RT @textfiles: Hi internet. In another few minutes…

RT @textfiles: Hi internet. In another few minutes I go onstage to point everyone to archive.org/details/histor… and hopefully computer history … Similar:I asked my geekling whether she was ready for bed…I asked my #geekling whether she was rea…AmusingMy Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsAnd…

One of the Sadder Lost and Found Messages You’ll Probably See Today

Not my item, but the pathos caught my eye. Similar:For God's sake John, sit down!CultureLeonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced…Current_EventsFraternity Announces "Legal Action" Against Rolling Stone”The Rolling Stone article viewed by mil…Academia19 Book Cover ClichésThis one is #3, “Man Lurking by Fence.” …AestheticsFont vs Typeface: bold and italics…

The Amazon Mystery: What America’s Strangest Tech Company Is Really Up To

Seriously: What is Amazon? A retail company? A media company? A logistics machine? The mystery of its strategy is deepened by two factors. First is the company’s communications department, which famously excels at not communicating. Three requests to speak with Amazon officials for this article were delayed and, inevitably, declined. This moves discussions of the…

Tween: “My friends say Bieber’s a jerk now.” Me: “…

Tween: “My friends say Bieber’s a jerk now.” Me: “It’s hard when your idols fall.” Tween: “That’s why I don’t have any. Except for you.” Similar:Tweet: For an anatomy project, my #geekling made a Vulcan…For an anatomy project, my #geekling mad…TweetsDesert Bus: The Worst Video Game Ever CreatedPenn and Teller are involved with this s…BooksCarolyn…

Emily Dickinson Manuscript for “The Chariot”

A new Emily Dickinson archive is online. Here is the opening of one of her most famous poems. Reading View for Fascicle 23. Similar:What would holidays be without Dickens' beloved 'Christmas Carol?'It takes some visits from three scary sp…DramaWriting Effective E-MailTop 10 Tips:  Write a meaningful subject…BusinessPesky journalists, always showing up to document atrocities.No Democratic…

Nerdy Rainbow Loom Crafting

My wonderfully geeky tween made these Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde pendants with her Rainbow Loom. Next on her list: making Pac-Man. Similar:Make America Meme Again! Create your own Trump executive order.Now all the powerful visual rhetoric of …AmusingThe crying Honduran girl on the cover of Time was not separated from her mother, father sa…The…

AP reporter’s mistake: Did the punishment fit the crime?

Reporters have been sometimes fired for willful misconduct, such as repeated instances of plagiarism or fabrication. Reporters who’ve suffered that fate, such as the New York Times’ Jayson Blair and The Washington Post’s Janet Cooke, were guilty of gross journalistic malpractice. But firing a reporter over an unintentional mistake is “extremely rare,” said Scott Maier,…

The Decline of Wikipedia: Even As More People Than Ever Rely on It, Fewer People Create It

I’m getting ready to introduce my freshman writing students to college-level research, so I found it helpful to read this brief introduction to the internal problems Wikipedia creates for itself. When a major news event takes place, such as the Boston Marathon bombings, complex, widely sourced entries spring up within hours and evolve by the…

“Does size matter?” — student journalist, making…

“Does size matter?” — student journalist, making a person-on-the street video interview about the new iPad. Similar:My Minecraft-obsessed tween made this blocky foam pig at art camp. Next up: Stage Right summer musical th…AestheticsJury Duty UpdateI’m a happy, responsible, and no-longer-…GovernmentJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureCarolyn Gombell Is Not a Real Person: #JusticeforCarolyn Is…

RT @joningold: Thing is, the freedom of the parser…

RT @joningold: Thing is, the freedom of the parser is a sham – not because it *doesn’t* understand everything but because no-one plays as t… Similar:Hello, there, mini.Hello, there, mini. Let’s restore you fr…TweetsFormer student: "I remember sometimes being annoyed with all of our blogging assignments, …A third alum in the last few weeks has c…AcademiaParallel Structure…

Attribution, Editorializing and Defamation

In the Nightly Noodle Monthly, former North Adams Transcript journalist Isaac Avilucea posts this passage, which he says was removed from a sports feature that got him fired. But there’s a reason she’s not at MountGreylock anymore, choosing to transfer to a school with somewhat inferior academics and athletics. Part of it has to do with the stuffy social atmosphere that…

I just did the thing where you look everywhere for…

I just did the thing where you look everywhere for your glasses but you can’t find them because you are already wearing them. Similar:Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook prices.Judge: Apple conspired to fix eBook pric…BooksClassroom collaboration marketplaceWhile I am uncomfortable with the whole …BusinessJuror's CreedWhile researching my obligations for #ju…CultureParallel Structure vs. Faulty ParallelismI…

The t-shirt many professors would enjoy wearing

Inside Higher Ed Similar:Why Can't Millennials Find Jobs?Half of hiring managers say wearing atti…BusinessWhat Was the TED Talk?The title borders on clickbait, but the …CultureMasks serve many purposes. How sad that they’ve become politicized. I’ve seen the original meme on my so…Current_EventsFaceTime Fun: iPod Touch Rides in Jedi FighterThrough the magic of FaceTime and the…

Digital Storytelling (EL231: Topics in Creative Writing)

EL231 “Digital Storytelling” (Dec 18-Jan 22) Unit 1 (Dec 18-22) mostly experiencing digital stories (reading, watching, listening, playing, whatever), and reading articles & discussing them online. (We take a break Dec 23-Jan 1: no classes, no homework.) Unit 2 (Jan 2-7) trying out 4-5 tools for creating digital stories, and learning two in a little…

Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

Neil Gaiman tells us why books matter: When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and…

In the publications office with student journalist…

In the publications office with student journalists. I’ve heard them saying “affirmative” and “negative.” The editor just said “Make it so.” Similar:Overheard at Quora: "Why after all these years is Moodle still so ugly?"Moodle is a free course-management tool …AcademiaRT @JordanFor: One of the counters from the Civil…RT @JordanFor: One of the counters from …TweetsWhat…