I'm an educator on hiatus.
I've been on SiteJabber for years!
a little bit of everything: music, film, books, art, technology, fashion, kittens, etc.
I think that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was one of the first major universities to put their undergraduate and graduate courses online in the early 2000s. It triggered a host of other universities to do the same (Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Stanford, etc.) The mostly free courses run in the thousands and across all disciplines offered by MIT. I wish I had the time to do an entire neuroscience class or two, but I've interacted with a couple of classes in behavioral psychology courses. The downside is that you don't get a degree from it, but the upside is that you're getting access to some great material and giving your brain a little workout.
I learned about this website from a SiteJabber user Ron. This site allows you to compile links into one slideshow effect. It's neat if you want to make people go through all the links. I thought this could be useful as I send links weekly to staff members. However, I want to give people the choice to click on the links that are of interest to them, rather than forcing them to click through pages they don't care for. Still a nice idea!
I don't have a Macbook or Ipad, but I do purchase things through the Apple store (apps, music). For such a great company, I sure do wish their buttons didn't feel so heavy and using iTunes didn't feel so clunky. Not sure how to describe it, just that it's unpleasant. As well, for such a user-friendly business, I'd say their website could do much in the area of improving navigation and usability.
The Huffington Post frequently (at least once a week) has articles written by 'experts' or parents of children with neurobehavioral disabilities, especially autism. It takes less than a couple minutes to read an article and digest it, making it easy and absolutely necessary for me to do so. Of particular interest to me are the posts written by parents, as they give me various perspectives of the family process.
I send my mother flowers pretty much every year for her birthday or for mother's day. Having lived away from her for most of the last 16 years, I've needed to rely on 1800flowers to get her the flowers on time. Without exception, she's gotten her gift, on time, and according to her, the flowers are always lovely. And being Asian, she would definitely tell me if they weren't.
I heard about this website on an episode of This American Life called The Enforcers: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/363/enforcers
The purpose of the website is, I think, to empower people and for folks to share their scambaiting stories. There are letters, FAQs, a hall of shame, tips, a trophy room, a pretty active forum, etc. Some of the stories make me actually feel bad for the scammers (such as the one told on This American Life) so I'm not terribly keen on spending too much time on 419eater, but it's interesting that it exists.
I'm one of those folks to whom my colleagues and friends will ask questions knowing full well that I don't actually know the answer but that I'll be the first to google it to help out. Oftentimes that's fine by me, but other times, like, say if I'm in the middle of working a child through a 'tantrum' or fixing a broken pipe, it's a real nuisance. Then can't you find out what the exchange rate between rupees and yen is or who invented the modern Western alphabet (though you should know it was the Phoenicians) on your own? "Let me Google that for you" is a snarky way to prove my point to the person who asks me another question they can Google for themselves. I haven't yet found the right person to use this with, but believe me, it's in my artillery.
I heard about this on NPR and love the idea of it. It's a free network of websites to seek and post employment ads based on your area or city. Basically you can type in SanFrancisco.jobs (or whatever city you're in) or education.jobs (or whatever field you're in) or SanFranciscoeducation.jobs (city and field) to find work that might be relevant to your field, location or both! Brilllliant.
Here's the link to the NPR story: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/*******/New-Network-Of-Websites-May-Help-Job-Seekers?ft=1&f=100
Evidence Based Mummy is one seriously awesome blog for parents and educators who want some filtered, but still accurate information on the latest research and findings related to child development. Rachel Robinson is a smart mama who makes information easy to access and relevant. So much better than reading Parent Magazine or that other fluffy hooha stuff. I subscribe to EBM via RSS and have shared quite a few of her articles with my staff.
How sad I was to wake up this morning to a sleeping Kindle that wouldn't revive, no matter how hard I tried. I called Kindle's support line and was greeted in less than a minute by Susan. Susan showed genuine empathy for my dead Kindle. She walked through me a couple of steps I had already tried, and Harriet Beecher Stowe still wouldn't go away. After a couple of perfunctory questions (did you drop him, apply too much pressure - "sometimes I hug him but I don't think I overdo it"), Susan ordered a new Kindle be sent to my house by overnight delivery, right in time for me to take this new boyfriend on a trip next week. Now that's good business.
As far I'm concerned, Kottke is probably the only blog I need to follow. I've tried Dooce (too personal) and also follow Swiss Miss (too specific) and Brain Picker (too much noise sometimes). Kottke's clean and pretty eclectic without getting too hipster-on-my-nerves. He gives me the information and interesting factoids that I need, in small, not drawn out doses. Where else would I have discovered Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan doing dueling Michael Caine impressions? http://kottke.org/10/11/dueling-michael-caine-impressions
I've been able to keep track of my tasks through my trusty noggin all these years, but being back in the States, without a maid has left me in need of a task management system - an electronic to do list, basically. Years ago I used Remember The Milk for a team management system, but that didn't seem to work too well. It requires you to log in, so if you don't log in, you don't know what you have to do. Remember The Milk may have updated itself for the new smartphones these days, and if Wunderlist doesn't work for me, I'll try RTMilk again. So far Wunderlist is a nice way to keep my to do list in order - both on my phone and PC, as it synchronizes. The only thing that bothers me is that it doesn't self-sort by due date.
