When you think about it, this is really a revolutionary technology.

Before the Internet, all of the mass media of the 20th century required a great deal of wealth to buy into. Whether it was the national newspaper, the radio, the moving picture, broadcast television, or cable television, only those who were in control of vast sums of wealth could afford to get their message out, which, not surprisingly, favored the interests of wealth. So for a long time, that was the only message that most people were getting.

But with the Internet, anybody can freely post their opinions. Now we truly can move toward an open and democratic exchange of political ideas without the corporate filter defining the terms of acceptable discourse. Even I can have my little piece of real estate and post anything I choose.

I choose to post a video of some guys reenacting the Death Star trench scene from Star Wars with their hands.

I link, therefore I am.

Descartes notwithstanding, proof of existence in the blogosphere is not provided by who you link to, but who links to you. I now have my first incoming link, which according to Technorati boosts my rating from the 2.4 million range into the 1.6 million range. So Shakespeare Teacher is now one of the top 2 million blogs in the world. I will be signing autographs in the lobby after the post.

So, who linked to me? It was Stick Figure Hamlet Guy. I linked to him, and he linked back to me. And now I jumped up 800,000 places in Technorati. I’m starting to understand how this works.

I don’t know why the link from Such Shakespeare Stuff didn’t register on Technorati. Why, with two links, who knows? I might have cracked the top million! Well, I can still dream. And thanks for the link, Stick Figure Hamlet Guy!

Your move, Latte Foam Artist Guy.

It’s exactly what it sounds like, and can be found at — where else — stickfigurehamlet.com. It looks like they’re just finishing up Act Two, with the rest to come.

Is it just me, or do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern look a lot like Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street?

Ever since the post that featured Yakko’s World, I’ve been flooded with e-mails asking for more Animaniacs cartoons. Well, not actual e-mails as such, but I can sense people want them.

Here’s one called Yakko’s Universe:

This was the actual front page of the “liberal” New York Times on Friday:

The headline about “Jubilant Democrats” is sitting atop a picture of Nancy Pelosi presiding over a gaggle of small children. The implication here, whether the reader is aware of it on a conscious level or not, is that the “Jubilant Democrats” are just children compared to their predecessors, reinforcing the ridiculous canard that the Republicans are the party of grown-ups.

These things really do matter. And this is the New York Times. We have a right to expect better.

I came across this via a post by my cousin, TheMediaDude. It’s an animated map of who has controlled the Middle East for the past 5000 years, and it is quite simply the reason why computers were invented:

There are some other animated maps at Maps of War including one showing the History of Religion.

What’s there is great, but there’s not much of it, so if you’re like me, you’ll start to get a thirst for more historical maps. You can quench that thirst at the University of Texas Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.

I gave a full-day workshop today on the value of blogging in the literacy classroom for school-based literacy coaches and technology coaches from across the city, and I never once mentioned that I had my own blog. I don’t want to be annoying “Hey, you gotta read my blog” guy.

But if I never tell anyone about the blog, then who will come and watch my postings of grainy Animaniacs cartoons from the mid-’90’s?