A long time ago, I made a post about yWriter3, a program I had just discovered. I played with it for a little while and then decided that, while it certainly did have some very neat features, it just wasn’t for me.

Somewhat recently, I’ve rediscovered this little gem, now in version 5 and I’ve started using it for my latest writing project. As I am still in the planning stages, I haven’t had a chance to work with all the features yet, but it really does have a lot of very interesting and helpful features.

The idea of the program is that it helps you write your stories in an organized way so that you can see your master plan with all the details you need at a glance. This allows you to shuffle scenes around, remind yourself of what has already happened, and so forth with considerable ease. Essentially, it would take the place of a detailed outline. Is it necessary? Obviously not, people have been writing stories without fancy gadgets for as long as human memory stretches back. Will it make your writing better/good? No. Sadly, the program hasn’t been invented yet that can do that. All this will do is help you organize your ideas. If your ideas suck, they will just be organized in their sucking.

When you first start up the program, you can create a new project. There are fields to input the new project’s title and your own name as well. You then create your first chapter (that you name and enter a description for). Within each chapter, a separate folder is created for each individual scene. This is where it gets fairly interesting. The scene can be titled, and a short description added. There are also fields to fill in the scene’s goal, the conflict, and the outcome. Relevance, tension, humour, and quality are then rated. What makes the scene feature especially good is that you can select what the draft status of the scene is and how long it lasts in terms of minutes, hours, and days.

There are other options, too. For example, there is a field for creating character profiles (full name, nicknames, biography, and goals/at stake) and the characters can associated with certain scenes. You can then search for all scenes containing a certain character. It’s quite clever, really. There is also a similar option for locations and items. If you are working on NaNoWriMo or a similar project, there are a daily word count and word count goal features.

I’m not sure I would trust it with the only copy of my work just because software has the nasty habit of crashing or becoming corrupted or whatever else. However, I find this program to be very interesting and fun to use and I suspect that it would be rather useful as well. It’s also very intuitive. If you are anything like me, you can pick up on most of the features after just a couple minutes of playing around. And, of course, it’s free!

I will be using yWriter5 for my current writing project and I would like to revisit this for a proper review once I have a better sense of its limitations.

Things I liked about it:

• Seemed to have a lot of relevant articles about things that relate to YA.  For example, one of the articles was about 3-D virtualization in a high school as a way to promote virtual learning and whether a library should have a social media policy.
•  Has a regular feature called “the Buzz” that looked at new technologies. This is super important to keep up to date with the technologies that teens might be using.
•  It addressed relevant issues that are concerning to both children and YA school librarians, such as whether or not school libraries are still relevant and the changes that need to be made to ensure they are.
• Articles all seemed well researched and professional in nature.
•  Many of the signature pieces were substantial in length which is better than some of the other journals that just use one small single page article and cover topics in a less in-depth manner.
• Introduced new books with quality reviews (in theme section). Many of the books are being covered in online book blogs, which speaks towards popularity.
• There was a multimedia review as a regular feature – quite hefty (14 pages) and includes a lot of different multimedia formats (some of them seemed more education based and perhaps not something teens themselves would take out. Although this was not always the case).
• The main book reviews were organized by grades.
• There was a little section called “Introducing Point of View,” which featured 5 books that are already released that are about difficult topics (Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson). It then introduced two new books that are similar.
•  Seemed to be a wide variety of contributors.

Things I did not like:

• Was not specifically for teens, included a lot of information about children as well.
• Also focuses on school libraries, which is not always applicable to YA librarians working in a public library setting.
•  It lumped YA reviews in a category with grades 5 and up, not very specific and you would have to search through the pages to find ones applicable to actual teens, but there was a lot of books reviewed ( 30 pages in total in this grouping).

I think that Library School Journal is really well rounded, including information on everything from new technologies, important issues, new books, videos, etc. I think the information was really relevant and helpful. While not specifically for teens, as it did included information on children, it was a great starting point for any librarian. This would be especially helpful for a school librarian or a librarian in a small library that worked with both teens and children. Overall, I thought it was a very useful professional resource (the amount of reviews being the most appealing feature).

CollabFinder is an amazing resource that allows designers and developers to connect and collaborate with one another. Its a pretty genius idea. Check it out!

Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington County resources listed below are courtesy of the fine folks at 211 Info. Be sure to check out their entire holiday season support list here.

MULTNOMAH COUNTY

• Elm Court Loaves & Fishes Center
  Thanksgiving meal served Thursday, November 26th, from 11am-1pm
  All are welcome. For questions, call Loaves & Fishes at 503-736-6325
• Belmont Loaves & Fishes Center
  Thanksgiving meal served on Thursday, November 26th, from 11am to 1pm
  4610 SE Belmont, Portland
  For more information, call Loaves & Fishes Centers at 503-736-6325
• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
  Dinner, Thanksgiving Day, Thurs, Nov. 26 – in basement dining hall 1-4pm,
  7600 N. Hereford Ave., Portland
  Wheelchair accessible
• Blanchet House of Hospitality
  Thanksgiving meal will be served on Friday, Nov. 27th from 11:30am-1:30pm at 340 NW Glisan. Open to all.
• Portland Rescue Mission
  Thanksgiving meal will be served at 111 East Burnside, Portland on Wednesday, November 25th, from 5pm to approximately 8pm. All are welcome, wheelchair accessible.
• SnowCap
  Thanksgiving meal will be served at Rockwood United Methodist Church at 17805 SE Stark in Portland on Thursday, Nov. 26th from noon-2pm. All are welcome.
• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
  Dinner will be served on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2009 from 1-4pm, in the basement dining hall. Church is located at 7600 N. Hereford Ave., Portland. Wheelchair accessible.
• Trinity United Methodist Church
  Vegan Thanksgiving meal will be served at the church on Thursday, November 26th from 5:30-8pm.
  3915 SE Steele, Portland Entrance on Steele through courtyard.
  Free to all – donations accepted. Those needing wheelchair access call 503-777-2337.

