End of the Course

Hi guys, we have reached the end of the course and evaluation time. Get ready for the exams we will have soon.

We are all winners!

Thank you very much for sharing a little bit of you with us. We all laughed, got excited and cried with your stories. Remember “Winning is important but what brings real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever you are doing”.

Online Project Poster

I am so proud of you and your stories. I had a really good time reading what you wrote and a learned a little bit more about you. I hope you have all enjoyed this online project and you have had a good time reading them too. Now it’s time to choose your favorite one and vote for it. They are available at:

http://poster.4teachers.org/

Insert the class code below in the "Search for Poster" window.
Class code:121335

Vote for:
• The most daring story
• The most frightening story
• The saddest story
• The funniest story
• The most original
• The most romantic story
• The most touching story
• Other

IMPORTANT: Copy the link below on your browse to see the criteria to evaluate your stories:

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?&screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1409339&

The Book or the Film?

Thanks for your active participation in the book and film discussion. I hope you have all enjoyed reading the book and watching the film. What did you like most about this experience? What can we do to improve it? Any films or books suggestions to include in the future? Let me know.

Comments on the Story:
"I, Robot" was published in 1950 and includes stories written in the 1940's, when general-purpose electronic digital computers were still in their infancy. I was struck by what a visionary Asimov was. He had captured the mechanics of contemporary software development through these stories about the manufacture of the intelligent robot, whose positronic brain contained complex programming that inevitably had bugs that needed troubleshooting. Anyone who has ever written a computer program or has fallen victim to software bugs will get an eerie feeling of deja vu while reading these stories. Asimov's writing style might not be the most polished in science fiction and his characterizations might be a bit wooden, but the concepts presented here will blow you away. This is required reading for any fan of science fiction.

Eileen Rieback

Did you Know?

A powerful, thought-provoking presentation created by Carl Fisch. Available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHWTLA8WecI

Some people have found it depressing, others scaring, and some others provoking. What about you? What schocked you the most? Send your opinion to the power point version we watched in class.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)

Isaac Asimov was the most famous, most honored, most widely read, and most beloved science fiction author of all time. In his five decades as an author, he wrote more than four hundred books, won every award his readers and colleagues could contrive to give him, and provided pleasure and insight to millions.
Isaac Asimov was born in Russia in 1920 and grew up in the USA. His fantastic career as a science fiction writer began in 1939 with the appearence of a short story 'Marooned Off Vesta', in Amazing Stories. He won the Hugo Award four times and the Nebula Award once. With nearly five hundred books to his name and several hundred articles, Asimov's output was prolific by any standards. He died in 1992 at the age of 72.

I, Robot
In this collection, one of the great classics of science fiction, Asimov set out the principles of robot behavior that we know as the Three Laws of Robotics. Here are stories of robots gone mad, mind-reading robots, robots with a sense of humor, robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world, all told with Asimov's trademark dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction.

Asimov’s Quotations
"I don´t fear computers, I fear the lack of them"
"When asked what I would do if my doctor told me I had only six months to live, I answered 'I'd type faster.'"
"Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers."
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
"Never let your sense of morals stop you from doing what is right"
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' - but 'That's funny...'"

Penn & Teller

Penn & Teller are a two-man magic and comedy team, comprised of Penn Jillette and Teller. Penn is a raconteur; Teller does not speak while performing. The duo specializes in gory tricks, fake exposures and clever pranks, and have become associated with Las Vegas, atheism, skepticism and libertarianism. They call themselves “a couple of eccentric guys who have learned how to do a few cool things.

Did you like their program? Were you surprised on what they said about "Alternative Medicine"? If you did not have a chance to give your opinion on this topic, now it's time for you to do it! What are your expectations on the next episode you asked for "Talking to the Death"?