IN WHICH people dress up in blue paint and run around half-naked (and no, we don't mean Saturday nights at Briana's house), and free educational content is celebrated.
Briana's pick: Avatar LARPing
Avatar. Sighhhhhhhhhh. The most over hyped, overrated film in the history of the universe has inspired a group of folks up in Wisconsin to start their own Avatar-themed LARP community. If you don’t know what LARP (Live Action Role Play) is all about, check out the very first edition of Down and Nerdy, then go rent the documentary film “Darkon.” Although this Live “Avatar” Role Play video is a parody, it’s well done and probably very much like something happening in backyards, parks, and various wooded areas all over the world right now. Or you know, at a Palestinian protest on the West Bank.
James' pick: iTunes U
OK, so I'm kinda late to this game, but I just recently got an iPhone. And one of the things that does is it makes you download and use iTunes.
And iTunes is amazing, if for no other reason than iTunes U, which is this really easy-to-use way to browse tons of free educational content for downloading – audio lectures, video lectures, recorded interviews. And it interfaces with big-name universities like Oxford and Cambridge – and did I mention it's all free?
Really, really great stuff, and you don't need an iPhone or iPod to enjoy – just download iTunes and you can listen to and watch all of this stuff on your computer. Click on the Store, then look for the iTunes U tab at the top. I've attached this beautiful illustration to help you find it.
[podcast]http://archive.wfpk.org/Podcasts/20100219-nerdy.mp3[/podcast]