Category: Blogposts

Posts not connected to a comic… sometimes information, sometimes just ranting, it’s a bit of a gamble when you read these.

Never Judge a Book by its Movie – Ender’s Game

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Bruce

Please note that there probably are spoilers in the following and this is my recollection of the film Ender’s Game that I saw last night, way past my bedtime, so I may not recall everything is extreme detail.

Last night I joined some friends to see “Ender’s Game” I’m not going to go into anything dealing with the author of the original story’s rabid political rantings- I don’t agree with anything he has to say on those points, I really don’t want to discuss the person, I’d much rather go into the movie and the book Ender’s Game.    As for Ender’s Game it is a story I picked up in 1989 after listening to the author speak coherently about literature and pop culture.  Over the years I picked up a few other books by this author, but none of them really hit me like Ender’s Game. I even had gone back and found the published copy of the original award winning novella just to see the original format of the story. So for year’s I have been a fan of this story- which when seeing a modern film version of a story written around 30 years ago can be a bad thing… a very bad thing.

Some basics – the Earth has been invaded by the “buggers” they were fought off and now to prepare for the second invasion children are tested (Oh the horror of futuristic standardized testing) to see if they have military aptitude.  Those “lucky few” are sent off to Battle School in orbit to learn the art of war.  After initial training students are placed into armies lead by other students and compete in zero-g battles to put their leadership and tactical skills to the test.  Those that succeed graduate. Ender Wiggin is sent up because he has a high midichlorian count and may be “the one.”  He goes through various trials in order to test him and finally… well you know the hero’s journey.  Originally a Hugo & Nebula award winning novella- the author turned it into a series of novels, and then another series of novels telling the story from different character’s points of view.  Then he turned it into a comic series and started writing some of the missing parts and history… I’m not even sure how many books are in the series now.

I know many people who swore they wouldn’t see any of the Harry Potter films because it would ruin the picture they had in their mind of the setting and the characters. I found myself wandering around London on my first trip looking for the actual locations mentioned in the book so I could visualize it better. (Note that some places used in the Harry Potter films are not the actual locations sited in the book- just sayin’) So when it comes to Ender’s Game I read it when I first started teaching kids who happen to be around the age of Ender in the book. Ender (in the book) was always considered small and youngish.  He stood out from the crowd in this way- or at least that’s the way I imagined him.  The film does not portray him as such. I could nitpick through the film, but for me this was one of the major points that threw me- these are supposed to be children and while they were younger and were “children”, they were older than I had ever imagined.  Tweens or even teens… is that the audience they are pushing for?   While watching the film I kept waiting for Petra and Ender to have some childish romantic moment- something that never came to mind when reading the book.

The film itself seemed rushed- It was like they couldn’t understand that Ender was in Battle School for not just 30 days. He dealt with a bunch of commanders before being given his own army. (The novella starts with Ender training his army after first being given command, the character Bean is introduced there.  The movie has Bean as his first friend on the transport to Battle School.  Now I’ll admit Bean was an important character (important enough to have his own book or two), but in the book he was the one Ender picked on initially, he was the one Ender trusted in the end because (pardon the pun) they were two peas in pod.  He suddenly appears in the the transport Ender is on?!? no no no no… this kills Bean’s backstory.  Don’t even get me started on Ender’s first nemesis – Bernard.  He was a minor character, he was a bully who Ender embarrassed and really wasn’t important after that.  Having him become one of Ender’s chosen few?  Bringing him to help Ender at the end?  no no no no… I barely got to know, let alone care, about any of the characters before the film was over.  and while many of them were important to Ender at some point in the book, with the exception of Petra, many of the characters considered Ender’s trusted few, were difficult to figure out how they formed such a tight bond with him.

So much of the book took place in Ender’s head (like Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) that it is difficult to know the title character, therefore love the title character in the film.  It also seemed like they tried to take some parts from the novel to “humanize Ender” but dropped an entire other plot line that demonstrated the brilliance of Ender’s siblings.  Then again those plot points (let alone Ender’s siblings) don’t show up in the original story.  The whole surprise ending really didn’t seem like that much of a surprise (but then again- I read the book), but then again maybe it was because this was the point of using special effects, where in the book they were dealing with 1980’s vector graphics.

