In the epic tale of Lord of the Rings, there is a scene where the heroes of the story hold up in a fortress called Helm’s Deep. There they defend themselves against ten thousand bloodthirsty creatures known as orcs. Without the natural and man-made defenses of this fortress, they would not have lasted long against [...]
Read full post...A kid on a computer is like a fish in water. When it’s time for them to get off, sometimes you would think you are trying to take them off of life support. They’ll grab the keyboard or mouse away from you so you can’t close what they are doing.
Well, the days of trying to [...]
About nine years ago I created an educational web site for children called MegaKids. One of the activities on the site is a very simple online flash card game to help kids learn their times tables, called Flash (not much of a stretch of the imagination). Of all the activities that I had placed on the site, this [...]
Read full post...What are the chances that people would observe speed limit laws if law enforcement officers quit writing speeding tickets? What would happen to workplace productivity if managers never checked the output of employees? How safe would our medications be if the FDA quit regulating drug development?
As our kids grow up, we watch them to make [...]
Years ago there was a movie theater in my neighborhood that would edit out what they considered offensive content in the films they showed. During a Christmas movie, Santa was stuck in the middle of a blizzard and started to say a minor swear word. Suddenly, the howling wind stopped for two seconds and then [...]
Read full post...During my engineering education, I became all too familiar with one of the fundamental principles described by Newton, that for every action there is a reaction. This principle shows up in every area of life, not just in physics. In A Sound of Thunder, a short story by Ray Bradbury, the principle is taken to [...]
Read full post...Have you ever seen a mild mannered person change personalities from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde when they get behind the wheel of a car? Somehow being hidden inside a car gives them a sense of freedom to act differently than they normally would.
The same thing can happen online. A child that is normally well [...]