• A simple educational philosophy that works | The Distributed Republic
• Gamasutra - From God To Cock: Mike Wilson On GameCock’s Publishing Party
  A different model for publishing in the game industry.
• Bill Nye infuriates Religious Right with anti-moonshine - The Carpetbagger Report
  “Now if only more fundamentalists had the gumption to tackle two other sacred cows of science: that the Earth moves and that it is a sphere.”

Are Your Jeans Sagging? Go Directly to Jail. - New York Times

Seriously? This is the most important thing on the legislative agenda in Louisiana? “The style carries a fine of as much as $500 or up to a six-month sentence.” That is downright infuriating.

“Critics say [the style] is worn as a badge of delinquency, with its distinctive walk conveying thuggish swagger and a disrespect for authority.” What better way to help these young people develop respect for authority than by locking them in prison for wearing their pants the way they want?

Also: “The National Basketball Association now stipulates that no sports apparel, sunglasses, headgear, exposed chains or medallions may be worn at league-sponsored events.” No sports apparel may be worn at league events? Presumably that excludes the actual basketball games.

• Your Ad Here, on My S.U.V.? And You’ll Pay? - New York Times

Crooked Timber » Suspicious timing

So, was Gonzales’ resignation yesterday specifically timed to happen just as the Daily Show started a two week hiatus?

Was wondering that myself.

• Orlando Sentinel - Florida Virtual School is 10 years old: Any anniversary thoughts?
  One of the educational games I’m working on is for FLVS.
• Petzold - And Just How Important Are Teachers?

Self-Learning | The Distributed Republic

# Not only do kids not need teachers to figure out computers, kids don’t need teachers for much at all.
# Kids are voracious learners; it’s in their nature. Schools stifle this natural instinct by turning them into passive receptacles instead of active searchers.

Craig Hunter: iPhone web app development has its limitations

It has become clear to me that the web app path is very limiting, mostly because Apple has not actively expanded our capabilities much beyond creating generic web apps. At this stage, there is just not a lot about developing web apps for the iPhone that is iPhone-specific or iPhone-optimized.

I would guess that Apple is working on a top secret iPhone dev platform to compete with Silverlight and AIR. The only reason I could imagine they might not do that is if they are planning on just licensing AIR for the iPhone at some point in the future.

• $100 bill to get high-tech face lift — OrlandoSentinel.com
• The “Fair Tax” Dismantled
  The “Fair Tax” seems to have quite a following in central Florida, based on the number of bumper stickers I see.

Holding a Program in One’s Head

A good programmer working intensively on his own code can hold it in his mind the way a mathematician holds a problem he’s working on. Mathematicians don’t answer questions by working them out on paper the way schoolchildren are taught to. They do more in their heads: they try to understand a problem space well enough that they can walk around it the way you can walk around the memory of the house you grew up in. At its best programming is the same. You hold the whole program in your head, and you can manipulate it at will.

• Bioshock | Gamers With Jobs
  Really good review of BioShock