I know I seem to be focusing on the issues I have with a beloved book being put onto the silver screen, as for positives- it was well acted, the special effects were glorious if you like explosions and spaceships. I just can’t say much about the story because I’m obviously too close to it.  So as for the story, I recommend you not spend the large sum to see it in the theater ($12 for a movie ticket? Really?!?!) but go to a used bookstore or your local library and pick up a copy. If you absolutely want to see the film version because you are illiterate, or something like that- wait to see it on DVD or Netflix.  I know if I decide to have a second viewing it will be when I don’t have to buy a ticket.

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Ender’s Game is on a short list of books that I reread (& reread) when I need to escape kind of like putting on a comfy sweater. They are-

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Dream Park by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Another Fine Myth by Robert Aspirin

Harry Potter & Philosopher’s Stone By J.K. Rowling

The Brave Little Toaster by Thomas Disch

I’m sure there will be others and I might have missed a few- since I didn’t even list any comics.

What’s making me happy this week- We Welcome our Robot Overlords

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Bruce

As I may have commented over the summer (you know- those long summer breaks where teachers sit around on their yachts lighting Cuban cigars with $100 bills they get from the taxpayers) I helped out at a Robotics Camp being put on by my local High School’s robotics team. I did this mostly because while I enjoy Technology, I am a consumer of tech, not a producer. I buy the cool stuff and use it, but ask me about the actual technical side of things and I have learned to be a great bluffer doing a lot of smiling and nodding. I wanted to learn something about how the tech works.  What I don’t know makes me almost as dangerous as what I do know.

A the end of the camp one of the mentors mentioned that there was a robotics competition in Bloomington that I should look into. It seems the Bloomington Robotics Club sponsors this competition to promote robotics throughout the state. One way they do this is by providing grants to groups looking to start their own robotics program. I thought this would be a great opportunity for my kids (No, I don’t have kids, but all the kids at my school are “my kids”- you probably wouldn’t understand, it’s a teacher thing). So I put on my calendar the date when the application went live and applied hoping I would hear something quickly and put together a team in time to join the competition.  Well, over Fall Break (while waiting for my valet to find the right pair of silk paisley socks) I received an email that a robotics kit had been ordered and shipped… this was a bit of a shock. I hadn’t heard anything back so I didn’t sign up of the competition!  (Since my administrative assistant was on vacation) I contacted the club to find out what was going on, and my concern that when school got back into session I would just have 9 days to put together a team, teach the kids to build a functioning robot and program it… On Tuesday I pulled together three 6th graders who had attended the Summer Robotics camp, so they had background in the VEX Robotics platform we were using, and in three days we now have a fully functional robot!  As “Coach” I used many sports metaphors to inspire them (“Tighten that screw for the Gipper” and stuff like that), and I ran around looking for a replacement “shaft collar” when the one that came in the kit wouldn’t tighten no matter how many metaphors I tried.   I also suggested that we should at least have a proven design to start,  so they should just follow the directions in the kit.  Now the team has the week to consider any redesign of the initial kit, to practice “driving,” and to see if we can do anything with programming to have the robot actually do something autonomously.

So what is making me happy?  Not only was I able to see three kids really excited about what a practical application of knowledge and nothing to do with some standardized test, but I was also able to see a few kids wondering how they could get involved.  As a geek and an introvert being able to create a place where kids can “let their geek flag fly” is important to me. So many times kids who were like me don’t understand that while they are “a unique and special snowflake” they are not alone, that other people out there share in their interests and are “weird like me.”  These three kids compete on November 2nd, I’ve told them I am happy that we have a functioning robot and we can compete.  Everything else is icing on the cake.  Once we finish this tournament, the goal is going to be to improve our skills, and include more kids and different projects, I just hope that they can help I guy like me, who dropped out of programming in College, to understand all this stuff.  Is a PicoBoard really something you serve Raspberry Pi on?

I’ll post an update (with video) next week after the dust has settled.

