This post features primary sources related to the Cold War with an emphasis on Soviet documents and the Soviet Union’s participation in the conflict.
If you know of similar sources you would like to suggest for this post, please leave a comment with its bibliographical information.
Original post by khrushchev
Professoer John Morello’s Communication 370 course (or “Communication and the 2008 Presidential Campaign”) provides a really powerful model for using a course as a video publishing platform, a space for critical media studies, as well as a forum for discussion about the election as it unfolds. Each of the students in this course created their own short speech in support of their candidate of choice (you can see examples here) which were created by the students on a third-party service of their choice (you can see the technical guidelines for the video creation process here).
Yet, the videos were only on part of this course, the on-going campaign commentaries, dissection of campaign ads, as well as timely discussions about the political implications of the economic crisis, all which made for a dynamic and open forum leading up to election night. And when I say open, I mean open. Numerous comments and discussions on the site came from people that were not part of the class but were intensely interested in the election. And the fact that both Barack Obama and Sarah Pallin campaigned in Fredericksburg during the final stretch made this course all the more discoverable and relevant to the local community.
But what is really engaging about the way professor Morello uses this space, is that it becomes a means for an open forum that can bring in the relevant resources from the web seamlessly, while at the same time encouraging the students to engage in the process of creating their own, and all this out in the open.
Original post by Reverend
Mark Pougatch is joined by John Motson, Steve Claridge and David Pleat to preview the FA Cup 3rd Round.
Original post by 5 live Football Daily
Never Use These Again!
In our last post, we were up-front with you and admitted that we’re Firefox fanboys and girls. We hope you appreciated our honesty. Today, we want to share about one add-on that made us fall in love with Firefox in the first place: Zotero.
If you’ve ever struggled with keeping your research sources straight — particularly the ones you find while traversing the tubes, you’ll love Zotero. Once you download it, a spiffy little “Zotero” icon will show up in your browser’s bottom menu bar. Click on it, and a small panel will appear. This spiffy little panel is desisgned to automagically gather information about internet sources by scraping data off Web pages.
Basically, whenever you visit a site that has a source which can be captured, a small icon will appear in your browser’s address bar. When you click on it, Zotero will grab the bibliographic information and populate a little virtual index card. You can edit the card, tag it, annotate it and link files to it. You can also organize all those cards/sources into various collections and export them into standard bibliographic formats.
Right now, your Zotero collection can only live on one computer, but a new version is coming that will allow you to sync your collections across multiple machines.
Zotero can scrape information out of all kinds of Web sites: library catalogs, newspapers, journals, even some blogs. And if a site doesn’t work automatically with Zotero, you can always add items manually.
Remember, our philosophy at SfSS is to just try it out. So, if you’re not sure how Zotero could work for you, download it, install it, and start playing.
photo credit: hawkexpress
Original post by Martha
It seems like only yesterday we were all partying like it was 1999. Now it’s 2009 and there’s not much left but hangovers.
Yet I must in all candor report that I learned a ton in 2008, and not all of it was via cautionary tales, either. In fact, a lot of what I learned was serendipitous, arriving like unexpected good news, sometimes even like winning the lottery. When that learning occurred, it was, as Frankie sings, a very good year.
Case in point: in early November I presented on my favorite podcast, the BBC’s “In Our Time,” for a New Media Consortium online symposium called “Rock The Academy: Radical Teaching, Unbounded Learning.” I’d long wanted to do a presentation on this podcast. When I learned that the NMC symposium would take place in Second Life, I found the opportunity irresistible and just had to submit a proposal. Presenting on an intellectual history program by the venerable Auntie BBC that was delivered to me by the new media channel of the podcast and then made the topic of a talk inside a virtual world–well, the ironies, paradoxes, and juxtaposability of it all were mighty alluring. When I got the good news that my proposal had been accepted, I was elated and honored to be on the program. Just look at the range and ambition of my fellow presenters, culminating with Jim Groom and flamethrowers at the finale. Need I say more?
