RT @pewresearch: Teens Haven’t Abandoned Facebook…
RT @pewresearch: Teens Haven’t Abandoned Facebook (Yet) — @mary_madden says reports of Facebook’s demise among teens are premature http://…
Despicable Me 2 “Bottom” gag will do for A Midsummer Night’s Dream what Disney’s Little Mermaid’s Ariel did for The Tempest
The name “Bottom” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is already funny, but I expect my students will likely snigger at it, thinking of the “Silas Ramsbottom” gag from Despicable Me 2. I read The Tempest before I saw Disney’s Little Mermaid, so when I think of Prospero’s spirit Ariel, I do not think of a…
Little People, Big Fun: A Brief History of Fisher-Price Little People
I remember having a Fisher Price airplane pull-toy, and a school that came with a chalkboard and a tray of magnetic letters. But this Sesame Street playset was the best. I was so excited about it my mom let me look at it in the box before “Santa” wrapped it and put it under the…
Maybe I’ll start a cover band, cleaning up hip-hop songs…
Maybe I’ll start a cover band, cleaning up hip-hop songs, remixing them as instant breakfast food jingles. I’ll call it “Minced Oats.”
If this professor thing doesn’t work out, I’ll sta…
If this professor thing doesn’t work out, I’ll start a nerd-rock band called “Force-choked by Jesus.”
Jerz Nerdcation 2013
On a visit to the Washington DC area for my father’s 80th birthday, we did nerdy things.
Quick Study: Neuroscience: Crosswords don’t make you clever
Many people think classical music is going to enhance brain function (the Mozart effect) or playing particular games sharpens ones cognitive function. These theories have been looked at in detail and they don’t stand up. It is disappointing in a way, but what we have learned is that exercise is the key thing for brain…
Pieces of Earliest Games Recovered
These small sculpted stones unearthed from an early Bronze Age burial in Turkey could be the earliest gaming tokens ever found, confirming that board games likely originated and spread from the Fertile Crescent regions and Egypt more than 5,000 years ago. –via Discovery News.
10 journalism resources for PR pros
From PR Daily.com: In no particular order, below are some top journalism resources that can help PR pros understand today’s journalist and move toward a more cohesive, beneficial relationship for both sides: • Jim Romenesko (@romenesko and jimromenesko.com): Daily news, commentary, and links about journalism and media. • Sree Sreenivasan (@sree and sree.net): Columbia University’s first chief digital officer and a…
Irony in Blakes7 Reboot?
RT @Laroquod: @DennisJerz If #Blakes7 turns out to be a show you need Xbox/Win8 to watch legally (as per rumour), that’s a sad irony for a show abt rebels.
@Laroquod Fingers crossed re #Blakes7
@Laroquod Fingers crossed re #Blakes7
Creating Games for Journalism
We as journalists can learn a lot from video games. They can help players explore unfamiliar worlds and experience stories, almost literally, through the eyes of another person. Designed well, video games guide players to feel emotion and conflict, as well as learn the intricacies of complex subjects and systems. They engage users in a…
Why I Resist Web Redesigns (And Maybe You Do, Too)
Words many of us never want to hear: “It’s the transmission.” “We can’t get a technician out there until next Tuesday.” “Your ex will be there.” And, of course: “Welcome to our redesigned site!” —Why I Resist Web Redesigns (And Maybe You Do, Too) : Monkey See : NPR.
RT @KatySny: A big week for online news http://t.c…
RT @KatySny: A big week for online news wp.me/p1VKki-eZ
Apparently Facebook Doesn’t Know Me Very Well
I’m actually rather happy at the thought that somewhere in Facebook’s database exists a picture of my personal preferences that is so wildly inaccurate as to suggest this.
15 Times “Filler Text” Became a Journalist’s Worst Enemy
It doesn’t happen often but when filler text is left and actually makes the printed edition, it’s a big, public embarrassment. Guess the rule of thumb is – always, always, always, always, always double check your headlines. They don’t call it dummy text for nothing. —15 Times “Filler Text” Become a Journalist’s Worst Enemy.
Making the switch: A student news director looks toward a digital future
As “one big news team,” all 54 student reporters work for TCU360 regardless of their story’s medium. Content is published on the website and social media throughout the day, seven days a week. The Daily Skiff, still published Tuesday through Friday, acts as an aggregator of the week’s best content. The “leadership team” consists of…
Did Google just kill PR agencies?
Lots of links, lots of repeated key words, and multiple postings of a press release to different sites, are all red flags to Google under the new rules. Such actions are viewed by Google as blatant attempts to trick its algorithm into ranking a site higher than its allotted position. Yet these have all become…
The Lost Art of Proofreading
Plenty more where those came from. The Lost Art of Proofreading.
The 1931 Histomap: The entire history of the world distilled into a single map/chart.
This “Histomap,” created by John B. Sparks, was first printed by Rand McNally in 1931…. This giant, ambitious chart fit neatly with a trend in nonfiction book publishing of the 1920s and 1930s: the “outline,” in which large subjects (the history of the world! every school of philosophy! all of modern physics!) were distilled into…