CLACKAMAS COUNTY

• AMERICAN LEGION
  2146 SE Monroe St., Milwaukie
  Thursday, Nov. 26th, 1-4pm
  Drop-in – sit-down holiday dinner
• CLACKAMAS SERVICE CENTER
  8800 SE 80th Ave., Portland
  Thursday, Nov. 26th, 5pm
  Drop-in, sit-down holiday dinner
• ESTACADA CHRISTIAN CHURCH
  29101 SE Eagle Creek Rd., Estacada
  Thursday, Nov. 26th
  Drop-in – sit-down holiday dinner, 3-5pm
  For further information call 503-630-6707
  Transportation may be available,
  may call until 12:00 noon, November 25th – If no answer, leave message
• LAKE GROVE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
  4040 Sunset Drive, Lake Oswego
  Thursday, Nov. 26th, noon-2pm
  drop-in, sit-down holiday dinner
  Reservations preferred – call 503-636-5656
• ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE CATHOLIC CHURCH
  417 Washington St., Oregon City
  Thursday, Nov. 26th, noon-3pm
  Drop -in – sit-down holiday dinner
• SENIOR CENTERS normally operate on regular meal schedules – Contact local center for details.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

• Banks Community United Methodist Church
  Thanksgiving dinner will be served on Thanksgiving day, Thursday, November 26th, from 12noon to 2pm. The church is located at 151 Depot Street, Banks. Persons interested in helping serve or fund the dinner may contact Trisch Wentz at tomtenbouv@earthlink.net or 503-324-3610.
  Community Cafe, located at St. Anthony’s Church at 9905 SW McKenzie Street, Tigard, will be serving a Thanksgiving meal on Sunday, November 29th at 5:30pm.
• Cornelius – Centro Cultural
  Thanksgiving dinner at 12 noon on Thursday, November 26th
  1110 N. Adair St., Cornelius 503-359-0446
• Elsie Stuhr Center
  5550 SW Hall Blvd, Main Entrance, Beaverton
  Serving Thanksgiving Dinner, November 26th 11am to 1pm. (Roast Turkey and gravy, cranberry relish, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas and pearl onions, pumpkin pie.) Dinner is open to all.
  For more info, call Loaves & Fishes at 5063-736-6325
• Faith Café will be serving a free Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie, etc.) on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, at 6pm at the Beaverton United Methodist Church, located at 4th and Watson, Beaverton. All are welcome.
• Tigard Senior Center
  Located at 8815 SW O’Mara, Tigard. Loaves & Fishes will be hosting a traditional Thanksgiving meal from 11am to 2pm on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th. Dinner is free and open to all.
• Tualatin United Methodist Church, located at 20200 SW Martinazzi Ave., Tualatin, will be serving a Thanksgiving meal at 12noon.

Resources for Students

Elementary School Students

Elwin, R. & Paulse, M. (1990). Asha’s mums. London: Women’s Press.

De Haan, L., & Njland, S. (2002). King and king. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Parr, T. (2001). It’s okay to be different. Megan Tingley.

Raschka, C. (1999). Like likes like. New York: DK Publishing.

Richardson, J. & Parnell, P. (2005). And Tango makes three. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Simon, N. (1990). Families: A celebration of diversity, commitment, and love. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Willhoite, M. (1990). Daddy’s roommate. Los Angeles, CA: Alyson Wonderland.

Middle School Students

Bauer, M. D. (1994). Am I Blue? Coming Out From the Silence. New York: HarperCollins.

Cofer, J. O. (1995). “White balloons” in An Island like you: Stories of the barrio. New York: Penguin Group.

Dupre, J. (Director). (1998). Out of the past [Motion picture]. United States: Unipix.

Homes, A. M. (1989). Jack. New York: Vintage Books.

Kerr, M.E. (1998). Hello, I lied. New York: HarperTrophy. (original published in 1997).

Lantz, F. (2001). “Standing naked on the roof.” In D. R. Gallo (Ed.), On the fringe. New

York: Penguin Putnam Books.

Peters, J. A. (2004). Luna. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Rose, L. (Director). (2000). The Truth about Jane [Motion picture]. United States: Starlight Home Entertainment.

Ryan, S. (2001). Empress of the world.  New York: Penguin Group.

Watts, J. (2001). Finding H. F. Los Angeles: Alyson Books.

Wittlinger, E. (2001). Hard love. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Woodson, J. (1995). From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun. New York: Scholastic.

Woodson, J. (1997). The House You Pass on the Way. New York: Random House.

High School Students

Baldwin, D., Carey,  A., Hope, T.,  & Katz R. (Producers). Kaufman, M. (Director). (2003). The Laramie project [Motion picture]. Unites States: HBO Home Video.

Brown, R. M. (1993). Rubyfruit jungle. New York: Quality Paperback. (Original published 1973).

Campo. R. (1996). What the body told. Durham: Duke University Press.

Daldry, S. (Director). (2000).  Billy Elliot [Motion picture]. England: Universal.

Dupre, J. (Director). (1998). Out of the past [Motion picture]. United States: Unipix.

Freymann-Weyr, G. (2002). My Heartbeat. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. Farrar Straus & Giroux

Hughes, L.  (1951). Montage of a dream deferred (1^st ed.). New York: Holt.

Naylor, G. (1983). The women of brewster place. (reprint ed. June 30, 1983). New York:

Penguin (Non-classics).

Rose, L. (Director). (2004). Jack [Motion Picture].  United States: Showtime Entertainment. (DVD version: ASIN B0004z2zQ8)

Kerr, M. E. (1994). Deliver us from Evie. New York: HarperCollins.

