The Blue Marble Shot: Our First Complete Photograph of Earth – Atlantic Mobile

The incredible story behind an image we’ve all seen hundreds of times, possibly the most reproduced photograph in history It’s an iconic image we have all seen hundreds of times, possibly thousands, and probably the most widely reproduced photograph in history. Because it’s in the public domain it has been used for everything from car…

AOL, Arianna Huffington Hit with Class Action Suit – Jeff Bercovici – Mixed Media – Forbes

Today, a group of bloggers led by union organizer and journalist Jonathan Tasini will file a class-action suit against the Huffington Post, founder Arianna Huffington, and AOL, which acquired the news-and-blogs site in February. AOL, Arianna Huffington Hit with Class Action Suit – Jeff Bercovici – Mixed Media – Forbes.

My 4Cs Story

I chaired a session on Friday, and gave a talk on Saturday — in the very last time slot of the conference. The Friday session went well, and sparked lots of hallway and online conversations; looking forward to proposing a related panel and/or SIG for next year. The Saturday talk was better attended than some…

NASA – Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space

50 years ago. Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space   April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a…

Northwestern says star journalism professor lied – Chicago Tribune

Northwestern University officials blasted a heralded journalism professor Wednesday, accusing him of doctoring records and repeatedly lying to his department’s dean and the school’s lawyers. Star professor David Protess has been at odds with his university for months, but school officials launched their strongest offensive yet, saying his conduct could “undermine the integrity” of the…

Writing Text, Writing Code, Writing Connections

Julie Meloni put together this panel. When she invited me to submit a paper, I had already committed to another panel, so I offered to chair. I started with the joke about how the computer programmer died in the shower. (He read the instructions: “Wash, rinse, repeat.”  I also invoked Cory Doctorow’s urgent plea, in…

Theorizing Writing in Digital Spaces: From Romance Genre to the “Secondary Orality”

These are my rough notes, nearly liveblogged (posted as soon as I had access to WiFi in the lobby). Paul Rogers and Andrea Lunsford, “Writing Lives in a Digital Landscape: Investigating the Boundaries between Extracurricular and Academic Writing in Higher Education” Stephanie Moody, “Virtual Relations: Exploring the Literacy Practices of a Romance Genre eCommunity.” Wendy…

Storytelling: Video games’ next killer app

A decent introduction, with rich links. Nothing really new, though. The problem, as experts like Ultima creator Richard Garriott and Infocom veteran Steve Meretzky explain in a recent documentary, is that gaming is a relatively young field. Game makers still haven’t mastered their craft the way artists, playwrights and filmmakers have. When compared to more…

Crossing Our C’s: New Media Communication, Composition and Creative Writing

Here are my rough notes, almost liveblogged (posted when I passed through the lobby and had momentary access to WiFi). Laura K. Smith, journalism; TV news background and PR. English and communication arts program. Journalism and j-education going through turmoil as the profession changes in life-altering ways. Technology, convergence, multi platform; changes in our revenue…

Designing Education: What Video Game Designers and Rhetoricians Can Learn From Each Other

Overheard as people settle in… “Are we ARGing or LARPing?” These are my rough notes, very lightly edited. Looks like 50 or 60 people — a good crowd. Liz Losh and Bonnie Lenore Kyburz are presenting in separate panels elsewhere… I hope somebody’s blogging there. Chair Matt Davis Samantha Blackmon Designing Education: What Video Game…

Rubrics, Peer Response, and Student Self-Assessment

These are very rough notes; not liveblogged, but posted as I walked through the lobby and got a free wifi connection. SRO Scott Geisel, “Analytical Steps toward Creating Self-Sufficient Writers: Rubrics, Peer Response, and Self Assessment” (Comp and business writing.) There isn’t much research into peer review. Cindy Selfe: “I can’t believe we’re still asking…

Story of the Week; Contextualizing Bartleby

Just stumbled across the wonderful “Story of the Week” web page, from the Library of America (publishers of the ubiquitous black-with-a-red-white-and-blue-ribbon classics). The current run of baseball-themed stories aren’t really my thing, but the archives go back to 2009. Further exploration of the site led to this thoughtful response to “Bartleby the Scrivener,” a precursor…