Another one bites the dust…

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Bruce

So as Fall Break comes to a close I thought I’d at least share a bit about the adventures I had this past week. For those who don’t know about Fall Break in the midwest (or at least in Indiana) there has been a short break in October for as long as I have been teaching. It started off as a time for teachers to attend workshops and conferences, but slowly (because teachers have families- and therefore need to find daycare for their kiddos) it ended up being a four day weekend, until recently. Over the past few years many people woke up to the understanding that they no longer work on a farm the idea of “balancing” the school calendar had come into vogue. Ideally the calendar would be something like 9 weeks of teaching, then a break. I did my undergraduate thesis and graduate thesis on the advantages of a “year round” calendar and it finally might become reality. Sadly opponents claim this would destroy the time honored tradition of complaining that teachers get “summers off” it could also ruin the even more sacred high school athletics schedule. So many school districts have come up with a compromise, quietly extend some of the already community approved breaks and shorten Summer “vacation” a bit. This is why many people look at me like I have three heads when I talk about going back to school in early August. So this year my school district extended Fall Break to one week (many school districts have extended it to two weeks). We also have a week at Thanksgiving since attendance during that week is awful as so many people pull their kids out to travel over the river and through the woods.

What did I do this week? If you noticed an actual comic strip was published on both Tuesday and Thursday, a tradition I hope to continue. I also tried to relax… no really. I went to a game night on Friday, attended the Kokomo-Con on Saturday, and spent a lot of the week reminding myself why I hate doing artwork for other people, even friends.

Geek-wise I played Boss Monster, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic and had a great time with each. For those who have never played any of these a quick overview of each:

Boss Monster – A chance to play the evil villain in one of those old scrolling video adventure games.  You construct a dungeon, room by room, and at the end of each turn you lure heroes to their doom (you hope).  It was a Kickstarter project and the gameplay is pretty easy to understand.  I have a few questions on the actual sequence of some things, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out if I play it more. – I lost, this time around

Ticket to Ride – Where have you been living? a cave?!?  Sorry, Ticket to Ride is a train game in which you attempt to complete routes across the country (there are many versions of this game dealing with many continents the base game is mostly the U.S> with a few side trip into Canada.)  It has been around for a few years and is a lot of fun to play, especially with more than two people, when it can get challenging, and a little cut throat. I won! trouncing my opponents with a route from Miami to Los Angeles and Houston to Winnipeg worth lots of points!

Pandemic – I don’t feel so good… Pandemic is one of those games in which it is the players vs. the game.  A “cooperative” game.  Which is a really cool idea.  In this case you are trying to stop the human race from dying off from four different diseases.  Each player has a role and therefore special abilities.  The problem with many cooperative games is all it takes is one simple mistake, or a bad draw and it’s over…and yes, it was over, we lost.  For kids Forbidden Island has a similar game mechanic and is a little easier to grasp. in that case an island is sinking and you are trying to rescue four artifacts and escape before it plunges into the depths forever.

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I’ve been to many a comic-con- I started with Creation Conventions, then WizardWorlds, C2E2, New York Comic Con, and San Diego… and now I can say I’ve been to Kokomo-Con.  Kokomo-Con does not compare with any of the other conventions I have been to, but that’s not a bad thing.  It has a homey feel about that only a small convention can have.  It was small, and it reminded me almost of pop culture flea market, but again not in a bad way.  It was a lot of fun and I decided to go for a few reasons.  First my friend Jim McClain who does Solution Squad a great comic to engage older kids in Math was going to be there and I had run out of books (silly kids & teachers “borrowing” them) and he had a new poster dealing with the four steps of problem solving which I wanted to get for the schools I work in.  Then  another friend of mine (from Geocaching and Lego) had posted he was going to attend, so we hung out for a bit looking at all the different things at the show.  From rare collectible toys, to a fiberglass replica of the Bat-mobile.  Booths stocked with comics & toys and folk art made from comics and toys.  I did discover some cool things so it wasn’t at all a waste of my time.  Then again, as a teacher, a lot of what I found was stuff that would be great for school.  One thing I did pick up was a copy of Boss Monster, I know I’ll have a chance to play it again.

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My MINIon badge... Yes, I am expendable.
My MINIon badge… Yes, I am expendable, and yes, this is a  modified version of the “official” graphic for MTTS.

