Fun & Exciting Stuff

Every year, Beloit College posts its list of what the freshman class of that year, in this case 2011, doesn’t recognize. For example, the class of 2011 was born in 1989, so they do not know about the Berlin Wall. It is always a big deal in education circles and I am sure you can do a Google search and find hundreds of other blogs posting about it.

Other examples from the list:

They never “rolled down” a car window.
Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.
…
They have grown up with bottled water.

But I have also found this list. Kids born in 2007 will be members of the class of 2029. Some of it is risque as my mother would say.

Role-playing games have always been played on the Internet. What’s a 20-sided die?
All TVs are “high definition.”
They’ve never had to pull over for directions.
Cafes have always been a place to work on a laptop.
The “dot-com bust” means as much to them as the Great Depression.
Ipods have always come with a phone.
Global warming has always been a major voter issue, and Republicans have always acknowledged it.
Vice presidents have never been useless.
Quarters have never all looked the same.
Abe Vigoda is still alive.

I am sure “Fish” will always live on.

Something Awful has this interesting new use for Wikipedia. They call it Wikigroaning:

The premise is quite simple. First, find a useful Wikipedia article that normal people might read. For example, the article called “Knight.” Then, find a somehow similar article that is longer, but at the same time, useless to a very large fraction of the population. In this case, we’ll go with “Jedi Knight.” Open both of the links and compare the lengths of the two articles. Compare not only that, but how well concepts are explored, and the greater professionalism with which the longer article was likely created.

Some of their other examples:
Modern warfare vs. Lightsaber combat
Lizards vs. Dragons
John Locke vs. John Locke (Lost)

My theory is that a college professor/expert on the real world subject, is writing an actual book rather than a Wikipedia article. Publishing is more influential today than Web 2.0 publishing. Meanwhile someone who is an “expert” on cultural issues and topics is more likely to have the time to spend on the Internet.

I put this in my feed reader and it is great little site. The Quotations Page.
Quote of the day:

Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together….

- Carl Zwanzig