The experience was every bit what I had hoped for. The audience was great, the interaction was truly stimulating (and preserved in a chat), and NMC were amazing hosts. Among the splendors, though, two particular moments stand out. The first was when Alan Levine walked me through the Cooper Coliseum during a preparatory conversation. As we walked along and tried out the voice chat, Alan (or his avatar, or both?) turned to me and said, “We can make you props if you want them.” Ah. Props for a conference presentation. Suddenly it was clear to me that the very notion of argument in a virtual world was infinitely extensible, infinitely mediatable (if that’s even a word), and that the props NMC would make for me–a table, four microphones, and a set of monuments with the titles of “In Our Time” episodes over the years–could serve as drama, as conceptual aids, as prompts for audience participation. 3D Concept PowerPoint. It’s difficult to explain the affective side of this sudden clarity, but the feeling that came over me was very powerful. I felt a little like Orpheus, or a real magician, able to make thoughts into objects and objects into thoughts. You might think that virtual objects would not cause such a feeling. But I tell you, walking around the set that day, giving my presentation and seeing the scale of my avatar against the props, felt like breathing mountain air. I could see my ideas, and I knew others could as well. And in that knowledge, I saw more of what I was thinking than I had before. Just as I (and most writers) discover what I want to say in the process of trying to say it, I could see much more clearly what I was thinking while speaking and walking through the realizations of my thoughts. I think you can hear some of my wonder in the video recording of the presentation. Truly, it was a lucid dream–and more, as I’ll try to explain below.
The second experience was even more powerful. Toward the end of the presentation (it may even have been in the Q&A), I was trying to articulate something about the way I had stumbled upon the idea of “In Our Time” as both an example and an allegory of deep learning. I kept returning to the idea of a meta-layer of understanding, one in which the very topic of understanding itself became part of a complex experience of deep and satisfying learning. As usual, I found this idea, one that I keep returning to over and over, very difficult to articulate. I typically end up mouthing things that seem like tautologies, or sometimes like nonsense. I’m groping toward my own version of Derrida’s “exorbitant,” I think, but I’m not entirely sure even of that. Growing a bit frustrated by my halting attempts, I reached for the analogy of altitude, the metaphor of going “up” a level and seeing things from an elevated perspective. Up to where the over-all, the big picture, reveals itself in a new way. As I tried to get these ideas to form themselves into words, I impulsively hit “F” on my keyboard, the action that causes a Second Life avatar to spring into the air and hover, preparing to fly. That was the loose association: strategic view, gestalt, up a level, bigger picture, hit “F” for fly. I don’t remember analyzing the train of thought. I just remember going for the key. When I did, of course, my avatar sprang into the air and hovered there, giving my audience a dramatic (perhaps over-dramatic) portrayal of the kind of thing I was talking about. But here’s where things got *really* interesting. In that moment of dramatization, my own point of view changed. My avatar went up, and so my attached viewpoint went up as well, and what I saw as a result was a precise and startling instance of the very thing I was trying to articulate. In short, I had an idea, and words weren’t conveying it as well as I wanted, and the action my finger took before my conscious mind was aware of the motion was a revelation to me that gave me even more insight into the insight I was struggling to communicate.
Insight into the insight. Does that make sense? Can that make sense? It seems to me to be at the heart of what we want to encourage in education. Insight into the insight means we can prepare ourselves for the next revelation, and perhaps even construct for ourselves an environment and a set of strategies that will make it more likely such insights will emerge. Insight into the insight means we can understand our own powers of understanding–quirky, indirect, intuitive, labored, instant, unpredictable, whatever–and thus find our own strategies of augmentation and self-evaluation. Insight into the insight releases a beautiful fractal structure of extensibility, of scale and wonder.
