James Pynn
In Space No One Can Hear You Clean
No one can hear you clean — in space. Well, given that the laws of gravity are what they are, I imagine as much is true. So went the tagline for incredibly successful WALL-E. This touching story of a robot who manages to teach humanity about what it means to be human become one of the most acclaimed films ever produced by Pixar and Disney.
Move the Cursor to Learn
Are today’s kids smarter than us? Are today’s toddlers learning more in their (literal) short years than we ever learned in our entire Gen X childhood? When I was but a lad, my reading skills were so abysmal I was relegated to the “yellow” group. This was the group chopped-full of slow, remedial readers, like me. Why yellow? I have no idea, but it stuck and I still seethe with rage. Being labeled as “slow” is something a child (or adult) doesn’t forget. It’s a stigma — it’s one you carry with you throughout your academic career. Sure it was a logical way to divide the kids to accommodate different reading levels and make the most of the time allotted, but once that label is placed on a childs fragile, eggshell mind — it sticks.
