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Testimonials:
Generations from now, they won't call it the Internet anymore. They'll just say, "I logged on to the Jim Groom this morning.
-Joe McMahon
Everything Jim Groom touches is gold. He's like King Midas, but with the Internet.
-Serena Epstein
My understanding is that an essential requirement of the internet is to do whatever Jim Groom asks of you while you're online.
-James D. Calder
@jimgroom is the Billy Martin of edtech.
-Luke Waltzer
My 3yr old son is VERY intrigued by @jimgroom's avatar. "Is he a superhero?" "Well, yes, son, to many he is."
-Clint Lalonde
Jim Groom is a fiery man.
-Antonella Dalla Torre
“Reverend” Jim “The Bava” Groom, alias “Snake Pliskin” is a charlatan and a fraud, a self-confessed “used car salesman” clawing his way into the glamour of the education technology keynote circuit via the efforts of his oppressed minions at the University of Mary Washington’s DTLT and beyond. The monster behind educational time-sink ds106 and still recovering from his bid for hipster stardom with “Edupunk”, Jim spends his days using his dwindling credibility to sell cheap webhosting to gullible undergraduates and getting banned from YouTube for gross piracy.
I am Jim Groom
Find out more about me here.
Recent comments
- Eamon Costello on Conference, Camera, ILTA!
- Reverend on Punk’s Not Dead
- Reverend on Punk’s Not Dead
- Martin Weller on Punk’s Not Dead
- Maren Deepwell on Punk’s Not Dead
- Jim Groom on Punk’s Not Dead
- Jim Groom on Punk’s Not Dead
- Scott Leslie on Punk’s Not Dead
- Alan Levine on Punk’s Not Dead
- Jim Groom on You’re definitely Dr Detroit …
- Jim Groom on Atari 2600 Game Cartridge Display Stand
- Jim Groom on Conference, Camera, ILTA!
- Jim Groom on Conference, Camera, ILTA!
- Tom on Conference, Camera, ILTA!
- Zach Davis on Atari 2600 Game Cartridge Display Stand
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Recent Posts
- Punk’s Not Dead
- Unscripted Futures
- Conference, Camera, ILTA!
- You’re definitely Dr Detroit …
- The Reclaim Student Showcase Returns for 2026
- Domain of One’s Own Version 2
- Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It’s Off to ILTA’s EdTech 26 We Go
- Atari 2600 Game Cartridge Display Stand
- Building a Blog You Can Walk Into
- Deferred Maintenance: Upgrading Mastodon and PeerTube
browse the bavarchive
Contributors
some favorites
- Alan Levine
- Andy Rush
- Audrey Watters
- bava.social
- Bonnie Stewart
- Brian Lamb
- Bryan Alexander
- Chris Lott
- Clint LaLonde
- Cole Camplese
- Darcy Norman
- David Kernohan
- David Wiley
- Gardner Campbell
- GNA Garcia
- Grant Potter
- Jeffrey Keefer
- Jon Beasley-Murray
- Jon Udell
- Kate Bowles
- Kin Lane
- Laura Blankenship
- Leslie Madsen-Brooks
- Lisa M Lane
- Martha Burtis
- Martin Hawksey
- Martin Weller
- Mike Caulfield
- Mikhail Gershovich
- Mountebank
- Paul Bond
- Scott Leslie
- Serena Epstein
- Shannon Hauser
- Stephen Downes
- The OLDaily
- Tim Owens
- Tom Woodward
- Tony Hirst
Author Archives: Reverend
Day 89: Putt-Putt Raceway
Image credit: Wishbook’s “1976.xx.xx JCPenney Christmas Catalog P358” I was never a big race car/race track fan, I had a few in my day put it never really got me excited like some other toys did. One of the few … Continue reading
Me, We
I’m not always so good at sharing my presentation materials because a lot of what I do is improvised at the moment. I rarely, if ever, have a prepared talk about a specific topic, but develop a conceit around which … Continue reading
Day 90: Good Humor “Bike”
As a very young bava this was without question one of the most magical toys I ever had. I mean the ice cream man was tantamount to God on my block growing up, and the idea that I could actually … Continue reading
Blinders
Just some more conceptual art from the bava. Remember now, I’m an artist. Photo taken by the great Andy Rush.
What Would Tom Woodward do?
So I have been preparing a post to discredit Tom Woodward because he is increasingly becoming everyone’s favorite technologist here at UMW’s DTLT, and quite frankly it’s driving me crazy. It’s always Tom Woodward this, and Tom Woodward that. Or … Continue reading
Day 92: Snake Mountain
Mattel’s Snake Mountain had pretty impressive design in terms of the facade, the rotating snake and laughing mountain mouth were pretty wild. And while the backside of the toy was pretty lackluster at best (no comparison to the Fisher Price … Continue reading
Day 93: Entex Electronic Baseball
This is another early hand held digital video game from 1979 in the vein of the Tomy series, though in my mind far more sophisticated. In fact, I wasn’t a sports video game fan as a kid, but after playing … Continue reading
Day 94: Hugo-The Man of 1000 Faces
Image credit: Wishbook’s “1976.xx.xx JCPenney Christmas Catalog P376” I actually didn’t have this toy, but damn it I shouldn’t have after reading Plaidstallion’s write up (included below). But in truth I was pretty much solidly against any toy I was … Continue reading
Jim Groom
This may be closest the bava gets to pornography… Camera and conceptual credit go to the great Shannon Hauser (my own private hacker).
Day 95: McDonaldland Playset
Image credit: Wishbook’s “1976.xx.xx Sears Christmas Catalog (Canada) P220” This is the second McDonald’s toy in this series thus far (the other being the Playskool McDonald’s set back on Day 107), and what separates this gem is the fact the … Continue reading