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Yeah, this game nominally involves shooting aliens, but it is still great for typing practice! Everyone I’ve shown this too seemed to like it, so with any luck you will too. My high scores stink so I’m not telling.
As creatures approach, you need the correctly type the word underneath to, uh, neutralize them. Perfect for a few minutes of playing around and learning about games.
This weekend at the conference I got to spend some quality time with Jessamyn. Not only did we share one of the best wifi experiences I’ve ever had, but she also turned me on to a Firefox extension I’m wild about: CustomizeGoogle. If you haven’t explored the world of extensions for Firefox (you *are* using Firefox, right?), they are little add-ons that can make the browser even more functional. Here’s a list of “The Firefox Hacks You Must Have” from Wired.
Back to CustomizeGoogle. This little guy removes Google ads from search results, gmail, gcal, and other apps in the Google suite. We’ve all become good at ignoring these ads, but the pages are much easier to look at without the extra clutter. One other nifty thing it can do (among a bunch of other stuff) is add links to other search tools to the top of a Google search.
CustomizeGoogle might be useful for school librarians and teachers that want to get students using these tools (because they are free, or to expose them to the latest and greatest) but don’t necessarily care for making those ads part of the curriculum. Then again, is preventing students from seeing real world ads not preparing them for real world web surfing? Is taking the google ads off of a public access computer in a public library censorship?
I don’t have the answers to those questions, but CustomizeGoogle is still a great way to filter your own internet experience!
The Hawaiian Library Association isn’t a huge organization, but what it lacks in numbers it makes up for in enthusiasm. Especially the student members! They seemed very eager, willing, and able to make great contributions to the field.
The conference had many techie presentations, but what impressed me most was the evening session of the first day – the “Second Annual HLA Anime Fest.” With such a large Japanese population, I imagine that manga and anime is in really high demand over there, so this session was entertaining and educational on a practical level. During the session, it struck me that actually sitting down to watch some anime is so much more effective than listening someone talk about it. Plus, how can you beat freshly popped popcorn, candy, and drinks? The group watched Hikaru no Go (yes, a cartoon about Japanese chess), Bleach (not yet released in the US), and Azumanga Daioh (very cute and funny).
For reports on the tech stuff at the conference, check out Moving at the Speed of Creativity written by conference presenter Wes Fryer. He’s one sharp guy and there’s all sorts of great education stuff on his site.
