Curriculum Resource: The Life of Charles Dickens

Happy 200th Birthday to Charles Dickens!  Once again, it was Google who brought this to my attention, as it made him the subject of today's Google Doodle:



If you are looking for a short video on Dicken's life, here is a lovely little cartoon version from the BBC:



Enjoy!

What Happened to Wikipedia and Google?

I'm frequently writing about Google Doodles in this blog.  But today's Google "Doodle" is different than any before, at least as far as I know.  Today the famous logo does not appear at all, but rather is blacked out by a big black box.  However, at least that popular student resource is working.  If students go to the English site of Wikipedia, they will discover that it is down for 24 hours.  In its place is a short protest against two pieces of legislation and a request, complete with links to contact your representatives (according to the zip code you enter) and then tweet about it or post it on your Facebook page, to express your opposition to the bills.

The legislation in question is the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).  The goals of both these acts is to protect US intellectual property, primarily from foreign sources that are selling it as their own.  The main supporters of the bills have been Hollywood and other entertainment producers who are trying to shut down foreign bootleggers of commercial media, such as illegal downloads or DVDs of US films and TV shows, music, etc.

So the goal is something that I think most of us would support.  People shouldn't be making money by providing us with illegal copies of performances they don't own and that the performers themselves don't make any money for, right?

The issue that many Internet-based companies, and many of their customers, have is that these bills address the problem not by going after the illegal producers themselves, but the sources that give these illegal producers access to American consumers online.  So, rather than suing or arresting the bootleggers, SOPA and PIPA allow the producers to take action against anyone who provides services or even has links to the illegal websites and demand that they block any US access to this site.

Many in the online community have major issues with this approach.  Some consider this approach to be censorship, which they vehemently oppose in any form, despite the reason.  Others argue that the legislation as written is overly broad and would impose onerous burdens on even the smallest Internet companies. Yet others say that this is just the wrong way to address the problem of intellectual privacy.  As Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit (another online resource that has gone dark for the day), says about this legislation, "It's like taking action against Ford (Motor Company) because a Mustang (car) was used in a bank robbery."  Reddit has a lot of educational information about this issue (albeit more anti-legislation than pro) as does the SOPA Strike website.

So as much as we might hate losing our Wikipedia (along with lots of other informational sites) for the day, this is a great opportunity for discussing with your children or students some of these issues, such as the downside of everyone (including criminals) being able to access everyone in the world, and what is the best way to deal with problems like this.  (Besides, only the English site of Wikipedia is down, so you can search in a different language and work on your translation skills along with researching the subject.)

And if you think your students will use this as an excuse to play games rather than do their research on the Internet, don't worry--MineCraft is one of the sites that has joined the blockout.

The Best Google Doodle of 2011

Yesterday's Google Doodle reminded me...how could I not have written about the Best Google Doodle of 2011 as part of my New Yearl's posts?   There were so many wonderful Doodles that is is hard to choose.   Some were really beautiful, some were educational (like the Nicolas Steno one yesterday), and some were so inventive, like the Jim Henson one where you could manipulate the Muppet puppets or the Freddie Mercury one? (was that it?) where you could actually play notes?

But one was the nearest and dearest to the hearts in our household, and that was the interactive submarine view for Jules Verne's birthday:

Visit my original post for a video of all the things you could find in this interactive display.

But if you aren't clear about the outstanding Google Doodle for the past year, you can watch this video for some reminders of all the great displays Google gave us this year:




So which one was your favorite Doodle for 2011?  Add it to the comments below.

Who is Nicolas Steno?

I know, it sounds like that movie, The Usual Suspects, where they ask "Who is Keyser Soze?"  But that is the question I asked when I saw the beautiful Google Doodle this morning.

There have been lots lately, but I thought this one was particularly eye-catching.  Plus, when I check out most of the Google Doodles, I know something about the subject.  But Nicolas Steno?   Never heard of him.

Of course, that led to me reading hyperlinks to information about the man and his work, which was all interesting and ended up diverting me for far too long.  But how great it is that Google throughs these little diversions at us.  I have my issues with Google as a company, but I love the whimsy that is illustrated in the Google Doodle program.

If you happen not to know about Nicolas Steno either, you can watcht the Google Doodle video below:

Christmas 2011 Blog: Google Holiday Doodle Arrives

Google has released its annual Christmas-time doodle.  You begin by clicking on colors beneath each Google letter, which transforms them to an image in lights (maybe they also went to Zoolights this year!).  Each color box also has a note, which you might notice....indicate a favorite song of this time of the year.  Eventually all the images appear and the song plays in full.

You can go to the Google home page to see it yourself, or watch the video below:




Enjoy!

Google's Thanksgiving Doodle Makes You a Turkey Designer

Google's Thanksgiving Doodle came early this year, and it's so much fun, I wanted to let people know about it.  At least today (Tuesday, November 22), if you go to the Google Home Page, you will see a cartoon turkey. But if you click on the turkey's head, feet, and tail feathers, you can change them to your preference.  If you click on the wing, it will rapidly cycle through all the choices simultaneously, which gives you some ideas about your options.

Once you have created your custom turkey, you can either share it through Google+ or through a weblink. So, for example, to see the turkey I designed, visit: http://g.co/doodle/d7bz39  .


If you create your own turkey, please share it in the comments below--I would love to see people's creative turkeys!  It's a fun and easy way to get into the holiday spirit.

Happy Halloween

We are back from tromping through the rain and mist with some friends in what is the closest that most of our children will get to participating in a true harvest festival--the "trick or treat" tradition of Halloween.   My son's goodie bag is sufficiently loaded with loot that it will probably take him a week or more to eat it all or to decide to dispose of it.

So the weather wasn't the most cooperative this year, since it was rainy and cold tonight.  Something that did warm my heart, though, was the Doodle that Google displayed on its home page today.

Google had a time-lapse video of some staff carving GIGANTIC (I think they were half-ton) pumpkins into what eventually became a Google logo.  But in between carving, various other staff came and hung out, sometimes in costume.  You can watch the video below:



It is a cute, creative, and original tribute to this autumnal holiday, and one that you can enjoy without any calories, which is rare this time of year. It also adds to the impression that it must be a real kick to work at Google (for more on that, see this post).

For even more fun, you can watch this video in which the pumpkin artists explain their process and what it is like to carve a half-ton pumpkin:


Happy Halloween 2011 to all!

Google Honors Jim Henson with Digital Puppet Doodle

With my recent gushing about the power of origami finger puppets, I just couldn't let today's Google Doodle go by without comment. Today would have been the 75th birthday of Jim Henson, the man behind Sesame Street and, really, the inclusion of puppetry in modern media.  So in honor of that event, Google worked with Henson's legacy, the Jim Henson company, to create a set of five interactive digital puppets for today's Google Doodle.  These puppets follow your mouse arrow with their eyes and/or head, and open their mouths when you click a mouse button.  There is no sound, so you can play with the puppets and make they say whatever you like--let's hope they are as wise as Origami Yoda.  Just kidding, of course--no one is as wise as Origami Yoda!

Anyway, check them out on the Google home page, or if you miss them, here is a video of them:

Google's Earth Day 2011 Interactive Doodle

We love tracking the Google Doodle, and today's one in honor of Earth Day is one of our favorites!  It is interactive, so that you can actually make nine different animals move when you move your mouse over them.

First, try to find them yourself at Google (if you are reading this post on April 22):

Or, if you are too late or missed some, you can watch this video:




Finally, you can see the evolution of the Google Earth Day doodle over the past decade at this link.