Never Stop Learning - A Christmas Gift.

A Christmas Gift for Readers and Nerds Like Me. Open Courseware!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I have a gift for you my friends. FREE online course work is available from several universities.

 

Here is the link to MIT.  http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/index.htm  The OCW stands for Open Courseware. For my friends that are strictly readers the Literature courses link is here.

 

Tufts University. Tufts OCW (and most all OCW)

·         Publishes Tufts course materials

·         Does not require any registration

·         Does not grant credit, degrees, or certificates

·         Does not provide access to Tufts faculty; however feedback is shared

 

 

I say who care I don't get credit - I get to learn! How cool is that?  Tres, tres cool!

 

Utah State University.  

Washington State proudly declared in November 2011 their open library hit 10,000 visitors in 11 days. Washington's State Board for Community and Technical Colleges SBCTC manages OpenCourseLibrary.org

 

 

The Open Courseware Consortium:

What is OpenCourseWare? OpenCourseWare is the name given to open educational resources that are presented in course format, often including course planning materials, such as syllabi and course calendars, along with thematic content, such as textbooks, lectures, presentations, notes and simulations. Open Educational Resources are materials developed by experienced educators that are available for use, repurposing, and modification (including translation), in whole or in part, by everyone, everywhere in the world.

What is Open Education? Open Education is, at its core, about free and open sharing. Free, meaning no cost, and open, which refers to the use of legal tools (open licenses) that give everyone permission to reuse and modify educational resources.  Free and open sharing increases access to education and knowledge for anyone, anywhere, anytime.  It allows people to make changes to materials or to combine resources in new ways to build something new.  Open Education incorporates free and open learning communities, educational networks, teaching and learning materials, open textbooks, open data, open scholarship, and on and on. Open Education gives people access to knowledge, provides platforms for sharing, enables innovation, and connects communities of learners and educators around the world.

Enjoy!

  

 

BE THE CHANGE!

WWW Wednesday 10/9/13

 

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?



Currently reading:
SlumberingThe Forest Bull by Terry Maggert. Three lovers who stalk and kill the immortals that drift through South Florida (tourists are a moveable feast, after all) are living a simple life of leisure- until one of them is nearly killed by woman who is a new kind of lethal. When Ring Hardigan isn't making sandwiches for, and with, his two partners, Waleska and Risa (they're cool like that), he's got a busy schedule doing the dirty work of sending immortals to the ever after. Wally and Risa provide linguistics, logistics, and finding the right place for him and his knife-- together, they're a well-oiled machine, and they've settled into a rhythm that bodes ill for the Undying. Warlocks, vampires, succubae and the odd ghoul have all fallen to their teamwork. Life is tough, but they soldier on killing the undead, liberating their worldly goods for charity, and generally achieving very little.

Refreshing my read for review of  The Morac by Colleen M. Bratley.






Finished Reading: Last Week I read very little. So my list is short.



Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Recommended.
I refreshed my read for review of The Starlight Chronicles: Slumbering by C.S. Johnson.




Reading Next:

I Recommend AmazonPrime Free 30 Day Trial

Author Interview and Review: Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

Author Interview and Review: Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski Interview with Irene Helenowski.

Can you give me a Synopsis of Your Book? The book is about a graduate student names Jane Kremowski who is involved in developing a device that allows for inter-dimensional travel. She could also see how her life differs in different dimensions. But trouble ensues when the villain, Anton Zelov, gains access to it.

What drove you to write this book? I was watching a special on the Discovery channel featuring theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku about the multiverse theory and became fascinated with the notion that we could really be living different lives in different dimensions within our universe.

You are a bio statistical analyst (correct me if I have your title wrong) how did that play into your writing if at all? As a biostatistician, I work with different researchers at Northwestern here in Chicago. In my book, I focus quite a bit on academia life, since that is where my career lies. I also do quite a bit with probability, which I consequently read is also part of the multiverse theory as scientists have become interested in how possible are certain events if there are indeed other dimensions.

What is your writing process? I just try to write whenever I can about whatever comes to me.

You self-published. Can you share the pros and cons of self-publication? I know many authors are considering this option. It's a lot of hard work promoting it yourself and unfortunately, a lot of people are still weary of picking up anything self-published. But I still try my best. And so far, I like the freedom of not having to answer to a publisher. I am still entertaining the thought of going the traditional route, perhaps with my next book, however.

If you were to re-write your book or edit anything in the published version what would you change? Actually, I have just re-written the book a third time based on some criticisms I've received and focused on doing more showing than telling. What is next on the horizon? Hoping to finish up the sequel :)

Is there any one thing you would like to share with readers? Just hope they enjoy the story :)

If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

Review: Order of The Dimensions by Irene Helenowski. Jane Kremowski is a physics graduate student at Madison State University. She is part of a team that has developed a device that allows for inter-dimensional travel. After a successful testing, Jane decides to use the device. The book begins with Jane jumping from one reality to another. She ends up in different cities working at different universities on similar projects.

