quadruplify (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quadruplify) wrote2009-08-31 09:29 pm
quadruplify) wrote2009-08-31 09:29 pm
Death by misadventure
Not much to talk about, really -- mom's birthday yesterday, sister's first day of school today, discovering Animal Farm slash, etc. So here's some articles and more memes that you might be interested in.
The Future of Reading: "Reading Workshop" Approach Lets Students Pick the Books
I wish I had this sort of thing in middle school; I was already reading quite a bit on my own then, but this would've helped me enjoy it more, and I would've had a teacher to guide me toward better books, which somewhat solves the problem of kids reading only trashy, unchallenging literature. But I still see the need to have more approaches where everyone reads the same book and discusses it, and there's no way you can have a "reading workshop" in high school. There's discussion at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ontd_political here, which somehow has over 100 comments. :3
Innocent, But Executed
Capital punishment is not one of my pet issues, but things like this are why I'm against it. From a practical perspective, it seems almost absurd to kill people who have killed others just to show that killing is wrong; plus, the question is not (and should not be) whether or not someone deserves it, but whether or not we are willing to execute innocent people just so we can execute the guilty ones as well. It's almost always difficult to prove something happened beyond a reasonable doubt, and it's even harder to prove that someone will not show remorse and reform once s/he gets out of prison (if s/he does). I know that wrongful punishments are going to happen because no justice system will ever be perfect, but life-or-death situations are where I draw the line; you can get an innocent person out of jail, but you can't bring them back from the dead. Besides, it costs more to perform the death penalty (ironically enough), and for the truly irredeemable death is not a punishment but merely a way out of it.
Translation Party
A fun site where you type in an English phrase and see it get translated into Japanese and back again until you can't go any further. The goal is to keep the translating going as long as possible. I was able to do this on the third try; can anyone go any farther?
All right, some random memes:
For the next one, I have never played D&D ever in my life, so I don't know what much of this means, but it still looks interesting anyway:
I Am A: Chaotic Neutral Elf Wizard (1st Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-9
Dexterity-11
Constitution-11
Intelligence-14
Wisdom-11
Charisma-10
Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal. However, chaotic neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all authority, harmony, and order in society.
Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.
Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)
Detailed Results:
Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (23)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (28)
Lawful Evil ----- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXXX (8)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Law & Chaos:
Law ----- XXXXX (5)
Neutral - XXXXX (5)
Chaos --- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (15)
Good & Evil:
Good ---- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Evil ---- XXX (3)
Race:
Human ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Dwarf ---- XXXX (4)
Elf ------ XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Gnome ---- XXXXXX (6)
Halfling - XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Half-Elf - XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Half-Orc - XX (2)
Class:
Barbarian - (-2)
Bard ------ XXXX (4)
Cleric ---- (0)
Druid ----- (0)
Fighter --- (-2)
Monk ------ (-19)
Paladin --- (-23)
Ranger ---- (-2)
Rogue ----- (-4)
Sorcerer -- (0)
Wizard ---- XXXXXX (6)
.....I never really saw myself as "chaotic neutral," but all right, I'll go with that. 8D
Also, a few days ago I posted this meme, where you guess which movie the quote came from. The answers are below the cut; don't look at them if you still want to give it a shot.
The Future of Reading: "Reading Workshop" Approach Lets Students Pick the Books
I wish I had this sort of thing in middle school; I was already reading quite a bit on my own then, but this would've helped me enjoy it more, and I would've had a teacher to guide me toward better books, which somewhat solves the problem of kids reading only trashy, unchallenging literature. But I still see the need to have more approaches where everyone reads the same book and discusses it, and there's no way you can have a "reading workshop" in high school. There's discussion at
ontd_political here, which somehow has over 100 comments. :3Innocent, But Executed
Capital punishment is not one of my pet issues, but things like this are why I'm against it. From a practical perspective, it seems almost absurd to kill people who have killed others just to show that killing is wrong; plus, the question is not (and should not be) whether or not someone deserves it, but whether or not we are willing to execute innocent people just so we can execute the guilty ones as well. It's almost always difficult to prove something happened beyond a reasonable doubt, and it's even harder to prove that someone will not show remorse and reform once s/he gets out of prison (if s/he does). I know that wrongful punishments are going to happen because no justice system will ever be perfect, but life-or-death situations are where I draw the line; you can get an innocent person out of jail, but you can't bring them back from the dead. Besides, it costs more to perform the death penalty (ironically enough), and for the truly irredeemable death is not a punishment but merely a way out of it.
Translation Party
A fun site where you type in an English phrase and see it get translated into Japanese and back again until you can't go any further. The goal is to keep the translating going as long as possible. I was able to do this on the third try; can anyone go any farther?
All right, some random memes:
For the next one, I have never played D&D ever in my life, so I don't know what much of this means, but it still looks interesting anyway:
I Am A: Chaotic Neutral Elf Wizard (1st Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-9
Dexterity-11
Constitution-11
Intelligence-14
Wisdom-11
Charisma-10
Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal. However, chaotic neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all authority, harmony, and order in society.
Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.
Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)
Detailed Results:
Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (23)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (28)
Lawful Evil ----- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXXX (8)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Law & Chaos:
Law ----- XXXXX (5)
Neutral - XXXXX (5)
Chaos --- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (15)
Good & Evil:
Good ---- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Evil ---- XXX (3)
Race:
Human ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Dwarf ---- XXXX (4)
Elf ------ XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Gnome ---- XXXXXX (6)
Halfling - XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Half-Elf - XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Half-Orc - XX (2)
Class:
Barbarian - (-2)
Bard ------ XXXX (4)
Cleric ---- (0)
Druid ----- (0)
Fighter --- (-2)
Monk ------ (-19)
Paladin --- (-23)
Ranger ---- (-2)
Rogue ----- (-4)
Sorcerer -- (0)
Wizard ---- XXXXXX (6)
.....I never really saw myself as "chaotic neutral," but all right, I'll go with that. 8D
Also, a few days ago I posted this meme, where you guess which movie the quote came from. The answers are below the cut; don't look at them if you still want to give it a shot.
- The Lives of Others
- Fargo
- Crimes and Misdemeanors
- Little Miss Sunshine
- 12 Angry Men
- Marty
- Babel
- The Battle of Algiers
- The Last Emperor
- Good Bye Lenin!
- Annie Hall
- Millions
- Grizzly Man
- Volver
- Shaun of the Dead
- Paprika
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Touch of Evil
- Michael Clayton
- Persepolis