Worthy Mouse Clicks

StoryCorps

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. Since 2003, thousands have taken part in the StoryCorps oral history project, describing their lives and history. Listen to a few and then decide whether to subscribe and/or record your own:

IN THIS SERIES

A Transformative Moment Sparks Change of Life

February 22, 2008 · After leaving the Marines, George Hill became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and found himself on the streets of Los Angeles. But a handful of change from a fellow homeless man sent Hill on the path to recovery and joy.

A Valentine’s Romance That’s Lasted 40 Years

February 15, 2008 · Peter Vincelli and Mary Beinert were high school sweethearts in Brooklyn in the 1960s. They fell in love when they met 40 years ago this week — on Valentine’s Day. He says it was love at first sight. She says it was love at first kiss.

Father Finds Peace in Forgiveness

February 8, 2008 · After Hector Black’s daughter was murdered seven years ago, all he could think about was revenge. But after learning about the killer’s troubled background, Black asked authorities to spare his life.

A Sisterhood Evolves from Hate to Love

February 1, 2008 · During their childhood, Melissa Wilbur and Janaki Symon’s relationship was marked by bitterness and jealousy. But an unexpected sign of affection finally brought the sisters closer.

Collecting More Than an Obsession for New Yorker

January 25, 2008 · Harley Spiller has about a million objects crammed into his small apartment, including a world-record 10,000 Chinese takeout menus. He also collects bottle caps, packs of gum, and other odds and ends. He thinks he’s got his hobby under control.

A Long Life of Love and Wonder

January 18, 2008 · Anna and Joseph Wise, childhood sweethearts, were married for nearly six decades. Now 96, she has outlived him for 16 years and wonders how “you get through almost anything.”

After Disaster, a Survivor Sheds Her Regrets

January 11, 2008 · Martha Conant was one of a handful of people to walk away unscathed from the crash-landing of a United Airlines flight near Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989. The experience left her with feelings of great responsibility, and immense gratitude.

Discovering a Mother’s Hidden Talent

January 4, 2008 · One day when she was in kindergarten, Cynthia Rahn realized she had forgotten to do an assignment. All hope seemed lost — until she made an unbelievable discovery on the kitchen table the next morning. What she found there revealed her mother’s secret talent.

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Love Story, Interrupted

December 28, 2007 · Cindy White met Dan Driggers, the love of her life, in August 1990. Six weeks later, she learned that she was HIV positive. “I don’t believe I’m here because of anything less than his love for me,” Cindy says.

Mother’s Magic: Stretching a Christmas Dollar

December 21, 2007 · When Carrie Conley’s husband left in the early 1960s, she started raising six children on her own. Even after getting a job at a hospital, Conley often asked herself a question: “Lord, what am I going to do with all these kids, by myself?”

Games for Social Change: How games and video are playing well together

That was the title of a panel I attended tonight at A.U. It questioned how online games are mobilizing audiences around social issues? The panel explored how video games can double as tools for conflict resolution, and maybe even save the environment!

Here are a few examples:

PeaceMaker

challenges you to succeed as a leader where others have failed. Experience the joy of bringing peace to the Middle East or the agony of plunging the region into disaster. PeaceMaker will test your skills, assumptions and prior knowledge. Play it and you will never read the news the same way again.

http://www.peacemakergame.com/

In February they are launching a closed beta of its new online product: “Play the News”, imagine if you will Fantasy Sports meets the Evening News. As a player you can choose your role and participate in a variety of real events: domestic, global, serious news as well as softer issues and entertainment. You can gain a deeper understanding of the day’s headlines while voicing your opinion. You will be measured vs. reality as well as against the performance of other community members.

FOOD FORCE

This PDF provides a summary of the Food Force project and outlines the game’s six missions.
Download food-force-flier-front.pdf (96k)
Download food-force-flier-back.pdf (75k)

ICED
Breakthrough’s video game, (COMING SOON) puts you in the shoes of an immigrant to illustrate how unfair immigration laws deny due process and violate human rights. These laws affect all immigrants: legal residents, those fleeing persecution, students and undocumented people. Learn about the issue here.

Columbine

http://www.columbinegame.com/
A new documentary about opposition to Columbine Game:
http://www.playingcolumbine.com/
http://www.playingcolumbine.com/promo/PC30sec.mp4

Project Vote Smart (get the facts!!!)

At Project Vote Smart, Americans young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort to provide their fellow citizens with comprehensive and accurate information about candidates and politicians.

Every candidate and elected official from President to local government can be easily and instantly accessed through the:

• Vote Smart’s Website: www.vote-smart.org

Voter’s Research Hotline: 1-888-VOTE-SMART (1-888-868-3762)

Voting Records — Compare what your representatives said during the campaign with how they actually voted on the record.

Biographical & Contact Information — From their previous professions, education, families, organizational membership to their latest e-mail address, we gather it all.

Issue Positions (Political Courage Test) — We test thousands of candidates for President, Congress, Governor and State Legislature with our Political Courage Test. The test accurately measures a candidate’s willingness to provide voters with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected to represent you.

Interest Group Ratings — Over 150 competing special interest groups, from conservative to liberal, evaluate your representatives. Look at what they say.

Public Statements — The Project constantly collects speeches and public comments of the president, governors, and congressional representatives. Just type in a word, say; ‘immigration’ and all public utterances containing the word ‘immigration’ will appear. Compare what they said while campaigning in California a few years ago to what they are saying now in New Hampshire.

Campaign Finances — How much money did your representatives raise and from whom? Just follow the money and then follow the votes.

TED Talks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

This site makes available the best talks and performances from TED free. Almost 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.

Wild Chronicles

Free Podcasts fron National Geographic

Shark video podcast

Shark Warnings

Take a dive into the world’s oceans with Wild Chronicles. A team of
oceanographers is issuing an important warning. Not a warning that we
should fear for our safety, but for the safety of one the deep blue
sea’s most deadly creatures…Sharks.

Tracking Philippine Eagles

Wild Chronicles flies to the Philippines where a group of
conservationists are tracking a powerful and majestic predator on the
edge of extinction.

Play Now (requires QuickTime)

Saving Florida’s Black Bears

Beachfront homes and sunny weather make up a picture-perfect image of
Florida. So where do the bears fit in? Florida is still home to a
variety of wild animals, but increasing development may be carving up
their habitats quickly. Wild Chronicles follows a group of
conservationists and ranchers as they work together to make room for
Florida’s native black bears.

Play Now (requires QuickTime)

Herring Hazards

Wild Chronicles dives into a big fish story. While the fish themselves
may not be large in size, a herring’s importance as a source of food in
the ocean is bigger than people know. Conservationists fear fishermen
may be depleting this marine resource and hope they can do something
about it.

Play Now (requires QuickTime)

Lost World Rescue

Wild Chronicles ventures to the jungles of Guyana–deep into the
jungles of Guyana with an intrepid band of National Geographic
scientists. Their mission is to collect and document the fascinating
plants and animals that survive in this extreme wilderness. In a
dangerous turn of events, their own survival hangs in the balance.

"Off to War” 4 DVD miniseries documentary

“Off to War” is a great documentary following a National Guard Unit
through their tour in Iraq.

What sets “Off to War” different from other war documentaries is
the self told thoughts and stories of these men. Instead of the
narrator explaining to the viewer what’s happening, they allow the
soldiers to do it themselves. Which allows for a first person
account of what’s happening to these men. The movie also covers the home front and
how the wives, children, parents, and siblings have to deal with their
loved ones being over seas. It’s the closest you’re going to
get to experiencing a tour of duty in Iraq without actually serving.

Short videos worth checking out

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/shortsfest/index.html

Funny: http://blip.tv/file/520347

iTunes U: the campus that never sleep

iTunes U has arrived, giving higher education institutions an ingenious way to
distribute audio and video content. Presentations,
performances, lectures, demonstrations, debates, tours, archival
footage…

Designed to be completely intuitive, iTunes U is based on the iTunes Store,
where millions of people already get their music, movies, and TV shows.
Now there’s an area of the iTunes Store devoted entirely to education,
where it’s easy to search thousands of audio and video files from
schools across the country. It’s for anytime and
anyplace you’ve got a Mac, a PC, or an iPod.

Already, more than half of the nation’s top 500 schools use it to
distribute their digital content.

It’s free, you just need to download and install itunes software (also free)

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/