Let's Delve Into Science

What is 581 c that orbits red dwarf star Gliese 581?

Provide two facts in your comment and your thoughts on this discovery.

Chapter 4--Who is Jane Finn?--Discussion

We get a little more information about the main characters in this chapter as well as more of a link to the Prologue. And seems there's a little history lesson in this chapter as well.

• In what time period is the book based?
• What's the history lesson?
• What more do we know about Mr. Beresford aka Tommy?
• What's the link to the Prologue?
• Who do you think can be trusted at this point? and Who cannot be trusted?
• Define: Boche, billet, Labour Party, Boer

Feel free to comment on any of these discussion points or add your own.

Create a Scrapblog

New technology and new internet sites and new terminology to go along with the new technology and new internet sites are "cropping" up everyday (pun intended on the word cropping). So try on this one for size . . . scrapblog. This is a relatively new site that allows you to "create a world for your pictures by combining photos, videos, audio, and text to create stunning multimedia scrapbooks."

Check it out and try it out. There are tons of cool photos available on the internet. Try these sites on for size:

http://www.flickr.com/
http://www.freestockphotos.com/
http://www.pics4learning.com/
http://www.openphoto.net/
http://americanart.si.edu/search/search_artworks.cfm

I'll make you a deal . . . if you spend time in the scrapblog site, create an interesting online scrapbook, and share it with the class in your comment, I'll give you credit for five comments. Please don't use any personal pictures . . . rather use pictures from the sites above. Choose a subject or topic that interests you and get creative.

One caveat: You may have to do this one from your home computer.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words . . . or less

I've just completed an online class--Digital Photography in the Classroom--using Picasa, which is Google's web service to find, edit, and share photos. I've been taking digital pictures for six years now and love being able to easily share, edit, manipulate, and store photos. The course I took made me realize how much digital imagery there is on the internet and thought I would post a photo here in my blog. Take a look at this photo and let your mind just wander. Then take a moment or two and comment in less than a thousand words what that picture makes you think, feel, wonder, hope.

Chapter 3--A Set Back--Discussion

Have you completed Chapter 3 of The Secret Adversary? The story definitely thickens. For this week's discussion let's begin to build the character list. For your comment, list all the characters in the book so far and give your take on their interrelationships. Choose one and describe how you picture that character in your imagination.

The next chapter, Who is Jane Finn?, will hopefully bring more depth to the characters. Discussion prompts will be posted on Monday, April 23 for Chapter 4--Who is Jane Finn? If you have fallen behind in your reading, there's always time to catch up and read the comments already posted. The chapters are short and easy. If you are so intrigued by the story and want to read ahead, by all means, do so!

Famous First Lines

Sometimes a book sucks you in from the very first sentence, and sometimes it takes a chapter or two, and sometimes you just don't get hooked at all. Here's the first sentence from a famous novel:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Do you know the title and author of this work (without looking it up)? Would you continue reading? Go searching for famous first lines of novels or poems and post it in a comment. Tell whether you were intrigued enough to "want" to keep reading.

Also, read Chapter 3 of the Secret Adversary by April 16 so that you add to the discussion. If you're behind in your reading, you can always catch up and comment anytime.

Comment in the Form of a Question

I've been watching jeopardy for as long as I've been watching TV. When I was in grade school, we didn't have a school cafeteria, so I had the wonderful advantage of going home for lunch. My dad would heat up a can of Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee beef stew, and I'd plop on the living room floor for a half hour--the same half hour that Art Fleming was hosting the Jeopardy show. The show's been around for a long, long time . . . and no wonder . . . because it's quality, it's educational, it's fun, and it exercises your brain.

Here's some answers that you can provide the "question" for in the categories of . . .

Computing 101:

• In computerese, it's the "app" in "killer app"
• This 4-letter term for a small image on a computer screen shares its name with a specialized image of a holy person
• A flatbed one of these optical devices is used to get images into your computer to use on your website
• In order to get online, you'll need one of these, an ISP
• "Broadcast yourself" is the slogan of this website that was recently bought for $1.6 billion

in Newspaper Sections:

• Section where Troy Polamalu & Shawn Green make headlines
• The New York Times runs bestseller lists in this Sunday section
• It doesn't contain secret data but ads divided into categories
• Wow! This L.A. Times section says ALCAN is up 5 cents! Sell!!
• The Washington Post section on city life; it's also the city's subway

and in MMM . . . Chocolate!:

• 2005 saw the debut of a new Take 5 candy bar made with this "pale" chocolate
• You can custom order these candies with your own slogan printed on one side & the famous "m" on the other
• This candy bar's trio is made up of Porthos, Athos & D'Artagnan; its website stated, "We do not use Aramis"
• Lake Champlain Chocolates are made in this U.S. state (try the maple crunch)
• Cortes introduced chocolate to Europe after encountering it in "the halls of" this Aztec emperor

Make sure you phrase in the form of a question and include the answer in your comment! Have fun.

Chapter 2--Mr. Whittington's Offer--Discussion

Feel free to comment on any or all of the following, or you may certainly comment on Chapter 2 as the spirit moves you.

• We know Tuppence and Tommy are the main characters at this point. However, we don't know much about them. Let's use inference to guess some personality traits and background information of/about Tuppence. How old do you think she is? What kind of a family did she come from? What's her nationality? Anything you think about her at this point in the book.
• Who's Rita?????
• What is pensionnats de jeunes filles? Anyone take French?
• How about these unfamiliar words: treacle, ticarage, archdeacon, gimlets

The next online discussion about the book will be after Chapter 3 . . . after Spring vacation. (April 11) However, if you're bored feel free to read ahead . . . I probably will.