Comments on: Blogs that teach?

Question: Blogs that teach?

btkuhn — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:59:34 -0800

Blogs that teach?

Most of the daily blogs that I read, even the "scholarly" ones or those dealing with a particular subject, are focused on links to topics of interest, or the blog writer's analysis of a particular topic. For instance, the volokh conspiracy is an excellent law blog, but it doesn't "teach" the fundamentals of law to the reader; rather, it addresses specific rulings, usually with the author's analysis of the issue.

I am interested in finding blogs that teach the reader about the subject of the blog. To continue with the subject of law, I want to find blogs that say, for example, "Today we are going to learn about contract law (or one particular aspect of contract law)", and then go over the basics of contract law. Kind of like that email service that emails you a few pages of a book every day. It seems like there are plenty of podcasts online that do this (I've used MIT courseware in the past and it's great), but I learn much better with the written word format. Plus, an RSS feed breaks things up so that you don't have to set aside an hour to watch a lecture.

I'm not interested only in "academic" blogs; any feed that teaches a subject or skill in a stepwise manner via RSS. I'm thinking bird-watching, or juggling, playing the guitar...

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:08:48 -0800

John Kricfalusi's blog on animation springs to mind. He has given over a huge chunk of his life to talking and walking his readers through every aspect of watching, appreciating and creating classic animation. It is a little messy in it's approach, but the content is incredible.

By: paultopia

paultopia — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:12:15 -0800

Well, in the law dpt., Larry Solum's Legal Theory Blog has a FABULOUS serious called Legal Theory Lexicon designed to teach some of the fundamental concepts in... surprise... legal theory.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:21:05 -0800

Home recording? (Recording in general, really, but aimed at a home recording audience.)

By: camcgee

camcgee — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:40:00 -0800

There are lots of blogs with tutorials for software skills (in particular loads of Photoshop tutorial site), for example: PSDTUTS and its sister sites NETTUTS and VECTORTUTS. Not sure if the tutorials are too specific for what you're talking about, since they talk more about getting particular effects rather than fundamental concepts/practices.

By: theichibun

theichibun — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:36:22 -0800

Possible bias filter because I'm a moderator at the fora over here, but Digital Photography School teaches about digital photography.

By: pieoverdone

pieoverdone — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:50:31 -0800

Strobist goes out on photoshoots, shows examples of his work, and then gives you all the technical goodness in great detail on how to create the same lighting.

By: saraswati

saraswati — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:09:09 -0800

I really like What I Learned Today. While not scholarly by any stretch and written about a variety of topics by a non-expert, I find it very interesting.

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:54:37 -0800

Hacketyhack should fit the bill.

By: kisch mokusch

kisch mokusch — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:41:45 -0800

Well, this one's a bit obscure, but the Daily Dongle is a must for any Flow Cytometrists.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:58:47 -0800

Flow shizzle with double nozzle drizzle. This is really making me want to be a flow cytometrist.

By: whir

whir — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:40:38 -0800

Python Module of the Week covers one module from the Python standard library every week.