How does our 21st century understanding of mental health affect our understanding of Hamlet? As a teacher, I have for decades approached the play like this: If everyone in the audience agrees that Hamlet was sane or Hamlet was mad, then the production was a failure; Shakespeare’s text was ambiguous, and a good production should…
My sister the computer programmer benefitted early in her career because she was an excellent writer. She was so good at taking notes that people would invite to her important meetings so there would be a good record, and people would consult her about important topics covered during those meetings. My brother the electrical engineer…
Peter spent the day at a chess tournament — the biggest he’s participated in yet. He won three games and lost one, and won a trophy for “Under 800” — but the trophy plaque has a curious misprint. Similar:The Incredible Shrinking Ad [The Future Web Is Mobile]Is higher education ready for the switch…AcademiaYes, I do…
I already have some handouts on writing titles for web pages and writing titles for college papers. I don’t (at the moment) have a full handout on writing headlines for news stories. In this age of clickbait (“Clickbait Tactics Drive the Writing of Headlines on ABC News,” 2015), revisiting Poynter’s advice on writing traditional news…
Similar:My wonderful daughter.PersonalEnjoying an ice cream cake, apple pie, and the classic Star Trek episode “The Doomsday Mac…PersonalMaking a villain's lair in #Blender3D (this weekend's relaxation)AestheticsSpace Shuttle Challenger (Destroyed 28 Years Ago Today)I was in my final semester of high schoo…EducationLet's talk about books, old sport.BooksMS-Word's helpful "View -> Focus" mode delays stress-related breakdowns.You won’t…
This is a challenging writing task. Presidential biographies are a staple of children’s book publishing, and of classrooms across the country. Nonfiction for children is a surging category, particularly in light of a Common Core mandate that schools put greater emphasis on it in their curriculum. Publishers like Penguin Young Readers, Scholastic and Time for…
All of us with Facebook accounts do work for Mark Zuckerberg. Our tagging, sharing, and liking gives Facebook valuable information that advertisers use to reach us. This article describes how Facebook has been courting news organizations, asking them to provide content tailored to Facebook’s needs. Facebook is not interested in an informed, educated public that…
My kids have never seen The Princess Bride. (This is an odd pop culture gap for my 80s-obsessed girl.) Similar:Apology of Socrates, By PlatoAristotle classified Plato’s work, repre…AestheticsNASA Communicates with Ailing Voyager 1 SpacecraftI remember staying up well past my bedti…Current_EventsFascinating observation on Trump's ability to drive the "Spygate" story Within the span of five…
A literary work is a powerful tool for simulating what it’s like to inhabit someone else’s life. Not just tolerating difference, or grudgingly giving “the other side” equal time; but generating real empathy for the diversity of humanity. There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a…
It’s extremely important to understand what a wide range of people are thinking about, and that includes being exposed to influential ideas that I disagree with. I’d rather not hide from an idea that has power, especially if it turns out I can do something about the issue. The headline is a little misleading… there…
NASDAQ.com throws shade via Reuters: Snapchat is popular among people under 30 who enjoy applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto their selfies, but man yon Wall Street are critical of its high valuation, slowing user growth and lack of profitability. Joel Randewich, NASDAQ.com Similar:News report from 1981 about the Internet.A human interest story about…
Free speech is valuable. It’s dangerous to set the precedent that it’s okay to censor speech as long as you side with the censor and against the position being silenced. A New Jersey school district has suspended a teacher after yearbook photos of two high school students were altered to remove President Donald Trump’s name…
Similar:Now that I have polished so many details, I'm working on more selective lighting. #steampu… AestheticsPrepare to lower the personnel deployment gondola from the forward eployment bay, two deck… AestheticsMy mother-in-law invited me to try out the 60- year-old tape machine that belonged to my f…My mother-in-law invited me to try out t…AwesomeAnother 10 sq…
Similar:The girl performed musical commercials for a fund-raiser in the Laurel Highlands (and she …The girl performed musical commercials f…CultureEpic Game of Thrones pun battle. Carolyn Jerz Vs. Greg KerestanHere is the transcript the girl provided…AmusingWhen you need to record footsteps on a sidewalk, and the carpeted studio has a brick wall.AmusingElevator shaft on…
Similar:All of Your Co-Workers are Gone: Story, Substance, and the Empathic PuzzlerHowever, running parallel to the evoluti…AcademiaU Michigan's North Quad Complex: A Media CathedralThe North Quad Residential Complex at th…AcademiaCan the multiverse explain human history?Where did this idea of parallel universe…CultureWhy Our Children Don't Think There Are Moral FactsIndeed, in the world beyond grade school…CultureStill…
Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. Best case scenario? A virtual reality game that is either based around Portal or Half-Life, or unites the franchises into one experience. Valve has invested heavily in VR and clearly values the technology as an entertainment phenomenon – the Portal demo for Vive is one of the…
Similar:Another sold-out Midsummer Thursday night. PersonalI saw this Friday night. Great fight choreography, lighting & staging, adaptation of t…PersonalWestmoreland County Air Show 2012 (Photos)Traffic leaving the Arnold Palmer Region…AestheticsThe girl is intrigued by the plot twists in _The Mayor of Casterbridge_.PersonalSnape is not amused at this year's Hogwarts Feast.PersonalDuet (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode…
Similar:Today’s adulting was brought to you by a failed motor vehicle inspection. #notacarguy #win…The car shop wanted to charge over $300….ModdingBlue Feed, Red FeedFacebook is designed to keep your attent…CultureSyllabusing Like a BossAcademiaJohn Speed’s 1611 map of #medievalyork features a “scale of paces.” My #unity3d placeholde…AestheticsStunning writing in this WaPost reflection on the Trump campaign's…
MTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Actress” awards in favor of “Best Actor,” which suggests the gender-specific term “actress” is less popular among MTV’s target audience. I added that detail, fixed some broken links, and updated the graphic. See Writing Tips: Gender Neutral Language. Similar:It's not just you — we are all more forgetful during the…
With the money I saved by working on the car (watching a lot of YouTube tutorials) I bought a new midrange zoom, in the hopes I won’t miss shots by swapping lenses. And now my camera bag won’t quite zip shut. #ConspicuousConsumption Similar:Oops. I’m going to bed now. I’ll fix it tomorrow.Oops. I’m going to…