Plum-Ucci, C. (2002). What happened to Lani Garver. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc.

Sanchez, Alex. 2001. Rainbow Boys. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Walker, A. (1992). The color purple. New York: Harcourt (reprint ed. May 22, 1992).

Walker, K. (1993). Peter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. (Original work published 1991)

Winterson, J. (1994). Written on the body. New York: Vintage. (Original published 1992).

Yamanaka, Lois-Ann. 1999. Name me nobody. New York: Hyperion.

Resources for Teachers

Blount, J. (2005). Fit to teach: Same-sex desire, gender, and school work in the twentieth century. State University of New York Press.

Campos, D.. (2003). Diverse sexuality and schools: A Reference Handbook. Abc-Clio Inc.

Day, F. A. (2000). Lesbian and gay voices: An annotated bibliography and guide to literature for children and young adults. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Fraticelli, R. (Producer) & Fernie, L. (Director). (1997). School’s out! Confronting homophobia in high schools [Motion picture]. (Available from the National Film Board of Canada).

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network. (2005, July 27). GLSEN: Welcome to booklink! Retrieved October 1, 2005, from

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/educator/library/record/1736.html

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network. (2005, June 28). GLSEN: The GLSEN training of trainers program for educators and community-based organizers. Retrieved October 1, 2005, from

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/educator/library/record/1817.html

Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network. (2005, February 7). The GLSEN lunchbox 2, revised edition: A comprehensive training program for ending anti-LGBT bias in schools. Retrieved October 1, 2005, from

http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/educator/library/record/1748.html

Gray, M. L. (1999). In your face: Stories from the lives of queer youth. New York: Harrington Park Press.

Harris Interactive and GLSEN (2005). From teasing to torment: School climate in America, A survey of students and teachers. New York: GLSEN.

Kissen, R. M. (2002). Getting ready for Benjamin: Preparing teachers for sexual diversity in the classroom. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Kumashiro, K. (Ed.). (2001). Troubling intersections of race and sexuality: Queer students of color and anti-oppressive education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Lipkin, A. (2004). Beyond diversity day: A Q & A on gay and lesbian issues in schools. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Lobban, Marjorie, and Laurel A. Clyde. 1996. Out of the Closet and Into the Classroom: Homosexuality in Books for Young People. Port Melbourne: Thorpe.

Mitchell, L. (Ed.). (1999). Tackling gay issues in school: A resource module. GLSEN Connecticut and Planned Parenthood of Connecticut.

National Education Association. (2002-2005). Safety, bias, and GLBT issuestraining program. Retrieved October 1, 2005 from https://www.nea.org/takenote/glbtsafe0507.html

Owens, R. E., Jr. (1998). Queer kids: The challenges and promise for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. New York: Harrington Park Press.

Rofes, E. (2005). Status quo or status queer. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Sears, J. T. (2005). Gay, lesbian, and transgender issues in education. New York: Harrington Park Press.

Walton, P. (Producer/Director). (1998). Gay youth [Motion picture]. Boston: AMASS Stonewall Center.

Elementary School Teachers

Cohen, H. S. (Producer) & Chasnoff, D. (Producer & Director). (1997). It’s elementary: Talking about gay issues in school [Motion picture]. (Available from Women’s Educational Media, San Francisco, CA)

Epstein, D. (2000). Reading gender, reading sexualities: Children and the negotiation of meaning in ‘alternative’ texts. In W. J. Spurlin (Ed.), Lesbian and gay studies and the teaching of English: Positions, pedagogies, and cultural politics (pp. 213-233). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Letts, William J., and James T. Sears, eds. 1999. Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue about Sexualities and Schooling. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

Schall, Janine, and Gloria Kauffmann. 2003. “Exploring Literature with Gay and Lesbian Characters in the Elementary School.” Journal of Children’s Literature 29, no. 1: 36-45.

Sumara, Dennis, and Brent Davis. 1998. “Telling Tales of Surprise.” Pp. 197-219 in Queer

Theory in Education. Edited by William F. Pinar. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Middle School Teachers

Cohen, H. S. (Producer) & Chasnoff, D. (Producer & Director). (1997). It’s elementary: Talking about gay issues in school [Motion picture]. (Available from Women’s Educational Media, San Francisco, CA)

Hamilton, G. (1998). Reading Jack. English education, 30 (1), 24-43.

Sumara, Dennis, and Brent Davis. 1998. “Telling Tales of Surprise.” Pp. 197-219 in Queer

Theory in Education. Edited by William F. Pinar. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

High School Teachers

Athanases, S. Z. (1996). A gay-themed lesson in an ethnic literature curriculum: Tenth graders’ responses to “Dear Anita.” Harvard Educational Review, 66 (2), 231-256.

Cart, Michael. 1997. “Honoring Their Stories, Too: Literature for Gay and Lesbian Teens.” The ALAN Review 25, no. 1: 40-45. Accessed June 12 , 2003. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall97/cart.html.

Jenkins, Christine. 1998. “From Queer to Gay and Back Again: Young Adult Novels with Gay/Lesbian/Queer Content, 1969-1997.” Library Quarterly 68, no.3: 298-334.

Lipkin, Arthur.  1994. “The Case for a Gay and Lesbian Curriculum.” The High School Journal 77, nos. 1 and 2: 95-107.

St. Clair, Nancy. 1995. “Outside Looking In: Representations of Gay and Lesbian

Experiences in the Young Adult Novel.” The ALAN Review 23, no. 1: 38-43

Singer, B. L. (Ed.) (1994). Growing up gay/ Growing up lesbian: A literary anthology.

New York: New Press.

Unks, G. (Ed.). (1995). The Gay teen: Educational practice and theory for lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents New York: Routledge.

Walling, Donovan. R. 2004. “Gay- and Lesbian-Themed Novels for Classrooms Reading.”

