Feel-Bad Education

A New Kind of Puzzle

I've always loved puzzles of any kind. Recently I've been doing lots of knitting and when a friend found out that I can knit socks, he brought me this sample slipper and asked if I might be able to make one like it. A knitting puzzle seemed a challenge that might be satisfying to attempt.

I looked the slipper over and seeing that it is similar in many respects to the socks I've been knitting (42 pair of socks knit since last October) told him I thought I might be able to do that. I asked him if I could keep the slipper as a point of reference, and he reluctantly let me keep it after I promised to take very good care of it. (It's old with a lot of sentimental value attached to it.) Searching for a pattern online proved fruitless, so I sat down with the slipper making notes about how I might go about replicating it. How many stitches? What kind of yarn? What size needle? What kind of heel? What is that toe style? These were just a few of the pieces of the puzzle. After much trial and error and a LOT of ripping or frogging, making notes as I went, I finally came up with a reasonable facsimile:




And here they are together.



Now I need to word process up the pattern, make a few little tweaks by knitting it again once or twice. (Pairs, of course, so the time won't be wasted.) I want to get the depth of the foot just a tiny bit narrower. I should be able to accomplish that by either dropping a needle size, or by knitting a couple of stitches together to decrease the number of rows around.

Along the way to solving the puzzle to make my friend some slippers for his mother like the ones made by his grandmother, I learned how to turn a Dutch heel and to finish a modified French toe. There was a lot of satisfaction in solving this slipper knitting puzzle as well as more than a little learning.

DIY Stylus

Health Care?

Seven months after our health insurance plan changed, we got the paper work required for it (not including the forms we now have to file for reimbursement ourselves)-- a little more than two pounds of paperwork! I think this will give paper pushers employment, but all it does for our stress level at work is increase it. All this paperwork is part of the problem that needs fixing and why health care is so expensive.




Aspirin, anyone, for the headache ahead as we have to read all this before signing it? And for the headache rerun when we have to do it all over again in January?

The State of the Internet - an Infographic

Online Schools has put together an interactive infographic on the state of the internet. It's hard to comprehend the immensity of it all, but this helps.


Created by: Online Schools

Summer Fun with Pets

This video has the best recipe for a skunk rinse for pets should your pet have an unfortunate encounter with the black and white striped critters. We've had occasion to use it in the past and it works very well, much better than the tomato juice that seems to be a common solution to the problem.



If you don't want to watch the video, the recipe is: 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, 2 teaspoons Dawn dish washing liquid. Mix the ingredients in a one quart pail and apply to the dry pet from the collar back, avoiding the eyes as the peroxide will sting. If you need to use it in the face, use a sponge to carefully apply. Lather the pet and let it stay on until you notice the smell is abating. Rinse and repeat if necessary up to three times. The sooner after the skunk has sprayed that you can apply it, the better. It's good to have the ingredients on hand in your cupboard.

Learning in a MOOC

The Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield welcomes you to a Massive Open Online Class (MOOC) on “Online Learning Today...and Tomorrow.” It will begin June 27, 2011 and run for eight weeks. It is totally open, free, and collaborative. It can be totally asynchronous, or those attending can join in weekly panel discussions with experts in various aspects of the topic. This is an active and growing resource and networking center on the topic of "Online Learning Today, and Tomorrow." You will have the opportunity to meet many people around the world who share your interest in this topic.


You are invited to register at https://sites.google.com/site/edumooc/home with only your name and email address so you can be given access to all materials, panels and discussions. You can begin building your own personal learning network on the topic. We will use this information to register you in a Google Group (edumooc) which will allow you to enter into discussions and - if you so designate - to receive a listserv of postings. We will not use this information for advertising or promotion of any kind.

Eight topics have been chosen - one for each week. You will see the schedule for those topics below. A Web page is linked below and in the left navigation column for each topic - those pages include details about the topic for each week, including links to about 20 timely resources including articles, Websites, Twitter hashtags, blogs, wikis and more that are relevant to the topic of the week. On Thursday of each of the weeks a live one hour Webinar panel discussion will be held with experts on the topic of the week. The session URL will be available to all who register, and Webinar panel sessions will be open to the first one hundred participants who may ask questions; the session will be recorded and be made available online for those who wish to view later.


Google Group
Those registering for the course - see the short form in the right column above - will be enrolled in Google Group "Edumooc" where threaded discussions will be held. This is where networking will begin among those attending the MOOC. If you choose, you will be able to receive updates via email through the group settings.


Twitter
We will use the #edumooc hashtag for tweets regarding the MOOC. You will see those displayed in the gadget on this page. We encourage tweeting and Twitter discussions.


Contribute Resources to This Site
You are encouraged to browse those sites and to add sites in Diigo. We will transfer the new Diigo sites to the appropriate list on a daily basis. Please use the "edumooc" tag if you would like your selected sites to be transferred to the topic Webpage.