After a week, Rubel — a blogging aficionado and practitioner who writes about the narrow topic of how blogs and participatory journalism are affecting the practice of public relations — says he definitely lacked the depth of knowledge of current events gained in a normal week. “I felt a little naked,” he says, having received…
Thirty-five years after computer scientists at UCLA linked two bulky computers using a 15-foot gray cable, testing a new way for exchanging data over networks, what would ultimately become the Internet remains a work in progress. —Anick Jesdanun —Web Turns 35, but Still Work in Progress (AP/My Way)
It’s not the online version of an established, well-researched traditional encyclopedia. Instead, Wikipedia is a do-it-yourself encyclopedia, without any credentials. “As a high school librarian, part of my job is to help my students develop critical thinking skills,” Stagnitta wrote. “One of these skills is to evaluate the authority of any information source. The Wikipedia…
Somerby’s comments would seem like blasphemy in the so-called “blogosphere,” but many online writers and observers agree that blogs, with a handful of exceptions, have had virtually no impact on the national conversation, mainstream media coverage of politics or large, orchestrated events like the parties’ quadrennial nominating conventions. —Kevin Canfield —Impact of blogs seen as…
The “Game Development Scholarship for Women” will help cover costs for women attending the Guildhall, an 18-month certificate program at SMU designed by noted game developers. Tuition for the six-term program is $37,000. —School offering women’s gaming scholarship (CNN/Reuters)
“Beam Me Up Scotty…One Last Time” is the quite-serious title to a three-day event at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel billed as a farewell to the actor who, as fiery Montgomery Scott, ran the U.S.S. Enterprise’s engineering deck on Trek’s 1966-69 flagship series and six big-screen adventures. —Joal Ryan —Scotty Says Goodbye (E! Online) I managed to…
British university students spend nearly three times as much on drink as they spend on books, according to a survey by the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is compiling a student-living index. —Social Studies (Globe and Mail) Part of a cornucopia of minutia, pointed out by Katja.
You know the strategy by now. Hundreds of right-wing think tanks pound the media with press releases. Newspapers and cable TV stations smell a conflict — always a safe bet for increasing circulations and ratings — and bring in the “think tank” experts for interviews. They pound away, repeating the same stock phrases over and…
Kerry needed to appear on The Daily Show because the American media itself has become ridiculous and he needs the endorsement of the jokers, not political pundits. The cable news shows that Jon Stewart mocks have become absurdly partisan. The print press is going through a period of self-flagellation as newspaper after newspaper apologizes and…
Our genes are basically the same now, as they were a hundred thousand years ago, as evidenced from the accepted theory that the more distant surviving twigs of our family tree branched off at about that time. Thus, however much concrete or how many people I am surrounded by, in my heart and in my…
But now, the reality of exchange rates and international income gaps has spawned a virtual version of the real-world relationship between rich and poor countries. While players in wealthier countries casually drop hundreds of dollars to buy their way into better positions in the games — or out of tedious parts of the games —…
Games where kids chase each other – tag or even cops and robbers – are generally banned in Natomas Unified’s elementary schools. No grabbing or pushing is allowed. At Natomas Park, students can only toss and catch a football – tackling or blocking isn’t permitted. But the no-contact rule applies beyond the grade-school gridiron. During…
Armed men stormed into an art museum Sunday, threatened staff at gunpoint and stole Edvard Munch’s famous paintings “The Scream” and “Madonna” before the eyes of stunned museum-goers. The thieves yanked the paintings off the walls of Oslo’s Munch museum and loaded them into a waiting car outside, said a witness, French radio producer Francois…
Participants in the games may respond to written questions from reporters or participate in online chat sessions — akin to a face-to-face or telephone interview — but they may not post journals or blogs until the Games end Aug. 29. To protect lucrative broadcast contracts, athletes and other participants are also prohibited from posting any…
The importance of classification, like any other piece of information, is that it affects the way people think and behave. Let’s say that a big space story breaks, and the editors of The New York Times want someone to cover it. Each journalist has a beat: national, local, foreign, sports, business, science, etc. Space is…
Political Machine is more a lampoon of American politics than a celebration or critique. The game leaves no room for depth or complexity in the candidates’ messages; each ad sounds exactly like the next. “John Kerry (or George Bush) opposes (or supports) drilling in ANWR. Support American values. Vote John Kerry.” The reporters all look…
Many people tell stories of Giant Octopus or Squid, but I want to find out more about these “deadly” creatures and what they do. Ever since I was small, I thought how do they do all those cool things? Well, this search helped me find that information!!!!!!!! —Mike —Octopus (Orchard Hill Elementary School) A fifth-grader posts…
Insensitive computer programmers with little knowledge of geography have cost the giant Microsoft company hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business and led hapless company employees to be arrested by offended governments. —Paul Brown —Microsoft pays dear for insults through ignorance (Guardian Unlimited)
A Web Analytics Information Explosion See your website visitors as animated characters in a virtual city Watch visitors move from page to page and interact with your site See buses (search engines) deliver new visitors to buildings Pull up detailed ‘Passports’ on any visitor Replay website traffic from any date or time View dozens of…
toronto’s western skyline seen from the cn tower’s lookout area. —Dark Skyline (Top Left Pixel) Julia, a friend of mine from my Toronto days, sent me a link to this photoblog, which features the sights of a city I remember fondly. This beautiful view from what some call a skyline-dominating tourist attraction (the CN Tower) was…