Once a year, I get one call from a new product developer that wants a Latin or Greek name for a product,  website, or school motto.  ( I also get the occasional call from a relative stuck on a NY times crossword puzzle or etymological debate with a co-worker.)

How many electronic products on the market today have Classical ties?

1) The Pegasus smartphone by Huawei: "Huawei is hoping its Pegasus smartphone sculpture at Mobile World Congress 2012 will help slay some competitors." It took 3500 smartphones to make this Pegasus. Do I hear a future class project calling, discipuli et discipulae? Get the pun? 

NB: Pegasus was born from the blood of Medusa after Perseus decapitated her.  The winged horse is NOT associated with Hercules!  Disney continues to mislead thousands of children regarding this literary fact.

2) The tablet computer and stylus:

Roman schoolchildren used waxed tablets or  tabellae or tabulae and an instrument used to etch letters, a stylus. You can read more about these items HERE.

Sony derived its name from the Latin word sonus, meaning sound, and the slang word "sonny," for "sonny boys," because the young workers considered themselves smart and presentable young men.

I have always shown the 1959  Ben Hur movie with Charlton Heston to my 1st year classes as a medium to highlight Roman culture.  Students are given a handout of questions that they must fill out as they watch the movie.
However, another idea struck me after

Pop Classics recently did a review of the 1925 silent film, Ben Hur:
What if my Latin class made title cards in Latin throughout a section of the film?  Inventing dialogue, searching for vocabulary, and using  proper grammar all lead to active engagement in the target language with some giggling in the process.  Students can also incorporate a specific grammar item such as the passive periphrastic:

"Judah, the turning post must be avoided by you!" 

"A longer tunic ought to be worn by that charioteer!"

"That lady with a peacock on her head has to be tossed out!"

And did you know that the pod racing scene in the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was influenced by the chariot scene in Ben Hur? 

You can watch the clips below: