Impatiently scanning store shelves while tersely repeating requests for an inventory of clothing and other items that would be taken along, local mother Susan Vernon, 51, channeled her escalating fears regarding her daughter leaving for college later this month into a fight about storage bins, sources reported Saturday. —The Onion
The pressures on local news outlets have been building for years, driven by the twin devils of recession and the disruption caused by the shift to digital media. The impact was noted in a federal study in 2011. It concluded, “A shortage of reporting manifests itself in invisible ways: stories not written, scandals not exposed,…
To master a topic, pretend you are teaching it to someone. Use simple language and analogies. If you stumble, study the topic some more, then try again. Richard Feynman was a physicist who received a nobel prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics. He was notorious for asking his mathematicians to explain concepts in simple…
We’re culturally programmed to admire people who stick to their principles. We want strong leaders, not wishy-washy ones. It’s funny to think of scientists marching in a rally shouting, “What do we want? Evidence-based change! When do we want it? After peer review!” This comic carefully walks through the way the brain accepts or rejects…
Catherine Palmer was already a seasoned student journalist at The Johns Hopkins News-Letter when Freddie Gray, a Baltimore native and black man, died in police custody, provoking protests across the city that swelled into what would be called the Baltimore Uprising. Even so, she was only 19 when she found herself one of the first reporters on…
I fixed the NY Mag’s clickbaity title, “This is what happens to your brain when you read poetry.” In fact the original study was about what happens when you listen to a recitation, not what happens when you read. While people “get chills” when they listen to music or watch movies, their brains seem to…
I would call this “typefacegate,” but then I am an insufferable pedant. The daughter of Pakistan’s prime minister has become subject of ridicule in her home country after forensic experts cast doubts on documents central to her defence against corruption allegations. … Documents claiming that Mariam Nawaz Sharif was only a trustee of the companies that bought…
Interesting to see how large groups of college students are using Facebook, mostly as a forum for sharing memes. About four years ago I asked students in my “News Writing” class to make memes based on AP style / copy-editing principles, but I don’t think the students particularly cared for the assignment. I dropped the…
Show is July 28 at the O’Reilly Theater. (This Spidey selfie for “super hero day” is the pic she wanted me to post.)
Real or fake? At a time when the reading public daily grapples with the question of fake news, the American University Game Lab/JOLT has created an accessible, easy-to-play game that helps you sort fake news from real. The brainchild of former AU JOLT Fellow Maggie Farley and designed by AU game professor Bob Hone, Factitious is a quick game that can…
CNN is protecting the identity of the Reddit user who made the infamous GIF that depicts Trump wrestling with a man whose face has been replaced with the CNN logo — an image that Trump himself tweeted with the label “FraudNewsCNN.” Journalists are not perfect. They do make mistakes. But they also follow a code…
I’m not sure what I think of this yet. My daughter, who played Hodel in a student production last fall, has lately been expressing more interest in writing. I’ll watch for the reveiws. In the musical, and second eldest daughter, Hodel, makes the bold decision to leave her family and everything she knows to find…
It’s risky to get your news from a social media algorithm. Facebook and Twitter exist to make money for themselves, not inform the public with accurate, fair, and thorough news. Facebook is the big culprit here, and it’s admitted it needs to take steps to improve, but Twitter isn’t far behind. While the company has…
For humans who like browsing through Wikipedia and also like playing old-school text adventure games, this is awesome. Wikipedia: The Text Adventure was written in June 2017 by Kevan Davis. Its map is pulled live from the Wikipedia API, and it uses all articles which have specified geo-coordinates. (If two articles share an exact location…
Some good observations in this essay. As the teacher, I am used to being able to set the pace and call the shots; and if I see a problem, I’m the one responsible for solving it or delegating the task. For me, acting is an exercise in humility and teamwork. I really enjoy the rehearsal…
Bret Stephens of the NYTimes says by accepting the resignations of three staff members who erred, CNN is supporting Trump’s rhetoric that (inevitable) errors in journalism are evidence of a conspiracy. If nothing else, Trump has the bully’s cunning to pick on a target more unpopular than he is. And like a bully, he knows…
Here we have possibly the only surviving backup tape of the source code to 30 year old historical game data being put into an oven and baked! | Have we gone raving mad? Have we totally lost it? What is this insanity? | The dish is: Baked tapes! Done nicely in your normal kitchen oven. Cook at 45C…
CNN is pretty upfront; three journalists resign after an internal investigation determines a story depending on an anonymous source was posted to the CNN website without undergoing standard checks. In the rush to publish, the editorial structure broke down. (CNN retracted the story before it was aired on cable TV; whatever they can verify will,…
Donald Trump has a lot to say about “fake news” — a label he hurls at almost any journalism that portrays him in unflattering light. It seems he’s been using a fake Time magazine cover in his clubs. The news organization has asked him to take down the fake covers. “Donald Trump: The ‘Apprentice’ is…
Are Keds a brand that my college students would recognize as kid shoes? In a handout on how to write short stories, I used “Keds” as a brand name. Should I change that to something like “Spongebob Crocs” instead?