Most Americans claim they don’t believe what they read in newspapers or see on TV — only a third say news organizations generally get the facts straight — yet their opinions continue to be influenced by the media. Multiply this curious effect by the dozens of cable TV news shows, the hundreds of newspapers and…
The reason most pre-1940 musicals are unrevivable is that their books tend to be both slapdash in literary quality and fanciful to the point of absurdity. It was only in the late 30’s that the songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart began to emphasize dramatic plausibility, most notably in Pal Joey (1940). And…
Chunking | Forms | Frames | Fitts Law | Flash Usability | Guidelines & Principles | Link Rot | Liquid Design | PDF | ROI | Writing, Reading & Content | Articles & Related Links —Usability (The Net Place) Great collection of links to practical online articles on each of the above subjects.
—No Train, No Gain A great collection of short articles focusing on such topics as how to find an interesting story in a boring budget meeting, the basics of interviewing, and taking notes. For the first time this fall, students will be able to get credit for working for the student paper (of which I…
Let’s say a mother finds an application to Duke University’s Ph.D. program in English under her daughter’s mattress. Obviously the mother is devastated. If she does nothing, in a year her daughter will be dressed in black and sneering in obscure jargon at the Thanksgiving turkey and Aunt Sally’s cranberry Jell-O mold. Where can a…
She was witty, sexually adventurous and intimate with her readers, sharing photos of her travels and exchanging private e-mails and instant messages with fans. She posted messages to other people’s Web logs and created personal profiles at social networking sites. Many readers felt deeply connected to her. Then, three weeks ago, the “Plain Layne” Web…
The story of John Henry, told mostly through ballads and work songs, traveled from coast to coast as the railroads drove west during the 19th Century. And in time, it has become timeless, spanning a century of generations with versions ranging from prisoners recorded at Mississippi’s Parchman Farm in the late 1940s to present-day folk…
Those who complain loudly about how many jobs have been “exported” to other countries because of international free trade totally ignore all the jobs that have been imported to the American economy because of that same free trade. Siemens alone employs tens of thousands of American workers, and Toyota has already produced its ten millionth…
Spirit has begun to negotiate her way up into the Columbia Hills where she has encountered a strange rock called Pot of God that she found contains hematite, something that may well lead to the discovery of past water there. On the other side of the planet, Opportunity has continued her descent into Endurance Crater…
On his way into District Justice Mark Bilik’s office, Harris, wearing a “Flamehead USA” T-shirt, told reporters “Yes, I did,” when asked if he set the fire. —Jason Lesher —Latrobe men admit setting apartment building fire (Tribune Review) Note to self… if ever going anywhere near someone involved in the investigation of an arson case, change…
A Canadian man, driving a car packed with weapons and ammunition, was intent on killing as many people as possible in a Toronto neighbourhood but gave up the plan at the last minute when he encountered a friendly dog, police say. —Puppy prevents Canadian killing spree (ABC (Australia)) There… do you see how nice Canadians are?…
I readily admit that my accomplishment has no practical social purpose or business application. But as a story that spans 18 years from Hoey’s palindrome to mine, it has a moral about how it is becoming easier to do big things. Hoey is an excellent computer scientist, but he said he spent days writing a…
U.S. investigators said on Wednesday they had arrested an America Online employee and a Las Vegas marketer for stealing the Internet provider’s customer list and selling it to a purveyor of “spam” e-mail. —Andy Sullivan —US Charges AOL Worker Sold Customer List for Spam (AP|MyWay)
Retro video gaming has become something of a pop culture phenomenon lately, with video game music and themes featured in television commercials for Hummer and Saturn sport utility vehicles. A top 20 R&B hit, “Game Over (Flip)” by Lil’ Flip features sound effects from “Pac-Man.” It’s not just nostalgia that’s fueling retro video interest, says…
The Queen has allowed herself to be the subject of the first royal hologram. —Queen’s holograph ‘makes me look lost in woods’ (Telegraph) Thanks for the offbeat suggestion, Rosemary.
blind users are finding that they are spending disproportionately more time sorting through their junk e-mail than their sighted colleagues. That’s because sighted users can simply scan large batches of messages for that one important piece of mail, whereas blind users must listen to the subject line of each message before they know whether it’s…
Chappelle’s harshest words were addressed to those audience members who worship entertainers and athletes. “Stop listening to celebrities,” he said. “They do what they do for money – that’s all. I don’t even know why you’re listening to me. I’ve done commercials for both Coke and Pepsi. Truth is, I can’t even taste the difference,…
The 40-year-old male teacher handed the boy a box-cutter and paper and told him to write an apology in blood. —Japanese boy writes apology in blood (CNN) Now that’s harsh. Looks like the Reuters reporter did some independent checking of a story that appeared on local news… if not for that line, I’d wonder whether this…
Tiny, even microscopic, cameras, deployed ubiquitously, should worry us in any number of ways. Individuals will lose even more of their privacy. Companies will find it difficult to maintain traditional notions of trade secrets. And governments will confront a world in which, to some extent, people will spy on the official snoops, not just the…
How did Eats, Shoots & Leaves land on the best-seller list? I’d like to think it reveals a late-blooming hunger for self-improvement by the ignorant masses. Somehow, though, I doubt it. Truss certainly doesn’t seem to be addressing such people as her readers. “What happened to punctuation?” she wails. “Why is it so disregarded when…