Don’t trust the scary bad interweb. Do trust us, your local TV talking heads, who will do all the scary thinking for you! Seeing local TV devote air time to discuss fairness and accuracy in journalism is a good thing. But when scores of newscasters read word-for-word the exact same statement, which blames social…
Similar:I’m still teaching journalism and my usual courses, but after 21 years I’ve stepped aside …I’m still teaching journalism and my usu…AcademiaMore Adventures in Suburban AdultingAbout four years ago I bought an electri…CultureFallout Monopoly with the boy. PersonalMore #steampunk control panel goodness. This section features a nice retro pixelboard text…One of many steampunk control panels I’v…AestheticsRandom…
I don’t know the provenance of this quote attributed to Gus Speth, which affirms the role of the humanities in a STEM-obsessed world, but I did find this interview, conducted by Steve Curwood. “You know, what’s an environmental issue?” And if the answer is air pollution, water pollution, climate change…then we’re really right where we’ve…
Historian Niall Ferguson notes that Silicon Valley is not that interested in history, which is one reason why technological gurus keep making the same mistakes. Technology that decentralizes power brings its own problems. According to Ferguson: “The idea that witches live amongst us and should be burned went as viral as anything that Martin Luther…
In 2012, Apple tried to position iPads as replacing textbooks. Last year, Microsoft tried to position laptops as replacing Chromebooks. Now, Apple needs to hook educators on the power of future-looking tech such as coding and augmented reality.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is drawing attention to malicious data thieves and brokers. But every Facebook app—even the dumb, innocent ones—collected users’ personal data without even trying.
Instagram dialed in early to the power of building community through visual communication. From the start, Instagram was a mobile app that revolved around snapshots, not snippets of text. This visualization of social media was propelled by young people who, bombarded by text messages, status updates and blog posts, gravitated to a simpler, faster and more expressive medium…
Misspelled tweets and typos in press releases are becoming the norm under President Trump, but critics say it points to a pervasive carelessness in the White House.
I still miss Notepad++, a Windows tool on which I coded many an Inform 6 puzzle. When Seton Hill started handing out iPads and MacBooks, I switched to MacOS. I really don’t miss Windows at all, but I did miss my Notepad++ text editor. TextWrangler was a decent substitute, though over the years I have…
Wired, obviously having worked on a thinkpiece about Zuckerberg’s silence, manages to repurpose it in light of this afternoon’s statement. The Irreversible Damage of Mark Zuckerberg’s SilenceWhat has happened in the last five days has been the biggest crisis of Facebook’s existence. But Zuckerberg’s five-day silent treatment may prove more damning for Facebook than any…
Facebook does not care what Hobbit you are, whether your name is on the list of people who deserve a nap, which side of the controversy your temporary profile supports, or whether the news you shared is fake. Or, to be more precise, Facebook cares only to the extent that it can control our behavior,…
This is a welcome step, but we cannot trust big corporations to solve the fake news problem for us. (Slow down and think before you share that infuriating or inspiring detail you see in your feed.) In a move to combat the epidemic of false and unreliable information on the internet, Google is pledging to…
This NYT story on the effects of race on the economic future of American citizens offers chilling findings. Come for the data visualization; stay for the thoughtful analysis. Another example of why journalism matters. Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn…
Similar:Idlewild's Story Book Forest Improves Its SignageIn the past, I have pointed out copy-edi…AestheticsWho left these on my office door? *fake cough sounds like “Betsy”*PersonalMy big brother and my son facing off in chess. I am totally outclassed here.PersonalSon took out trash w/o being asked; daughter wore papercraft tophat to grocery store. Life…I took my…
Similar:These chairs were cheap, but it really annoys me how the design collects water.PersonalDogmeat and I may yet win this game. Yes, this was the decisive moment. I…GamesModular support craft from the #neovictorian #steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell my …Modular support craft from the #neovicto…AestheticsThat’s water under the bridge! Crowds of NPCs charge…
Similar:Another 10 sq cm of #steampunk control panel goodness. #blender3dart #blender3dAestheticsToday's 10 sq cm of #blender3d #steampunk control panel. #aesthetics #design #blender3dartAestheticsNew CarWednesday morning my resourceful brother…BusinessSome new locations for my #neovictorian #steampunk personal project. Created in #blender3d…AestheticsOut & About: Stage Right holds its annual Heart of the Arts Gala Source: Out & About: Stage…
Already met a lot of good people and found opportunities for following up. I’m here through Saturday morning. For now, though, I’m eating a sandwich. Similar:The geekling is 14 today.PersonalStudents Are Using ChatGPT to Write Their Personal Essays Now: AI can replicate the shape …Students say they appreciate AI’s abilit…AcademiaWhy fake news worksFake news works…
Putting speaker notes on an iPad is always more fun when using a typeface that invokes TNG Okudagrams. Similar:Why I Left Academe to Become a Science Communicator: The pursuit of academic research was …From explaining the effectiveness of soc…AcademiaPast Tense, Part 2 (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 12) Sisko must channel socia…Rewatching ST:DS9 After…
My wife says she bought the pies intending to use them for a math lesson, but she just ended up letting the kids start eating them. Similar:Finland's Museum of Contemporary EmotionsA history of the beginning of the pandem…AestheticsMasked, vaxxed, and settling in to watch live theaterBarebones is a little black box theater,…BooksWhy I Was Wrong…
Similar:What Khan Academy's Fun, Free Learning Empire Has to Do with Dystopian Social Control Over the Christmas break, I’ve been ch…AcademiaLounge area of a steampunk villain’s lair. Still needs a light fixture or two. #blender3dAestheticsI just tried Open Shot Video Editor, a free open source toolFor years I used ScreenFlow, which offer…Current_EventsCOVID denial: ‘You are welcome to…