I use Mint.com for the simplest of reasons - to keep track of my accounts without needing to log into each one. I used Quicken years ago but was never diligent enough to keep up with my budget, etc. With the Mint app, I can more easily stay on track, I think / hope. Surely there are features that I'm missing out on right now, but I'm sure I'll find them with due time. For now, I appreciate how easy it is to use the tools offered on the site!
Landsend clothes aren't usually what I wear on a day to day basis, but I bought a couple things there when I lived in Seattle. The good thing is that the clothes last a loooong time. Very durable, well-made stuff!
The University of Colorado's Assistive Technology Partners program is designed to provide services, professional development and information concerning low- and high- assistive technology for individuals with autism, mental $#*!ation, paralysis, etc. The site's Resources page (http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/programs/atp/Resources/Pages/Resources.aspx) has a vast library of materials, for free (see Handouts), to help make communication easier for individuals with disabilities.
Simon Baron-Cohen (and let's get this out of the way - yes, he IS related to Sasha Baron-Cohen of Ali G/ Borat/ Bruno fame) is one of the world's foremost leading practitioners, researchers and authors on autism spectrum disorders. He is a professor at the University of Cambridge and the director of ARC, Autism Research Centre. ARC's website is extensive in the information and resources it provides. There you can download free tests and research papers. At a time when academics like to keep their work under subscriptions and fees, Baron-Cohen makes all of his lab's work readily available to the public. This calls for many a fireworks display of hearts.
Kidshealth.org is kind of like a better, more accurate version of about.com for themes related to growing up. There are three sections to the site: the parents section, the kids section and the teens section. While many of the same topics are covered across the three sections, each takes a different approach as to how the material is covered (writing style, graphics, vocabulary, etc.) and how much is covered.
I use kidshealth in a couple of ways. One, it's a great, simple reference tool for parents who are just starting to learn about good nutritional habits, aspects of their children's development, facts about disabilities, etc. Two, it gives me good insight into how I can explain complex topics to children. For example, for a workshop for siblings of children with disabilities, I might see how Kidshealth approaches explaining what mental $#*!ation, Down Syndrome, autism, etc. It's really a comprehensive website, and one of the first I go to when I need to explain something to parents or students (and it comes in Spanish translations, so I'd give it double hearts, if I could).
Special education doesn't get its own section of the newspaper. It barely gets a word in edgewise in the education section of papers, if there is even such a section in some newspapers. So to stay up to date on all things related to developmental disabilities, I subscribe via RSS feed to Disability Scoop. Disability Scoop gives me the latest on what lawmakers are planning, what researchers are developing and what people with disabilities are accomplishing. The articles are always accessible and relevant to my work.
A friend introduced me to Teavana a few years back, and it replaced my usual tea shop visits for a while. I went crazy a couple times and discovered that not ALL of their teas are great, so it's best to go into the store first, if possible, to try them out. I myself love mixing the Jasmine Phoenix pearls http://www.teavana.com/The-Teas/Green-Teas/Jasmine-Dragon-Phoenix-Pearls-Green-Tea.axd with another flavor, like the strawberry pu-erh or any of the strawberry flavors: http://tea.teavana.com/?D=strawberry&Nty=1&N=0&Dk=0&Ntt=strawberry. I've also purchased some different Darjeelings for a friend, who said that he enjoyed them. The teas come in sealed bags to ensure freshness, and although some folks say it's a bit pricey, I find that the flavors are strong enough for some that you can reuse them.
Like Snopes for science, Sense about Science promotes the distribution of accurate scientific facts vs. the manipulations, misrepresentations and misinterpretations of them - everything from the vaccine debate to global warming to the genetic modification of foods. Sense about Science tries to debunk outrageous myths and to hand over the real deal. Now, in light of Mr. Jonah Lehrer's recent Declining Effects article in the New Yorker, who knows what the real deal is... but at least with SaS we know what it isn't.
T N.'s review of Brain Pickings earned 6 Very Helpful votes
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T N.'s review of Bellaterra Cosmetics earned 10 Very Helpful votes
T N.'s review of KidsHealth earned 8 Very Helpful votes
“Thanks t. It all looks very nice until you realise they are selling a tent in a field and a talk in a tatty old barn for thousands. And chance to buy their jeans. Very clever, that. Is it worth the money? Or is it all a bit smug and clever clever?”
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