I started off the week with a long list of stuff, and after the first day decided to dump it all and do some drawing.  So I spent most of the week doodling and inking (hence two comic strips getting posted).  This reminded me how much I love to draw and just play with images.  It reminded me why I can never do artwork for someone.  You see MINI Takes The States is coming up next summer and I was playing around with the idea of creating “badges” for some of my friends who would be going.  Making them official “Cecil MINIons”  I did some artwork for MINI on the Mack and thought it would be fun to extend it.  Unfortunately I forgot how difficult it can be to draw for someone, and not just for myself.  I asked my friends to give their “MINIon Number” and I would create a badge for that.  Now some of these folks I have known for years, and other are fairly new so what they got may be determined by how much time I had spent with them, or the geekiness of their MINIon number.  So the person who asked for #42 was pretty easy, a monkey with a towel holding a yellow fish, others, not so much.  Stupid me started with the ones I wanted to do, the fun ones.  Then like any proud parent I posted them for the group to see… then the floodgates opened with requests- which drained the fun right out of the project.  Then my friends started asking for tweaks to the drawing I had done, “Could you add this?” “Could you change that?” “I really want this instead.” Then they started to make requests for their friends… I have stopped working on this project for the time being.  I will return to it, but not right now.  I do appreciate the person who specifically asked how much I was charging for these badges, and seemed a little shocked when I said “nothing, I’m doing this for fun- it keeps me out of a straight jacket.”  I know that many of my friends would help me in a heartbeat if I needed it, so it’s not like the favor will not be returned, but for now, I’m taking a break.

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Besides that I worked a little on a Lego Project- taking the “Just like Beggar’s Canyon Back Home” to the next level, and seeing how I can add some kind of motion to it.  I’m about 1400 bricks into my first draft so we shall see how it turns out.  Fortunately I have until March to get it done.

All in all not a bad break, kept away from schoolwork unless it connected with something I was already doing, now I just have to figure out how I’m going to get up tomorrow in time to make it to school…

24 Hour Comic Day 2013- Epic Fail?

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Bruce
The table of creators for 24 Hour Comic Day 2013
The table of creators for 24 Hour Comic Day 2013

A couple of years ago I decided to participate in 24 Hour Comic Day, a challenge for comic book creators to make a 24 page comic book in 24 hours, I succeeded (kind of) with time to spare.  This I was not so lucky.

In 2011 I sat down at a table with a bunch of other  comic creators and in about 20 hours produced a 24 page comic book about Geocaching.  A comic book that due to exhaustion has never, and probably will never be published.  My process is to draw in non-photo blue pencils, ink, and scan my comic. In 2011 I had decided that I would create a simple black and white comic.  After completing it I then got talked into adding some spot color to my original art.  For the “blueline” to work, you can’t really add other colors.  I knew this, but I was tired and decided “Why not?” when I got back home I was too exhausted to fiddle with it, and have since moved on. I still have all the pages, but that’s about it.

Fast-Forward to this year- Same challenge, different location.  I spent yesterday morning running around dealing with things for my school district’s “Magnet Fair.”  The Magnet Fair is an opportunity for families to shop around and see what schools are offering.  In a lot of cases the parents already know, but they are double checking their decision.  From 1:30 to 4:00 I was helping to persuade parents that STEM would be a good choice.  Actually I asked one kid a series of questions about what they really liked… and then told them they should consider another school.  Then it was a quick stop back home to feed and comfort Hemi before heading out to the opposite side of town and be creative.

The 24 Comic Day event was held at Downtown Comics’ westside location and while it started at 5:00 it was recommended to get there around 4:30 to set up, I got there at 5:30… already off to a bad start, since when I first arrived there was no room at the table of creators for me.  I began by just warming up for drawing with a pad on my lap.  This was rectified when another a table was set up in the back.

Cecil looks over the finished pencils for upcoming strips.
Cecil looks over the finished pencils for upcoming strips.

As a participant part of the challenge is to start from absolutely nothing.  I don’t think it’s possible to not have a kernel of an idea floating around in your head, but you should come with nothing written down.  I had a few ideas: another Geocaching comic that could be sold to cachers at events, retelling the tale of Sue and my wedding from the proposal to the big day (to help the healing process), retelling the adventures of MINI Takes The States in a long form comic, or “something else.”  So I started to work on a MINI Takes The States comic, since it would be pretty simple to plot out.  I also decided to take the kid’s comics format used by Tiny Titans, Superman Family Adventures, and Little Hellboy.  Have smaller stories that all relate and build on each other.  Each story is a few pages, but the final piece links everything together.  I plotted this out ending up with around 12 different mini tales and started on page 1 and hit a roadblock.  After about 2/3 of the way done with the first page I just didn’t really know how to proceed.  So I stopped and attempted to regroup.  At this point a decided to try “something else.”