Dr. Anton Zelov visits the university under the guise of providing funding for further research of the Multiverser – the inter-dimensional traveling device. Jane discovers Zelov has taken the technology her team developed and has created his own version of the Multiverser. Confused at first by Zelov’s capture of scientists at a convention, she is whisked away into a Multiverser where she discovers she is married to Zelov.

Zelov is a classic villain. He wants to create a New World Order, an Order of Dimensions. He uses different dimensions for his own evil, selfish purposes. He wants Jane, he wants power and he has a team of henchmen available to force is schemes on others.

Jane along with Randy, her husband in some dimensions, Emily, Michael and the other members of the Good Guys working for the Federation jump from dimension to dimension trying to thwart Zelov. Along the way she discovers ‘alters’ and dimensions where you can never tell who is good or bad.

A science fiction novel set in contemporary times, The Order of the Dimensions is a mesh of Sliders, Jump and Fringe. The author reveals different paths a life can take. A New World Order is a conspiracy theory in which secret elite, in this case Zelov, is conspiring to rule the world via world government and globalization.

The novel is fast paced, jumping from event to event. Helenowski’s writing style is third person omniscient driven by dialogue. The characters talk about what they are thinking and what is happening. I am not generally a fan of this method of writing as I like description and deep POV. If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

I admire writers that consider other avenues to publication. Self-publishing is a brave and confident step. Authors can make more money with a book they publish themselves but they most work diligently at self-promotion. The downside of self-pubbed books is the lack of a trained editor and copy editor. Self-publication is an entire topic for another blog.

As this is the author’s first novel I expect her to grow and improve as she works on the sequel. I feel petty mentioning that the overuse of adverbs drove me batty. It’s not like I am the queen of grammar because I fail repeatedly. Helenowski even mentions in her interview that she has rewritten based on criticisms and critiques.

Sci-Fi fans and Sci-Fi purists should consider adding Order of Dimensions to their library.

And through October 31, 2013 Irene Helenowski is giving away a FREE Ebook copy of her book, follow this link: box.net link . In addition she will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for every book. If you are a person that wants to know ‘what happens next?’ than you will enjoy.

I met the author through Book Blogs and was given a copy for review. Irene Helenowski kindly answered my questions.

Amazon Prime Free 30 Day Trial

Saturday Steals 9/21/13

Saturday Steals

Free September 22 to 26th, 

The Captain's Last Year, Fighting the Fire and Cancer: One Year to Live by Blaize Nolynne.

From the Author: " What would you do if you only had one year to live? Blaize Nolynne’s short story answers that same compelling question. Steven Williams is no different than any of us. He is a fire captain on a volunteer fire department and lives with his family in River Falls, Maine. The doctors have given him only one year to live, something that no one wants to hear. At first he denies this diagnosis of stage four stomach cancer. Treatments begin to fail and he realizes his time here is running out. The questions pop in his mind of what he should do with the one year he has left of his life. "

Blaize Nolynne books are exclusively available on Kindle, but traditional paperbacks and hardcover are available elsewhere. For more: www.facebook.com/blaizenolynnefan  "

Also Available:      

How about a freebie from the U.K.?
Free 9/20-24/13. Language in the Blood by Angela Lockwood. In the U.K the link is here.

Cameron Blair would have liked nothing better than to stay in Edinburgh and marry his childhood sweetheart. As the call to arms goes out, Cameron and his pals sign up to fight for their country. They are soon delivered into the nightmare of war, and there Cameron more than meets his maker.

 The story follows Cameron as he comes to terms with his new ‘life’, from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamorous modern day setting of the Côte d’Azur. Along the way, he develops a distinctive taste for the finer things in life: jewels, yachts, small dogs and champagne-infused human...

  Waking Up Married  by Mira Lyn Kelly. Kindle FREE! From USA TODAY bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly comes WAKING UP MARRIED, a free book in Harlequin's brand-new contemporary romance collection—Harlequin KISS.

Irene Helenowski is giving FREE copy of her book, Order of The Dimensions. Follow this link  box.net link .  Through October 31, 2013.  Irene will also donate $1 from each download to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

WWW Wednesday 9/11/13

 

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
What am I currently reading:
 
Unleash the Power of the Female Brain by Daniel G. Amen
And I hope some power is unleashed ;)








What did I recently finish reading:





Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones
Will be writing reviews on the entire series and just enjoying the fun read.




What I will read next:

Order of the Dimensions by Irene Helenowski

 Provided for review.  Looks to be fascinating.

 

Shop Amazon - All - New Kindle Paperwhite

Tuesday Teasers Meme 9/3/13

"She was a real woman: you could tell by the way she didn't have to move her head from side to side to take in sound. Every day she and the dachshund went for three walks, the first early in the morning, the second in the late afternoon, and the third after dinner, when the blue-green lights of the scows, those slow-moving heralds of melancholy, would begin to appear in the night sky."
Duplex: A Novel by Kathryn Davis

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!