Journal of Gay and Lesbian Issues in Education 1, no. 2, 97-108.

Aarons, L. (1995). Prayers for Bobby: A mother’s coming to terms with the suicide of her gay son. New York: HarperCollins. The book tells the story of Mary Griffith grappling with her son’s coming out, his suicide, and the role of religious intolerance, including her own, in his life and death.

Bauer, M. D. (1994). Am I blue? Coming out from the silence. New York: Harper Collins. This anthology, among the first of its kind, includes fifteen lesbian and gay-themed short-stories written by some of the best authors of young-adult fiction in the field.

Babcock, J. (2002). The tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. Erick leaves his Catholic high school and family and experiments with drugs, alcohol, sex, and gender before maturing into a confident gay man.

Bechdel, A. (2006). Fun home. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. This graphic-memoir focuses on the author’s coming out as a lesbian and coming to terms with her father’s death in rural Pennsylvania.

Capote, T. (1975/1948). Other voices, other rooms. New York: Vintage International. When Joel Knox is twelve years old he moves from New Orleans to an isolated Louisiana community where he encounters a cast of characters fitting for a southern gothic novel, in this case, a semi-autobiographical one.

Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York: MTV Books/Pocket Books. Written as a series of letters from the main character, Charlie, this popular young adult novel chronicles Charlie’s life in high school, including his friendship with Patrick, who is gay, and his sister, Sam, with whom Charlie falls in love.

Chopin, K. (1976/1899). The Awakening. In B. H. Solomon (Ed.), The Awakening and selected short stories of Kate Chopin (pp. 1-137). New York: Signet Classics. Edna Pontellier embodies her womanhood in unconventional ways, relative to the social norms of the late 19^th century U.S. south, by rejecting her roles as wife and mother and embracing a younger lover.

Dole, M. L. (2008). Down to the bone. New York: HarperTeen. Laura creates her own family after she gets kicked out of her Catholic high school and her family’s home because she is deeply in love with another girl.

Flagg, F. (1987). Fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop café. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. This novel is both a love story between two women in the 1920s and the story of a burgeoning feminist in the 1980s, both in Alabama.

Goldman, S. (2008). Two parties, one tux, and a very short film about The Grapes of wrath. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. This young adult novel is told from the perspective of Mitchell Wells, a straight high school student, as he comes to terms with his best friend’s coming out as gay.

Hartinger, B. (2003). Geography club. New York: HarperTempest. A group of high school students who feel like outsiders because of their sexual orientations form an after school club where they can socialize without being vulnerable.

Levithan, D. (2003). Boy meets boy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. The book is about what the world might be like if homophobic values were greatly diminished and how the friendships and romantic relationships of Paul, a gay high school student, unfold in such an imaginary world.

Moore, P. (2007). Hero. New York: Hyperion. Thom Creed struggles with his special powers, his infamous father, and his sexuality in this fantasy novel.

Newman, L. (1988). A letter to Harvey Milk. A letter to Harvey Milk: Short Stories, (pp. 25-28). Ithaca: Firebrand Books. Harry, an elderly Jewish man, writes a letter to his friend the late Harvey Milk and a love story about two men in a concentration camp.

Peters, J. A. (2003). Keeping you a secret. New York: Little, Brown, and Young Readers. Holland loses her boyfriend, friends, and family when she falls in love with Cece, an out-and-proud lesbian.

Plum-Ucci, C. (2002). What happened to Lani Garver? Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. Lani Garver, a gender variant high school student, moves to the isolated Hackett Island and becomes friends with Claire McKenzie, a popular girl at the school. Lani is subject to devastating abuse.

Sanchez, A. (2007). The God box. New York: Simon &Schuster. This young adult novel is a rather didactic exploration about the relationship limitations and possibilities between Christianity and homosexuality as it is embodied by two teenage boys.

Sedaris, D. (1997). Holidays on ice. New York: Little, Brown, and Company. This is a collection of short stories related to Christmas. Many of the stories are autobiographical accounts by the out gay author.

Smith, B. (2007). Selfish & perverse. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. An aspiring writer in Los Angeles, Nelson Kumker, and a fisherman and student from Alaska, Roy Briggs, fall in love in this novel.

Tamaki, M. & Tamaki, J. (2008). Skim. Toronto: Groundwood Books. This graphic novel is set in a Catholic girls high school in Canada and focuses on “Skim,” an Asian, goth, Wiccan who develops a crush on one of her female teachers.

Walker, A. (1982). The color purple. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. This highly acclaimed epistolary novel centers around Celie, an African American woman in rural Georgia in the 1930s, and includes her intimate relationship with another woman.

Wallace, K. (2004). Erik & Isabelle: Freshman year at Foresthill High. Sacramento: Foglight Press.

Wallace, K. (2005). Erik & Isabelle: Sophomore year at Foresthill High. Sacramento: Foglight Press. These are the first two in a series of four books about two best friends, both of whom are gay. Erik is academic, athletic, and being raised in a homophobic household. Isabelle’s family, in contrast, is open and accepting of her lesbian identity. Across these two books, Erik and Isabelle support each other as they endure homophobia and fall in and out of love.

Watts, J. (2001). Finding H.F. Los Angeles: Alyson Books. H.F. lives with her very loving, Christian grandmother; and Bo, her best friend, lives in an overtly homophobic household in rural Kentucky. Both teenagers come to understand themselves as gay in this novel.

Winterson, J. (1992). Written on the body. New York: Vintage International. This British novel tells the love story between the narrator, whose gender is never revealed, and a married woman.

Quante volte su Facebook avete ricevuto inviti ad iscrivervi a fantomatici gruppi che permettono l’invio di sms gratis che poi si sono rivelati emerite bufale? Innumerevoli suppongo…

E’ finalmente a disposizione un’applicazione SERIA che senza alcun bisogno di invitare decine di amici, vi permetterà di inviare sms gratuiti direttamente dal vostro profilo.
Tutto quello che dovrete fare è, una volta loggati su Facebook, accedere ed installare quest’applicazione chiamata ChatSms.

