Mit is developing a new online tool platform called MITx that will hopefully bolster MIT's already success OpenCourseWare by:

• organizing and present course material to enable students to learn at their own pace
• featuring interactivity, online laboratories and student-to-student communication
• allowing for the individual assessment of any student’s work and allow students who demonstrate their mastery of subjects to earn a certificate of completion awarded by MITx
• operating on an open-source, scalable software infrastructure in order to make it continuously improving and readily available to other educational institutions.

You can check out the full article here you can see the details on how they plan to revolutionize the quality of online education in America. Very exciting times indeed!

MIT President Susan Hockfield said,

                       “MIT has long believed that anyone in the world with the motivation and ability to engage MIT coursework should have the opportunity to          attain the best MIT-based educational experience that Internet technology enables..."

I am sharing this story not because I want all of us Chocoholics out there to throw down our candy bars or refrain from that cup of hot chocolate in retaliation of this winter weather, but because being an informed consumer is the first step in letting producers know what is important to us (if indeed that it is important to you). I have a healthy addiction to dark chocolate myself, so if you take the cocoa % as an indicator of one's level of participation in this child labor system then I am as guilty as they come unfortunately. So like i said, the goal is not to feel bad but rather, to feel aware. Respond in whatever way you feel fit.

Child Labor in the Ivory Coast

I (as well as many many many others) have began participating in the 365 Project this year. It is a great opportunity to grow as a photographer as it encourages you to keep your "lens" up all the time and see the world in a different way. It also forces you to be resourceful an take creative pictures in less "photogenic" situations.  you can join the website dedicated to the project at : http://365project.org/ or just do it on your own accord! the important thing is to keep with it even if you have to whip out the smartphone!

happy shooting!!!

I am in a weird position regarding the multitude of "Pepper Spray Cop" memes that have flooded the internet since the recent UC Davis incident that ended nonchalant application of pepper spray to peacefully protesting students. Looking at some of the first images to emerge (like the one below) I can see how a statement was trying to be made. And I honestly think it is an important statement to make. Blatant police brutality and disproportionate force should never be overlooked by the public. That being said, I'd like to know how Photoshopping the "pepper spray cop" onto paintings of a crucified Jesus, or Gandhi, or pictures of burning Vietnamese monks or cute furry animals even is an appropriate response to social injustice. Is it really worth taking an event we should all be invested in and tearing it down to lolcat status just to get a few laughs? Like I said, I am completely aware that some people are truly trying to make a point but if you're trying to do that, it's probably not smart to throw your pic up on canihascheeseburger.com with the pepper sprayed baby seals and half naked women. Americans have perfected the art of not taking things as seriously as they should. "Pepper spray cop" is not the first, nor will it be the last product of our societal need for crude humor...And sure, it's kinda funny on occasion. I will be the first to admit that I was really pulling for Steven Colbert in the last election but I also believe we need to learn to draw the line, and draw it before we think it's funny to mace Buddha in the face