Kindle Experiment Falls Flat at Princeton

in Amazon Kindle, e-books, Education | February 23rd, 2010

Last fall, Princeton launched a small experiment, replacing traditional textbooks with the Kindle DX, Amazon’s large e-book reader. Almost from the beginning, the 50 students participating in the pilot program expressed dissatisfaction with the devices. Yesterday, a university report offered some more definitive findings. On the upside, students using the Kindle DX ended up using far less paper. (Paper consumption was generally reduced by 54%.) On the downside, students complained that the Kindle was fundamentally “ill-suited for class readings.” As one student put it:

I expected it to be a really useful tool that would enhance my experience, but it has hindered my studies in a lot of different ways… I wasn’t able to absorb the material as well as if I had hard copies of the readings, and I had to deal with a lot of technical inconveniences just from the design of the Kindle.

For more, give the Daily Princetonian a read.

via @jryoung

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Jonathan Safran Foer on Eating

in Audio Books, Books, Literature | February 23rd, 2010

Note: You should be able to download Safran Foer’s new book for free (in audio format) through Audible.com’s no strings attached offer. Details here.

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MIT LED Helicopters: The Early Smart Pixels

in Science | February 22nd, 2010

Imagine a TV display that contains millions of “smart pixels” that can move into different places and reliably create 3D images? That’s what researchers at an MIT research lab are currently doing. But, in the absence of real smart pixels, they’re using “remotely controlled micro-helicopters that can be choreographed electronically to display shapes and images.” (Read more about this in Wired.) The clip above offers a two minute demo of the “Flyfire” project, showing the micro-helicopters in action…

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The Remixable Textbook

in e-books, Education | February 22nd, 2010

This morning, Macmillan announced a new kind of textbook — a remixable electronic textbook that will give professors, according the New York Times, the ability “to reorganize or delete chapters; upload course syllabuses, notes, videos, pictures and graphs; and perhaps most notably, rewrite or delete individual paragraphs, equations or illustrations.” Essentially, Macmillan provides the core text, and then professors get to customize the book to their liking. This remixing is a definite plus. But what’s even better? This new line of textbook, dubbed DynamicBooks, will reduce costs for students, bringing a book traditionally priced at $150 down to a much saner $47. Perfect for the lean years. For more details, read this longer piece in Publishers Weekly.

See our young and growing collection of Free Textbooks.

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Stanford Online Writing Courses – The Spring Lineup

in Education | February 22nd, 2010

A quick fyi: Starting this morning, Stanford Continuing Studies opened registration for its spring lineup of online writing courses. Offered in partnership with the Stanford Creative Writing Program (one of the most distinguished writing programs in the country), these online courses give beginning and advanced writers, no matter where they live, the chance to refine their craft with gifted writing instructors. As you will see, there are a couple of courses offered in conjunction with The New York Times. The idea here is that you’ll learn writing from a Stanford writing instructor and then get your work reviewed by a New York Times book critic/writer. Quite a perk. And the courses sell out quickly. For more information, click here, or separately check out the FAQ and the testimonials.

Caveat emptor: These classes are not free, and I helped set them up. So while I wholeheartedly believe in these courses, you can take my views with a grain of salt.

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Loudon Wainwright III Sings “The Krugman Blues”

in Business, Current Affairs, Economics | February 22nd, 2010

Loudon Wainwright III has released a new album, Songs for the New Depression, that fittingly features “The Krugman Blues,” an homage to the Princeton, Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, who has documented America’s economic spiral in The New York Times. You can watch the Krugman Blues above, and get the full album at Wainwright’s web site.

via The New Yorker

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When the Dalai Lama Meets the Neuroscientists

in Psychology, Religion, Science | February 21st, 2010

More and more, the Dalai Lama has been developing an interest in what modern science has to say about human emotion — or, more particularly, how neuroscience makes sense of meditation and compassion. Partly as a result, Stanford University has launched The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, which is delving deeper into these questions. The clip above features Daniel Goleman, the bestselling science journalist (Emotional Intelligence and Destructive Emotions), talking about the Dalai Lama’s work on this front. You can find the full conversation with Goleman at Bigthink.com, a good resource for thought-provoking video.

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Classical Bits

in Music | February 21st, 2010

A few resources for classical music lovers. They come recommended by Robert B, one of our faithful readers.

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