While not within the “rules of the game”  I decided that I was going to use this time productively and draw,  just draw.  When I’m home there are always other distractions, so being locked in a comic shop for 24 hours gave me time to draw, and not do much else.  I started working on some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while, then I moved onto my notes for My Geek Odyssey.  I always keep a running note on my iDevices giving me a place to jot down any thing that comes to mind.  So I looked at this list, and started drawing.  By sunrise I had penciled around 14 strips and my hand was starting to give out.  I didn’t want to ruin what I had drawn so I stopped and decided I would not ink them until later.  I have the advantage of having a school vacation coming up and decided that I would take care of finishing these over that break.  I spent the next few hours drawing for some other projects and finally around 11:00AM decided to pack it in and go home.

So yes, I failed at the challenge, but I did get a lot done, and feel pretty good about what I have accomplished, some of it may work for the little projects I have bouncing around.  WIll I try again next year?  Of course.  What will I do differently?  A lot of things.  I want to start with a single idea, worked out ahead of time (I know, breaking the rules- but this isn’t as much about the challenge anymore as it is about using 24 hours devoted specifically to creating a final product).  Next- show up on time to get a seat at the table.  I had a great time talking with Paul and Jeff throughout the evening, and was really productive considering my modified goal, but as one of the other participants said- he was there for “networking.”  While this isn’t about networking for me, it is about a communal spirit that is hard to participate in when you are sitting at the “kids’ table.”  Actually it was probably more the “adult’s table” but you get the idea- when you are separated from the main group you can be really productive, and yet miss out on some of the camaraderie of the experience.  Being an introvert I’m not sure how much this is needed for me, but getting to know new people is part of the experience, part of the challenge.

A big thanks to Downtown Comics, Jeff Himes, and all the sponsors (Marcos Pizza, RAM, etc.) who helped make the 24 hours a lot of fun.

 

Besides the actual comic strips that you will see in time below are some of the other doodles I did.

Comics, and Upgrading Websites…

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Bruce
Young Bruce & his comic
Young Bruce & his Comic

My history with comic books is a lengthy one, there are photos of me in third grade reading comics, so while I don’t remember my first comic, I do know I’ve been reading them for a long while. To me comics have always been a stress release. I stopped reading comics, when I first got married… you know the “honeymoon period” and got back into reading them a few years later during grad school. Since then I really haven’t stopped.  Even when life wasn’t that stressful, it is always nice to escape into a world where good always triumphs over evil.

As many of you know I’m a teacher by day and last year I switched to a pseudo-teacher on special assignment kind of job which allows me to play with Lego (sometimes).  I’ve spent a lot of the past year trying to create the school I would have wanted to go to as a kid.  One where a geek can be a geek.  I’ve been somewhat successful, but with education the way it is there’s always more to do… and that’s when they ask you to change your job.  It’s just a tweak, nothing much, just work on technology training on top of curriculum development, and P.R. and interior decorating, and…  You get the idea.  I accepted the new challenge, so there is no one to blame but myself.  So I’ve been reading a lot more comics in the little free time I have.  I’m happy that Boom! is republishing Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid especially with the epilogue giving a little more back story.  I’m just hoping that it will continue once they’ve gone through the first 5 issues.  I’m also looking forward to starting my own MOOC dealing with Comic Books & Graphic Novels at the end of the month.  But what’s really keeping me going is my local comic shop- Comic Carnival and how they take care of me.  As I stray away from Marvel & DC and the hijinks they create in hopes of selling more comics(ultimate final infinity crisis of evil), everyone at the shop, especially Dan & Tim give me some wonderful recommendations that have really helped me get through some of the added stress.  If you have a local shop give them a chance, the folks there are a wealth of knowledge and in most cases (everyone has a bad day) helpful and friendly. If not I would recommend getting a cat from a shelter, because everyone needs a cat as awesome as Hemi.

As for website upgrades- just another place for some stress.  I was working on updating the site tonight and of course when I did, I broke something.  I considered asking for help, but I did muscle through and only 2 hours later the site looks OK and hopefully I’ll have a chance to change a few things including adding a comic now and again.  Especially since I signed up to do 24 hour comics day this year.

MOOC – the final analysis

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Sue

This morning i received my certificate of completion and submitted my post-course survey so my first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is officially over.

This was a quick four-week class on a revised view of Chinese history based on analysis of local-level (village and province) data.  We looked at three specific areas – education, housing and ‘struggle’ during land reform.  For those of you not into Chinese history, don’t worry, that’s as specific as I’m going to get.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been blogging about the process of the class – online lectures, discussion groups, quizzes.  Now that I’m done, I thought I’d share some overall impressions.

