.” One of the readings for the next meeting of the freshman class I am teaching this semester is W. K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief.” It is a philosophical classic, and the whole thing is worth reading again and again. But this particular paragraph leapt out at me more than it had on previous occasions when I read the essay: “And no one man’s belief is in any case a private... Read more

I didn’t watch the Emmy awards, and so I’m glad Nikki Stafford shared this song: I also heard via her blog that LOST didn’t win any awards – which just places it up there with lots of other great shows. Anyway, at least one person reached this blog today by searching for “i don’t understand the ending of lost” and so sharing this song seems particularly appropriate. Read more