Month: July 2009

Categories
Mombasa

A Song is a Safari

Here are the official lyrics, typos and all, for the video of the poem that many of you asked about.

Journey by James Carter starts like so:

A poem is a journey
That starts off in your head
A word, a phrase, a thought you’ve had
Or something that you’ve read.

And this is where the video starts with the girls.  The boys and girls alternate every stanza:

    A poem is a journey
      Not by river, road or rail
    Or beaten track, or busy street
    Or lonely mountain trail.

A poem is a journey
To many other worlds
However far your travels are
They’re measured out in words

    A poem is a journey
    For which there is no map
    No signpost or directions-
    Who knows where you’ll end up ?

A poem is a journey
To loose and find yourself
To go somewhere, to stay right here
To be somebody else

    A poem is a journey
    To places far and strange
    There’s only one thing that’s for sure-
    You won’t come back the same.

Here’s the link to the video again if you want to open it in another window and try to follow along.  One of these days I’ll do a cool subtitled video for you all, but I’m too busy right now preparing English and Math exams for the woodshop students.  Please note that the poem is signed word-for-word, and this not how anyone here signs in conversation.  I believe its a requirement of the music festival they’re practicing for, due to some sort of bureaucratic requirement that the performance follow the English text perfectly.

Categories
Mombasa

I just finished FUZOMA 1.3!

I’ve updated my page on educational software accordingly.

I tried in this version to address the most common question about FUZOMA: “Why do I need to make a floppy disk just to use it?”

So, starting with version 1.3, the FUZOMA page also has instructions and downloads for making bootable CDs, USB sticks, and good-old fashioned hard drive installs.  This is pretty significant, as it makes the software much more accessible to all sorts of computers, from 486s to MacBook Pros.  I’m not aware of any other educational software project that can make such a claim.

I did create a problem for myself with this version, though.  As I found and added better math activities, I ended up with 29 activities total, but there are only 27 icons on FUZOMA’s menu.  I never thought I’d run into this problem… 29 activities that fit on a floppy disk!  I refuse to make a confusing multi-layer menu for the kids.  To address this, I made 2 of them “bonus” activities, meaning that they launch only after you play some other more educational activity first.

The most popular bonus activity by far is Super Worms 3D Racing, which lets two kids get on each computer and race against each other.  It’s cute enough for the girls to like it and the boys will like anything that lets them shoot each other.  The kids can only play the bonus game if they first solve math problems in Super Worms Math Arena.  Both programs are courtesy of Wiering Software, who also sells an improved version of the racing game.  Mike Wiering was kind enough to modify Math Arena to make the “Bonus Activity” concept work so well and to provide a smaller version of 3D Racing that takes up less room on a floppy disk.

The kids love the split screen action (and they tolerate the math required to get to it)!  Check out the pics:

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Categories
Mombasa

It’s raining cats and millipedes!

Rainy season continues here, and it’s great.  I sometimes even turn the fan off in the house.  The rain, though, brings with it animals.

The giant millipedes come around more when it rains.  It seems to put them into “reproductive mode,” as I seem them in pairs far more often (and then I see baby millipedes not long after).  The kids think they’re gross and try to squash them.

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I’m still unsure what to name the cat, but that doesn’t stop him/her from coming inside when it rains and enjoying the dried fish I leave on the ground.

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