While I found the information and the research methods fascinating, assessment was the weak component of this course.  In fact, more than once students lobbied to either have questions thrown out or to have multiple answers counted as correct.  These adjustments ultimately gave me 100% (though I must admit I did get one wrong on the final).  As I was taking this course for ‘fun’ I wasn’t particularly interested in my grade (aside from hitting the 60% ‘pass’ mark) but I could sense the concern and even panic among some students.  I think in the future I’d prefer a course with more than a multiple choice grading scheme.

The workload seemed very reasonable.  I spent about 3 hours a week on the class – usually in a 90-minute block to watch the lectures and take the quiz and another 90 minutes in short spurts throughout the week reading the discussion boards.  I still have a couple of books on my reading list that I didn’t get to during the class that I would still like to read so actually the time could have been higher.

I found Coursera very easy to use.  The dashboard for the class was easy to navigate and, once I learned all of the tricks on the videos (being able to download a transcript or just the powerpoint slides, etc) it made reviewing the information quite simple.

So, overall it was a good experience.  I’m interested to see how the MOOC concept continues to evolve and look forward to taking additional classes in the future!

MOOC #3

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Sue

This week I was a bit late taking my class so with about 18 hours left to finish this lesson Hemi and I sat down this afternoon to learn about income distribution in China and the West.

I have realized one advantage to procrastination – there’s already a lot of discussion over on the forums so a quick perusal gave me some insights of what specifically to watch for in the videos.  For some reason my trick of speeding the lectures up to 125% wasn’t working so well this week due to audio quality so we watched in real time.

Lots of fact and figures this week and there was one tidbit that stood out.  Looking at wealth inequality, the professor referenced the Occupy Wall Street movement and pointed out that it takes a net worth of $8 million or more to be in the top 1% of US households.  Didn’t know that.

Assuming there’s little interest in percentages of homeownership and average net worth of various quartiles of the population, I’ll move on to the resolution of the disputed quiz question from last week.  The professors did agree that the way the question was worded could lead to misinterpretation and tossed it out – that means I’m still at 100%.

The last lecture comes out at noon tomorrow so my quick little min-class will soon be over.  I assume the assignment at the end of the next class will be the final exam.  We’ll see how that goes!

MOOCing Right Along

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Sue

Time sure flew.  Not only have I completed the first week of my Coursera MOOC but I also just completed week #2!  (If you missed the first post about the MOOC I’m taking, you can find it here)

Halfway through this little course, here’s a bit about my experience thus far:

At the beginning of lesson #1 there was a short, well-produced overview video about the class where the instructor explained the course, introduced the researchers on this project and discussed the assignments.

Then for the class itself, there were 3 15-20 minute videos that made up the lesson.  I thought it was nice having several shorter videos rather than one long one.  In addition to the streaming video, there’s an option for slideshow so you can just page through the slides (which is very helpful when trying to find a specific answer to a quiz question – trust me!), transcript which I think would be very helpful if English isn’t your first language, and a place to download the video.

There’s also a little speed button that I just discovered today so the videos can be played in real time, slowed down or speeded up.  In playing with it I found 150% a bit too fast but 125% didn’t pose any difficulties for my ear and so did most of this lesson at the slightly faster speed.

On the discussion board there’s been a lot of chatter about various components of the course.  People are recommending resources, asking questions and even challenging some of the statements.  The instructors do pop in every so often to comment and respond so they’re obviously on top of what’s going on.  Also, since this course is about China and we have a lot of Chinese speakers, they’ve been keeping a log of terms in both pinyin and characters – ie. jinshi (進士) – as a very helpful reference.  And, since the text recommended for this week’s reading is only available in Chinese, there’s a group crowd-sourcing a summary translation into English which I think is pretty cool!

The last section is the dreaded ‘Assignments’ – which in my course means quizzes. One of the veteran Coursera students in the class pointed out that it’s best to take the quiz as soon as you finish the lectures so the materials are as fresh as possible – sound advice.  There is a bit of a kerfuffle this week over what I agree is an oddly worded question. Depending on how you read it, you could have two different answers.  So, as I was drinking coffee and stressing over which was the correct interpretation it suddenly struck me that a) my GPA won’t suffer if I get this one wrong b) the whole point of doing this is to learn something and I’m accomplishing that no matter what and c) I only need 60% to pass. So, I went with my first thought – we’ll see how that works out.