Alan Kay likes to quote Doug Engelbart’s description of interactive networked computing as “thought vectors in concept space.” My experience at the NMC symposium let me see those vectors and inhabit that space. I could share (portray, enact) what I was seeing with others, and to some extent see it through their eyes as well. There’s something here I will be pondering for a long, long time. Virtual worlds are immersive not simply because they are convincing simulations of reality, though they can be, and not so much because they are lucid dreams, though they can be that too, and very powerfully. They’re immersive in particularly compelling ways because they are like comics, because they are like symbols or allegories in an animistic universe. And in this case, I found a way to think that I did not consider before I acted upon it. In the action, I found the insight. There was a physical change for me in the real world as I acted via an avatar in the virtual world, and the gesture I found was both idea and action, with insight the result.
It’s late and I don’t know how much any of the above will cohere, but it was such a powerful experience that I wanted to at least try to work through it as 2009 begins. My thanks to NMC for a great, mind-expanding symposium. Here’s to insight into insight, and a Happy New Year to all.
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Original post by Gardo
I’m watching late night television as I’m prone to do when on break from school, and I stumble onto this little gem ‘Deal or No Deal’. The basic premise is that the contestant picks a briefcase from 26 which has a dollar amount ranging from $1 to $1,000,000. The hope is that the chosen case has the one million dollar prize in it. Then the contestant and the host (Howie Mandel) begin to eliminate the other cases. Once the case is eliminated the dollar value inside the case is revealed, and of course the hope is that that all the lower dollar values are eliminated. Here’s the twist, after each round of case opening this creepy and intentionally not shown ‘Banker’ offers the contestant an amount of cash as an exchange for what could be in their case. And then Howie Mandel gets to ask “Deal or No Deal?” in this overly dramatic fashion while the audience shouts what to do.
Now, I’m sure there are a lot of things wrong with this show: Mandel’s awkward facial hair (A soulpatch, really? At your age? FAIL), the greed, the ridiculous models that hold the cases….BUT I found something so terribly redeeming about it when I watched on Christmas Eve.
I watched a woman who was in her late-twenties, married, and had six newborn children try for the one million dollars. I’m not at all a fan of the show or contrived “reality television” for that matter, but I found myself caught up in this woman’s attempt. I wouldn’t really say this happened until Howie asked her how she would spend the money.
Her eyes lit up. This woman explained that she wanted to pay off her and her husband’s student loans, she wanted to provide for her six newborns, that she just wanted to be able to take time off from work and be with them.
I totally fell for it. This woman has such simple, honest dreams. She wants to pay off her student loans, pay off her husband’s, be a stay at home mom and provide for her six kids. Oh “Deal or No Deal” you’ve roped me in, I am a total sucker. Maybe because I think of this show as a bunch of greedy, money grubbing people, or maybe because I think people on game shows in general are idiots–but I was surprised by her plans. I almost felt bad for what I would have done with the money. (In case your wondering I would never ever accept an offer from the bank! Fortune favors the brave! Plus, I don’t owe student loans or have six kids to feed, so I would risk everything. I would totally blow through that money and take my entire family and all my friends on the most ridiculous vacation known to man. And what would I do if there was money left over? Let me make this clear: There would be no money left over. )
It was a stroke of brilliance by the show’s producer to put on the feel-good-america’s-sweetheart-story for Christmas Eve. It made me think that there really are good, honest, hardworking people in the world. That there still are people who want to provide for others before their own selfish wants. It made me think that maybe everyone isn’t so rotten after all, that people really are as good as we all hope.
But seriously who told Howie Mandel that a soulpatch was a good idea? 
Original post by afsullivan
Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you’re getting fat and maybe it’s been raining too long, you’re just sad that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then - then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!
Holly Golightly is probably one of Capote’s most interesting characters. Well, to me anyways. I find Golightly terrifically complex and rich as a character; easy-going, fun loving, chic, extravagant, insecure, unsure….. And then she’s mysterious( platonic company for money..like what?) I totally dig the girl, and I totally connect with her too.
