Fun with chores

Sometimes doing chores and all the regular things we need to do around the house and at school and work needs to be a little more rewarding. Chore Wars is a neat way to provide incentive. The kids love it. We created cards where they keep their scores and when we tally it all up they earn gold and coins. Gold eventually becomes money via a "shopping spree". Academics, reading books, and even the alphabet for the little one are great adventures.

Here's a sample.

108 Years of Science Fiction

Time's Article from 1999, notes how issues like recycling are absent from Science Fiction.

Science fiction cordially ignores many vital technologies, such as, say, garbage recycling. Recycling is hugely important, but it has zero science-fictional thrill.

Perhaps we won't be quite as wasteful in future, but if you take a look at Star Wars (Episode IV) They've got a trash compactor scene... and in Episode I, Watto appears to be reusing and reselling used engine parts and scraps in his store. The expanded universe also refers to people salvage combing space debris for profit. Don't forget the Jawas, who 'scavenge' the desert and resell parts and even whole droids! StarWars.com offers up its own report.

This dynamic box, hopefully, continues to display examples contrary.

Greening up the Holidays

Handmade gifts and questions about the Christmas Tree. Yup, you know that eventually, not matter how long you keep your artificial tree, it does eventually end up in a landfill. True. There are lots of really good arguments that will send us off for a REAL tree (next year).

Here are some great articles at Earth911.org about the Holidays.