Overall, I’m very pleased with Coursera and how the class is going.  The interface is easy to use, the course is interesting, and you sure can’t beat the price!  Oh, and I did get 100% of the first week’s quiz.

 

 

Beep! Howdy Sports Fans!

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Bruce

For those who know me well, you know that sports have never been my thing. My older brother was athletic so in order to avoid competition, I avoided almost all forms of competition. It didn’t help much, my parents still compared us, but at least I wasn’t trying to directly compete or be like him. I tried my best to learn from my older brother by not doing anything he did.

I joke about my lack of knowledge when it comes to any sports. I know the basic rules of the important “All-American” sports but don’t really follow any. I know who my local sports franchises are and firmly believe that their business model is a little skewed since they make millions of dollars and still ask for handouts from the communities they live in, holding us hostage with threats of leaving if they don’t get tax breaks or bigger stadiums or key players out of jail, or whatever. I find it sad that many of my students nowadays think that their only way to be successful is through sports and pour more effort into (pick a sport) than learning. In my teaching career I have personally taught one child who became a professional athlete. 26 years of teaching, average of 24 kids in each class (actually a lot more since for about 6 years I taught every student in a school of around 700)- only one that I know of went pro.  Last week I had a chance to check out a sport/competition that I think is worthy of not only our support as a community, but also one that might actually make the world a better place… Robotics.

Last week I started off by dropping by a robotics camp being put on by our local high school.  The camp dealt with VEX robotics and  instead of dropping by, I decided to help out where I could for the week.  The campers formed teams and designed and built their own robots to complete a task.  The competition had the robots move balls around the field and put them in a goal.  At the end the robots had to knock a “bonus ball” into the play, score with it and return to their starting place before time ran out.  Rounds were 2 minutes each and the robots were each controlled via a game controller by a “pilot.”

Throughout the week the teams of campers designed and redesigned their robot, trying out different things.  Some teams were very flexible while others stuck with the same idea thinking if they try hard enough it will work.  “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein, one of the team captains reminded me of this quote at the start of camp, yet, his team was one that never varied from their initial design, even when it wasn’t as successful as the others on the field of play.  The hardest part, as an adult, was to try to lead them down the path of discovery subtly without saying- “Look, your design isn’t working. You have time, try something else.”  In the end there was a brief competition, a winning team was determined, and candy bars were given out to the winners.

The Indiana Robotics Invitational 2013
The Indiana Robotics Invitational 2013

So, how is this different than many other “sports”?  Well, first all the competition isn’t cutthroat.  Each team (robot) competed in rounds in an alliance with (by the time all the rounds finished) all the other teams (robots) at the camp.  Your team received points for the alliance winning.  Scoring was 2 points for winning, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss.  The Idea was to help every team to be better because you didn’t want to lose any match, so you would want to play with a strongest teammate you could.  At the ages these kids were at, that was a difficult concept for them to grasp- you wanted everyone to be strong because in the end, the best robot would win- every match, no matter who they were paired with.  In the end the oldest group of students were the winners, experience triumphing over youth.

Friday found the group at the Indiana Robotics Invitational and here, while the overall goal was similar, the robots were more complex since the task put before them was much more complex.  The competition here put three teams (robots) on each side working to get as many points as possible.  The round was divided into basically two sections (automated and piloted).  The round began with the robots running a program for 15 seconds, then the human pilots took over.  The goal- score as many points as possible. How?  Well this year (each year the task is different) the robots were designed and built to throw a frisbee through a target.  That was the first goal, three targets, get as many frisbees as possible through the targets.  The course also had two towers, points could be gained by getting a frisbee to the top of the tower, but wait, there’s more.  Just as the campers could gain points for being back in their parking place, these robots got points for hanging from the tower, the higher the robot was, the more points you received.

I know there was more to it than that, but basically that’s what had to happen. So how does that make it world changing?  Let’s think about the end results from participating in competitive robotics.  You learn practical applications of Science, Math, Engineering and Technology.  You gain skills that could help you get into a good college and when you get out actually produce something for the betterment of mankind, not just throw a ball around until your arm (or knees or back) goes out, then sit around talking about your glory days.  You could take what you learned and still use it even when you’re old and grey filled with aches and pains.