It’s a pretty undeniable fact of life that we all get the mean reds. These days I find myself getting the mean reds when I start thinking about graduating. And finding a job. And ugh paying bills? But mainly about growing up. Two very big words: Growing Up. It’s a wonderfully scary idea. All these things start to build up and my mind races a mile a minute. Next thing I know I’m afraid and scared and I have no idea how I worked myself up into such a frenzy.
And then beckoning me as a lighthouse to a ship, there it it: The Apple Store.
Oh god, just looking at it now gives me an odd peace with life. I was having one of my “Oh-my-god-the-real-world-is-coming” moments, the feeling of sheer panic and impending doom-when I walked into the Southpoint Apple store last week. To borrow from Ms. Golightly, the whole place calmed me down right away, the quietness and proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. Everything was clean, and bright, and well lit, sharply polished hardwood flooring and everyone wearing the same colored apple t-shirt. OH! Every polished surface brandishing that unmistakable apple…suddenly all is right in the world. In my world.
So armed with my newfound sense of renewal and self-reassurance, I walk across the pavilion and grab a soup and sandwich at Panera. I’m not big into breakfast foods(…honestly, does anyone really enjoy yogurt) or waking up before at least 9:30am, so its natural that my favorite meal is lunch. And then it hit me: All it takes to rid me of those mean reds is a late lunch at the apple store. If only I could find a ‘real-life’ place that makes me feel like the apple store- growing up might not be so bad…
Original post by afsullivan
I’m not someone who loves puns. I think….
It’s a very delicate balance for me. See I enjoy puns when I don’t expect them, when they take me by surprise, when they carefully flirt with being clever. I don’t enjoy puns when they simply play on words, or are trying to be cute or clever. Accidental versus Overt….
Case in point: A Lot of Cars
This is a prime example of a good pun. A Lot of Cars is a used auto dealer in the North end of Durham by Duke University. They have over 37 cars for sale(sounds like a large volume) and they’re all parked in a lot(…you might say a parking lot).
I won’t lie to you, I think this is brilliant. I’m laughing now even as I type this blog post. A Used Car dealer with a sense of humor?! These are the kind of people that I can respect. I wouldn’t know from personal experience, but I can imagine selling used cars in a largely Spanish and blue collar section of town to not be a laugh-a-minute type of job. That’s why this is so surprising. And funny. They’re not trying to be clever…
Or at least if they are, they’ve done it subtly and don’t expect to be congratulated for their wit.
And then we have DietTribe.
DietTribe is a new LifeTime network reality show that follows a group of five best friends in their collective struggle to lose weight and get fit. Hmmm, a group of friends(dare we say, a tribe?) and they’re all dieting(…dieting). But this really irks me, diettribe isn’t even a word! Thats ridiculous! A diatribe(which is a REAL word) is a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism…which does not sound like a group of friends losing weight. After a little research the word ’diettribe’ according to unword.com is an irate sermon or lecture on healthy eating. UNWORD.COM? Also ridiculous!
Ugh. Really? DietTribe? I’m not against people trying to get fit. But this is honestly the most worst pun. And given it refers to a reality television and the LifeTime network, I think the phrase “Worst Pun Ever” might be fitting… It’s so obvious and heavy handed. I can’t even appreciate it’s wit. It’s too cute and clever and I’m sure whoever thought this gem up is mighty proud of themselves. Eww. This is just so iconically the worst type of pun, and a pun for all the wrong reasons.
Thumbs up ‘A Lot of Cars’. Thumbs down ‘DietTribe’. Thumbs way down ‘Unword.com’
Original post by afsullivan
This post features primary sources of Russian and Soviet government agencies that have been translated into English.
If you know of other similar sources you would like to suggest for this post, please leave a comment with its bibliographical information.
(This post under construction … check back later.)
Original post by khrushchev