Una volta terminata la procedura d’installazione, ci ritroveremo questo form sulla barra laterale del nostro profilo

Per inviare il messaggio sarà sufficiente specificare il prefisso internazionale (es: +39 per l’Italia) e compilare l’intuitivo form con il numero del destinatario e il testo del messaggio.

Tenete conto che ci sono, purtroppo, diverse limitazioni di utilizzo:

• Possono essere inviati al massimo 5 sms al giorno (anche meno);
• I caratteri disponibili per i vostri sms sono solo 100;
• Il sms arriverà a destinazione anteponendo il vostro nome in Facebook e seguito da una breve stringa pubblicitaria. Es: “Mauro: msg di prova @unsito.com www.ecc.sg”
• Ho personalmente notato che il servizio non è molto stabile. A volte dopo un paio di sms impedisce di spedirne altri. Per ovviare a tale inconveniente è sufficiente rimuovere l’applicazione dal proprio profilo e poi reinstallarla di nuovo.

Accedi all’applicazione: http://apps.facebook.com/chatsms/

.

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At first I thought I was the only one in the world who thought that Twilight promoted some questionable relationship behaviors. However, with New Moon coming out, I’m finding increasingly more blogs and articles written by professionals in the library field and teens themselves who agree with me.

This is from the YALSA blog and a school librarian.

I never thought I was going to have such a serious problem with a popular book that I almost didn’t put it on the shelves. I’m a cool, gay, sex-positive, pro-teen agency guy, I thought to myself when I was getting my MLIS, the parents may have problems with my selections, but too bad! I’m here to advocate for the students. And then I read Twilight.

I almost didn’t buy the Twilight books for my 7-8 school library. I don’t hate them because I’m a guy, or because of the excruciatingly bad prose, or the corruption of vampire mythology without acknowledging or commenting on the original, or even because Bella is such a waste of space. I hate them because of the sexual messaging they impart to teens, especially teen girls, robbing them of agency and normalizing stalking and abusive behavior.

Even if I hadn’t purchased the series (or is it a saga now?) for the library, it seems like every third girl in the school has her own copies, right down to the developmentally delayed girls who came in today toting matching copies of The Host. So I have to engage with it, and I’ve been trying to casually counteract the normalization when girls talk to me about their favorite book and movie of all time. (I am saying girls for a reason: Twilight seems to be universally reviled by the boys in my school, most of whom have not read it.) I don’t talk about hating the book, I just say I’m not a fan, and usually cite Edward’s stalking behavior as creepy. Sort of along the lines of this anti-text message harassment PSA. What Edward does is just not cool.

But a good (non-librarian) friend sent me this LiveJournal commentary on the movie adaptation of New Moon. The post has some NSFW language, but goes over the abusive red flags in Bella and Edward’s relationship, as laid out by the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It’s the first time I’ve seen it put so baldly, and it is shocking.

I no longer feel my casual, conversational undoing is enough. I’ve brainstormed with a Twilight-loving teacher about how to approach doing this anti-domestic violence education in a more formal way. I’ve got a call in to the dean of my school to see if I can link this in with the sexual assault education they get from the District Attorney later in the year. I couldn’t keep the books out of their hands even if I thought it was ethical to, but I also can’t sit by while a book with near-universal market penetration negatively shapes the social and sexual agency of the girls in my school.

Also Check out The Neverending Shelf’s post and comments.

You might not agree, but it is at least something to think about.

Sing, floss, stretch. But trust me on the sunscreen.

I wrote recently about the elective class that I am developing and teaching on popular music.  I’m covering a decade per week and a song per day.  Within each song, I highlight an interesting grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation point.

Developing this class has meant combing through many online resources including lists of Billboard number one hit songs on Wikipedia and best-of-the-decade lists such as AOL’s radio blog, which is a good place to start because you can listen to most of the songs on the list.  I’ve also found that the website sing365.com tends to have the least errors of all of the lyrics websites that are returned in Google searches.

I intend to post the list of songs I’ve used at the end of the quarter (I might even link to the Google Docs spreadsheet that I used to record all of the songs I considered for each decade) but for now I thought I would post the following music video, which I plan to use tomorrow, the last day before Thanksgiving break.

The song is actually a spoken word piece which has an interesting story.  While not a traditional pop music video, I think the message is inspirational without being cheesy.  Plus, there are lots and lots of examples of advice using the imperative.  It might not get you through the last two weeks of the quarter, but it doesn’t hurt.

The Shipwreck (Image from www.artinthepicture.com)

NOTE: Parts of this newspaper image were very hard to read,  especially the numbers, which I have marked with a – ?-  question mark.

Loss of the Ship Resource.

Mr. B. Wyman of this town, who arrived in the Jane, from Manilla, has communicated the following particulars respecting the loss of the ship Resource, Sowle. — “On the 20th of Nov. 1818, on the passage from Kamtschatka, being in about lat. 28, N  long. 80, E while under easy sail, at about 6 PM, she struck on an unknown reef of rocks, weather thick and squally — she remained about ten minutes, when she slid off, and on sounding the pumps found she had made considerable water — the pumps were immediately set at work, but the water gained on them fast. The foremast was then cut away, and all hands employed in clearing the wreck, and getting out the boats.

After providing provisions, water, &c. the officers and crew left the ship and she soon after sunk. The long boat, having on board most of the provisions and water saved from the ship, being very leaky soon filled and capsized, and the contents lost; some of the crew in her swam to the other boats, others clung to her till morning, and were then taken off, except one, who was drowned.