I never played sports (fine full disclosure- I played soccer in 3rd & 4th grade and briefly tried springboard diving and swimming, I was lousy) – like I said, that was my brother’s thing.  So I don’t understand the competitive culture behind sports, but even now at the elementary school I see the cliques forming- the kids who are told by their pee wee league coach to wear their jerseys to school the Friday before a game, to impress everyone.  Fights and trash talking happen between rival teams and this is at elementary school… so sad.  I’m waiting for someone to get the bright idea of taking out a key player during recess, so their team can win.  I did not see signs at the robotics competition reminding parents that it is only a game.  Then again these kids were not the all-star varsity lettering BMOCs and bullies, these were geeks and nerds, people with a passion for engineering and for computers, and yes, there were girls in the mix too.  I would suggest finding out if your local school has a robotics program and go talk to the kids and the mentors.  I’m sure you’d be amazed at what they are doing.  Unlike most high school sports, this is a program I can actually see a benefit, and will support my local team. Try this-  instead of buying a jersey with the number of some guy who will retire or be traded in a few seasons (causing you to have to buy another jersey), take that money and make a donation to your local high school robotics program.  Our robot overlords would approve and might let you live after they take over.

One of the Semifinal Matches at the IRI video of the entire event can be found on their YouTube Channel
If you want more information about Robotics Programs for students check out-

US FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) – One of the governing bodies for Robotics Competitions at the high school level

VEX Robotics – Another governing body that has programs for elementary schools all the way up to high schools

FIRST LEGO League – A competition for elementary school students put on by FIRST using LEGO Mindstorms robots

Jr. FIRST LEGO League – A competition dealing with engineering concepts (pre-robotics) using LEGO bricks for students from 1st to 3rd grade.

San Diego Comic-Con, It’s finally here!

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Bruce

I just wanted to make this quick blog post before I dash off to sunny Southern California to enjoy all that is the San Diego Comic-Con. I’m really looking forward to all the fun that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con. The great people watching the meeting with friends, the great inspiring sessions and the Exhibit Hall that I hear is going to be the better than it ever has been. I’ll try to post a little when I’m not overwhelmed by the sheer volume of all the greatness that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con. Though I’ll probably be way too busy rubbing elbows with the stars of TV and film. That and going to all the wonderful parties and other events that happen during the week of San Diego Comic-Con. Who knows? Maybe I’ll bring back one of the many Comic-Con Exclusives from San Diego Comic-Con and let you see how wonderfully special it is, and therefore how wonderfully special I am for having it.  I’ll try to think of you as you sit back watching Morgan Spurlock’s Documentary on Comic-Con, but I’ll probably forget as I bask in the awesomeness that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con.

Enough already.  I’m doing a little online venting because I will once again miss out on Comic-Con this year and unfortunately almost every geek feed, merchant, webcomic, personality, and news outlet I follow has only been talking about it for the past few weeks, if not months.  I know it will be a zoo.  I know I would never ever consider waiting in line for any of the really big panels, but fortunately over the years I have learned if you like comic books, those panels tend to be easy to get in.  I remember one year thinking I was going to wait in line and being waved in to a session with this one writer I really liked.  Robert Kirkman was his name – like that’s ever going to happen again.  Getting almost front row in a session by David Petersen where he talked about his process and drew.  Same thing with Jeff Smith.  So many cool things to see and so many great people to learn from.  When I signed up to get a Professional Badge years ago I was so excited and now having it now three years, I have been to SDCC once since then.  I do feel lucky I to have been three times, and really enjoyed myself. I know many people who have never been, who deserve to go more than I do.  Last year I chose MINI Takes The States over Comic-Con and had a great time with so many wonderful friends, so no real big regrets.  Yet every year around this time I feel the pull of the coast (which having grown up in Southern California is strange, because I ran screaming away from it and the California culture).  I will come back to Comic-Con sometime, but probably not for the foreseeable future.

For those who will be enjoying Preview Night tomorrow- I am jealous, but there is nothing I can do about it, so I salute you and hope you have powers and abilities beyond those of mortal geeks so you may survive the experience.  If you were able to snag a badge for any day… Yes, I’m jealous of you too.  Have lots of fun, enjoy and take some time to support some of the fine comic creators who are there by buying something from them- expensive original art is a nice start.  Without these comic creators, there would be no Comic in Comic-Con, plus there wouldn’t be a whole lot of these really cool movies or TV shows- that seem to have taken over the convention.

’nuff said.