: “Every report you ever write from this day until the day you die should start out by saying something nice about the product or service you are reviewing. Then you can get down to business.” Tog —How to Deliver a Report Without Getting Lynched Similar:NAVY TO DROP ALL-CAPS COMMUNICATIONSCaps off to the Navy’s plan…
. Painfully funny small-town satire from The Onion. —Wal-Mart Opens Store in Winesburg, Ohio Similar:Journalism is doing just fine, thanks — it’s mass-media business models that are ailingHmm… I warn my freshmen not to use the…BusinessUsing "Strive" as a NounObviously I know what my students mean w…CultureA Career-Aligned Major Isn’t EnoughI’ve taken over teaching the…
“If anything, the recent expansion of literacy and educational opportunities has increased our access to literature and our enjoyment of it.” J. Peder Zane —What Good is Literature? Similar:Facebook exec erroneously cites The Lord of the Rings when comparing the social network to…A Facebook executive, Andrew “Boz” Boswo…BusinessDisruptive Decorations: Kids learned better in a sparesly-decorated…
“Today, I’m one of the world’s leading anthropologists, an accomplished archaeologist, and an award-winning novelist. And, at 41, I’m only now becoming aware of the globetrotting rut I’ve been in my entire life. Looking back on everything I’ve seen and done, I can’t help but ask, ‘Is that all there is?’” more satire from The…
Microsoft Word requires at least 30% more keystrokes and 100% more mouse moves to accomplish certain editing tasks than would an optimal word processor. Forbes —Bad Design Can Be Costly Similar:7 web design trends you’ll actually see this year and how to survive themContent is often finalised many months a…CybercultureGame Design Program for Education &…
“We are the Gist Generation. We have acquired a taste for hit-and-run, cut-and-paste knowledge. We expect a home page or e-mail correspondence to give us the gist and only the gist—time is money and you’re a click away from an iconographic trash can, so get to the point.” Jeff Barbian Similar:The Dish (2000 Australian comedy)I…
This computer game tries something new. “If a character tells you he’ll call you tomorrow, he’s not kidding. You’ll have to wait a day to get his information. Faxes may arrive without warning, and instant messages may pop up onscreen when you least expect them — maybe even while you’re at work.” Wired.com —“Majestic” Invades…
“Organized religion was a primary target of every one of the twentieth century’s regimes of terror. But as is evident in Nazi and Communist terrors alike, organized irreligion (to put it in Royal’s sharp formulation) has proved far more dangerous than organized religion ever was.” Alicia Mosier Similar:The Rage of Virginia Woolf”The passion, if not…
You might assume there could not be a worse time for a field calling itself “Internet studies.” You would be wrong. The Chronicle of Higher Education Similar:Picture Books Languish as Parents Push ‘Big-Kid Books’Picture books are so unpopular these day…BooksScratchy "Cloak of Darkness" on Scratch”Scratchy Cloak of Darkness” is based on…AestheticsHow to Reduce Racial Bias…
“Lambert received the e-mail in December, a piece of scrap in the vast electronic junkyard that is the World Wide Web. Regrettably, she says now, she removed the letter’s forwarding markers and unintentionally put her name at the bottom, making it appear that she was the author.” Washington Post —Don’t forward that e-mail just yet!…
“[W]hat could be more scholarly than a nice, authoritative statistic, quoted from a professional journal in the student’s field?” The Chronicle of Higher Education —Telling the Truth About Damned Lies and Statistics Similar:Technology won’t fix America’s neediest schools. It makes bad education worse.[N]o matter how good the design, and des…AcademiaJournalists: The "Enemy of the American…
The longer the company’s annual report, the less successful the company. This isn’t really a technical writing issue — usually companies with bad news to report need a lot of words to explaining themselves. But if this is what it takes to get some pinhead CEOs to appreciate brevity, so be it. Wired Similar:Seton Hill's…
Danielle Preston —You Know You’re a Technical Writer When… Similar:I rather like my instructional page on writing effective dialogue. I created this new grap…HumanitiesIf you like bloody, singing, punning demons you will love this show.If you like bloody, singing, punning dem…AmusingMicrosoft lays off journalists to replace them with AIMicrosoft is laying off dozens of journa…BusinessOminous…
A student of mine makes comments on interactive fiction, garish colors, and dancing text. Jan Carroll —Just For the Record Similar:Lego faces are getting angrier, study findsThe headline is hype. How about “Lego fa…Aesthetics'Jane Austen, Game Theorist' by Michael Suk-Young Chwe Is a Joke When [Chwe] says that Austen was a g…AcademiaCommunities of Play: The…
learns something from my freshman comp students. On March 13, 2000, I e-mailed web guru Jakob Nielsen to tell him that six of my freshmen spent 8-30 minutes on his site without finding a plain-text “search” link on the home page. A week or so later, I noticed that Nielsen changed his page, making the…
“[W]hen it comes to writing, whether you’re a seventh grader, a college student, a professor, a beginning copywriter, or an accomplished novelist, a B isn’t good enough.” Kathy Henning —For Writers, Writing Is Never a Waste of Time: Part 2 Similar:Seton Hill's Griffin Holds an iPad in Front of Admin Steps (Blender 3D Models)I textured…
“[A] society without literature, or a society in which literature has been relegated–like some hidden vice–to the margins of social and personal life, and transformed into something like a sectarian cult, is a society condemned to become spiritually barbaric, and even to jeopardize its freedom.” Mario Vargas Llosa Similar:Crowther's Adventure: Tough Memes to Squash Will…
The creator of Cliffs Notes has died. Here’s his obituary — although I know you probably won’t bother to read the whole thing. Similar:AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its jou…A federal judge ordered the White House …Current_EventsNew infographic to help our graduating English majors make sense of…
On the tasteless side, but still very funny: “Some Features You May Need on Your Computer“ Similar:The reflection should show what's about 60 degrees above the shuttle, not what's in front …AestheticsPope Leo XIV names AI one of the reasons for his papal name…I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There…Current_EventsFlipped Classes: Omit Housekeeping…
“It is our duty, as responsible citizens, to stop the rot. Next time someone touches base with you or moves your goal posts, punch them in the face.” Clint Witchalls —Business and the English Language Similar:Just finished a good literature class discussion on this powerful play.Would love to teach it to healthcare stu…AcademiaJustin Bieber and…