Facebook wants you to see more serious news, and fewer meme photos. Of all the posts your friends create and share, soon your news feed will be less likely to show you “a meme photo hosted somewhere other than Facebook,” and more likely to show you a news story your friends have commented on. Facebook…
The article-as-numbered-list has several features that make it inherently captivating: the headline catches our eye in a stream of content; it positions its subject within a preëxisting category and classification system, like “talented animals”; it spatially organizes the information; and it promises a story that’s finite, whose length has been quantified upfront. Together, these create…
I’m nerdy enough to give my 15yo a used copy of “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” He’s halfway through it now. (Nerd kids are awesome kids.) Similar:Pa. agency explains why it enacted new 'no force-on-force rule' for Bushy Run, other sitesAttending the re-enactment of the Battle…CultureBWW Reviews: Prepare Ye for GODSPELL in Fox Chapel …
I love me a good Amazon mock review. Here are several. From scientific miracles to literary criticism, by way of bodily functions and failures of common sense. Many moons ago, I wrote about the art of the humorous Amazon review as a modern masterpiece of parodic genius, embodying Arthur Koestler’s seminal “bisociation” theory of how…
I would never have chosen to watch “Cowboys and Aliens” but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Similar:Tweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a Vulcan…For an anatomy project, my #geekling mad…TweetsAnd the girl has succeeded in getting me to wear t…And the girl has succeeded in getting me…TweetsMaybe I'll just delete these QUARTER OF A…
RT @dloehr: 12yr: “Those Muppets are lip-synching.” Similar:Jury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentOverheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaHello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsRT @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from…
RT @mkirschenbaum: Can’t see them well enough to read, but guy sitting next to me is typing out short, broken lines of text. Tempted to ask… Similar:Proto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessI'm no longer surprised, but still want…
Faculty who need to publish for professional reasons can be motivated for reasons other than a royalty check, so this sounds like a good idea. The Affordable College Textbook Act, introduced by Durbin and Franken this month, aims to lower book costs by promoting the use of open-source textbooks. Open books, as defined by the…
Once, someone really cared about these old periodicals. The bound copies have been weeded out of my school library. Post by Dennis G. Jerz. Similar:All those fights over late-arriving mail ballots were much ado about very littleJust in case you haven’t been thinking l…CulturePicking up books for another termAcademiaMale Microsoft Leaders Ignored Women Who Really…
I expect my English majors not to balk when I ask them to learn new software. One good way to learn is to shadow someone who already knows it well. Even better, work with a classmate who’s just a step or two ahead — that way they can both learn together. In my “News Writing”…
“Goddammit, I don’t know what to do!” Obama said, banging his hands in frustration against a wall of binary as the entire healthcare.gov mainframe suddenly froze, forcing all previously flowing lines of code to come to a complete standstill. “I can’t fix this! Get me out of this place!” “Please! Just get me out of…
Descriptive grammarians rejoice. Formal written English is not the only legitimate form of the language, and the rules of formal written English don’t apply in all situations. Sure, it’s useful to know when to use who and whom, but it’s probably more useful to know that saying To whom did you give the book? in…
On the Civil War battlefield where President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that symbolized his presidency and the sacrifices made by Union and Confederate forces, thousands gathered Tuesday, historians and everyday Americans alike, to ponder what the Gettysburg Address has meant to the nation. —The Washington Post. Similar:In February, 2002, I was blogging about…In February,…
Grr! That “15 Xs who did Y” link looked interesting, but on the first page I saw it was broken up into 63 parts. Bad meme. No link for you. Similar:I'm no longer surprised, but still want to document.This is really noteworthy. Today the Pre…Current_EventsJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureJudge: Apple conspired to fix…
The construction is more versatile than “because+noun” suggests. Prepositional because can be yoked to verbs (Can’t talk now because cooking), adjectives (making up examples because lazy), interjections (Because yay!), and maybe adverbs too, though in strings like Because honestly., the adverb is functioning more as an exclamation. The resulting phrases are all similarly succinct and…
Wow… what a drab, unquoteworthy, unsoundbiteable, graphics-free presentation of findings that will be of tremendous interest to the general public. TV but not electronic games predicted a small increase in conduct problems. Screen time did not predict other aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Further work is required to establish causal mechanisms.. Similar:‘Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts’:…
RT @avantgame: 11,000 kids tracked for A DECADE to see if videogames lead to negative attention, behavioral, mood impact. Result: NO http:/… Similar:Overheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaHello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsIt's been nice knowing you, iPad3 It’s…
@JustJoshReardon Excellent work from the whole cast & crew. A great night of theater @setonhill #biglove Similar:Parallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI just touched up a handout on Parallel …HumanitiesRT @DDeClaudio: Who do you think controls the news…RT @DDeClaudio: Who do you think control…TweetsJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentParallel structure in writing: Use it!These…
Setting out to take my teen to see #biglove at #setonhill Similar:Hello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsShe doesn't have keys or a phone or an ID. Why does my tween need a purse?To stash her Lemonheads and Smarties. ht…AmusingI asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked my #geekling whether…
My 15yo wanted to show me Terminator 4, but he opted to watch T3 w/ his little sister (her first time). Nerd siblings are awesome siblings. Similar:What my classroom looks like during today's video journalism workshopWithin 3 minutes of being placed into gr…HomeYour Brain Does Not Work Like a ComputerThe brain-as-computer is a powerful meme…HealthFacebook,…