Weekend Links 12-1-17

Some random items of interest for your weekend reading:

There's a reason McDonald's french fries aren't as good as they used to be.

Looking for a unique Christmas gift idea? Try this list of the best board games of the year. We bought Codenames last year based on their recommendation and have loved it.

Productivity matters: maybe it's time to give up on goals. Related: focus on processes rather than outcomes.

Do some parents share too much about their children online?

An interesting interpretation of the new adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.

Recommended reading: I just finished The Vanishing American Adult by Ben Sasse. It is an excellent read and well worth your time.

If you've ever been to a baseball game, you're likely familiar with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". But did you know there are actually two verses to the song?

Have a great weekend!

Daily Links 11-18-13

Good morning. Here's the latest roundup of links for your reading enjoyment. How you should read your Bible, why you shouldn't have goals, some thoughts on marriage, and more in today's post.

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Not long ago Tim Challies wrote a post entitled 18 Things I Will Not Regret Doing With My Wife. Now it is his wife Aileen's turn to offer her list of things she doesn't regret doing with her husband.

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Aaron Armstrong concludes his series on getting serious about Bible study by exploring some recommended resources for hermeneutics.

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Are goals a bad thing? Perhaps they are standing in the way of achieving the things we want to achieve. Maybe it's better to have a system designed for success rather than a specific goal to achieve.

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Lovers of Shakespeare know the old joke about everyone dying in the tragedies. But this infographic helps illuminate the point:

Source

It can also be purchased here.

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An app that creates interactive Shakespeare plays:

WordPlay Shakespeare is a study aid that pairs text with videos of professional Shakespearean actors performing the same plays. Each video is short and features the performers reciting the lines on the opposite page, which often amount to less than 10 lines or 150 words at a time. Splitting the play up into these digestible chunks makes it easy to understand the emotion and intent behind every word.

If readers are still stumped, each page features a "tap to translate" button that converts the Shakespearean text — in Wordplay's case, a combination of the First Folio of 1623 and the Globe editions of 1866 — into modern language. For example, touching the translate button turns this line from Macbeth: "He can report/ As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt/ The Newest state" into this: "He can report/ Given the gory state that he's in/ The latest news from the battlefield." Wordplay also offers a pictorial synopsis at each scene's beginning and a clickable cast list with each character's biography (but beware of plot spoilers). 

As with an e-book, readers can highlight portions of text and add notes. Readers can see their notes on digital index cards. Users can share their notes or favorite phrases from the play via email, text message, tweet or Facebook post.

Maybe I should think about buying an iPad. (Hat tip: Book Riot)

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The secret lives of four common condiments. This is a really interesting article.

Daily Links 10-10-13

Build your own beverage station, whether testing measures educational accomplishment, Amazon destroying literature, and more in today's roundup of links.

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This is a cool idea:

The best part? The materials all came from Target.

Hat tip: Food Riot

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Is Amazon destroying serious literature? One novelist thinks so. I'm not so sure about that.

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10 Old English words you should be using. Personally, I'm fond of mugwump.

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What if Disney characters had Instagram accounts?

One common critique I hear of education reform is its heavy reliance on standardized tests to measure outcomes. But does testing really accomplish anything? I don't think so.

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Making the case for engaging the culture:

We, you and me and everyone else alive, do theological thinking every day. It’s just that some people do it more consciously than others. That doesn’t mean they do it better, but they are at least more intentional and aware of it.

We’re also all affected by culture, and unless you’re Amish and therefore I’m not entirely sure how or why you’re reading this right now, you interact with pop culture every single day of your life. Thus, it makes great sense for us to take these two everyday realties and acknowledge their deep and important connection. Notice I didn’t say bring them together. That’s important here. These are not two realities that need to be brought together. They already are overlapping, interacting, and informing each other all the time. Theology, spirituality, culture….they mingle as one. 

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An interesting list of 10 things you should know about goals.