There were now the two whale boats left; Capt. Sowle and 12? men in one, and Mr. Joseph Harris, first mate, and 12 men in the other – each boat had about 30 lbs of bread, but no water — the men were on an allowance of half a biscuit per day. The boats kept company all the next day, but soon after dark the captain’s boat suddenly disappeared, and it was thought must have been upset, and all on board perished, as nothing was seen of her afterwards, the sea running very high. On the ?0th Dec., the surviving boat landed on the uninhabited island of Agrigon, the crew not having had any water for 2? days, except what they caught as it fell from the heavens, which gave them from one to three spoonfulls a man per day.

Mr. S. La Roach died Dec. 2?, Mr. Wm. S. Sp??hawk the ??th, Mr. Joseph Adams 15th; and Mr. Harris, the mate, fell from a rock, Jan. 17, 1819, while fishing and was drowned. Mr. Wyman and 7 others remained on the island subsisting on what it afforded, (it having been stocked with goats and hogs) till the 18th of Nov ‘19, a period of eleven months, when they were discovered and taken off by a Spanish brig, bound to Manilla, at which place they were landed, Dec. 22. Two of the survivors went thence to Canton*, two remained at Manilla, and ? [3 ?] took passage for the U.S.

The Resource had no cargo but salt on board when lost.

Ohio Repository, The (Canton, Ohio) Jul 6, 1820

* China? Wales? Australia?

The latitude and longitude given in the article puts the ship somewhere in northern India, which doesn’t seem likely.  Kamtschatka, which is one location mentioned, appears to be on the lower part of the Russian peninsula near the Bering Sea. I was not able to locate Agrigon, or anything with a similar name, that would fit the general location, however, there are lots of islands in that area.

If you check up on religious news and scan religious blogs you’ve probably already heard about The Manhattan Declaration. 

This is what they summarize what it is…

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

You can read the whole Declaration here.  It doesn’t take long to read.    The Declaration was drafted by Robert George, Timothy George, and Chuck Colson.  The list of original signers include prominent evangelicals like: Peter Akinola, Randy Alcorn, Leith Anderson, Kay Arthur, Joel Belz, Bryan Chapell, James Dobson, Wayne Grudem, Tim Keller, Duane Litfin, Herb Lusk, Josh McDowell, Al Mohler, Marvin Olasky, J.I. Packer, Neal Plantinga, Dennis Rainey, Ron Sider, Joni Erickson Tada, and Ravi Zacharias.

Below are a couple of links to comments on the Declaration:

Timothy George on ‘The Manhattan Declaration’

Why I Signed ‘The Manhattan Declaration’ by Al Mohler

This story about a new Bible software called “GLO” was sent to me by one of my ex-co-workers from 13 years ago!

Check out these videos:

Cool. One thing I would add to this software is resources for allowing people to explain the Bible to their neighbors. Probably the most useful thing would be to evaluate major passages to see when they were written, how closely the passage is based on eyewitness testimony, whether it appears in other New Testament sources, whether it passes criteria like embarrassment and dissimilarity, and whether it is confirmed by archaeology or even non-Biblical sources.

Additionally, commenter Matthew has some concerns:

Translations? Only NIV, which is OK but far from exemplary. For $90 this needs every translation known to man, in most languages. And full text of all historic bibles as well.
Scholarship? An article found through google critiques Glo for not having a panel of scholars advise on the extra-biblical resources offered.

I don’t think this thing is meant as a scholarly resource – they are aiming for a different market.

Debates about the Bible

If you think that talking about the Bible with non-Christians is fun, you might want to take a look at these debates:

• Richard Bauckham defends the reliability of the gospels against James Crossley
• Richard Bauckham defends the divinity of Jesus against James Crossley
• Crossley debated against William Lane Craig before on the resurrection
• Crossley against Michael Bird on the origins of Christianity, (part 1, part 2)

If you like seeing fringe historical skeptics of Christianity go down in flames, check out this post for some historical debates with evangelicals and radical skeptics.

Name: Phil Vischer

Location: Wheaton, IL

Website/blog: www.philvischer.com

Claim to fame: (source: wikipedia.org)

Phil Vischer (born 1966 in Muscatine, Iowa) is an American voice actor, writer and filmmaker. He is well known for co-creating the award-winning VeggieTales with Mike Nawrocki the co-founder of Big Idea Productions. Phil was eight years old when he made his first animated film.

He has been working with Big Idea Productions since 1996. He has worked as writer, producer and voice actor for the series. In 2003 Big Idea Productions dissolved and was sold to Entertainment Rights. He still works on the Veggietales videos with the new company, Big Idea, Inc. Since leaving Big Idea, Vischer has started a new creative shop called Jellyfish Labs where he and a small team work to produce faith-based media for children and families. Vischer and Jellyfish are based in Wheaton, Illinois. As of 2009, he also still works with Big Idea on a contract basis, writing scripts and performing many of the voices for new VeggieTales productions.

He is currently working in Wheaton, Illinois as founder and owner of JellyTelly and Jellyfish Labs where he is working as President of the company that produces Christian products.

Why We Care:

Phil took an idea and made it an iconic presence in the world of Children’s Ministry and Church Culture.
We take a giant wooden cut-out of Bob the Tomato to the LA County Fair every year and let over a thousand kids throw bags of candy through holes we cut into it.  Nobody, anywhere in the United States, is taking an idea I had and turning it into a carnival game.
Phil took a simple concept (communicating the Bible to children in a relevant and engaging format) and took it far beyond the cutting-edge Jesus flannel graphs that dominated Christian education in the 1980’s and are still found in Sunday School classes today.  I’d love to sit down with Phil and hear what he thinks is coming next and how we’re going to get there.  Have you heard of his new project – What’s In the Bible?  It’s genius.  I’ve seen a bunch of his JellyTelly stuff and, I have to admit, I’m a fan of what he’s got going on.  Swing by and check out The Pirate’s Guide to Church History.  It’s awesome.

