It's my life, you're just along for the ride!

In an unusual side project, Facebook has built an app that helps teachers create tailor-made student learning plans, and it may come a US school near you for free. The social network got involved in the project after it learned about an institution called Summit Public Schools, which is consistently ranked among California’s best. The school gets those results by creating programs customized for each student, then tracking their progress with a software tool called the “Personalized Learning Plan.” However, it told Facebook that the technology behind it wasn’t up to snuff, so the Zuckerberg and Co. donated a small team to help revamp it.

In 2014, Summit started using the tool, designed to work smoothly with large number of students and teachers. The app has nothing to do with Facebook itself; in fact, students don’t even need a Facebook account. The social network implemented strict privacy controls, and its team must handle data in accordance with the White House-endorsed Student Privacy Pledge. As it hasn’t been a paradigm of privacy protection, it’s no doubt hoping to fend off any criticism with those steps. The final app (below) looks polished, and gives students and teachers a number of ways to create long-term career goals, plan coursework and track progress.

The team described the project as “personal for those of us working here… we all wanted to find a way to hep make an impact doing what we do best — building software.” Facebook and Summit are launching a pilot program this year for a small number of public schools that want to use the same personalized teaching methods. It plans to use the feedback to improve the program, and will eventually give the software away to any US schools that wants it.

Source: Facebook working with schools on a personalized learning app

The Art of Sound is a short documentary by Rodgers Townsend that reveals a bit of the genius of Tom Bills and the painstaking precision that goes into his making of guitars. Equal parts science and art, every decision of every carving of every shape of every guitar is motivated by making the instrument sound as good as it can.

Source: Video: The scientific art of sound when making a guitar

Made of stacked melted meteorite that looks more like Thor’s hammer and armed with the encyclopedic knowledge of knives and stunning skill from bladesmith Bob Kramer, these chef Kramer knives are among the finest in the world. This video of him, by Anthony Bourdain’s Raw Craft, features his process and it might be the most impressive knife making video I’ve ever seen.And I’ve seen a lot! Kramer is one of only 122 certified master bladesmiths in the US and the only one who specializes in kitchen knives. This really is the best it gets.

Source: The truly spectacular process of how the best chef’s knife in the world is made

We always hear that dolphins are smart but how smart are they actually? Lori Marino explains for Ted-Ed in this cute animation and it’s almost stunning how intelligent they are. Their encephalization quotient (brain size to body size) is second only to us dumb humans and goes into detail how they can pass down knowledge to their kids, understand language, empathize with other creatures and so forth.It’s an interesting watch, for sure.

Source: Cute animation video explains how smart dolphins actually are