PBS LearningMedia is a very cool website partnership between PBS and WGBH Boston. They’re taking free PBS media content and adding a great discovery and filtering layer on the web that allows educators (or anyone, for that matter) to find compelling assets to compliment or supplement academic learning.
From the Google Chrome Experiments comes 100,000 Stars, a virtual tour of our Milky Way galaxy. This is one of the most awe-inspiring experiences I’ve ever had with a web browser. Go play and wonder. >> 100,000 Stars | Chrome Experiments
This video is brilliant. Its video and audio reinforce each other, its content engages, and it makes you smile. Plus it’s genius marketing for a book. By the time it’s over, I want to go out and buy “Where Good Ideas Come From.”
Just tried this “cloud art” using Wordle–a self-proclamied “toy for generating ‘word clouds’ from text that you provide.” You can pipe in your website URL, or paste in any text. Then you have a bunch of cool control over design, layout, color, and more. Here’s one of the pictures it made for SalvoLavis.com:
Thanks, Wikipedia! This is really useful:
From the cool “Information is Beautiful” blog, they present the The Hierarchy Of Digital Distractions:
I was just watching a TV special on the Hubble Space Telescope, which has proved immensely useful to scientific research. Then started reading more about the next generation, the James Webb Space Telescope. Seems really cool. Fun if you’re into physics, astronomy, space, or just plain old discovery.
Bill Gates has funded a project at Microsoft Research to provide classic lectures in physics for free online. Some of the famous Feynman Lectures are presented with searchable video, embedded information, and educational resources. Check it out at Project Tuva.
Awesome video of Post-It notes in stop motion: (Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the link)
kuler, from Adobe, is a fun way to experiment with color and design online. Make custom color swatches, create or browse color schemes, or just play around.