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Day 1066: Battle of Hastings

11/30/2016

And so it was that in 1066, William the Conquer, a Norman, of France invaded England and brought the Old English Anglo-Saxon era to an end. Since then, the languages of English and France merged to form Middle English which eventually became Modern English after the War of the Roses and the end of the Middle Ages. At least that's how the story goes. What I noticed a long time ago is that, especially with these big events from thousands of years ago, it's less about what happened and more about a) what happened after and b) the gist of the story. It's hardly as though all of Old English was immediately gone after the Battle of Hastings, but it still stands the single change in the entire wave of history. Similarly, my students have recently been "learning" about the different social classes of the Middle Ages. I use the quotation marks because I know well that most of what I'm teaching is at best an exaggeration...and at worst a lie.

They say history is written by the victors, and that's definitely true, but it's also written by the lazy...and hundreds of years later. I'm quite curious to hear how our history will be condensed into a few short battles, inventions, or rulers hundreds of years from now...

Day 1065: Still No Gender Gap

11/28/2016

I wrote the following entry back in 2014, but it remains true to this day: Any time I talk to people Gamification or the 3D GameLab, one of the first questions I always get is "do girls buy-in?" It's a natural question as the stereotypical "gamer" is usually thought to be male, and the vast majority of games seem slanted towards male-dominated plots and lead characters. The concern is that by "gamifying" a course, a teacher may actually make the course less-desirable towards women because the game-based tropes will discourage thinking. While I've never found this to be an issue, I can declare today there is indeed a gender gap: The women are winning.

With just two days to go in the quarter, the Leaderboard is lit up with female students. Women make up nine of the top ten spots, and thirteen of the top twenty. This is pretty consistent with what I had last year when women usually took up seven of the top ten leaderboard spaces. Despite initial fears, it seems Gamification not only work for everyone, but works better for female students despite the game elements. Why is this?

To be fair, this is a small sample size and there's lots of variables in play (personal background, personal goals, individual personality, extra-curricular schedules, etc) not to mention that English has always been dominated by female students while the male students excel in the maths and sciences. That being said, if you ask me (and no one has) I think one reason we see female students excelling in the Gamification is because Gamification is ultimately all about autonomy. The points, badges, levels, and ranks are fun and all, but really, the whole point is that it allows students to take personal responsibility, solve their own problems, and adapt when presented with challenges. If one is to believe the Wife of Bath's Tale, what women most want is control...and Gamification gives it to them. The thin game-structure may be a slight deterrent, but it's clearly overwhelmed by the desire for autonomy.

Will this trend continue all year? Will it even survive into the second quarter? For the past three years, the answer has been "yes". Let's hope the gender gap closes...though the young men will have to step it up.

Day 1064: Fantastic Beasts

11/28/2016

I went to see the new Harry Potter movie last night. Well, I shouldn't say Harry Potter, because he wasn't in the film at all, but it was said in the same universe. The movie was Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

Going into the movie, I was a bit skeptical. I figured that the movie would feel very much like a spin off in a pale shadow or comparison to the original. I'm happy to say...that I was completely accurate. It's not the movie was bad, but that there was nothing there. It was a series of pieces, a series of events, but no strong narrative on its own. While I remember the main characters' name (Newt), the rest have instantly left my memory and the main characters seemed secondary to the films plot. But hey, as a one-off spin-off, it was fine.

Until I found out it was somehow designed as the first of FIVE films! But I suppose, with Marvel and D.C. and Star Wars, were living in a world of "film universes" now. It's as though movies have become television...and the days of a real, solid, strong film have disappeared.

Of course, it's more likely that movies have always been a little silly. Just look at the ridiculous film noir movies from the 1930s, the 1980s action films, or the children-play-professional-baseball series from the the 90s. Every decade has its own twist; I suppose "film universes" is ours.

Day 1063: Where'd That Day Go?

11/27/2016

I had no plans today; which was exciting...until the whole day got sucked up with dumb stuff. Between picking bagels, and running, and grocery shopping, and shampooing the carpets, and picking up Chipotle, and seeing a late-night movie...suddenly the day was full, and gone, and it's practically Monday already. But hey, maybe this is much more of a real day than having a big event or intentionally wasting time. Time stolen vs. Time wasted sometimes is much more productive.

Day 1062: The Big Game

11/26/2016

I spent the day watching The Big Game. Not a game I cared about, but a game everyone else seemed to care about so I, vicariously, jumped on board. To be honest...it was much more fun than a game that I actually did care about. There were no nerves, no depression, and no stress as the game played on. Thankfully, the right team won...which didn't matter to me, but thankfully it meant the rest of the party was happy as well.

Sadly, that's about all to report today. Two days to go until it's back to work...

Day 1061: Lack Friday?

