to

two

excellent

dads

June 17, 2012

Dear Grandpa and Papa,

Welcome to your 21st Century Father's Day gift! It's the product of much thought and planning by a panel of internationally acclaimed experts and pundits gathered at a remote location in Switzerland to contemplate the best way to mark Father’s Day for our dads/grandfathers.

Actually, that's an exaggeration. But we did think about it. And the more we thought, the more we realized that you're both great sources of wisdom. You're also always learning. And then there's the digital thing. We wanted to honor all of those things by providing you with a few new sources of learning. Enjoy this collection of some of our (and our friends' and colleagues') favorite off-the-beaten path internet gems. We look forward to hearing your thoughts about these as you continue to grow and learn as fathers, grandfathers, and citizens of the planet.

Welcome to your 21st-Century Father’s Day gift.

Happy Father’s Day! We love you!

Shawn, Tom, Ami, Ezra and Noam

ENTITLED OPINIONS(about life and literature)a highly intellectual and erudite series in which the host and a guest discuss topics in western philosophy, literature,and the history of science

http://french-italian.stanford.edu/opinions/

IDEAS FROM CBC

a great documentary series. Topics are very broad ranging…

and highly eclectic

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/

TED talk

Sir Ken Robinson discussesthe changing paradigms in education…

very informative and entertaining

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html

GRAND CANYON fly-through

Over the course of 6 million years, the Grand Canyon

has been carved by the Colorado River. One mile (1.6km) deep, 277 miles (433km) long, and up

to 18 miles (28.8km)wide, this canyon is like none other.

Enjoy this stunning 7-minute fly-through

http://www.nps.gov/grca/photosmultimedia/fly-through.htm

TED talkStroke of Insight

Brain researcher Jill Bolt Taylordiscusses studying her own stroke,

and the wisdom she gained about brain recovery

http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

On Being with Krista Tippett

a spacious conversation — and an evolving media space —

about the big questions at the center of human life,

from the boldest new science of the human brain

to the most ancient traditions of the human spirit

http://www.onbeing.org/

FREE RICE

a fun (and addicting) on-line vocabulary gamethat also helps the world --

for every correct answer you choose, 10 grains of rice are raised to help end world hunger

through the World Food Programme

http://freerice.com/

RAINY MOOD

for the Oregonians (or erstwhile Oregonians) among us;

this simulates rainon your desktop

http://www.rainymood.com/

WOLFRAM ALPHA

a computational search engine project whose goal is to be able

to answer almost any question as thoroughly as possible

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

a Jerusalem-based online newspaper founded in 2012 to document developments in Israel, the Middle East and around the Jewish world.

It has no partisan political affiliation and it seeks to present the news fair-mindedly and offers a wide range of analysis and opinion pieces

http://www.timesofisrael.com/

SONGZA

Songza's mission is "to help you find the radio station

that perfectly fits your mood or whatever you're doing right now;

in other words, to help you find your soundtrack.”

http://songza.com/

WIRED MAGAZINE

the best source on the web about the gadgets you love so much

http://www.wired.com/

JOHN CLEESE on CREATIVITY

The great actor John Cleese discusses creativity. Tons of fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VShmtsLhkQg

WHAT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO?

Harvard Professor of Michael Sandel gives his famous talk about difficult choices:

what’s the right thing to do?

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_sandel_what_s_the_right_thing_to_do.html

DIGITAL DEAD SEA SCROLLS

an interactive website featuring the Dead Sea Scrolls.A beautiful and fun resource for learning!

http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/discovery

http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/dss_video

NY Times: ONE IN A MILLION

A powerful, elegant, and creatively presented photo/audio journal

of 54 ordinary New Yorkers telling extraordinary stories

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#

John F. Kennedy Presidential LibraryWE CHOOSE THE MOON

An interactive recreation of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

The site is divided into 11 stages containing animation, archival photos, videos,

and mission audio that bring the launch to life

http://wechoosethemoon.org/

MIND LAB

a fascinating, interactive exploration of seeing and perception using well-known optical

illusions

http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/find/mindlab/english/index.html

RABBINIC WISDOM:Rabbi David Wolpe

podcasts of sermons from Rabbi David Wolpe. He’s the greatest.

You will hang on his every word!

http://www.sinaitemple.org/learning_with_the_rabbis/sermons/index.php