—-

Where do guys like Phil fit into your list?  Any guesses what the chances are that I can run into Phil in 2010?
If you have connections that get me a coffee-date, I’ll make sure you get a shout out when I post about meeting the man behind VeggieTales.

4:53 – Make sure camera attenuator is off

If the BBC doesn’t commission a second series of this brilliant show, I shall take my scissors and use the TV licence to cut a silhouette of Mr. Southouse.

The fourth and (so far) last episode of “Garrow’s Law” dealt with autoerotic asphyxia, angel lust and mentions of self-mutilation, all in the first two minutes of the programme. Add to that the uncomfortable tale of the government’s actions against 18th century (assumed) terrorism and freedom of expression, and you’ll find that laws might change, but human nature won’t.

William Garrow (Andrew Buchan) continues to defend the victims of rough justice when he wins the case of  Susannah Wagstaffe (Rebecca Palmer), a prostitute accused of murdering a client.

Garrow and Southouse’s (Alun Armstrong) association is still strained until a desperate Mary Hamer (Kate Dickie) arrives in Southouse’s office, begging for Garrow to defend her husband. Joseph Hamer (Paul Hilton) has been languishing in Newgate Prison without charge for many months after being arrested on suspicion of sedition. Joseph’s case is followed closely by the Secretary of State, Viscount Melville (Stephen Boxer), and Sir Arthur Hill (Rupert Graves), who engineer charges of high treason against him.

Lady Sarah (Lyndsey Marshal) admits to a devastated Garrow that they have no future together. After learning of her husband’s role in the plot against Joseph Hamer, she intervenes and the trial takes a surprising turn.

Episode four started with a Pythonesque scene in which Garrow tries to find a delicate wording for the fact that prostitute Susannah Wagstaffe’s  client died by autoerotic asphyxia. By means of a length of cord. Valued at 1 penny. Silvester (Aidan McArdle) obviously enjoys Garrow’s awkward struggle, and even Judge Buller awakes from his nap. After listening to Garrow muttering cryptical explanations about “centrical and critical parts” and “expressively evident results”, Buller ends Garrow’s suffering by stating that “the cock was upstanding,” a great deadpan delivery by Michael Culkin. Blushing barristers – you’ll only find them on the BBC.

The charge is dismissed and Miss Wagstaffe, dressed in the cleanest rags I’ve ever seen, is free to go. For one because there really wasn’t a case in the first place, as her client’s death was neither suicide nor murder, and for the other because Garrow convinced Judge Buller that this case, should it become public, could “corrupt the moral climate and encourage the depraved part of mankind to seeking similar indecent stimulatives”. One has to wonder what Mr. Garrow’s thoughts on “I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!” would be.

While Mr. Garrow has to turn Miss Wagstaffe’s offer for non-monetary expression of gratitude down, Mr. Southouse is confronted by Mary Hamer, the wife of one Joseph Hamer who sits in Newgate, without any charges being made against him. Southouse tries to explain to Mrs. Hamer that he and Garrow have parted ways, and that he can’t do anything for her until charges against her husband have been made. A classical Catch-22.

Having escaped Miss Wagstaffe, Garrow is cornered by Sir Arthur Hill, who states that he has to satisfy himself that there’s no animosity between the two of them. Very noble, but basically, he’s just there to brag that his wife Sarah is carrying his child. In Garrow’s place, I’d been sorely tempted to ask “Pray tell, good Sir, would you herald this news if it wasn’t your child?”, but Mr. Garrow’s manners are better than mine. He puts on a brave face while Sir Arthur prances off, leaving a trail of smugness behind him.

However, Garrow wouldn’t be Garrow if he would consider insignificant details like husbands and children as obstacles on his way to happiness. His meeting with Lady Sarah reminded me at times of the final scene in “Some like it hot” (“But Osgood, I’m a man!” “Don’t worry, darling. Nobody’s perfect.”) – the word “no” doesn’t exist in Garrow’s emotional dictionary. He asks Sarah to leave her husband, and enthusiastically confirms that he’d be very willing to play father to Sir Arthur’s child. Very romantic, very noble, but quite clearly, Garrow has no idea of the consequences such a scandal would cause. Lady Sarah, probably aware that leaving her husband to stay with Garrow would have her looking after two children rather than one, tells Garrow that they have no future and leaves him behind, heartbroken.

At the local coffeehouse, Garrow bumps into Southouse, and seizes the opportunity to apologise. “Garrowpology” should be a real word, meaning a sortofnotreallythenagainmaybe apology. “It was partially my fault. Well, most of it. OK, entirely my fault. I regret it. Well, sort of. Actually, not really.” It takes a man with a heart of gold and the patience of a saint to work with Garrow – luckily for our dashing young hero, Southouse is such a man. The two are interrupted by angry Mrs. Hamer and in following, the meeting of the “London Corresponding Society” she attends is busted by the messenger of the Secretary of the State. Garrow and Southouse work together once again to save Mrs. Hamer from prison. However, they do so the Southouse-way, which might be less spectacular that Garrow’s, but still effective, a fact Garrow grumpily admits. I absolutely loved Southouse’s sarcastic way of putting Garrow in his place. Eh, I love Southouse, period.

Now things are really getting started, with Mr. Hamer being charged – only what for, Garrow and Southouse won’t learn before the actual trial.

For the first time, the so-far only hinted political conspiracies behind the scenes become visible, and Garrow connects the dots. This is not about Mr. Hamer’s supposed crime, it’s about people with power not wanting to share it. The Hamers of this world, with their justified demands for equal representation and rights are a danger to the status quo, and Garrow notes quite correctly that Hamer’s case is played out in the shadow of the guillotine. There’s this enormous fear of political and social changes, of a revolution. Men like Joseph Hamer are feared and therefore have to be shut up and locked up. If that means to infiltrate meetings with spies, buy witnesses or plant evidence, so be it.

