YouTube just recently made the switch from the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio to the widescreen 16:9 ratio.

This is a great improvement to be able to take advantage of a wide angle shot and a 1280X720 resolution.

There have been many complaints over the “black bars” appearing on the 4:3 aspect ratio videos due to them not filling the entire 16:9 spot.

I feel the pain of seeing the black frame is far outweighed by the benefit of viewing future videos in widescreen and HD quality.

Note that this switch to 16:9 …

This is the second session of a epic discussion on the way public opinion is shaped in America today.
There You Go Again: Orwell Comes to America invites historians, linguists, cognitive experts, journalists, government officials, and political consultants to assess the current state of public discourse — and journalism’s response to it. The panels explore the past, present, and future of deceptive political speech, and assess what can be done to bring more realism and honesty into the conduct of America’s public affairs. - http://www.mapdigital.com/orwell/

Part II. DECEIVING IMAGES: THE SCIENCE OF MANIPULATION

Speakers include

George Lakoff, Co-Founder and Senior Fellow, …

What is Congress up to? What kinds of bills are trying to be pushed through, how long have they been active, and what are the fine lines in the bills? These are all great questions of the active citizen out to inform him or herself. The news, the slogans, and the politicians may not speak verbatim truth about certain bills. And in order to gather the most accurate information in what one finds important, here is another resource that is unbiased. It may not be entertaining as the news channels offer, or as teeming with pathos in a politician’s speech, …

Conceptualization can be difficult in step-by-step programming textbooks. In fact, almost anything is difficult to learn out of a textbook - which is why I like to take a brief introduction in any subject by reading a kid’s version. Ted Felix’s “Qbasic Programming for Kids”, http://www.tedfelix.com/qbasic/, is a great place to start if you have never done anything in computer programming. The website teaches in a 9-year old level how to program, and it is useful and relevant towards more intense programming languages such as Visual Basic, Javascript, C#, C+, etc.

But first, if you are using anything …

This is a follow up to our Top Elgg Plugins post. Elgg has continued to grow since it’s release in August and now there is a nice selection of Themes created by community members. Here are some of their great designs organized by newest to oldest.

• Simple Neutral Theme + 1 Colour (1.0)

  
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• Simple Neutral Theme (1.0)

  
  More Info/Download

• E-OSX Theme Blue Lava (v.1.3)

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