11/25/2016

While I'm never one to lose any sleep on the day after Thanksgiving, I always enjoy heading out to the mall on Black Friday. Maybe it's the energy of the crowd (or the fact that everyone is stressed but I'm not), or the fact that I can usually find a few decent deals for myself, but it's always been a fun way to wrap up Thanksgiving and kick off the long weekend. Today though, as I walked around the Mall at Robinson, I couldn't really find anything. There were a bunch of people there, sure, but not much on sale, not much chaos, and not much different than a typical busy shopping day. I have to wonder...is Black Friday over?

This isn't the first year I've thought this...it's been clear that as the deals have moved from 6am on Black Friday to midnight on Thanksgiving, to 6pm on Thanksgiving day that the diffusion of times was wearing away the singular "Black Friday" concept. Additionally, with the ever increasing ease of buying most gifts online, it's no secret that shopping in physical stores has been on the decline for years. Still, this is the first year that I walked away from Black Friday with nothing. Has the day finally disappeared?

Of course, I'm sure there's many counterexamples to my story, and I'm sure there's a dozen videos online of fights that happened over second-rate TVs at Wal-Mart. Still, it'll be disappointing if the day really is gone. Christmas was fun more than once a year.

Day 1060: Thanksgiving Returns

11/25/2016

It's Thanksgiving which means you shouldn't be spending time away from your family reading my blog. Come to think of it, I shouldn't be spending time away from my family writing my blog. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll save all my reflections on the Turkey Trot, Thanksgiving-Halo-Effect, and forced family time for another day.

Until then....

Day 1059: Break!

11/23/2016

It's the last day before Thanksgiving break! The year is officially 1/3 of the way over, the house is cleaned, and it's time to kick back for a few days. As a result, this is a short blog entry. See you later!

Day 1058: "Founding Partners"

11/22/2016

Yesterday, I was able to take in the Penguins game at the newly named "PPG Paints Arena". It's not my first time there since the name change, but it was the first time I looked up and noticed another small change at the top of the Arena. Along the upper wall, there's a "wall of fame" if you will, featuring the "Founding Members" of what was originally Consol Energy Center. I remember when the Center opened, there were around 6-8 companies who had their names and logo atop the ice-rink, signally that they were there from the very beginning. American Eagle, 84 Lumber, Dick's Sporting Goods, and of Consol Energy were just a few involved.

But yesterday, when I looked up, I noticed that not only had new companies and logos been added to the Founding Partners banner, but some of the actual founding partners had been removed! Obviously Consol Energy was gone, but also First Niagara (now Key Bank) and American Eagle were nowhere to be found. While I'm not a patron of any of these companies, nor do I plan to be, I found it very funny, and a little disappointing to see history changed like that. I supposed I had hoped the Founding Partners were stay consistent and eventually, years from now, we could look up and laugh at the how "old" some of the companies and logos look now. It would be like a time capsule from Areana's beginning. But sadly, it's now just an "Advertisers of the Week" display.

The purging of history didn't stop with just the signs, however. I also noticed that with the team's shift back to Pittsburgh Gold this year, nearly every mention and reference to the Vegas Gold days of 2002-2016 have been purged from the highlight reels. Aside from a few Stanley Cup hoisting shots, nearly every clip in the pre-game show was from the 1980's and early 90's, or from games in the last two years when the team wore it's Pittsburgh Gold jerseys. It's as though history has again been wiped and the robo Penguin of the mid-90s and the Vegas Gold days are lost to history. (To be fair, I think their current jerseys are the best they've had...but I still like to see the team acknowledge its own history).

I suppose, however, the biggest danger to this type of corporate involvement, not only in hockey but anything, is that it's a war with the competition. While the patrons might enjoy some nostalgia, the companies are all about the present and future. As a result, if it's not currently contractual, or meeting the interests of the paying companies, well....it's like it never happened at all. Hopefully someone has a picture of the original "Founding Partners" banner somewhere. It'll be interesting to see just how many versions they go through before we're on to the next Arena.

Day 1057: Heinz N'at

11/21/2016

Living in Pittsburgh, the number 57 has special significance. After all, it's the number of Heinz! Of course, I have no idea what it actually means. Does Heinz have 57 products? Do they have 57 flavors of ketchup? I'm really only aware of their ketchup, mustard, relish, and perhaps some varieties of BBQ sauce. I'm told they make or used to make pickles as well...but none of that even comes close to 57.

In truth, even though the number 57 (taken from today's blog entry day number) is signifiant, it's a bit of an anachronism to me. It's something which used to be important and have meaning, but has long since lost its value. Much like the floppy disk icon for "save" in MS Word, or the expression "like a broken record", it's one of those things that people still understand, but no one really lives anymore. The real question is...when does it switch over to the point that no one even understands or uses these phrases or symbols anymore? How many of these ideas will pass into eternal use (like ring around the rosy) and how many will fall away and be forgotten (like "you're the cats!"). I'll be interested to see where phrases like Heinz (n'at) go once their original meaning has long since died off...