Sir Arthur Hill, this becomes evident in this episode, is not a man without conscience. He doesn’t feel comfortable with the actions of his peers, but he fears to lose all he has and is, not realising that he might lose his wife if he doesn’t make the right decision.

I don’t want to give away the content and the outcome of the trial, because it would ruin the enjoyment of the excellent courtroom confrontation between Garrow and Sir John Scott (Peter Symonds), the pompous, overbearing Attorney General who manages to prattle on for hours and makes judges, witnesses, the accused, the jury and even Garrow fall asleep. Hamer is charged for high treason – a completely unexpected move, and the prospect of being hanged, drawn and quartered is not a pleasant one. Even less pleasant is the prospect that this case, should Hamer be found guilty, will effectively mean the end of personal freedom. Already a list with 800 names exists – 800 names of people who’d share Hamer’s fate. One name on the list is Garrow’s.

“The Crown versus Hamer” is courtroom drama at its best. Gripping, touching, funny, sad, scary – a rollercoaster of emotions, not least because there are so many parallels to the present political and social situation. Garrow feels the temptation of power and money; he receives an offer that would mean a stellar career, but at the cost of moral bankruptcy. As much as I wanted to be sure that he’d turn the offer down – I wasn’t. Again, excellent acting by Andrew Buchan; I was kept on the edge of my seat until the very last moment.

And while there’s no true resolution for the love between Garrow and Lady Sarah in the end, there’s hope. I think it’s the first time in TV history that a glass of water melted my TV set!

So, what to make of “Garrow’s Law?” THE GUARDIAN offers an in-depth analysis of “Garrow’s Law”, it’s entertainment value and the quality of acting as well as- heh. Joke. No, this is about something important - the presence of a gavel in the courtroom.  Spotting small historical inaccuracies is part of the fun in costume drama, but I’d be on the same page with the author if we’d talk about fundamental mistakes which completely distort our perception of history.

From that point of view, the absence of dirt would seem to be the greater offense than the presence of a gavel. But though I’m all for authenticity, I’d found it very distracting if Silvester and Garrow had scratched their heads every other minute due to the lice in their wigs. The clerk fumigating the court before every trial made it clear that, by Jove, fumigation was needed! “Garrow’s Law” is “Tales from the Old Bailey”, not “100% accurate presentation of legal history in the 18th century”. It might come as a surprise, but we, the audience, are smart enough to tell the difference.

What some journalists don’t seem to understand is the one core achievement of “Garrow’s Law”: it’s not the quality entertainment, the ratings or the pleasant sight of Andrew Buchan in a velvet coat (though I freely admit that I quite enjoyed the view) – this show took Sir William Garrow from the backshelf of history, dusted him off and put his great achievements in the limelight. In our modern unculture of fear and mistrust, we need to be reminded that the rights we enjoy weren’t there since the beginning of times, and that we should never take them for granted.

And now some links which might be of interest to you:

WATERSIDE PRESS
will release a biography of Sir William Garrow by the end of November:

And the good news of the day:

YOU CAN PRE-ORDER THE DVD OF “GARROW’S LAW” ON AMAZON!
It will be released on 4 January, 2010, and I’ve already placed an order.

Capture NX2 is an integral part of my workflow and provides some very powerful tools for editing.  One of the drawbacks is that NX2 has not gained a large share of the post process market and therefore does not get as much coverage as the more popular programs like CS4 and Lightroom.  This makes finding good resources, tutorials and tips online very difficult for NX2.  One advantage to NX2 is the somewhat intuitive interface, but unlocking its full potential can still be very time consuming.

In my search for additional resources I came across the website DPT&T.  I was pleased to find tips and tutorials that went beyond the basic control point, and dust removal steps.  Some of the links on the site (click here) take you back to the Nikon NX2 website, but they also list their own tutorials along with other sites that have relevant information.

If you are a Capture NX2 user and are looking for good information on what NX2 is capable of hop over to DPT&T and check out the information.

http://createdigitalmotion.com/

maybe some of you know it already

Do you really want the lowest bidder? A question you must ask yourself, especially in situations like this one:

Here are my thoughts on the matter, for all PMs having to go through bidding processes, unless of course you are following the first rule of government spending…

As project managers, one of the legs of our triangle is “cost”, so, obviously, we would like that the lowest possible. Which brings us to the widely used and accepted bidding process – you generate a scope and/or bill of materials, bid it out, get the results and select the lowest bidder. (Ok, so I simplified it a bit – but usually, cost is that which rules all others).

My question here is – is choosing the lowest bidder really getting you the lowest cost?

I would like to challenge that.

I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you can come up with a few ways of how cheap can become expensive, probably (and sadly) based on your past experience… The lowest bidder didn’t fully understand the scope, planned to use lower grade materials, planned on using low-cost inexperienced labor, forgot to quote parts of the scope – or all of the above and other things not mentioned here.

Here is where I want to offer some suggestions to help you pick the RIGHT bidder for your project (It’s of course assumed your company policies and your country laws allow the use of these methods…):

1. Know your bidders – before adding bidders to your list, see their work, talk to their customers and see if they do quality work and have happy customers. if not – well…
2.  Know your project – is your bidder capable of performing the work fully? will he need to take additional subcontractors? do you want that? when trouble arises – will you be pointed to the sub sub sub contractor for solutions?
3.  Create a matrix – Evaluate and compare your bidders based on several factors, not just cost. The more sensitive the work, the more weight should be given to past experience, quality etc.
4.  Grow a “home” contractor, but always challenge him – Its’ great to have a contractor you always work with who’s quality you like and you know you can trust – but don’t stay complacent – make sure you challenge your home contractors to make sure they stay competitive.

Alex